San Francisco 49ers should consider Roquan Smith, Lorenzo Carter

Picking two players from the same school paid off for the San Francisco 49ers last year, and they should consider doing the same with two Georgia defenders.

In last year’s NFL Draft the San Francisco 49ers benefited from selecting two players from the same school. The 49ers went double Hawkeye by selecting a pair of offensive stars from Iowa. C.J. Beathard was taken in the third round, and George Kittle in the fifth.

Those selections proved astute as the Niners now look to have a backup in Beathard who can at least keep the team competitive and an athletic starting tight end. And it may serve them well to consider double-dipping with picks from another school, in this case Georgia, as they look to plug holes on their roster in the 2018 draft.

Reuben Foster’s nightmare offseason, which has so far featured two arrests, has made insurance at linebacker a must, while the 49ers still require pass rush help off the edge after another disappointing season getting pressure on the quarterback.

The 2018 class features a pair of Georgia Bulldogs who can provide help in those areas in the form of Roquan Smith and Lorenzo Carter.

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Even before Foster’s second arrest on domestic violence and weapons charges, the Niners had been heavily linked with picking a linebacker, though Tremaine Edmunds has been the name most regularly connected with San Francisco. Edmunds possesses a rare combination of size and athleticism but, though his stock has steadily risen, there should be no mistake that Smith is the best linebacker in the class.

Indeed, he is a more well-rounded talent than Edmunds, who is an explosive player when attacking downhill playing the run and rushing the passer but does not have the same consistent sideline-to-sideline athleticism as Smith and is certainly not as talented in coverage.

Smith has frightening closing speed that allows him get downhill in a hurry, rush the passer and chase sideline-to-sideline, showing an impressive understanding of the angles he needs to take to find the ball-carrier.

Boasting light feet and the ability to change direction quickly and pick his way through traffic to find the football, Smith is a very instinctual player who rarely bites on fakes or overpursues, with his obvious athleticism seeing him often used by Georgia as a quarterback spy and in coverage, where he produced excellent plays like this eye-catching pass deflection against Auburn.

Able to change assignment on the fly and quickly go from blitzing to covering a running back on the same play, Smith’s blend of intelligence and athleticism made him an unmitigated success at Georgia.

Additionally, the awareness he demonstrated to get his hands outside of the frame of linemen to enable him to get off blocks should allay concerns about his 6-1 and 225-pound frame and about him getting bullied off the ball, which is something Carter has also been criticised for.

Long but with something of a thin frame at 6-6 and 242 pounds, Carter can be knocked back off the snap when defending the run and opposing teams have felt comfortable leaving a running back or tight end on him.

But assigning a skill position to player to Carter in pass protection was often a mistake, with his remarkable first step and closing speed meaning running backs struggled to get across to block him in time and left him with a free run to the quarterback.

Able to turn the corner quickly because of that speed, Carter has displayed some evidence of bend to shorten his path to the quarterback and, though the consensus seems to be that he will need to develop more ways to win as a pass rusher, he has shown a capability to defeat blocks with the use of his hands.

Boasting long arms, Carter has been able to control the leverage battle by getting a hand underneath the chinstrap of the opposing linemen and can effectively use his hands to work to the outside shoulder of blockers.

Carter also appears to have an arm-under move at his disposal but, with his frame and resulting lack of play strength regularly leading to his rush stalling, a wider array of counter moves will need to be developed and honed at the next level.

That is not to take away from the versatile talent Carter is. He is very good at fighting off blocks and finding the ball-carrier in the run game and his athleticism and tireless motor have led him to excel consistently in pursuit.

Comfortable in coverage having regularly been deployed there by Georgia and likely too small to succeed on the defensive line, for the 49ers Carter may best fit as a SAM linebacker who can play down near the line of scrimmage and rush the passer in nickel.

However, with six forced fumbles and recoveries in his career and a crucial blocked field goal in overtime in the Rose Bowl, Carter is a player who can make an impact in a multitude of ways and the same can be said of Smith.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Full two-round projection

Those are type of players you need on your football team and, when the 49ers come to make their picks in April, they should strongly consider going back-to-back with two Bulldogs who would be a significant boost an improving defense.