i know the 49ers are in the down stretch of the 2023 NFL season with a huge game with the eagles upcoming this sundayand with the college football season wrapping up too

imo we got a pretty good idea what positions on the roster and depth chart the 49ers could address early in next year’s draft and what prospects based on their play thru out another full college season and where current draft evaluators are ranking them at this time … could be available or projected to go with a pick probably somewhere likely from pick 25-32 which is where the 49ers first round pick in 2024 will end up in all likelihood

as of now as was the case entering this 2023 NFL season most who follow the 49ers be it fans and even those in the media have believed CB and OT are the two likeliest of positions the 49ers would use their 2024 1st round pick on, ah yes it’s finally nice to finally have a 1st round pick again after the last two drafts

looking at each position, OT and CB, on the 49ers roster

OT - williams is still playing at a high level and still could argue is the best LT in the game right now even at 35 years old but just this past offseason there was talk about him possibly thinking about retiring … and who knows if the 49ers win the SB this season williams at his age may very will be content and end his HOF career with a SB title … but even if williams continues to play for another season or two regardless of what happens … i think the 49ers still could target OT in the 1st round in 2024 because mckivitiz on the other side hasn’t been good … 49ers do have moore as the backup swing tackle who played relatively well at LT when williams was out and personally i wouldn’t have objected if he replaced mckivitz at starting RT but shanahan probably wasn’t going to make that drastic change to the starting lineup on the OL but i do think moore has been good this season and maybe at the very least be a very good backup OT in his NFL career … can he be a viable starting OT in the NFL down the road, who knows, but he is a free agent after the 2024 season

CB - ward has been good as advertised when the 49ers signed him as one of their most expensive free agent acquisitions in recent memory and its not like signing big name free agent CB have been a no doubt about hugely successful moves looking back in 49ers history with the likes of langham and clements … even recently sherman was good when he signed with the 49ers in 2018 but was on the downside of his prime at the end of his 49ers career due to some injuries and age … in comparison ward is still only 27 years old and should be in his entering his prime years of his NFL career in his late 20s … the potential issue and something the 49ers front office may have to think about soon is whether to extend ward as he only signed a 3 year contract in 2022 so he is a free agent after the 2024 NFL season …what’s behind ward at CB is still a big question mark

lenoir has been okay and he really stepped up at the end of 2022 and into the playoffs but is he a viable starting CB in the NFL and like with ward he’s a free agent after 2024 when his rookie contract is up and 49ers may have to start asking whether he’s part of the long term solution at the CB position be it as a starter or nickel #3 CB on the depth chart … thomas whos the starting CB opposite of ward after the 49ers essentially benched oliver and moved lenior into the slot has been very good these last 3 games and made some game changing plays including the forced fumble vs the jaguars that likely would’ve resulted an a TD score if not for the 49ers sideline getting a unsportmanlike penalty when players came onto the field and thomas also had an INT vs the seahawks … if i remember i read from some in the media that the 49ers were pretty high on thomas using a 3rd round pick on him in 2021 even though didn’t play in 2020 due to sitting out his entire senior season due to the pandemic

but i also remember NFL draft pauline whos pretty respected in the NFL draft field also being very high on thomas too

“Was well on his way to becoming a top-45 pick off the 2019 film before choosing to opt-out last season. He had his moments during Senior Bowl practices and comes with outstanding size and athleticism as well as upside.

so after seeing that i had a lot of expectations for thomas especially after he had that season saving INT in the last game of the 2021 NFL season in OT vs the rams that helped clinched the 49ers win that day and more importantly ea playoff birth … naturally i thought good things were on the horizon for thomas but between that moment where he played okay late in his 2021 rookie season and up until these last 3 games … thomas was sort of a forgotten man on the 49ers CB depth chart as he didn’t step up as many had hoped in 202 and with a good amount in the fan base calling him a bust or wasted pick as recently as the first month or two of this NFL season when he was the 4th or 5th CB on the depth chart … so the big question is what we’re seeing from thomas these last few games since becoming a starter a sign of things to come and him developing into at least a viable starting NFL CB going forward … i guess we’ll get a better judgement of thomas the rest of this NFL 2023 season and in particular into the playoffs … though like with ward and lenoir, thomas too is a free agent after the 2024 NFL season so the 49ers will have some huge decisions to make potentially over the next year regarding their current CB depth chart … i do think at the very least the 49ers will give ward an extension but the jury is still very much out on both lenoir and thomas but if either or both continue to play well i’d think the 49ers would re-sign at least one of them in the future

there are many realistic and viable OT and CB prospects projected as potential late 1st-early 2nd round in the 2024 draft at this time

OT - mims (georgia), morgan (arizona), fautanu (arizona), suamataia (byu)

CB - wiggins (clemson), burke (ohio st), dejean (iowa) king (penn st), arnold (alabama), lassiter (georgia), newton (tcu)

as of now i think the CB depth chart is a lot better than OT but that doesn’t mean you just draft an OT, if a CB who is higher on the 49ers board ranks higher than whoever is their top rated OT still left … i wouldn’t hate it if the 49ers picked a CB

but looking at the 49ers history they do tend to address the trenches moreso than secondary with their picks since 2017 with witherspoon in the early 3rd round in 2017 and thomas in 2021 being picked at the end of the 3rd round supp area being the highest ever selections of CBs by this current 49ers regime of shanahan, lynch, and peters

but at this time i think the 49ers would pick an OT because as mentioned 49ers have addressed the trenches a lot early in drafts and seem to favor building teams from the inside out

i know suamataia for months has been a very popular draft target for the 49ers from many within the fan base and he has played well though looking at mocks his projection is all over the place with a few mocks having him drafted within the top 15 granted most do have him as a late 1st or 2nd round pick … but for me personally i like mims the OT from georgia as my favorite draft target in the 1st although i’m sure he fits into the system or physical traits that shanahan wants from his OT which tend to be more athletic overall

49ers do have 11 draft picks in 2024 including a 1st, 2nd, and two 3rds so if an OT or a CB who they rank pretty highly, maybe top 15-20 on their draft board, begins to drops it wouldn’t shock me to see the 49ers using some of their surplus picks in 2024 to move up 5-10 spots into the early 20s of the 1st as they’ve done it before previously with foster in 2017 and aiyuk in 2020 along with the other countless times they’ve done so the last 7 years