10 NFL Draft prospects 49ers would hate to see in NFC West
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers can hope their NFC West rivals have bad NFL Draft classes for 2022, and they surely don’t want to see these 10 prospects in the division.
The San Francisco 49ers need to be vastly better against their own division, the NFC West, in 2022 than they were a year ago.
Granted, watching the Seattle Seahawks trade away quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos this offseason will help matters a lot. But the fact the Niners went a lowly 2-4 within the division last season isn’t a good indication of how successful they’ll be heading into 2022.
Hopefully, this year’s NFL Draft classes of the Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and the Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams will be bad. All the while, San Francisco’s own draft class will be good.
That’s the hope at least.
Los Angeles isn’t drafting until Round 3, of course. But both the Hawks and Cardinals have first-round selections, as well as additional picks on day two of the draft.
As such, the 49ers better hope these 10 high-profile NFL Draft prospects don’t wind up playing within the NFC West by landing with one of the Niners’ division rivals this spring.
Scouting Report. Wide Receiver. 2117. player. Pick Analysis. South Alabama. Jalen Tolbert. 10
No. 10 prospect 49ers don’t want to see in NFC West: WR Jalen Tolbert, South Alabama
San Francisco sought to get younger and more athletic at cornerback during the offseason, highlighted by grabbing former Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward in free agency and bidding farewell to older veteran defensive backs like Josh Norman and K’Waun Williams.
This should improve the 49ers a lot, but there are going to be question marks with how well the defensive backfield contends against some of the better pass-catchers within the NFC West.
As far as promising wide receivers go, South Alabama wide receiver Jalen Tolbert could be a legitimate threat if he lands in the right system.
At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, boasting 1,474 receiving yards and eight touchdowns last year, Tolbert has all the signs of being a big-play threat and has the ability to stretch the field, too.
A team like the Seahawks could elect to make Tolbert their next find, while both the Cardinals and Rams could afford to add another dynamic pass-catcher to the mix, too.
Simply put, the Niners want Tolbert going somewhere else within the league.