The San Francisco 49ers made a couple of interesting moves before and during last season that may have hinted at a change in the way the club will build its defense moving forward. Two recent mock drafts from NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah explore paths for the 49ers to continue the trend.
For the entirety of the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch era, the 49ers built their defense from front to back. They prioritized the defensive line and aimed to piece a secondary together behind a dominant pass rush. Their attempts at rebuilding a dominant pass rush have fallen short the last couple of offseasons, though.
In the 2024 draft they used a second-round pick on cornerback Renardo Green − the earliest they've ever selected a CB since Lynch and Shanahan took over. Then midway through the 2024 season they extended rising star CB Deommodore Lenoir and established what appears to be a CB duo of the future.
Jeremiah's last two mock drafts have followed the CB-first trend for San Francisco. In his second mock he had the 49ers selecting University of Michigan CB Will Johnson. In his third mock, released Tuesday, Jeremiah sends University of Texas CB Jahdae Barron to the 49ers.
Perhaps this is an opportunity for the 49ers to stick to their new type of team-building, and it's borne mostly out of available assets. Jeremiah's mock doesn't have a defensive lineman going until Marshall defensive end Mike Green at No. 17 overall. The next DE goes at No. 19, and another DL doesn't leave the board until the 27th overall pick.
This may be a circumstance where San Francisco, which undoubtedly still values pass rushers, simply fills out its secondary with another high-end player instead of reaching for a defensive lineman. There are a slew of players who may be able to help their defensive front on Days 2 and 3. Reaching for a DT or DE at No. 11 overall wouldn't make much sense for the same reason they didn't reach for DL help in last year's draft, and instead picked a CB in the second round.
It's unlikely the 49ers wanted to shift their team-building philosophy, but the dominoes have fallen where their secondary is starting to become the strength of their defense. Jeremiah's recent mocks give an indication that the cards may continue falling that way for San Francisco and they'll be pushed once again toward their new defensive construction.
