Speaker 1: Welcome to the forty nine Ers First and ten Podcast
Speaker 1: presented by Cisco. I'm your host Brian McDonald, joined by
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers team reporter Lindsay Polares. Today we're diving
Speaker 1: deeper into some NFL off season news. We're going to
Speaker 1: be recapping the NFL Scott Combine, taking a look at
Speaker 1: the free agency period that's coming up real soon, and
Speaker 1: taking a preview look into the twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Five NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: But to start, let's recap the scouting combine that just
Speaker 1: wrapped up earlier this last week. And what's going to
Speaker 1: be really interesting about this combine is that we're going
Speaker 1: to be looking at a lot of speed in these
Speaker 1: upcoming prospects and upcoming NFL Draft picks. The twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five combine participants recorded, on average, the fastest forty yard
Speaker 1: dashes at a single combine since two thousand and three,
Speaker 1: an average of four point six seconds in the forty
Speaker 1: yard dash, and the fastest was a defensive back out
Speaker 1: of Kentucky, Maxwell Harriston. He ran a four point two
Speaker 1: eight forty yard dash. And another really interesting prospect that
Speaker 1: I want to cover with you, Lindsay, was a defensive
Speaker 1: back out of South Carolina, Nick and Menworri, What do.
Speaker 2: You know about him? What makes him really interesting to
Speaker 2: the Niners?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so his measurables pretty crazy. So eleven feet six
Speaker 3: inches on the broad jump, a four to three eight
Speaker 3: forty yard dash, and also the highest vertical of any
Speaker 3: of the prospects coming through the combine forty three inches.
Speaker 3: And then also I wanted to call attention to his
Speaker 3: perfect ten relative athletic score that.
Speaker 2: Is pretty historic.
Speaker 3: He is rated first among over one thousand strong safeties
Speaker 3: that have come through the combine from nineteen eighty seven
Speaker 3: to twenty twenty five. And he's a particular interest to
Speaker 3: this podcast because he has been slated as a mock
Speaker 3: draft prospect to the Niners, who are picking number eleven overall. Obviously,
Speaker 3: these mock drafts are all speculation. I think that's kind
Speaker 3: of the bulk of the media coverage.
Speaker 2: That we're in fun that you could play with.
Speaker 3: This is the fun part, right, So this is a
Speaker 3: name we've seen in several mock drafts. I think just
Speaker 3: really cool to see the measurables that he was able
Speaker 3: to put up at the NFL scouting Combine, certainly very
Speaker 3: impressive to a lot of teams that I do think
Speaker 3: this is someone that saw their draft stock rise over
Speaker 3: the four day events.
Speaker 1: Yeah, hit the highest vertical at forty three inches, which
Speaker 1: is a standout to the group who the second highest
Speaker 1: is only at forty one point five inches, only at
Speaker 1: also pretty impressive. He also had the furthest broad jump
Speaker 1: like you mentioned, at eleven feet and six inches. And yes,
Speaker 1: he's been mock draft of the forty nine ers as
Speaker 1: a first round pick by CBS Sports Ryan Wilson. So
Speaker 1: a prospect to keep your eyes on as we head
Speaker 1: into the draft. But now that the combine is over
Speaker 1: all eyes are shifting over to the next date in
Speaker 1: the NFL offseason calendar, which is the free agency signing period.
Speaker 1: The twenty twenty five new League gear and free agency
Speaker 1: signing period begins at one pm Pacific time our time,
Speaker 1: four pm New York time on March twelfth.
Speaker 2: So what's that to look there for?
Speaker 3: Well, before we get to that, right now, we are
Speaker 3: literally add another deadline, which really doesn't affect the Niners.
Speaker 3: They opted to not use the franchise tag, but that
Speaker 3: franchise tag period was from February eighteenth to March fourth,
Speaker 3: which is today as we are recording this podcast, so
Speaker 3: a non issue for the Niners. But yes, like you mentioned,
Speaker 3: the new league year is right around the corner, and
Speaker 3: certainly there are several players on the forty nine ers
Speaker 3: roster that are set to become free agents, some that
Speaker 3: have already been taken care of. I did publish an
Speaker 3: article much earlier in the offseason talking about the full
Speaker 3: gamut of players set to become free agents. The forty
Speaker 3: nine Ers have taken care of some of those names,
Speaker 3: and I'll read them off to you. There was a
Speaker 3: pretty sizable group of exclusive rights free agents, and all
Speaker 3: of those guys on that list have been taken care of.
