{"id":824259,"date":"2026-03-21T01:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T01:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/824259\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T01:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T01:54:18","slug":"49ers-surprise-in-chad-reuters-2026-nfl-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/824259\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers surprise in Chad Reuter&#8217;s 2026 NFL mock draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NFL.com analyst Chad Reuter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/four-round-2026-nfl-mock-draft-four-trades-shake-up-round-1-jets-take-quarterback-ty-simpson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">released a four-round mock draft<\/a>, projecting the San Francisco 49ers to address a key need early with their first-round selection.<\/p>\n<p>All six of the 49ers&#8217; picks fall within the first four rounds. The team currently holds the No. 27 overall selection, along with one second-round pick and four fourth-rounders. San Francisco dealt its third-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for defensive tackle <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/O\/OdigOs00.htm\" data-playername=\"Osa Odighizuwa\" title=\"Osa Odighizuwa stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Osa Odighizuwa<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With the 49ers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WillTr21.htm\" data-playername=\"Trent Williams\" title=\"Trent Williams stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trent Williams<\/a> reportedly at a standstill in contract negotiations, Reuter projects the team to select former Utah offensive tackle <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/caleb-lomu-1.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Caleb Lomu<\/a> in the first round.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Trent Williams&#8217; contract renegotiations are in flux, but even if he returns for another season, the 49ers must prepare for the 37-year-old&#8217;s eventual departure,&#8221; Reuter wrote. &#8220;Lomu&#8217;s still growing as a run blocker, but his natural pass-protection skills are first-round worthy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of the more surprising projections comes in the second round, where Reuter has San Francisco selecting former Notre Dame running back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/jadarian-price-1.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jadarian Price<\/a> at No. 58 overall.<\/p>\n<p>That would mark the highest draft investment at the position during the John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan era, and the highest since Carlos Hyde was taken at No. 57 overall in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Reuter then has the 49ers using their quartet of fourth-round picks to address multiple position groups.<\/p>\n<p>San Francisco is projected to select former Mississippi State wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/brenen-thompson-1.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brenen Thompson<\/a> at No. 127, former Alabama edge rusher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/lebbeus-overton-1.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LT Overton<\/a> at No. 133, and former Boston College offensive tackle Jude Bowry at No. 138\u2014doubling down on the offensive line.<\/p>\n<p>To close out the draft, Reuter has the 49ers selecting former Duke cornerback <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/chandler-rivers-1.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chandler Rivers<\/a> at No. 139.<\/p>\n<p>That would round out San Francisco&#8217;s 2026 draft class. What do you think of Reuter&#8217;s picks for the 49ers? Leave a comment below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL.com analyst Chad Reuter released a four-round mock draft, projecting the San Francisco 49ers to address a key&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,2810,2812,6,9115,1161,252,2624,2623,2983],"class_list":["post-824259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-49ers","tag-49ers","tag-football","tag-john-lynch","tag-kyle-shanahan","tag-nfl","tag-osa-odighizuwa","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfrancisco49ers","tag-trent-williams"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116264675833913053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}