{"id":875058,"date":"2026-04-26T09:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875058\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T09:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:45:18","slug":"49ers-news-the-2026-rookie-class-is-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/875058\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers News: The 2026 rookie class is set"},"content":{"rendered":"

49ers focus on the trenches in Day 3 of draft, pick DL Gracen Halton, OL Carver Willis (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cThe 6-foot-5, 303-pounder added that his lone season at Washington introduced him to the \u201cexact same offense\u201d as the 49ers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a more fast-paced, more fun offense, and I think I fit that scheme really well,\u201d Willis said. \u201cI\u2019m very grateful to be part of that same offense going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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49ers 2026 NFL Draft takeaways: Most needs were addressed, but where was the value? (Paywall)<\/a>
\u201cThe San Francisco 49ers spent Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft plugging holes on their roster and Day 3 shopping for size and upside.<\/p>\n

Their first two picks on Saturday were trench players, Oklahoma defensive tackle Gracen Halton and Washington offensive lineman Carver Willis. Halton, one of the fastest players at his position, figures to be part of the interior defensive line rotation this season, while coach Kyle Shanahan said Willis would have a chance to compete for the starting left guard spot.<\/p>\n

One of their most intriguing picks came in the fifth round in linebacker Jaden Dugger. Though he began his college career as a safety, he\u2019s one of the tallest (6-foot-4) and longest (35-inch arms) linebackers in this year\u2019s draft class. He seems like someone who could handle the tight end matchups that flummoxed the 49ers last season. The fit between him and linebackers coach K.J. Wright<\/a> \u2014 an ex-linebacker with similar height, weight and length \u2014 appears to be a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

5 things to know about 49ers fourth-round pick OL Carver Willis<\/a>
\u201cIt\u2019s a different game inside in a little way,\u201d Willis said. \u201cThings get on you quicker, guys are a little bit bigger. So just that adjustment I think will be interesting. Then at center, there\u2019s a center I train with who has talked to me and helped a lot throughout the process. His name\u2019s Alex Forsyth<\/a>. He\u2019s been huge. He said center\u2019s the hardest pre-snap position but one of the easier post-snap positions on the O-Line. For me, the adjustment to center will be a lot of pre-snap communications than I\u2019m used to and making the calls and doing all that. That\u2019ll be an adjustment, but one I think I\u2019m very capable of doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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5 things to know about 49ers fourth-round pick CB Ephesians Prysock<\/a>
\u201cMy oldest brother played corner,\u201d Prysock said. \u201cHe went through some things though. He had cancer and that forced him to stop playing. He couldn\u2019t play anymore after that. Now he teaches me a lot of the things I know now. He teaches me techniques and how to cover certain types of receivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis story is one of my biggest things that keeps me going. He went through so much. We watch film together a lot and do things about football together. We have that with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

49ers\u2019 Day 3 draft picks speak to Bay Area reporters
<\/a>\u201cThe San Francisco 49ers made five selections on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft, and each spoke to reporters shortly after hearing their name called. Here\u2019s what they had to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

5 things to know about 49ers fifth-round pick LB Jaden Dugger<\/a>
\u201cDugger, who turned 22 in January, has taken an interesting path to the NFL and could be a player who needs more time to develop before seeing extended snaps for the 49ers. But, being a former defensive back with a 6-5, 240-pound frame, a 4.61 40, 35-inch arms, and 9 5\/8-inch hands, he makes for an intriguing player to watch going forward. Here are some things to know about him as he joins the 49ers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan discuss the 49ers\u2019 2026 NFL Draft class
<\/a>\u201cSan Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters at the conclusion of the 2026 NFL Draft, answering questions about the team\u2019s eight selections and how they fit into the team\u2019s plans. Here\u2019s everything they said.\u201d<\/p>\n

5 things to know about 49ers fifth-round pick OL Enrique Cruz Jr.<\/a>
\u201cMore quick than explosive, he reaches landmarks well and has the size and length to tie up rushers. He flashes vice-grip hands when he connects, but his punch timing and overall hand usage are works in progress (see his reps versus David Bailey and Romello Height on the 2025 Texas Tech tape). He has functional strength, although it can be negated by spotty technique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rapoport: 49ers, Commanders remain locked in standoff over Brandon Aiyuk<\/a>
\u201cThey are expected to release him. They just haven\u2019t done it yet. What the 49ers would like to do is trade him. The Washington Commanders<\/a> are expected to have interest\u2014I would say significant interest\u2014but they don\u2019t want to make a move for him because they know that the 49ers are going to release him. And the 49ers don\u2019t want to release him because they believe the Commanders want him, and would potentially trade for him, which is why we\u2019re in this situation right now.\u201d <\/p>\n

49ers 2026 Undrafted Free Agent Tracker<\/a>
\u201cNotably, sometimes early reports refer to tryouts rather than actual signings, so details may change as confirmations come in. Additionally, a player may initially be reported as signing with the 49ers but ultimately sign with another team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"49ers focus on the trenches in Day 3 of draft, pick DL Gracen Halton, OL Carver Willis (paywall)\u201cThe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2080],"tags":[4955,220,3877,5305,103814,37457,7,80026,21764,2812,6,1161,252,2624,2623,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-875058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-49ers","10":"tag-alex-forsyth","11":"tag-brandon-aiyuk","12":"tag-carver-willis","13":"tag-ephesians-prysock","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-gracen-halton","16":"tag-k-j-wright","17":"tag-kyle-shanahan","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-san-francisco","20":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","21":"tag-sanfrancisco","22":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","23":"tag-washington-commanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116470371019148087","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875058","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=875058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}