Possible 49ers 1st-round pick had pre-draft visit with team

The San Francisco 49ers have met with a lot of 2026 prospects in the weeks leading up to the draft. From receivers to offensive linemen to edge rushers, general manager John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan should have a good sense of who they'll pick at No. 27.

And at some point during the pre-draft process, the 49ers met with potential first-round edge rusher Malachi Lawrence, according to KPRC2's Aaron Wilson. The UCF product is a projected to be selected late in the first round or early in the second round — a prime spot for the 49ers' first pick.

The 22-year-old Lawrence has 20 sacks, 28 tackles for a loss, 72 combined tackles and three forced fumbles in his career. He stands at 6-foot-4 and 253 pounds, and NFL.com's Lance Zierlein compared him to Arizona Cardinals pass rusher Josh Sweat.

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah endorsed this move, saying in his pre-draft news conference that Lawrence would be an ideal fit in the 49ers defense.

"When you talk about guys who fit that scheme, you've got to feel their juice off the edge and (Lawrence), he brings that," Jeremiah said. "The run [stopping] stuff, he's got to get a little better. There's times he gets stuck at the point of attack. He needs to improve. But if you told me Malachi Lawrence, you could handpick him to play in one defense, I'd send him to San Francisco."

The 49ers need edge-rushing support. Nick Bosa and 2025 first-round pick Mykell Williams are recovering from ACL injuries and Keion White is recovering from an off-field gunshot wound. San Francisco, if anything, needs bodies on the defensive line, and Lawrence could be a Day 1 impact starter for Raheem Morris' defense.

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Malachi Lawrence had a pre-draft visit with 49ers