{"id":853272,"date":"2026-04-04T13:52:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853272\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T13:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T13:52:23","slug":"49ers-mock-draft-2026-two-ots-and-an-edge-taken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/853272\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers Mock Draft 2026: Two OTs and an edge taken"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, we had a bit of a realistic San Francisco 49ers draft. This week, we have one that makes a lot of sense. Only time will tell if the 49ers lean on logic or natural tendencies.<\/p>\n

NFL.com\u2019s Chad Reuter put together a five-round mock draft<\/a>, with trades for this week. The 49ers were not on the trade block for any of the picks, staying at No. 27. With their pick, they took an offensive tackle, but not the one we have been talking about. Instead, they go with Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor:<\/p>\n

Even if the 49ers and \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffTrent Williams\ufeff\ufeff\ufeff come to an agreement on a contract restructure for 2026, the veteran left tackle will be 38 when the season starts. Iheanachor played on the right side at Arizona State but lined up on both sides at East Los Angeles College. He possesses the athleticism to be an excellent pass protector on either end of San Francisco\u2019s O-line.<\/p>\n

Now we\u2019re talking! My issues with Caleb Lomu last week were what he offered to the 49ers\u2019 run game. Is Iheanachor any better? He might not be as \u201cready\u201d as Lomu, but he\u2019s got more versatility with his measurables, which makes him fit better in Kyle Shanahan\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n

Like last week, I\u2019m leaning more towards an edge rusher than an offensive tackle. Why draft a tackle with the first pick when you have both right and left tackle figured out this year (maybe)<\/a>, but no answer for the edge opposite Nick Bosa? Then again, Iheanachor could give competition to Colton McKivitz on the right side in 2026. If I had to choose between Iheanachor and Lomu, I\u2019d go with the former.<\/p>\n

In the second round, we have the 49ers taking Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad. Well, at least it\u2019s not a running back. I\u2019m not too sure about Muhammad, though. I\u2019m not sure where his projection is, but I\u2019ve read he has a \u201clack of tackle strength.\u201d Last thing any 49ers fan needs to see is the defense whiffing on tackles and it feels like that might happen. From what I saw, he looks like a pre-49ers free agent Ahkello Witherspoon. Is that what is needed in the second round?<\/p>\n

In the fourth round, the 49ers get their edge rusher, Alabama\u2019s LT Overton. Hey, I like this pick, but this is going to be a project. He\u2019s a powerful kid, but I\u2019m not sure what his ceiling is. The 49ers need the edge to complement Nick Bosa, and this could be the guy\u2026in like, a year or two. Which is not what I want to say about the 49ers\u2019 edge prospects in 2026.<\/p>\n

Also in the fourth round, the 49ers take Georgia wide receiver Dillon Bell. The best thing I can say about this is a poor man\u2019s Deebo Samuel. I\u2019m not sure if he\u2019d be taken to be Deebo as a wide back. I look at his measurements and see him as a kick returner\u2014which I would gladly take.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not done with the fourth round, as the 49ers take another offensive tackle, Boston College\u2019s Jude Bowry. I guess my question is, if they are taking Iheanachor, why would they take Bowry? The answer is probably to get a swing tackle figured out. I imagine a pick like this would be to put him at guard and tackle.<\/p>\n

Finally, we have Kansas State Safety VJ Payne taken. 49ers fans should want this guy for the name alone. Can he live up to it? Well, he\u2019ll need development. I saw some of Payne play, and he tends to arm-tackle\u2014and whiff\u2014on plays. Which again, makes me skittish. In the fourth round, the 49ers are looking for players with development potential, not plug-and-play immediately. Payne has also done some great things, too, especially against tight ends, something the 49ers could definitely use. I think in a year, he could get a starting nod.<\/p>\n

Overall, this sounds like a logical draft the 49ers make, addressing a few needs. What do you think of this haul?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, we had a bit of a realistic San Francisco 49ers draft. This week, we have one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,6,1161,252,52326,52067,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-853272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","13":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-free-agency","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-roster","15":"tag-sanfrancisco","16":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853272","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=853272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}