Niner Noise Podcast: 49ers prospect Olu Oluwatimi shares his road to NFL Draft

Michigan center Olu Oluwatimi, a potential 49ers target, stopped by the Niner Noise Podcast to talk about his road to the 2023 NFL Draft.

It’s not too hard to comb through some early mocks for the 2023 NFL Draft and find the San Francisco 49ers grabbing Michigan center Olusegun Oluwatimi with one of their three third-round picks.

Perhaps those mocks lessened a little bit after the Niners retained last year’s starting center, Jake Brendel, on a new contract.

However, if San Francisco wants to get its hands on the best interior linemen in college football last season, the recipient of the 2022 Outland Trophy, going after Oluwatimi as a long-term fixture in the center of the offensive line would be a wise strategy.

Even better, Oluwatimi is an all-around good person, too, and he was nice enough to stop by the Niner Noise Podcast to chat about his journey to the 2023 NFL Draft, what it’d be like to play for the 49ers and much more.

Including a fun story about Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, whom Niners fans know well.

Michigan center Olu Oluwatimi talks NFL Draft prep, 49ers and Jim Harbaugh on Niner Noise Podcast

Oluwatimi admitted he didn’t have a formal top-30 meeting with San Francisco, but he did share he met with all 32 teams briefly at the Senior Bowl, and he also met with both the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions at the NFL Scouting Combine not long after.

While the 49ers didn’t officially meet with him, they could always be interested. And Oluwatimi admitted it would be awesome donning the red and gold, especially lining up on the same O-line as All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams:

"It would be awesome. Just because, you know, Kyle Shanahan, he’s one of the best head coaches in the NFL on the San Francisco 49ers, a great organization that I felt is committed to winning and makes a lot of great decisions that led them to a lot of wins. and, you know, being in the same room as Trent was to be awesome if that happens. He’s probably the premier offensive tackle and the premier offensive lineman."

You can check out the full interview with the Michigan here.

One of the fun points Oluwatimi mentioned was a story about Harbaugh, who just so happens to be a motivated writer:

"Before we played Rutgers, I want to say last year, and [Harbaugh] was talking about it. He just woke up in the middle of the night and then started writing. I mean, he thinks he’s like an avid poet or like a great author, so he ended up writing a piece. I forgot the name of the piece, but he brought our strength coach up to read the piece, and then he ended up printing everybody a copy here."

Read More: Niners focus on trenches in post-NFL Combine mock draft

Harbaugh reportedly tied it into the team’s next game, but few probably knew the story about him being an avid poet.

“Him saying ‘I woke up in the middle of the night and just started writing,” Oluwatimi continued. “So, you know, coach coaches. He’s a he’s an interesting guy for sure.”

As far as getting ready for the draft, Oluwatimi pointed out that it’s pretty relaxing these last few days before the picks start pouring in on April 27. He plans on spending the second and third days of the draft with family and close friends, all of whom will be anxiously waiting for his name to be called.

Whether it’s with the 49ers or another team, all of us will be wishing Oluwatimi the best and a productive NFL career.