49ers focus on trenches, depth in post-NFL Combine mock draft
By Peter Panacy
Dontay Demus Jr.. 173. player. 824. . Wide Receiver. Terrapins
Round 5, Pick No. 173 overall (compensatory): 49ers select Dontay Demus Jr., Maryland
The Niners haven’t focused at all on skill players on offense to this point in the draft, but that’ll be something Kyle Shanahan will want to change at some point.
Maryland wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr. is an intriguing prospect for a team like San Francisco, particularly because he offers up the kind of skill set that would fit in a Shanahan offense within a certain niche-type role.
Having run a 4.57 40-yard time at the NFL Combine, the 6-foot-3 and 212-pound Demus isn’t going to win a lot of footraces, yet he does have the size and strength to be a solid third-down target and a big body within the red zone.
Simply put, one might view Demus as an heir apparent to current 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who does both of those things fairly well and will be back in 2023.
Yet Demus might be an added competition piece and eventual replacement if Jennings doesn’t return a year from now.