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San Francisco 49ers: 5 late-round gems to target in the 2019 NFL Draft

By Peter Panacy

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 24: Marquise Blair #13 of the Utah Utes gestures to the crowd in the second half of Utah's 35-27 win over the Brigham Young Cougars in a game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 24: Marquise Blair #13 of the Utah Utes gestures to the crowd in the second half of Utah's 35-27 win over the Brigham Young Cougars in a game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /
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TEMPE, AZ – SEPTEMBER 03: Quarterback Case Cookus #15 of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks stands on the field alongside wide receiver Emmanuel Butler #8 prior to the game Arizona State Sun Devilsa at Sun Devil Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils won 44-13. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ – SEPTEMBER 03: Quarterback Case Cookus #15 of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks stands on the field alongside wide receiver Emmanuel Butler #8 prior to the game Arizona State Sun Devilsa at Sun Devil Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils won 44-13. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

While the majority of NFL Draft focus is on the first two days, these five late-round hidden gems can vastly help the San Francisco 49ers in 2019 if selected.

It’s not hard to understand why so much anticipation and speculation has focused on the San Francisco 49ers‘ first pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. It’s the No. 2 overall selection, after all, and there’s likely no more than three players general manager John Lynch will target there: Ohio State EDGE Nick Bosa, Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and Kentucky EDGE Josh Allen.

Even the Niners’ second pick, No. 36 overall, is easily debated. There are surely going to be some first-round holdovers slipping into Round 2, making that choice pretty provocative.

This slideshow wants nothing to do with those two selections. Not even San Francisco’s third-round pick.

No, this is all about day-three choices for the 49ers — players likely to go between Rounds 4 and 7 of the NFL Draft. And while they rarely receive the attention first- and second-round prospects get, they can be just as potent as the “surefire Pro Bowlers” of the first two rounds.

Case in point, the Niners grabbed tight end George Kittle in Round 5 of the 2017 NFL Draft, and all he did was set NFL records last season. Cornerback Richard Sherman was another fifth-round draftee, taken by the Seattle Seahawks back in 2011 en route to a four-time Pro Bowl career.

Who’ll be the next proverbial “diamond in the rough” candidate selected by San Francisco?

Here are five day-three players the Niners would be wise to target in 2019, banking on the hopes they can be the next late-round finds that ultimately outperform any and all expectations.