The San Francisco 49ers enter the 2024 NFL Draft with a unique opportunity to draft a player who is related to a current or former Niners.
The son of Jerry Rice, the son of Frank Gore, the son of Terrell Owens, and the brother of Christian McCaffrey are all available in the draft.
Who among these players is the best fit, though?
The 49ers have a number of needs going into this draft, namely the offensive line and certain defensive positions. One area where they do not have much need is with their offensive skill positions. All of these legacy players are offensive skill players, so there is not an overwhelming need for San Francisco to select any of them.
The 49ers seem fairly set at both the running back and wide receiver positions, barring any big shake-ups. But there could be room for the Niners to select one of these players.
We will survey the players and rank them in terms of worst to best fit.
Let's start with the worst fit.
Worst Fit: Running back Frank Gore Jr.
Frank Gore Jr. looks like he has the skills to be a solid running back in the NFL just like his father, but it most likely will not happen with the 49ers.
At Southern Miss, he rushed for over 1,000 yards in his last two years and had 19 rushing touchdowns in those two seasons.
He is built similarly to his father in that he is a smaller back with a lower center of gravity. That could make him difficult to bring down and better able to slip through tackles in the NFL.
However, it seems unlikely (but not impossible) the Niners will draft a running back this year. They already have the best running back in the NFL with McCaffrey, a very solid (although oft-injured) backup in Elijah Mitchell, and a young back who showed promise and may be a potential kick returner in Jordan Mason.
Plus, they just signed running back Patrick Taylor as another depth piece. If the 49ers drafted Gore Jr., then they would be forced to cut one of these players, which they probably do not want to do. Gore will probably find a good home on a team that has a need at running back.
Now, let's move on to two players who may be slightly better fits.
Slightly better fit: Wide receiver Terique Owens
Terique Owens played wide receiver for three seasons at Missouri State. He put up some decent numbers, especially in his senior year where he has 28 receptions for 528 yards and four touchdowns.
It seems unlikely that Owens will be drafted, and he has stated as much, but perhaps he could make sense as an undrafted free agent for the team just as a low-risk, high-reward depth piece.
We can only hope that if he is a 49er, he is a little less dramatic than his dad was as a player.
Pretty good fit: Wide receiver Brenden Rice
Brenden Rice, the son of the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, is available in this year's draft. He had some solid seasons at USC where he established himself as a deep threat and developed chemistry with the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the draft, quarterback Caleb Williams.
The 49ers do not have an explicitly deep threat option on the team other than Danny Gray who is looking more and more like a bust. It is not a huge part of their offense, but perhaps it could be if they draft Rice.
The 49ers should probably not go out of their way to draft Rice, even though it would be cool to see Jerry's son on the Niners. If the younger Rice falls to the later rounds and they have already addressed other more pressing needs, then he could make sense.
Now, onto the best fit.
Best fit: Wide Receiver Luke McCaffrey
The 49ers could reunite Christian McCaffrey with his brother Luke in the draft. The younger McCaffrey showed promise in college at Rice and has continued to impress at the Senior Bowl as well as the combine.
He makes sense the most of these wide receiver options because he has more versatility as a guy who can potentially return punts for the team as well as being a depth wide receiver.
McCaffrey may also have an easier time integrating himself into head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense given the connection between the Shanahan and McCaffrey families. If he is anywhere near as smart and hardworking as his brother, it should not be too much trouble for him.
In sum, all four of these players are a bit of an oblique fit for the 49ers. They are already covered at these positions, but they must consider the fact that Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey will not be on the team forever, so perhaps they can develop their stars of the future who also have a connection to the past.