49ers 2020 NFL Draft: 3 players San Francisco should have taken

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Bryce Hall #34 of the Virginia Cavaliers (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

888. . Cornerback. Cavaliers . Bryce Hall. 1. player

Again with the cornerbacks. Notice a theme here?

If Virginia cornerback Bryce Hall entered the 2019 NFL Draft instead of going back to college for another year, he would have easily been a day-two pick, perhaps even slipping into the back end of Round 1.

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Instead, he suffered an ankle injury his senior year, which limited him to six games and derailed his draft stock significantly. While there’s no questioning Hall having day-two talent, those injury concerns surely influenced the Jets’ decision to take him in Round 5 at No. 158 overall.

Not to beat up on the 49ers’ fifth-round selection of Colton McKivitz again — after all, it wasn’t a terrible pick — but one has to wonder at least a little bit whether targeting Hall instead would have been the wiser move.

It’s possible the Niners didn’t want to go the route of selecting another prospect with some serious injury concerns, which has been something of a staple carrying over from the days of former general manager Trent Baalke. Still, Hall has enough upside to make the risk worthwhile, and it isn’t as if the cornerback carried a massive injury legacy over his four collegiate seasons.

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Simply put, Hall would have been worth a day-three flier, and he at least would have reinforced a position needing some help, both right away and in coming years.