No. 5: Safety Lorenzo Jerome, Saint Francis University
Lorenzo Jerome, the 5-foot-11 and 202-pound safety from Saint Francis University, definitely turned the heads of a few teams with his performance on Saturday.
Jerome finished the day with three tackles, a forced fumble and two interceptions.
On the forced fumble, Jerome sniffed out a reverse and met Texas A&M wide receiver Josh Reynolds in the backfield. Jerome initially missed the tackle, but didn’t give up on the play and chased down Reynolds from behind before forcing the fumble:
One of his interceptions came off of Tennessee’s quarterback Josh Dobbs, who was hit as he threw the ball. The other, Jerome made a play on an underthrown deep ball by Antonio Pipkin of Tiffin University.
Although the 49ers have two safeties in Jaquiski Tartt and Antoine Bethea, drafting Jerome wouldn’t be a bad idea. Bethea is entering the final year of his contract, and Tartt’s play digressed in his second season.
Jerome showed great ball-tracking skills along with the ability to read a play.
The Saint Francis standout finished his collegiate career with 252 total tackles, 47 pass deflections, 18 interceptions, five sacks and two forced fumbles.
The 49ers defensive backs totaled only five interceptions all of 2016, so they could use a ballhawk like Jerome in the secondary.