Freakishly too-early 49ers 3-round mock for 2025 NFL Draft

The 2024 NFL Draft just ended, but that shouldn't stop us from predicting what the 49ers will do early in the 2025 draft, right?

The 2024 NFL Draft recently concluded, and the San Francisco 49ers took home eight players they ultimately hope turn into key contributors and stars for the next four-plus years.

Of course, no draft class is completely perfect, and the nature of the league means that addressing needs now will ultimately turn over other needs that need to be addressed in the not-so-distant future.

Currently, the Niners have six picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Because of a payroll error, the league docked San Francisco its fifth-round selection next year, but the 49ers are expected to receive three compensatory picks because of the loss of qualifying free agents and due to the Rooney Rule, which rewarded the 49ers for developing assistants (Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans and Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon) who were hired elsewhere.

We know the Niners will have substantial needs beginning next season, especially as they face salary cap challenges along with what'll be a lucrative contract extension for quarterback Brock Purdy.

So, San Francisco's 2025 draft selections will be just as vital as those made at the end of April this year.

There are so many X-factors waiting to play out between now and the 2025 NFL Draft, but that shouldn't stop us from our first mock draft for next year.

It's a three-rounder, using Pro Football Focus' trusty mock-draft tool, which adopted the 2024 draft order and has the 49ers selecting at No. 31 overall again (don't get too hung up on that).

With 30 picks in the books for the 2025 NFL Draft, the Niners are now on the clock in our first mock for next year.

49ers 3-round mock 2025 NFL Draft

San Francisco surprisingly passed on drafting a tackle early in 2024 and still needs to find an upgrade over right tackle Colton McKivitz and a long-term replacement for the aging future Hall of Famer, left tackle Trent Williams.

While the 49ers missed out on former Arizona tackle Jordan Morgan, whom the Green Bay Packers selected in Round 1 this year, the Niners grab Morgan's collegiate teammate, Jonah Savaiinaea, who has versatility at both right guard and right tackle.

Savaiinaea, 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds, is more of a power mover than a zone blocker, but head coach Kyle Shanahan has steadily shifted to more power schemes in recent years (see left guard Aaron Banks).

And, despite San Francisco's third-round pickup of offensive lineman Dominick Puni (likely Banks' long-term replacement), grabbing another young and cheapish lineman like Savaiinaea would help ensure the 49ers' offensive line progresses from a relative weakness into a strength.

It's slightly odd the Niners didn't target a defensive lineman in the draft this year, given their tendency of doing so, but the offseason free-agent pickups of edge rushers Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos help offset that need opposite All-Pro Nick Bosa.

At least for the time being.

Floyd is aging and is more of a stopgap option, while Gross-Matos is a bit of a reclamation project. As such, it wouldn't be surprising to see San Francisco use an early pick in 2025 to find a young, promising pass-rusher to take over for either Floyd or Gross-Matos in a year or two's time.

Enter Georgia's Mykel Williams.

Williams, 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, has speed on his side and also has room to add some functional muscle to his frame. While his technique needs some improvement, grabbing him in Round 2 would afford the 49ers an opportunity to develop him slowly without the need to thrust him into a prominent role right away.

All-Pro tight end George Kittle is hitting the wrong side of 30 years old, the Niners are inevitably going to have to face the reality of replacing him sooner than later.

Their 2023 draft pickups, Cameron Latu and Brayden Willis, made no significant impact, and the 2024 offseason free-agent grab of Eric Saubert doesn't suggest a major fix either.

As a result, San Francisco turns its Round 3 attention to Utah tight end Brant Kuithe.

Kuithe, 6-foot-2 and 229 pounds, is a notably older prospect who dealt with injuries the last two seasons. In 2021, though, he had a collegiate career-best 611 receiving yards on 50 catches with six touchdowns, and his prowess for being a red-zone target with good yards-after-the-catch ability could translate into a worthy Kittle-like protégé.

The 49ers could sorely miss now-Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead after releasing him in a cap-savings move earlier this offseason. And while the Niners mitigated that by trading with the Texans for veteran defensive tackle Maliek Collins, he, too, could be a cap casualty in 2025 with zero guaranteed money on his current contract for that year.

With its compensatory third-round selection, San Francisco tries to address that here in this mock by grabbing Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills at No. 101 overall.

Mills, 6-foot-5 and 296 pounds, can play a number of different spots along the defensive line, which adds to his prowess. A good interior pass-rusher who can also double outside as an edge, Mills might be more adept at a two-down run-stopper at the NFL level at either a 1- or 3-technique spot.

Armed with a high motor and long arms, Mills could be the long-term solution needed to beef up the interior of the 49ers' D-line.

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