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SportsTranscript
00:00What's up Pittsburgh? I just want to say it's awesome to be back in my college hometown.
00:07It was an honor to play here for four years and I just want to thank the 49ers for this
00:11opportunity.
00:12I want to give a shout out to the 49er faithful, the best fans of the NFL.
00:19With the 33rd pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select
00:27Dajon Stribling, wide receiver, Ole Miss.
00:30Oh my gosh. So not only do they go wide receiver, but not the one everyone thought.
00:36Not the one everybody thought was coming.
00:38Dajon Stribling, Ole Miss, 6'2", 207.
00:44ESPN had him overall ranked at number 76 and he goes 33.
00:49Your immediate thoughts and reactions.
00:51I don't like it.
00:55I don't like it.
00:56I don't like it, but it's not that I don't like the player.
01:00You know my bit, Mark.
01:01I like the player and I like the pick.
01:03You haven't heard me say that, have you?
01:04Okay, so what's your reaction?
01:07No, not Stribling.
01:10Why are you taking a wide receiver at 33?
01:12Well, maybe he's going to be awesome.
01:14He might be.
01:14Maybe he's going to be awesome.
01:15You have to change his number.
01:16He wears number one.
01:17I mean, now I'm watching highlights of him and I'm like, yeah,
01:20I look like a pretty good football player.
01:22But I got to stick to what I was just saying.
01:25Like, I don't love the idea of wide receiver right now at this point for the 49ers
01:34for multiple reasons.
01:35One of them is a micro and one of them is a macro.
01:38My micro reason is I just feel like there's too much attention being paid to this position
01:45on this particular roster.
01:48You've got Mike Evans.
01:49You've got Ricky Pearsall.
01:51You've got Christian Kirk.
01:53You've got Demarcus Robinson.
01:55You've been telling us you like Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowling.
01:59And now you use your highest capital pick on this position again.
02:05It tells me that the other positions of need, you just don't really love those players.
02:11And that's fine.
02:12That's your evaluation.
02:13You don't really love the safeties that are out there.
02:16You don't love the guards that are out there.
02:18Or you feel like you've got a good chance to get them later on tonight.
02:21That's what that tells me.
02:23That's my micro thought.
02:25My macro thought is just kind of like what we were talking about with Greg Cosell.
02:30The wide receiver thing is out of pocket in the NFL right now.
02:35There is absolutely too much attention, too much money being sent to wide receivers.
02:42And I understand what Jackson Smith and Jigba just did.
02:45But by the same token, think about the star receivers that are out there.
02:49CD Lamb and Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase and T. Higgins.
02:54And we can go on and on.
02:56And you look what the Niners just did with Brandon Iyuk.
02:58It's too much money being sent to players who do not affect winning at that number.
03:05I think they're a big deal.
03:06They're just not that big of a deal.
03:08Maybe that's why you go this direction and you go ahead and draft a guy not in the first.
03:12So now it's a second round.
03:13So you don't have to worry about four years.
03:16And it's a four-year deal, but three with the fourth-year option.
03:19Here's the pre-draft analysis, according to ESPN, on Stribling.
03:25Good frame, top speed to make plays downfield.
03:28Occasionally he can get lazy at the top of his routes.
03:31Lazy?
03:31Rounding off routes.
03:33He played in an RPO offense.
03:35He has displayed good ball skills.
03:37If he finds open space, he can take it to the house.
03:40In the run game, he's a willing blocker.
03:42And at times, we'll mix it up in the box.
03:45Okay, willing blocker.
03:46I mean, to me, it sounds like what they just did is replace Jawan Jennings.
03:50Essentially.
03:51Yeah.
03:51That's what it sounds like.
03:52With the number 33 pick overall.
03:53Which, that's fine.
03:54Jawan became a really, really important player.
03:58And by the way, the guard that some thought the 49ers would take with the 33rd pick just
04:04went 34th to their division rival, the Arizona Cardinals, Chase Besantis.
04:10Look, two things I'd like to say that are both about phones.
04:14Number one, your reaction to this.
04:17The Niners go wide receiver with their first pick.
04:20I am surprised.
04:21I'm not big on the idea.
