Daniel Jeremiah Projects the 49ers to Draft a Guard in Round 1

Membou is an intriguing pick because he might be the best player available and he fills a position of need.
Nov 18, 2023; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers offensive lineman Armand Membou (79) at the line of scrimmage against the Florida Gators during the game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Nov 18, 2023; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers offensive lineman Armand Membou (79) at the line of scrimmage against the Florida Gators during the game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
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The 49ers have needs all over their offensive line.

They need an offensive tackle who can be an upgrade over Colton McKivitz and eventually replace Trent Williams when he gets injured or retires. They need a center who's an upgrade over Jake Brendel. And they need a left guard to replace Aaron Banks who will be a free agent when the new league year starts on March 12.

With pick no. 11 in the upcoming draft, The NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah projects the 49ers to address the guard position by taking Missouri's Armand Membou.

"Membou is the most technically sound offensive lineman in this class," writes Jeremiah. "He reminds me of Aljah Vera-Tucker when he entered the league. Membou will be an exceptional guard who can also play tackle if needed."

Membou is an intriguing pick because he might be the best player available and he fills a position of need. If he develops into a Pro Bowl guard, the 49ers won't regret taking him with the 11th pick in Round 1. He and Dominick Puni would form one of the best guard duos in the NFL.

I just don't expect Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch to spend a top-15 pick on an interior offensive lineman no matter how talented and technically sound he is. The 49ers offensive line coach, Chris Foerster, said just a few months ago that the 49ers would rather invest in players who score touchdowns than offensive linemen. So I expect the 49ers to take a defensive player in Round 1 and a guard later in the draft, perhaps in Round 3, which is where they picked Puni last year.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.