Picking the winners and losers from the San Francisco 49ers' eight selections in the 2024 NFL Draft

Jacob Cowing gives Purdy a downfield option who could allow him to improve on his deep passing numbers that saw him throw 11 touchdown and one pick on throws of 20 yards or more in 2023. Meanwhile, fourth-round running back Isaac Guerendo possesses a skill set that can ensure the run game takes the pressure off the quarterback even when Christian McCaffrey is off the field. With these new weapons, Purdy is in an excellent position to maintain his MVP-caliber play from last year.

RB Christian McCaffrey

Speaking of McCaffrey, it's probably good news for him that the 49ers added another back.

In his mind, McCaffrey will always want to be on the field playing as many snaps as possible, but it is not realistic to think he can continually have a workload of 339 touches each season. That number was the league-high last season.

His lead backup Elijah Mitchell has continually dealt with injury issues during his career, while Jordan Mason has struggled to get on the field owing to protection issues.

So the selection of Guerendo, a dynamic home-run hitter who projects as an excellent fit for a run scheme that blends both zone and gap runs and who enters the league with little tread on the tires, is one that could prove key in keeping McCaffrey fresh down the stretch in the coming years and ultimately extending his stellar career.

OT Colton McKivitz

San Francisco, despite doing extensive work on the position in the pre-draft process, did not select an offensive tackle.

It had been widely assumed the 49ers may prioritize that spot and draft a player with the ability to challenge McKivitz for the starting role at right tackle right off the bat.

Instead, McKivitz looks essentially assured as the Niners' starter for a second successive season. He will need to fare better than he did in 2023, when McKivitz finished with a blown block rate of four percent, putting him 56th of 83 tackles with at least 300 snaps, per Sports Info Solutions. 

If he doesn't, the 49ers' decision to eschew drafting a tackle will look ill-advised.

Losers

OG Spencer Burford

While McKivitz endured what could at best be described as an up-and-down first full season at right tackle, Burford's second season at right guard was a big disappointment, and it ended on a tremendous low.

As in his rookie year, Burford was once again unable to make that spot his own, eventually losing it to Jon Feliciano, and his third-down error in protection in the redzone in overtime of the Super Bowl after Feliciano left with an injury went a long way to sealing San Francisco's fate.

Now, with the 49ers using a third-round pick on a guard in Dominick Puni with excellent positional versatility and then spending a sixth-rounder on another in Jarrett Kingston who has the archetypal athletic profile of a 49ers lineman, Burford's position on the roster can't be considered safe as he enters year three.

CB Ambry Thomas

Similarly to Burford, cornerback Thomas might be looking at the end of the road for his 49ers career.

It looked as if Thomas was successfully resurrecting his career with the team during the second half of last season as he held his own starting on the outside on nickel downs. However, two poor playoff games led to him essentially being benched for the Super Bowl, and he too has to consider the possibility he could be playing elsewhere in 2024.

San Francisco spent a second-round pick on corner Renardo Green, a likely future successor to one of Chavarius Ward or Deommodore Lenoir. Green is almost certain to make the roster, and with the 49ers having also signed veterans Isaac Yiadom and Rock Ya-Sin for additional depth, it's likely between Thomas and Darrell Luter Jr. for the final spot on the cornerback depth chart. 

Thomas doesn't have enough positive tape to be sure of wining that battle over a second-year player of whom the 49ers are very fond.

WR Danny Gray

His resume comprising of one catch in two years having lost the entire 2023 season to injury, the outlook for Gray was already bleak.

The draft has left him with a mountain to climb to make the roster. Pearsall is a lock for the 53-man roster and Cowing gives the Niners a speed threat they thought they were getting when Gray was picked in the third round in 2022.

Gray is looking at a fight to make the 53-man roster with Ronnie Bell, who scored three touchdowns as a rookie seventh-rounder last season, and that will only be the case if the 49ers decide to carry six wideouts. These are nervous times for a player whose pro career has never gotten going.