4 sleepers 49ers must have eyes on late in 2023 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
No. 2 sleeper 49ers must target: WR Elijah Higgins, Stanford
John Lynch always has to have at least one Stanford player on his radar, and it’d help if that player would be someone head coach Kyle Shanahan would want as well.
Stanford wide receiver Elijah Higgins is certifiably a day-three pick who won’t slip into the back end of Round 3.
However, the 6-foot-3 and 235-pound wideout is almost built with a tight end’s frame and can fulfill that kind of role, too. More likely, though, a team like the 49ers would envision Higgins as a big slot receiver, and that’s a strategy Shanahan has used before, currently with Niners wide receiver Jauan Jennings and previously with the Atlanta Falcons with Mohamed Sanu.
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Jennings is awfully slow, though. And while Higgins won’t necessarily finish first in wide receiver footraces, his 4.54 40-yard time at the NFL Combine is more than enough to suggest an upgrade over Jennings would be on the table.
That is if San Francisco goes after the Stanford product, of course.