49ers 2025 mock NFL Draft after Week 3: Solving injury woes, glaring problems

The 49ers have plenty of issues on full display after three weeks of the season, meaning our latest four-round mock NFL Draft aims to solve them.

The San Francisco 49ers' 2024 campaign is beginning to shake out a lot like their 2020 efforts.

Both years followed a Super Bowl loss, and 2020 was a disaster on the injury front.

Three weeks into 2024, it's looking as if injuries will be a primary theme for head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad, which is already without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey (calf, Achilles) for the foreseeable future and just lost Pro Bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (triceps) for the season.

Star offensive weapons, George Kittle (hamstring) and Deebo Samuel (calf), have already missed time with injuries, too.

As the San Francisco Chronicle's Eric Branch pointed out, the Niners' nine Pro Bowlers from 2023 are guaranteed to miss at least 20 games this season, whereas they missed a combined five a year ago.

Along with a potentially massive roster turnover in 2025, San Francisco needs to consider landing some immediate-impact talent in next year's NFL Draft. While previous Niner Noise mocks have aimed to solve current observable issues, our latest one focuses on the recent string of injuries while including those previously discussed woes.

We'll use Pro Football Focus' mock draft tool, tackling the first five of seven rounds in April's draft.

PFF still has the 49ers selecting No. 31, for what it's worth.

49ers 5-round mock 2025 NFL Draft

Another notable injury has affected the Niners' linebacker play, losing star linebacker Dre Greenlaw in the Super Bowl last February.

Greenlaw's fill-in replacements, De'Vondre Campbell and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, haven't been up to par in the opening three weeks, and San Francisco has to be thinking long term with Greenlaw a free agent in 2025.

Sure, second-year pro Dee Winters has some promise, and grabbing an off-ball linebacker in Round 1 of the draft isn't overly common.

But Oklahoma's Danny Stutsman is an outright playmaker who's versatile, constantly around the ball, sound in coverage, good at the blitz and can be a perfect pairing with All-Pro Fred Warner.

Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams was the Round 2 pick for San Francisco in our previous mock, and there's no reason to change that here. If anything, the Hargrave injury only highlights the need to get younger and cheaper along the defensive line's interior.

Hargrave, now on the wrong side of 30 years old, is also a potential cap casualty in 2025, further driving home the idea of getting a day-one starter to plug the gap.

Williams boasts plenty of power and disruptive potential at the pro level.

All of the 49ers' top three cornerbacks -- Charvarius Ward, Deommodore Lenoir and Isaac Yiadom -- are pegged to be free agents in 2025, and Yiadom has largely disappointed early in 2024 despite having a quality training camp.

The Niners used a second-round pick on corner Renardo Green last April, and he has promise. But they'll need more reinforcements to help the secondary transition.

Virginia Tech's Mansoor Delane is a versatile defensive back whose football smarts already hint at him being a potential plug-and-play starter in a zone-style defense if he can add some functional weight to his smallish 187-pound frame.

With a compensatory pick at the end of Round 3, San Francisco grabs an offensive tackle who arguably has the best footwork out of any lineman in the 2025 draft clas, Oregon's Josh Conerly Jr.

Conerly could be a riser, possibly leaping toward the fringes of Rounds 1 and 2. But, landing him here at the tail end of the third round is a blessing.

Sure, Conerly needs some work in the run game. But his technique in pass protection would be a welcome sight for quarterback Brock Purdy's front side, which has been under regular pressure this season, thanks to largely ineffective blocking from right tackle Colton McKivitz.

No, I'm not an Oregon alumnus (Go Santa Clara Broncos!).

Kittle mostly shook his injury reputation that followed his career through 2020, although his current hamstring injury is concerning, especially considering he'll soon turn 31 years old. Plus, the 49ers have long sought a quality No. 2 tight end to pair with the All-Pro for years now anyway.

At the end of Round 4, Oregon's Terrance Ferguson has Kittle-like qualities with the ability to create separation and generate yards after the catch in the receiving game while doubling as an effective run blocker.

Hargrave's absence might reveal a painful truth about the Niners' D-line depth, which was questionable to begin with before his injury and could be on full display for the rest of 2024.

Grabbing a couple of interior D-linemen may be smart here, and San Francisco has enjoyed success with plenty of previous fifth-round picks.

Perhaps Louisville's Thor Griffith, a defensive tackle who transferred from Harvard, fits the bill.

Griffith is short at 6-foot-2, but the 49ers historically have liked squatty interior defensive tackles, and he's one who can serve as a base-down run-defending 1- or 3-technique player.

The Niners seem content with veteran center Jake Brendel for the foreseeable future, even though he's undergone an up-and-down 2024 campaign.

However, if they're looking at a project as a potential long-term replacement, Florida's Jake Slaughter could be the go-to option at the tail end of Round 5 in the compensatory section.

Slaughter makes up for his physical prowess with good football IQ and is probably a better fit in a zone-style system anyway, upping his value to a Shanahan-style offense.

Shanahan has typically preferred veterans at center, meaning Slaughter wouldn't be in the running for a starting job anytime soon.

But, with some refinement over a year or two, he could be the solution to eventually replace Brendel.

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