Kurtenbach: Grading the 49ers' Day 2 picks - a couple of head-scratchers and a home run

The 2026 NFL Draft was always destined for chaos. As I’ve been saying for months, this is the weirdest, most unpredictable class I’ve evaluated in a decade. Which is a nice way of saying it stinks. With zero consensus after the top tier, which came after the top dozen players were selected, it became every front office - and prospect - for themselves.

And following a Day 1 of trade-downs, the 49ers fully embraced that “anything goes” mandate of this draft. Niners fans might be sweating the perceived value, but remove the draft slots from the equation, and San Francisco did a great job filling three positional needs. Compared to the rest of the league’s panic picks, the 49ers’ so-called reaches are downright paltry.

Yet why do I feel like that won’t be the narrative of this draft?

Let me tell you what I like, and don’t, about the Niners’ three Day 2 selections:



Round 2, Pick 33: De’Zhaun Stribling, WR, Ole Miss

• The Breakdown: At 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds, Stribling possesses legit 4.36 speed and carries a sneaky big, wide-shouldered frame. He capped his collegiate production at Ole Miss with 55 receptions, 811 yards, and six touchdowns. While he shows a little bit of hip stiffness in his route running and can take a beat to get off the line of scrimmage, his pull-away speed and after-the-catch ability are undeniable. He’s highly effective on in-breaking routes, looking exceptional on digs, curls, and slants - though you need to watch the Oklahoma State and Washington State film to really notice it, because Ole Miss barely used him on those routes. Perhaps most importantly, he blocks with a meanness - he was the best blocking receiver in this class.
• The Fit: There’s a reason that he was a late riser in this process: coaches - who come into the draft process late - love him. Teams raved about his visits to their facilities over the last few weeks. The tape is nothing to scoff at, either. Stribling brings elite alignment versatility - he can play all three spots - projecting immediately as a power-slot and sacrificial X for the 49ers. I’d bet the Niners view him as their Jauan Jennings replacement for 2026. A big ask, but possible with Stribling. As he refines his route tree, his ability to release against press-man coverage and win over the middle of the field gives him the physical tools to become a top-tier weapon, providing a developmental heir apparent to Mike Evans or, in the worst-case scenario, Ricky Pearsall. Let’s leave it at this: There’s a reason the Rams - as well as a few other receiver-hungry teams - were all over him as a second-round pick possibility.
• The Value: You couldn't trust another trade down in this spot, forcing the front office to pull the trigger here.
• Grade: B
  
  In an ideal world, you wait until roughly pick 50 to take Stribling. But the 2026 NFL Draft has proven one thing through two days: when the class is this bad, you cannot pretend you’re living in an ideal world. I’ll bet that Stribling is a really solid pro, and no one will remember that he was probably taken a bit ahead of consensus (whatever that is worth this year).

Round 3, Pick 70: Romello Height, EDGE, Texas Tech(Traded down from 58)

• The Breakdown: Height looks more like an off-ball linebacker than a traditional edge, and he lacks the ideal mass and play strength to hold up consistently in run defense. That’s fine. Because his pass-rushing technique is outstanding. He plays with a relentless motor, sudden feet, and active hands to slither around blocks, occasionally flashing speed-to-power to put tackles in reverse. His spin move might be the best in the class.
• The Fit: Height is the pure, high-level subpackage end that the Niners needed. He will step right in as a situational third-down pass rusher to inject dynamic speed into the front, with the added versatility to occasionally peel off and cover zones. This was no question a Raheem Morris pick, because for the last three months, I have been part of countless conversations comparing Height to Leonard Floyd - and not the washed-up version Niners fans saw. Think Bears and Rams Floyd - one of Morris’ favorite players ever. The Niners can now line up Height, Osa Odighizuwa, Mykel Williams, and Nick Bosa as their four-man third-down pass-rushing defensive line. That’s as good as it’s going to get in this league.
• The Value: An absolute steal. After watching a ton of Texas Tech in this cycle, I often wondered if Height was the better of the two pass rushers - the other, David Bailey, went No. 2 overall. Yes, Bailey was better, but not by all that much. Height was player 45 on my big board. Bailey was No. 17.
• Grade: A
  
  Height is one of the players constantly tied to the 49ers in the pre-draft process because the fit was so clear. In a draft where pass rushers who shouldn’t be on the field for all three downs were going in the first round, to get Height at pick No. 70 is great work.

Round 3, Pick 90: Kaelon Black, RB, Indiana

• The Breakdown: Black capped off a six-year collegiate career with a National Championship at Indiana. He is a smart, downhill, offensive-line-following runner with excellent vision and noticeable long speed. While he lacks the elite burst, lateral agility, or contact balance to consistently make defenders miss in open space, he stands out as arguably the best pass-protecting running back in this entire draft class.
• The Fit: He perfectly profiles as a reliable third-down running back to replace Patrick Taylor on the depth chart and complement Christian McCaffrey and Jordan James, the primary backs in this offense. His elite pass protection and calm feet mean he can be trusted immediately to keep the quarterback clean on passing downs, while also providing a high-effort presence on special teams. I think there’s more pass-catching ability than he showed in college, too. At the very least, he can provide a bit of running back thump that the Niners have lacked, while still being a one-cut-and-go option.
• The Value: All those nice things said: This is unquestionably a reach on Day 2. But to pick Black as the No. 3 running back in this class isn’t crazy. This is a terrible running back crop, and he had arguably the highest floor of the Day 3 options. The concern is that he’s a low-ceiling rotational player lacking dynamic athletic traits beyond admirable straight-line speed. He might be around in the league for a while, but will he ever provide serious impact, as a Top-100 pick should?
• Grade: C-
  
  Removing the hilarity of the Niners taking a running back in the third round - something they have failed at too many times to count under this regime - and acknowledging that value is a deeply abstract concept in this draft, I am simply not sure why the Niners felt the need to make the pick of Black here.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 9:52 PM.