It's still way too early to conclude anything, but perhaps the San Francisco 49ers weren't overly foolish to select former Indiana running back Kaelon Black so early in the 2026 NFL Draft—Round 3 at No. 90 overall.
Granted, the negative reaction to drafting a player who could've been taken much later won't go away until Black fully solidifies himself as a force on the field, and that might never happen anyway.
But, at least early on, the reviews are starting to come in. And they're positive.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk told The Rich Eisen Show how impressed he was with Black, going as far to say the rookie was "absolutely jacked." And others have started paying attention, too.
Including one player whom Black may eventually look to overtake on the depth chart.
Christian McCaffrey adds to Kaelon Black praise from 49ers OTAs
Black got to compete against some of his new teammates with the Niners kicking off organized team activities. And while these sessions are padless and don't offer much by the way of competition, the early takeaways have been positive.
Particularly for one of San Francisco's primary stars, All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey.
"He’s somebody who’s so eager to learn, and we’ve had a couple of conversations outside of practice on different things that I’m seeing," McCaffrey told NBC Sports Bay Area of Black. "What I see already is just that he can pick things up so quickly. Once you tell him something, he knows how to correct it. He’s a true football player."
Black, too, is eager to prove his doubters wrong, previously acknowledging how head coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers front office took a lot of heat for drafting him in Round 3.
Granted, it's far too early in the process to conclude whether or not the first-year rusher will make a positive impact. OTAs provide little evidence, and other established stars saying all the right things about Black is commonplace this time of year.
Still, all the feedback to date has been positive, and that's far from how bad things could've gotten by this point.
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