NFL Draft 2019: San Francisco 49ers full mock draft
By Joe Romano
Round 4 – Pick 104
Dennis Daley, T, South Carolina
An underrated part of the draft for NFL teams is finding seccesion plans before they are absolutely necessary. People that write mock drafts, myself included, overlook this aspect of long-term team building. Instead the focus is on immediate needs to help a team. In reality the draft is a mix of help-now picks and preparation for the future. We see it all the time with quarterbacks where the team scoops one up with a starter in place in hopes of the young guy taking over in the near future. It happened with Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith and there are discussions of the Chargers and Patriots looking at options this year to do the same.
It is not just at quarterback but any position. For San Francisco the tackle position is one to keep an eye on in the middle rounds. Mike McGlinchey was an excellent pick inside the top-ten a year ago. He looks like the future at the position for the 49ers on either the right or left side. He’s currently occupying the right because veteran Joe Staley is still chugging along on the left. However Staley hinted at retirement as recently as last year. He’s clearly not long for the league.
Dennis Daley of South Carolina would be the perfect tackle to groom as a replacement. After spending time in junior college, Daley burst onto the scene for the Gamecocks. He’s a big, strong, mauler type of tackle that can root out any defensive lineman without issue. In fact that gives him some inside-out versatility.
San Francisco could plug him in at guard until Staley hangs it up and push him to the outside. While playing tackle Daley needs to work on his feet more than anything. With some cleaned up technique there is a starter’s traits and frame inside of Daley. This would give San Francisco a cheap, long-term option at tackle with Daley and McGlinchey holding it down for a long time.