San Francisco 49ers' potential 2024 NFL Draft selection compares well with franchise legend
The most recent mock by Mel Kiper Jr. likely will have raised some eyebrows among fans of the San Francisco 49ers, who might not have been overly familiar with the name he picked for them with the 31st overall selection. There's no doubt that at that point in the draft, Washington tackle Roger Rosengarten would […]
The most recent mock by Mel Kiper Jr. likely will have raised some eyebrows among fans of the San Francisco 49ers, who might not have been overly familiar with the name he picked for them with the 31st overall selection.
There's no doubt that at that point in the draft, Washington tackle Roger Rosengarten would be a significant reach, but there's reason to believe he could well become a 49er this month.
Rosengarten crushed the NFL Combine last month, posting an A to Z Sports' athletic composite score of 93.9%, and possesses several traits highly valued by San Francisco.
Chief among them is his ability to use his athletic gifts to put himself in a strong position in pass protection. While the 49ers have a behemoth at left tackle in the form of Trent Williams, head coach Kyle Shanahan puts more of a premium on foot speed than size among his offensive linemen.
Rosengarten has foot speed in spades. He is consistently extremely quick out of his stance, displaying composed footwork and an agile lower half that allows him to stay square with opposing pass rushers.
He complements his footwork with impressive hand usage, combining a heavy punch with strong good hand placement and, while he will give ground to bull rushes, Rosengarten plays with a wide base that aids him in being able to drop the anchor.
Able to recover when pass rushers put him in the race working around the edge, Rosengarten did not give up a sack in 414 pass block snaps last season and ranked tied ninth among tackles in this draft class in Pro Football Focus' pass block efficiency metric after conceding only 15 pressures.
His success in that regard also owed to his awareness in picking up stunts, but there are clear concerns about Rosengarten as a pass protector. He has proven vulnerable to inside moves, while a lack of arm length means he is regularly beaten to the punch by defenders who get into his pads.
Yet that physical deficiency might not be such a concern to the 49ers when contemplating a player whose athletic profile is markedly similar to the one of the best offensive linemen in franchise history.
Per MockDraftable, Rosengarten's fourth-closest athletic comparison from the last 20 years is Joe Staley, a first-round pick of the 49ers in 2007 who went on to start at left tackle for 13 seasons, earning six Pro Bowl nods.
As a former tight end who weighed 6ft 6in and 308 pounds coming out, Staley, having played in a variety of different offenses prior to Shanahan's arrival in 2017, was an excellent fit for an attack built around the zone running game.
Rosengarten is a shade over 6ft 5in and 306 pounds and heads into the draft having shown tremendous promise as a blocker in space in the run game. He can get to the second level in a hurry and does an excellent job as a puller, with the latter quality increasingly important in a 49er offense that has implemented more gap scheme runs in recent years.
Knowing that the likelihood is they would have a shot to land him on day two, the prospect of a 49ers team that has typically prioritized the other side of the trenches above all else in the draft taking Rosengarten in the first round still appears highly unlikely.
But if the 49ers are considering finding a potential long-term starter at right tackle, an obvious need after Colton McKivitz's postseason and Super Bowl struggles, without using a premium pick, then there's several reasons to believe Rosengarten could their guy. Kiper might not be wrong, just early.
San Francisco 49ers have extra motivation to stick to their long-time habit in 2024 NFL Draft
The market has taken off.