Speaker 3: They are on one year of deals. That includes defensive
Speaker 3: lineman Evan Anderson, defensive lineman Alex Barrett, linebacker Jalen Graham,
Speaker 3: defensive lineman Sam o'kuano, offensive lineman Austin Pleasance, tight end
Speaker 3: Jake Tongjis, and tight end Brandon Willis. We also saw
Speaker 3: that offensive lineman Ben BArch who came to the forty
Speaker 3: nine ers last offseason as a free agent after spending
Speaker 3: his first four seasons in the league with the Jaguars.
Speaker 3: He has also been re signed so that's all the
Speaker 3: business that's happened up to this point. We also saw
Speaker 3: linebacker Demetrius Flanagan Fowls was released earlier in the offseason.
Speaker 3: Still a lot of other names that are on this list,
Speaker 3: so we can go through them. We have restricted rights
Speaker 3: free agents. This is similar to what we saw with
Speaker 3: wide receiver Juwan Jennings. Only two names on that list.
Speaker 3: It's linebacker Curtis Robinson and then also running back Jordan Mason.
Speaker 3: So the forty nine ers have to decide what type
Speaker 3: of tender they would like to take with those guys.
Speaker 3: It's a little bit different than just unrestricted free agents.
Speaker 2: That list very very long, so I'll read through those names.
Speaker 2: Agains a lot of names.
Speaker 3: Brandon Allen, Aaron Banks, Chris Conley, Josh Dobbs, Khalil Davis,
Speaker 3: Toshan Gibson, Senior, Kevin Gibbons, Dray green Law, Javon Hargray,
Speaker 3: Charlie Heck, Talano, Hufanga, Nick McLeod, Elijah Mitchell, Jalen Moore,
Speaker 3: Pat o'donald, Eric Staubert, Patrick Taylor Junior, Tarvarius Mooney, Ward,
Speaker 3: rock Ya Scene and Isaac Yadham. So as we're taking
Speaker 3: a look at this long list, Breed, where do you
Speaker 3: see the biggest needs for the forty nine ers in
Speaker 3: free agency and also the draft, which is right.
Speaker 2: Around the corner.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it's always hard at this point, Like you're saying,
Speaker 1: with mock drafts happening, there's also a lot of mock
Speaker 1: ideas in free agency. We don't know exactly which moves
Speaker 1: the Niners are going to take during the free agency
Speaker 1: period versus during the draft. So I do know that
Speaker 1: John Lynch very highly interested in creating a younger roster,
Speaker 1: so we're definitely going to look at some needs in
Speaker 1: the draft, But with free agency coming up, it's pretty
Speaker 1: much all positions down the roster. The twenty twenty four
Speaker 1: roster is going to be looking much more different from
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty five roster. But as we look at
Speaker 1: the mock drafts, in what's slated in the draft, we've
Speaker 1: got defensive tackle, offensive lineman, cornerback, linebacker.
Speaker 2: In safety.
Speaker 1: So I think maybe that's where the Niners are going
Speaker 1: to target some of the younger talent. But when you're
Speaker 1: looking at free agency and picking up some of those
Speaker 1: veteran players, you never know where it's going to be
Speaker 1: from defense to offensive side and thinking a lot of
Speaker 1: the linebackers are going to be taking a harsh look
Speaker 1: at them somewhere defensively in the backfield. You never know
Speaker 1: how Robert sla is going to influence this free agency period.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of all over the board.
Speaker 1: But what's really interesting I think with the mock drafts
Speaker 1: and draft season coming up, is that our football ops
Speaker 1: are going to be balancing, Okay, who have we picked
Speaker 1: up in free agency since that will be done and
Speaker 1: over with, and then who are the best players available
Speaker 1: now that we're picking right outside of the top ten,
Speaker 1: so there's going to be a lot of elite talent there,
Speaker 1: and then what are the targeted positions of need.
Speaker 2: As we enter the new year.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot to juggle with as we stand
Speaker 1: right here in this state without knowing any free agency
Speaker 1: moves and without knowing what the draft is going to
Speaker 1: look like.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of all over the board.
Speaker 1: Lindsay, but what do you think are going to be
Speaker 1: some of the free agency covers versus mock draft covers
Speaker 1: and what positions do you think we're going to go
Speaker 1: in starting sooner?
