49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t afraid to buck convention when it comes to roles for certain positions. “Position-less” has been used describe the way San Francisco’s offense is trending, which may make them a perfect fit for University of Central Florida tight end/wide receiver Jacob Harris.
Harris met virtually with the 49ers according to the Draft Wire’s Justin Melo, and was No. 1 on the Athletic’s Dane Brugler’s list of 10 sleepers for this year’s NFL draft.
Brugler noted Harris, 6-5, 219 pounds, may not be ready to contribute right away, but he has the tools to be a productive player in the NFL:
Harris plays with controlled burst and long strides to challenge defensive backs, and he flashes the potential to run the full tight end route tree. He is an older prospect — he’ll be 24 on draft weekend — and still young in football years, so there will be obvious growing pains in the NFL. But Harris is an ideal developmental tight end because of his size, athleticism and special-teams mentality (10 career tackles in college).
Harris posted 49 catches for 987 yards and nine touchdowns across two seasons with the Knights, including eight touchdowns in 2020 as a senior.
It would be an easy fit right away because San Francisco could deploy him as a pass-catching threat in limited situation while still utilizing Ross Dwelley and Charlier Woerner as blockers. Should Harris take to NFL coaching and develop, he could eventually become the pass-catching TE2 the 49ers have been searching for.
