B
San Francisco 49ers
Best value of the weekend goes to the 49ers for Slaughter: B.
by Iowradar ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
The board owed the 49ers one, and it paid up: Jake Slaughter, the No. 58 name on the board, sitting there at the Round 3 slot like a gift left on the doorstep. It nets out to a B, which feels about right.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up. They are betting Zuhn III proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
They left with offensive lineman solved and the rest of the wish list mostly ticked off.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the quarterback spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
Value with a capital V on Dillon Thieneman in slot 40, a genuine coup. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A premium they did not need to pay, Gabe Jacas a notch or two before his time. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Jake Slaughter in No. 92 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They jumped the gun on Trey Zuhn III, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Ja'Kobi Lane at the 127th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They went early on Kaytron Allen in pick No. 138, and the value did not follow. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Fair-plus on Kaleb Proctor, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Zxavian Harris. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Anez Cooper at No. 177 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
No drama and no debate, Jeff Caldwell went about where he belonged in pick No. 189. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They took Dallen Bentley at par in the 199th pick, which is nothing to complain about. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They paid sticker price for Thaddeus Dixon in pick 221, and that is fine. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Kaden Wetjen at the 226th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.