Speaker 3: You know, I think especially with Robert Sala coming in
Speaker 3: as the kind of i say, new defensive coordinator. He's
Speaker 3: obviously been here before. I do think he is going
Speaker 3: to have a heavy hand in both free agency and
Speaker 3: the draft. And it did want to reiterate the point
Speaker 3: that you made earlier, John Lynch and company. Really the
Speaker 3: front office staff is really examining this roster, and it
Speaker 3: really is about sustainability. As everyone knows, this forty nine
Speaker 3: Ers team star studded, which usually means that the salaries
Speaker 3: also follow that, and also a lot of veteran players.
Speaker 3: So yes, I think that is really one of the
Speaker 3: big concerns, creating some financial flexibility and then also bringing
Speaker 3: on some youth to this roster. I was reading a
Speaker 3: report by ESPN's Nick Wagner. This roster at the start
Speaker 3: of the twenty twenty four season average age of a
Speaker 3: player just under twenty seven years old, which is fairly
Speaker 3: veteran for this league because your time goes very very
Speaker 3: quickly in the NFL. So again, looking really to the draft,
Speaker 3: I think to reload this forty nine Ers roster not
Speaker 3: just for you know, the immediate future, but the future
Speaker 3: to come. Like looking down farther farther down, the line
Speaker 3: how you've seen guys drafted and developed like a George Kittle,
Speaker 3: a Fred Warner. You know, a Ronaldo Green is like
Speaker 3: a very good recent example of someone who turned out
Speaker 3: to be a really, really good rookie and you just
Speaker 3: expect to see him blossom later on in the years.
Speaker 3: Same thing with safety Malec Mustafa. So you want to
Speaker 3: create that pipeline of talent that you grow and develop
Speaker 3: in house and they become your future superstars. And I
Speaker 3: do think we're going to see a little bit more
Speaker 3: of an emphasis on that this offseason.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the forty nine ers will have ten picks
Speaker 1: to work with in this year's draft, so a perfect
Speaker 1: opportunity to start bringing in a new lifeline of players.
Speaker 1: And so far, looking at these mock drafts a lot
Speaker 1: on the defensive side of the ball, I think analysts
Speaker 1: are really curious to see how Robert Sala is going
Speaker 1: to influence this year's first round pick. Yes, ten picks
Speaker 1: overall to start, and the latest projections player we mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: nick Eman war from South Carolina, a safety. There also
Speaker 1: defensive tackle Mason Graham out of Michigan is a really
Speaker 1: interesting player to look at when you're starting to create
Speaker 1: your mock drafts. Daniel Jeremiah called him a dream scenario
Speaker 1: pick for the Niners. He's ranked fourth overall on Daniel
Speaker 1: Jeremiah's draft board, and he called it a home run
Speaker 1: pick for the Niners because he has amazing tape, but
Speaker 1: his measurables in the combine didn't quite match up to
Speaker 1: what a lot of NFL prospects were thinking. So he
Speaker 1: could be a perfect pick for the Niners right outside
Speaker 1: of that top ten. But on the offensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball, you could also take a look at Amon Membo,
Speaker 1: he's an offensive lineman out of Missouri, or Josh Simmons,
Speaker 1: an offensive tackle out of Ohio State. Also Kelvin Bakes Junior,
Speaker 1: a tackle out of Texas. So some names floating around
Speaker 1: and that are matching up on multiple mock drafts across
Speaker 1: the internet. But it's a lot of fun just to
Speaker 1: keep tabs on players see where they rise and fall
Speaker 1: as we go from the combine to free agency leading
Speaker 1: into the draft. But a lot of fun stuff to
Speaker 1: cover it. Do you have any eyes peeled on any
Speaker 1: Pacific players? You know?
Speaker 3: I think really my attention is on the defensive side
Speaker 3: of the ball and just the needs there. I do
Speaker 3: think there is an interested deed both at safety potentially
Speaker 3: at cornerback. Again, a lot of this depends on who
Speaker 3: stays and goes in free agency, and I think a
Speaker 3: lot of that is going to be revealed quite literally
Speaker 3: in the coming weeks as players start finding new destinations
Speaker 3: or new deals are made right here in house.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so faithful, stay tuned.
Speaker 1: We'll have any breaking news Move the Chains episode, So
Speaker 1: turn on your post notifications on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and
Speaker 1: YouTube and we'll see you real soon.