49ers insider has 'a hard time thinking' team will draft OL in Round 1

Despite various reports indicating otherwise, many recent 2026 mock drafts predict the San Francisco 49ers will draft an offensive lineman with the No. 27 pick. And, despite the 49ers meeting with several first-round prospects, The Athletic's Matt Barrows still isn't buy that the 49ers will draft that position with their first selection.

On a recent episode of the 49ers +/- podcast with Tim Kawakami, Barrows said he has "a hard time thinking" the No. 27 pick will be an offensive tackle because of the 49ers immediate needs elsewhere (namely, receiver and edge rusher) and because they don't have the luxury of time to develop an offensive lineman who wouldn't or couldn't start in Week 1.

"They have bigger needs elsewhere. They have guys that they need to bring in now. They don't have the luxury of bringing in a Caleb Lomu and kind of developing him for a couple of years behind Trent Williams," Barrows said. "Would that be a smart move down the line? Yeah. In a lot of ways, it would. But again, I feel like the 49ers think that the difference between Lomu and the guy that they can get at the end of the fourth round is — that there might be a difference there, but it's not a huge difference. And especially when you can work with this player for, you know, a period of a year, two years, get him to where you want him.

"So, I have a hard time thinking that it's going to be an offensive tackle and I know everyone out there is just pining. I hear it all the time. It's got to be O-line, O-line, O-line, etc., etc. ... But, I have to kind of go with what I've seen and what I've heard from the 49ers, which is why again, I'm a little bit skeptical that it'll be a Caleb Lomu."