49ers must cross these 5 prospects off big board after poor NFL Combine

While the NFL Scouting Combine isn’t a tell-all, the 49ers would probably be wise to avoid drafting these five players after their lackluster showings at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Yes, there’s probably a bit too much stock value put into what happens over the week-long period at the annual NFL Scouting Combine.

The proverbial “spandex Olympics” tries to capture an NFL Draft prospect’s pure athletic abilities without the X-factors of game play, donning helmets and pads, being tired from 60 minutes of action and so on.

Then again, those prospects will never wear spandex only on game day.

The San Francisco 49ers, however, should have nevertheless been enticed by a number of prospects who tested and performed well during the week’s events at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and a few surely rose up their big board in advance of the 2022 draft.

Others, however, likely sunk all the way towards being crossed off the big board altogether, including these five who’ll probably be passed up each time the Niners’ number is called.

49ers no-go prospect No. 5: Running back Kyren Williams, Notre Dame

San Francisco is surely likely to flirt with the idea of adding another running back in the NFL Draft, and it might be smart with the presumed 2022 starter, Elijah Mitchell, appearing in only 11 games last season because of injury, as well as veteran rushers Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. hitting free agency.

But if head coach Kyle Shanahan was honing in on Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams at some point on day three, he was likely disappointed.

Williams, 5-foot-9 and 194 pounds, managed one of the slowest 40-yard times out of anyone at his position, clocking in at 4.65 seconds, while his 32-inch vertical should have been much better for a player his size.

Perhaps Williams will save his draft stock a bit because of his back-to-back 1,000-yard rush seasons the last two years, and production always outclasses NFL Combine testing.

Regardless, Shanahan loves speed on the ground, and Williams failed to deliver in that regard.