49ers NFL Draft 2021: 5 ‘boom or bust’ prospects to worry about

49ers Boom-or-Bust Risk No. 1: EDGE Gregory Rousseau, Miami

Like Caleb Farley, Miami EDGE Gregory Rousseau has seen his NFL Draft stock plummet from a surefire first-round selection to a fringe day-one, day-two player.

It’s not hard to understand why.

San Francisco 49ers

For starters, despite it being a deep class, nearly every outside pass-rusher in this year’s draft has some kind of notable question mark. There’s no clear-cut standout who’ll be a bona fide contributor at a high level.

In Rousseau’s case, it’s the “one-year wonder” concern that has likely influenced his fall. After being mostly a non-factor for the Hurricanes in 2018, Rousseau broke out the following season with 15.5 sacks, putting him on a path to easy Round 1 status. Except many of those quarterback takedowns were attributed to mistakes in pass protection or Rousseau simply being matched up opposite inadequate blockers.

That’s no fault of Rousseau. He was there to make plays and did when given the opportunity. Yet scouts surely wanted to see more, and Rousseau electing to sit out the 2020 season didn’t do him any favors in that regard.

San Francisco could use some additional pass-rushing help. Aside from its secondary, one could argue a top edge rusher should be a high priority.

The 49ers may see Rousseau as a worthy gamble in Round 2 of the draft, should he fall to the Niners’ top pick in the round. But even that is going to carry some significant risks.

Particularly if Rousseau’s 2019 campaign was more of an anomaly than anything else.