49ers 7-round mock NFL Draft with Super Bowl 56 in the books
By Peter Panacy
858. . Wide Receiver. Tigers . Calvin Austin III. 255. player
Round 7, Pick No. 255 Overall (Compensatory): WR Calvin Austin, Memphis
After dishing out two picks to Washington, the Niners are well within the range of picks where going after intangibles and hopefuls is in play.
San Francisco hopes to have its top end of the wide receiver room set with Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and a suddenly emerging Jauan Jennings, yet the depth behind that trio is questionable.
And, knowing Kyle Shanahan, going after some more offensive gadget players is always a possibility.
At 5-foot-9 and 162 pounds, Memphis wide receiver Calvin Austin III is anything but a bona fide force at the NFL level, and he’ll likely never shed the association of being unable to withstand the rigors of the pro game.
That said, there are some players who are simply electrifying with the ball in their hands, and Austin should fall into that category.
Austin had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving campaigns with 19 touchdowns the last two years with the Tigers, and watching him in the open field should convince Shanahan enough to rely on Austin’s elusiveness and difficult-to-tackle abilities.
For a seventh-round flier, the 49ers could do much worse.