04:23Dibs isn't either.
04:24We'd love your thoughts.
04:25888-957-9570.
04:28And then I'd also say this to the guys.
04:29Grandy, Lucas, Nahegan, if he can hear in the other room.
04:32I would love a text response from Greg Cosell.
04:36Just a text response on what he thinks of this wide receiver at this moment.
04:43And I know that he's going to say, look, I don't care when guys go.
04:48I'm just a big fan of either the guy or I'm not a big fan of the guy.
04:53But I don't think there's any way around this.
04:55The Niners are going to get accused of a reach here.
04:58They don't care.
05:00But they're going to get accused of a reach here.
05:02Because as you said, this guy was mocked as a third-round pick.
05:07And he just went with the first pick of the second round.
05:08NFL.com had him at 62 overall.
05:11And they do the prospect grade, which is 6.28.
05:16Will eventually be an average starter is the way they have him rated.
05:19Well, I mean, but let me tell you.
05:20It's just a rating.
05:21Yeah, that's a button.
05:22You win some and you lose some.
05:23But that's basically like Greg Cosell and his opinion looking at tape.
05:27They don't just make this stuff up.
05:29So it's their assessment.
05:30Yeah, but Jawan Jennings, by the way, was not even going to make the league
05:33according to a lot of those assessments.
05:35Right, and the picks that were made yesterday of the 32, at least 10 of them
05:38are going to be first-round busts.
05:40My issue is that you go ahead and you draft a wide receiver again
05:44when you have greater needs.
05:46You need an edge.
05:47You really need a guard.
05:48And you need a safety.
05:50I believe you still need a tight end to make sure that George Kittle
05:54is going to be ready to go.
05:55You've got greater needs to me than a wide receiver.
05:58You do have greater needs, but I also support the idea of not just need-based
06:04drafting, especially early in a draft.
06:07So, for instance, I'll agree with you.
06:09They need a safety more than a wide receiver.
06:11They need a guard more than they need a wide receiver.
06:13But over the next 24, 48 hours, they may get a lot of those things.
06:17They could.
06:19I don't want you to get a safety if you don't like the safeties that are
06:24available in round two and you think a bunch of guys are going to be
06:27available in three and four.
06:28I don't mind that.
06:30But in general, there's no two ways about that this is.
06:34I find this to be a little bit of a head-scratching thing because I'm
06:39already looking at this and thinking your receiver room is kind of crowded.
06:43Like, let me put it this way.
06:45How the hell is this guy getting on the field this year?
06:47Well, and if he does, okay, then that's.
06:51What are you doing?
06:51Yeah.
06:51Like, you took Jordan Watkins last year and he didn't get on the field,
06:55literally did not get on the field.
06:57He got hurt, though.
06:58He got hurt.
06:59He got hurt, but I don't know if he was going to get on the field.
07:02Kyle Shanahan doesn't play a lot of rookie wide receivers in general,
07:06and we've been doing a lot of war room breakdowns.
07:09I don't know if you saw the war room when they cut to the 49ers after the
07:12pick was announced.
07:13I did.
07:14I did.
07:14Jed York was up celebrating with, I believe, his children.
07:18John Lynch looked happy.
07:19Kyle Shanahan was not happy.
07:21He did not look happy.
07:22I did not see it that way.
07:23I thought the camera.
07:24He wasn't smiling.
07:24I know, but I thought the camera caught him at a moment where he was zoning
07:27out on something else.
07:28He shook no hands.
07:29Yeah.
07:30Well, no.
07:31He pumped no fist.
07:32Jed York topped him on the back, and then he stood up with a smile
07:34afterwards.
07:35I think they just caught him zoning out.
07:37Yeah.
07:37I mean, if we're going to criticize Sean McVay, then.
07:39No, because Sean McVay looked mad like three hours later and while talking
07:44about it.
07:45We'll see how Kyle looks, but when I looked up at the screen and saw him,
07:49to me, he did not look happy.
07:50And here's the other thing I'll say about that.
07:52Like, a quarterback may, and I don't really know the structure of the Rams
07:57as far as Les Snead versus McVay.
