49ers take Justin Fields, trade around in final mock NFL Draft

Round 6, Pick No. 194 Overall: 49ers select center Drew Dalman, Stanford

The Niners already found their immediate upgrade at center by signing the veteran, Alex Mack, during the offseason.

Mack has been durable. But he’s also well on the wrong side of being 30 years old, and San Francisco currently doesn’t have an established backup to fill in for him if he were to suffer some sort of elongated injury. True, the 49ers could do like they did last year and move Daniel Brunskill over to center from right guard. Ideally, though, Brunskill stays put.

So, to back up Mack with a player who’d fit in the Niners’ outside-zone blocking system, the team uses its sixth-round pick on Stanford center Drew Dalman.

Dalman, 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, is much better a run-blocker than someone who’d offer a lot in pass protection. He’s just fine in pulling and moving sideline to sideline, which is inherently necessary for a zone-style center. But he doesn’t have the functional strength to handle repeated interior pass-rushing moves.

That said, Dalman still has room to hone his technique to make up for these shortcomings at the pro level, and adding to the offensive line depth late in the draft still wouldn’t be a bad idea.