The 49ers spent the few weeks leading up to the draft talking all about how they’re not saying they’re going to trade a wide receiver, they’re just saying, you know, maybe a wide receiver gets traded. In the end, no receivers were traded, and the 49ers fortified the position with two picks, also adding a couple of offensive line picks and a couple of defensive backfield picks. All-in-all, they just built a lot of depth. But, they also took three fantasy football-relevant players in the 2024 NFL Draft. Already one of the most powerful offenses in the league, let’s see how these three players fit in and if they are worth drafting in 2024 redraft fantasy football leagues.
FULL 2024 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS DRAFT
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 31 | Ricky Pearsall | WR | Florida |
| 2 | 64 | Renardo Green | CB | FSU |
| 3 | 86 | Dominick Puni | G | Kansas |
| 4 | 124 | Malik Mustapha | S | Wake Forest |
| 4 | 129 | Isaac Guerendo | RB | Louisville |
| 4 | 135 | Jacob Cowing | WR | Arizona |
| 6 | 215 | Jarrett Kingston | OG | USC |
| 7 | 251 | Tatum Bethune | LB | FSU |
Round 1, Pick 31: Ricky Pearsall, Wide Receiver, Florida (6’1” 189 lbs)
[Note: The following is an excerpt from our Round One Instant Reaction piece.]
Talent:
Pearsall is an extremely willing blocker with athleticism to spare (9.90 RAS), who also loves to do a ton of silly highlight catches. Pearsall is also a route technician who can work himself open and is currently holding his own in offseason training with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. He works best against zone coverage, as he possesses a great ability to find himself open. Even if he isn’t open, he has some of the craziest highlight catches this draft season, though he can get bodied by DBs on traditional 50/50 balls.
NFL Comparison: Kenny Stills
2024 Opportunity:
It’s too soon to tell because so much depends on whether Brandon Aiyuk is still a 49er when the season kicks off in 2024. If he is, then Pearsall will just be a supersized version of Jauan Jennings, who the 49ers went out of their way to re-sign. They threw the ball the fewest times last season, which means that there isn’t really room for Pearsall if there is also Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle to contend with. If Aiyuk isn’t a Niner, then Pearsall will have quite a bit of opportunity to produce for the 49ers, as they will desperately need a WR2 with oft-injured Deebo Samuel as their WR1 next season. Shanahan loves technicians with good hands, and who love to block. He is a great fit for the system… if he was a second-round pick. As a first-rounder, I hate this as a 49ers fan.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
I doubt that he will find his way up the pecking order enough to be more than a late-round dart throw in your 2024 fantasy football drafts.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 OUTLOOK:
Round 4, Pick 129: Isaac Guerendo, Running Back, Louisville (6’0” 221 lbs)
Talent:
The first thing you notice when Guerendo touches the football is his size. He’s just one inch taller than Bijan Robinson and Nick Chubb, and his weight sits smack dab in the middle of those two. He plays extremely upright, which also accentuates just how tall he is like you’re watching a dang episode of Amazon Prime’s Reacher. That’s all well and good, and he is just as bit as strong as he would seem, regularly carrying tacklers. However, that’s not his carrying trait: Isaac Guerendo is fast. He posted the third-highest 40-yard dash, regardless of position, in the 2024 Combine. He scored ALL GREENS in Kent Lee Platte’s RAS scores. That means he checks literally all the athletic boxes: size, weight, speed, agility, power, and quickness.
Guerendo is also a strong one-cut-and-go runner, which will work well in the league, and he’s a very adept pass catcher, in the Aaron Jones mold. Guerendo also expertly sets up defenders with blockers and does a great job of angling his pads to meet the opponent’s attack vector, frequently leaving the would-be tackler grasping at air, or bouncing off Guerendo’s pads.
2024 Opportunity:
Well, this is where things might get a bit messy for Guerendo in his rookie year, considering that he plays behind literally the best running back in the NFL in San Francisco, as they have a guy called “Christian McCaffrey,” if you’ve ever heard of him. He likely usurps Ejilah Mitchell as the RB2 in this offense, and Mitchell figured for around 8-10 touches per game last season behind McCaffrey. That having been said, should McCaffrey (heaven forbid) miss a few games, it’s hard to see the 49ers changing their game plan too much, as Guerendo could act as a Baby McCaffrey if things go his way in San Francisco and the RB1 misses time.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Guerendo is probably my favorite handcuff in the 2024 NFL Draft. He is playing in a scheme that made fantasy studs of guys like Elijah Mitchell, Carlos Hyde, and Matt Breida, and whom Raheem Mostert followed to Miami to continue to be a stud. He has immediate top-15 upside should Christian McCaffrey miss any time in 2024.
TALENT:
OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 4, Pick 135: Jacob Cowing, Wide Receiver, Arizona (5’8” 168 lbs)
Talent:
Jacob Cowing isn’t that great of a wide receiver if you value things like catching the football (33 collegiate drops) or bodying defenders. He can get balls outside of his radius, but he was far-too-frequently tasked with doing so thanks to erratic quarterback play at Arizona. Unfortunately, if the ball is inside his frame, he frequently body catches it and throws himself out of any position to gain YAC thanks to unnecessarily jumping to catch the football.
That being said, he is a good route runner thanks to his speed and agility, and if you can work to get the football into his hands with a screen, a pop pass, or a quick slant, he could be a very productive part of an offense. Since this is a copycat league, some say that he can be this year’s Tank Dell (small, shifty guy who works as a deep threat to maximize his quarterback). While Cowing is fast (sub 4.40 40-yard-dash), he doesn’t do a great job of catching contested balls, and his deep tracking leaves a lot to be desired. So, I don’t think he makes his hay a la Tank Dell. In the league, he likely maxes out as a fourth receiver in a strong receiver room or gets vaulted to de facto WR1/WR2 in a dreadful room, like Darnell Mooney a few years ago. He would be best suited in a strong offense that can maximize his ability to get the football, as other players on the team take focus away from him.
2024 Opportunity:
The 49ers now have, on their roster: Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Jacob Cowing, Ronnie Bell, Chris Conley, Trent Taylor, and Danny Gray. That’s a lot of top-end talent and a lot of bottom-end talent there. Let’s start off the top: Brandon Aiyuk is likely a 49er in 2024, as he is still on the roster post-draft. That means, at best, Cowing is in a timeshare for the WR4 role in San Francisco, with either Jauan Jennings or Jacob Cowing. It’s more likely that he soaks up the Ray-Ray McCloud, Willie Snead, and Ronnie Bell snaps. Those three, unfortunately, combined for 31 targets last season. If Cowing gets that role, it just isn’t going to be enough consistent opportunity for sustained success.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
If Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, Elijah Mitchell, Isaac Guerendo, and Jauan Jennings all get hurt, then he will have a chance to shine.