08:00Let me tell you something right now.
08:01If the 49ers just selected an offensive player, that was Kyle.
08:05There ain't no way in hell, promise you, that anyone just went over Kyle's head
08:12to pick a receiver.
08:13Well, I hope he's right.
08:14That is not the structure of the 49ers.
08:16And we can look at all the mocks and mock drafts, aren't team boards and all
08:20the rest of it.
08:21But I wonder if any team outside of the Niners had him as the, quote, best
08:25available heading into round two.
08:27No, maybe not.
08:28And actually, see, I don't care about that because they could be wrong.
08:31You have to go with your gut.
08:33But there's two questions that are very fair here.
08:36One of them is, why receiver?
08:38And the second one is, could you have gotten that guy at the end of the round?
08:43Could you have gotten that guy in round three?
08:47And look, that's their assessment right now.
08:50The bottom line is, if he becomes a star in a year and a half, great.
08:54But my first question, if I were in the room, is you just use the 33rd pick.
08:59Like, how does this guy get on the field this year with Mike Evans, Ricky
09:05Pearsall, Christian Kirk, Demarcus Robinson?
09:08And if you want to throw in Watkins and Cowing, who they said they wanted to use
09:11this year, how does this guy get in the – I don't even know how he makes
09:14the roster.
09:14And he's the 33rd pick overall.
09:16Well, and actually, obviously he makes the roster.
09:19So now who doesn't?
09:20They usually – they keep six or seven guys.
09:23I just named six or seven guys.
09:25Is that it?
09:27That's your wide receiver room?
09:28They're all making the team?
09:30I don't know.
09:30I don't know.
09:31So, yeah, I am very –
09:33The more I think about it, the more I hate the pick.
09:34And if you look at the history of Kyle Shanahan drafting wide receivers,
09:38it's not very good.
09:40Iyuk, sure.
09:41Debo, great.
09:42But you've got a Danny Gray in the third round.
09:44You've got, you know, other guys where you took them a little bit later.
09:48Juwan in the seventh, great.
09:49Debo in the second, fine.
09:51Dante Pettis, 44 overall.
09:53That's a miss.
09:53To me, your characterization is unfair to say.
09:56No, it's a spotty record is what I'm saying.
09:57I disagree.
09:58Like, I mean, you can bring up two or three misses, Jalen Hurd and Dante Pettis.
10:02You can bring up two or three hits.
10:04If I'm going to get Juwan Jennings in round seven, Debo Samuel was nailed.
10:08Brandon Iyuk went for 1,300 yards and helped you go to a Super Bowl before becoming a wackadoodle.
10:13And I know that we're early and jury out.
10:16Jury's out.
10:16I love Ricky Pearsall.
10:18You do.
10:18And he's been, when he's playing, he's been a very good player in this league.
10:21That's a big win.
10:22And so, that's, you know, the availability is everything.
10:25Yeah, but I don't think you can say that his evaluation of wide receivers through the years is poor.
10:32I said it's spotty.
10:33It's spotty.
10:34And if you want to just take the top three rounds, Jalen Hurd never played football, and Dante Pettis as
10:39a second round pick was a complete whiff.
10:41And so, it's spotty.
10:43What I'm saying is, I look at this pick in the second round, and it doesn't give me warm feelings
10:49because, as we did our grades yesterday, top three rounds, they've not been at their best.
10:54And now you go ahead and use a receiver?
10:56I know it's not the best for sports radio.
10:58I never rip fully a pick because I don't know if the guy's going to become awesome.
11:03I will say this.
11:05It's head scratching.
11:07It's head scratching.
11:08I'm not going to hate the pick.
11:10It's surprising and head scratching based on positional need and what's already going on and how that room has already
11:17been addressed this offseason.
11:19Yeah, I'll go beyond head scratching and say it's a bad pick.
11:22He could turn out to be a phenomenal player, and I'll eat my words down the road.
11:25Much like those people who thought Trey Lance was the sauce after one spring training practice or practice in OTAs
11:34and whatnot.
11:34Yeah, we all have opinions, and sometimes they come back on us.
11:37This pick right now, when you have a full wide receiver room and you have a spotty track record of
11:43drafting wide receivers, I don't like the pick.
