San Francisco 49ers: Way-too-soon 2019 full seven-round NFL Draft mock

The 49ers passed on grabbing an impact edge rusher in the 2018 NFL Draft, largely because the class was relatively thin and the Niners chose to use their first two picks on offensive players — offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey and wide receiver Dante Pettis in Rounds 1 and 2, respectively.

That won’t be the case in 2019, though, as a true EDGE is arguably the team’s biggest need entering this upcoming season.

Fortunately, John Lynch can sit back and grab nearly any player from Clemson’s stacked defensive line to fill this void. All four players — which Niner Noise broke down here, previously — are bona fide first-round talents. And since EDGE Clelin Ferrell went No. 1 overall to the New York Jets in this assessment, San Francisco elects to grab Ferrell’s D-line teammate, Austin Bryant.

The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Bryant burst onto the scene his junior year, registering a career-high 8.5 sacks and a whopping 15.5 tackles for a loss.

Bryant will need to hone his technique and vary his pass-rushing skills to replicate that kind of success at the NFL level. But in terms of pure strength and potential, few collegiate prospects stand out as much as Bryant.

With that, the Niners hope to have solved their outside pass-rushing needs, which haven’t been the same since the days of linebacker Aldon Smith.