The San Francisco 49ers have a number of questions entering the 2025 NFL Draft, but what they do with the No. 11 pick tops the list.
San Francisco hasn’t taken a player this high in the draft since boldy moving up for, and subsequently missing on, quarterback Trey Lance with the No. 3 pick.
And with concerns about the team’s spending coming out in recent weeks, adding talent in the draft is that much more important for the 49ers this offseason.
With their first-round pick, many have pointed to the team taking a defensive lineman, given the gaping hole they have at defensive tackle, as well as the lack of a long-term option at defensive end opposite star pass-rusher Nick Bosa.
Luckily for them, this is one of the deepest defensive line drafts in recent memory, according to several draft pundits, so the 49ers should be well-equipped to add at least one difference-maker up front to bolster their defense.
As they parse through prospects while building their draft board, there are questions they’ll have to answer about certain players, namely how they’d fit with the 49ers, not only schematically, but also culturally.
Even since their well-known cut of first-round pick Rueben Foster, the 49ers have shied away from taking players who have ‘character concerns’ associated with them during the pre-draft process.
Well, one of those players in this year’s class is Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr., who was projected as high as the No. 1 player in the entire class entering the 2024 season.
Pearce, a 6’5, 243-pound edge rusher, has totaled 17 sacks over the last two seasons, being one of the more productive players in the SEC. But, he did deal with injuries this past year, dealing a slight blow to his draft stock, although he still managed to play in 13 games for the third straight year.
Pearce blew up the combine, running a position-high 4.47 40-yard dash in a hoodie, displaying his speed in a major way.
He also confirmed a formal meeting with the 49ers at the combine, which is telling as they met with several top-ranked defensive linemen in the class.
Should perceived ‘character concerns’ take Pearce off the board for the 49ers at No. 11?
Tennessee insider Austin Price believes that the issues are overblown with hopes of having the edge rusher fall.
“I think a lot of [the character concern talk] is posturing,” Price said on the radio earlier this week. “I think some teams want James Pearce to fall. If he’s falling to the third round, somebody is gonna look like a fool. James Pearce has got limitless talent. Now, was James Pearce a chore sometimes? Sure, I mean, but they all are.”
“I thought James grew a lot. He matured a lot. James is much smarter than people realize. And again, when you go back, Jauan Jennings was a handful when he was here and he’s doing just fine. Same thing with Shaun Ellis back in the 90s, or Raynoch Thompson. James Pearce, whoever drafts him, is going to get a steal — especially if they get him late in round one, early in round two. If he falls to the third round, that would be a travesty. Whoever’s going to get him is going to get an angry, motivated kid. James Pearce is a really good football player.....he’s still maturing, but James Pearce, again, I think grew a lot during his time [at Tennessee].
Interestingly enough, the 49ers took Jennings in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft, who has proven to be a monster on the field over the past few seasons.
Now, Pearce would, of course, be a much bigger selection early in the first round, but there are no questions about his talent as a pass-rusher.
While defensive tackle may be a bigger need, San Francisco needs to explore all avenues with what could be a franchise-changing pick. And they need to hit now more than ever.