The Athletic Projects the 49ers to Draft Ohio State OT Joshua Simmons

The 49ers haven't drafted an offensive tackle since Round 5 of the 2021 NFL Draft, so it's quite possible they'll draft one this year with their first pick.

Grant Cohn | Jan 28, 2025

Dec 29, 2023; Arlington, TX, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes offensive lineman Josh Simmons (71) blocks Missouri Tigers defensive lineman Darius Robinson (6) during the second quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

It's no secret that the 49ers need an offensive tackle.

Right tackle Colton McKivitz would be a backup on most teams. Left tackle Trent Williams is 36 and played in only 10 games this season. And swing tackle Jaylon Moore will be a free agent starting on March 12.

The 49ers haven't drafted an offensive tackle since they took Moore in Round 5 of the 2021 NFL Draft, so it's quite possible they'll draft one this year with their first pick.

The Athletic came out with a mock draft today, and it projects the 49ers to take Ohio State offensive tackle Joshua Simmons with pick no. 11 in Round 1.

"Like (Kelvin) Banks, Simmons is a super-athletic prospect who probably could wear a few different hats if a team asks him to," write Nick Baumgardner and Scott Dochterman of The Athletic. "He suffered a season-ending knee injury midway through the season, and it took Ohio State a while to figure out how to play without him. He would be a perfect fit for everything Kyle Shanahan does."

Simmons tore his ACL on Oct. 12 -- eight days before Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL. Which means Simmons most likely will miss training camp and the first few games of the season just like Aiyuk will.

So Simmons would be an extremely risky pick. He might need a red-shirt year before he's ready to start in the NFL. And the 49ers have an abysmal track record of drafting players with torn ACLs. Trent Baalks used to draft one every year and none ever panned out.

Maybe Simmons will be different. He definitely seems to be the most talented offensive tackle prospect in the draft. But the 49ers can't afford to miss in Round 1 after missing on Trey Lance and Javon Kinlaw.

I think the 49ers will address their defensive line instead.

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Published Jan 28, 2025|Modified Jan 28, 2025

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.