It's no secret the 49ers need to draft an offensive tackle.
Trent Williams, the left tackle, will be 37 in July. Colton McKivitz, the right tackle, will be a free agent next year. And Jaylon Moore, the swing tackle, recently signed with the Chiefs. Which means the 49ers definitely will draft at least one offensive tackle this year.
And that tackle could be Oregon's Josh Conerly Jr. He reportedly had a formal meeting with the 49ers at the NFL Scouting Combine in February according to Aaron Wilson.
Conerly's stock is on the rise. He almost certainly will get drafted in Round 1 because he's seen as a true offensive tackle prospect in a draft that lacks good ones.
The top offensive tackle prospect in the draft is Missouri's Armand Membou. He most likely will get taken in the top 5 picks. After him, there's LSU's Will Campbell, Texas' Kelvin Banks Jr. and Conerly.
Campbell is a terrific athlete, but his arms are so short, he might have to play guard or even center.
Banks is a solid athlete, but not a great one, and lots of draft analysts believe he's a better fit at guard than tackle.
And then there's Conerly. He's a better athlete than Banks and he has longer arms than Campbell. So Conerly might be the second-highest-graded offensive tackle on their draft board.
Keep in mind, the 49ers have had lots of success drafting Oregon players the past 10 years. Their past three draft picks who went to Oregon were Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Deommodore Lenoir -- three terrific players.
