49ers pick Kinlaw of South Carolina, above, ASU’s Aiyuk in first round.
Niners select defensive tackle, wide receiver in first round
A month after they lost AllPro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and Pro Bowl wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, the 49ers drafted players they hope will fill their massive cleats Thursday.
In the first round of the NFL draft, the 49ers addressed the voids by selecting South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw with the No. 14 selection and by grabbing Arizona State wideout Brandon Aiyuk at No. 25.
Kinlaw, 6foot5 and 324 pounds, will join a defense that ranked second in the NFL last year and had the league’s fifthmost sacks. Kinlaw was a firstteam AllAmerican in 2019 after he had 35 tackles and six sacks while often dealing with doubleteams.
Kinlaw indicated he would pose more problems for offenses that also will have to contend with Nick Bosa, last year’s NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl pass
rusher Dee Ford and Arik Armstead, who signed a fiveyear, $85 million extension in March.
“Just a physical presence,” Kinlaw said. “Another physical, dominating presence, you know? Attached with three more. You can’t ask for nothing better than that. I feel like I can come in and play a vital role.”
Aiyuk was a firstteam AllPac12 selection last year after he had 65 catches for 1,192 yards and eight touchdowns. The 511, 205pounder ran a middling 40yard dash (4.5 seconds) at the combine, but was a bigplay threat for the Sun Devils. He averaged 17 yards on 98 career receptions and averaged 11.1 yards after the catch in 2019.
Aiyuk figures to earn a starting role given the 49ers’ lack of options at the position. Their wideout corps includes Deebo Samuel, last year’s stellar secondround pick who was the only wideout on the roster who had more than 30 catches in 2019.
Both firstround picks were preceded by some dealing.
The 49ers traded back one spot to No. 14 in a deal with the Buccaneers and picked up a fourthround pick (No. 117) while giving Tampa Bay a seventhrounder (No. 245). The 49ers then traded their No. 31 pick, the fourthrounder they received from the Buccaneers and a fifthround pick to move up six spots for Aiyuk.
Kinlaw is an imposing specimen. He has just 16% body fat and 347⁄8inch arms, matching the longest among the 46 defensive linemen at the combine. However, he could come with injury concerns: He exited the Senior Bowl and did not participate at the combine because of knee tendinitis.
On Thursday, Kinlaw said his knee was “100%.” Asked if his knee bothered him during his college career, he said “not really.”
The 49ers took Kinlaw with arguably the draft’s top wide receivers — Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb — still on the board. Jeudy was taken by Denver at No. 15 and Lamb was selected by Dallas at No. 17.
Instead, they turned to their trenches, which general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have done with their early picks since they arrived in 2017. They have had four top15 picks during the span and have used them to select three defensive linemen (Kinlaw, Bosa and Solomon Thomas) and offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey.
Lynch said Monday they wouldn’t trade out of the No. 13 spot if a group of about six “foundational” players slipped to them. It’s not known if Kinlaw was among the group. The 49ers did trade back with Tampa Bay, which was widely expected to address its offensive line to help protect quarterback Tom Brady. The Buccaneers selected Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.
Aiyuk was the first wide receiver a Shanahan team has selected in the first round in his 12 seasons as an offensive coordinator or head coach. A transfer from Sierra College in Rocklin, Aiyuk took off in the latter part of his first season at ASU in 2018; after he had 11 catches in his first nine games, Aiyuk had 87 receptions for 1,488 yards and 10 touchdowns in his final 16.
In 2018, Aiyuk played in an offense headlined by wide receiver N’Keal Harry, a firstround pick of the Patriots last year.
“I was more of a role player that year. It was frustrating at times,” Aiyuk said. “But I was just looking big picture and understanding that this could still happen. Because I still had another year to go do what I wanted to do.”
The 49ers have three remaining draft picks: one in each of the fifth, sixth and seven rounds. The 49ers have been actively trying to trade wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. On Thursday, Lynch told ESPN a deal could be imminent.