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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: Wide receiver Emmanuel Butler #8 of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks is forced out of bounds by defensive back De’Chavon Hayes #8 of the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first half of the game at Sun Devil Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Arizona State Sun Devils won 44-13. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ – SEPTEMBER 03: Wide receiver Emmanuel Butler #8 of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks is forced out of bounds by defensive back De’Chavon Hayes #8 of the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first half of the game at Sun Devil Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona. The Arizona State Sun Devils won 44-13. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

The 49ers need a big-bodied target at wide receiver, especially after no Niners wideout reached 500 receiving yards in 2018. Pair that with the fact San Francisco’s red-zone offense finished dead last in touchdown efficiency a year ago, and one can see why grabbing a go-to wide receiver would be a top priority.

San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

But there’s a good chance the 49ers shelve this need until later. In doing so, they could open up the door for a late-round acquisition of Northern Arizona wide receiver Emmanuel Butler.

FCS players don’t get anywhere near the attention as other top prospects. One such example, who slipped in the draft because of this yet became a Hall of Famer, is former 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens out of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

This isn’t to say Butler, who stands at 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds, is on Owens’ trajectory. And coming off a 2017 shoulder injury certainly hurt is draft stock. Butler isn’t particularly fast, either, although he’s more than capable of winning 50-50 balls and using his lengthy frame to create some separation.

Butler is likely going to be a seventh-round draft choice, potentially slipping into undrafted free agency.

If the 49ers want to take a flier, Butler’s intangibles make him more than worthwhile on day three.