Jan. 28, 2026, 8:30 p.m. PT
Two putrid offensive outing against the Seattle Seahawks to close the regular season and the postseason will surely make the San Francisco 49ers consider adding some first-round weapons in this year’s NFL draft. That isn’t the direction they go in a projection from Pro Football Focus as they continue bolstering a position group they spent a ton of draft capital on last season.
With the 27th pick in their mock draft, PFF sends University of Miami defensive end Akheem Mesidor to San Francisco. That would make it two first-round picks, a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick all spent on the defensive front in the last two drafts.
Mesidor racked up a career-best 12.5 sacks for an outstanding Hurricanes defense a season ago. He finished his six-year college career with 35.5 sacks to go with a whopping 52 tackles for loss.
He’s an interesting player for San Francisco. Mesidor is listed at 6-3, 265 pounds on the University of Miami athletics site. That type of size could allow him to follow in 2025 first-round pick Mykel Williams’s footsteps as a run stopper on the edge who jumps inside for pass rush situations.
One thing that stands out with Mesidor, however, is that he turns 25-years old a few weeks before the NFL draft. That means his career-year came as a 24-year-old college player. It’s impossible to not wonder if his age and experience inflated his numbers while simultaneously lowering his overall ceiling.
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The 49ers need to find some younger stars to start adding to their core. If they think Mesidor can help them win a Super Bowl, great. He may be able to, and all signs point to him being at least a quality rotational player. It might be wise of them to look elsewhere though if they’re looking to hit a home run on Day 1 of the draft.
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