11:45I think it's a bad choice.
11:47Dijon Stribling, wide receiver.
11:49Ole Miss is the Niners pick at number 33.
11:52We're taking your calls on this right now.
11:55By the way, edge rusher TJ Parker from Clemson went to the Bills at number 35.
12:01The Texans pick is in, and they're on their way to the podium right now to announce it.
12:06We'll share it when we get there.
12:07But let's hear from some of you.
12:08Jose in Oakland is first up here on Willard and Dibs.
12:12What's up, Jose?
12:12How are you?
12:16That was one of those WTF moments for me, honestly.
12:21But you know what?
12:22These guys, they're consistent at least.
12:25They always stink, to say it nicely, when it comes to picking on the first and second round pick.
12:32What was the point of getting extra draft picks if you're going to waste the 33rd pick on a player
12:37that you never heard of before?
12:38And then this guy all of a sudden turns into Jackson Smith and Jigba, it's a wasted pick, honestly.
12:44You know, my car needs new tires.
12:47I need battery.
12:48The last thing I'm going to do is go ahead and get, you know, brand new car seats.
12:52And if you're going to get brand new car seats, you know, at least get the ones with the leopard
12:55print on it.
12:56You know, make it flashy.
12:57But this guy doesn't even, he doesn't even register to me.
13:01I haven't ever heard from the guy.
13:05I'll be lucky if I can find some, you know, footage of him on YouTube.
13:10That's his question, honestly.
13:11I don't know.
13:12Maybe Kyle didn't sleep well last night.
13:14I don't know what to tell you.
13:15Jose, thanks.
13:17Listen, I'm going to push back on this thing.
13:20I think it's funny in the draft when people go, I've never heard of the guy.
13:24You haven't heard of any of these people.
13:26Unless you are a college football super fan, stop acting like if Boston walked by you in the grocery store
13:38right now, Denzel Boston, you wouldn't know him either.
13:41So, like, that to me, that's not a fair criticism.
13:44The position, again, is, to me, a head-scratcher as far as the room is concerned.
13:50And what I think is also a fair question is could you have gotten him later?
13:57I mean, you had that mock-up.
13:59How many other wide receivers were currently mocked ahead of Dajon Stribbling out of Ole Miss?
14:07I'd have to count, but it's more than five or six.
14:10And, you know, the one I was looking at at NFL.com had him so far down, there's not even
14:15a little blurb below him, 60-second on their list.
14:18So, basically, at the bottom of the second round, top of the third.
14:23But if you're a team that really likes a player, you don't want to risk it.
14:26And if they like Dajon Stribbling that much, then you go ahead and use number 33 on him.
14:31And I'm reading more scouts' reports.
14:34They love his blocking.
14:35He blocks more than a lineman.
14:37Even an undersized tight end consistently looking for work and trying to finish defenders on the ground.
14:43And Kyle loves that.
14:44There's no question about it.
14:45Defensive tackle Caden McDonald goes 36th to the Houston Texans.
14:50Yeah, Grandy, what do you got?
14:51Really quick.
14:51Obviously, it depends who you trust and who you look at.
14:54I can't say a respected draft analyst.
14:56Dane Brugler lists Dajon Stribbling as his 11th best wide receiver in this class.
15:03There were five receivers drafted in the first round, his top five.
15:07Okay, but Dane Brugler is very respected.
15:10Right, but if we listen to what Greg Cosell just told us, all of these guys have different styles.
15:15So, I also never buy into the whole, like, well, that's my list.
15:19Well, it's like, well, wait a minute.
15:20We're looking for an edge rusher to fit this system.
15:24Or we're looking for a wide receiver that plays this way.
15:27I'll support that.
15:28But I just don't really understand why that was the position they went with first.
15:32And then I think a fair question, could you have got them later?
15:35All right, we're taking your phone calls on this.
15:37Dajon Stribbling is the 49ers pick at 33.
15:41They pick again at, let's see, 58th overall.
15:46And we're right now at 37.
15:48So, it'll move a little quicker today.
15:50We've got more picks on the way for the 49ers.
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