San Francisco 49ers meet with Brenden Rice, Frank Gore Jr. and Luke McCaffrey at 2024 NFL Combine
There are three players with significant connections to the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 NFL Draft. The 49ers have met with all three. This year's draft features Brenden Rice, son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, along with Frank Gore Jr, son of the legendary former 49ers running back by the same […]
There are three players with significant connections to the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The 49ers have met with all three.
This year's draft features Brenden Rice, son of Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, along with Frank Gore Jr, son of the legendary former 49ers running back by the same name, and Christian McCaffrey's brother Luke. The likelihood of the Niners drafting all three is slim, but San Francisco is doing its due diligence on each of the potential feel-good selections.
USC wideout Rice confirmed at his Combine press conference that he has met formally with the 49ers, while Souther Mississippi running back Gore met informally with San Francisco, per NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco. Gore faces the prospect of going through his workout in front of his father, who works in an advisory role in the 49ers' front office and is with the team in Indianapolis.
McCaffrey meanwhile has also met with the 49ers between the Senior Bowl and the Combine, per Chase Senior, after an excellent end to his career as a wide receiver with Rice. He had 992 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in his final season with the Owls.
And he has made a point of learning everything he can from his older brother.
"He seems to do just about everything right," Luke said of Christian. "If you can't learn something from him, you're off.
"It's awesome to be able to take tips from him, take tips from my dad [Ed] and my older brothers who all kind of have different styles, to be able to blend that together has been such a great gift."
McCaffrey's more famous sibling has become the focal point of the 49er attack, winning Offensive Player of the Year for his outstanding performance in the 2023 season. Whether the 49ers become enamored with the younger McCaffrey, Rice or Gore Jr. is going to be one of the most fascinating subplots of the later rounds of the draft.
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