San Francisco 49ers: 5 sleeper wide receivers to target in NFL Draft

49ers Draft Target No. 3: Cornell Powell, Clemson

There are primarily three major questions surrounding Clemson wide receiver Cornell Powell:

• Why did it take him until his fifth year to finally break out?
• Is he a one-year wonder or just a late bloomer?
• Can the success he had with a Trevor Lawrence-led offense translate over to someone else at the NFL level?

True, Powell was buried on the Tigers’ depth chart before 2020, so that’s understandable to a point. And the 6-foot-0, 210-pound target has the nice combination of size, strength, speed and route-running ability to suggest he’d be a solid late-round target in Rounds 5, 6 or potentially 7 if he were to fall that far.

The consistency on tape isn’t quite there, though, and the limited sample size is a bit of a question mark.

That said, looking at Powell’s 882 receiving yard and seven touchdowns last season, skewed heavily towards the Tigers’ final six games of the year, helped him improve his NFL Draft stock and potentially put him on the 49ers’ radar.

Especially if they’re looking at a raw-but-enticing developmental prospect.