Really, the 49ers didn’t need Eli Harold.
San Francisco has plenty of talent at outside linebacker, including Aldon Smith, Ahmad Brooks, Aaron Lynch and Corey Lemonier.
But when the Niners’ turn to pick came around in the third round of last week’s NFL draft, at No. 79 overall, Harold was still available. So, general manager Trent Baalke selected him.
The end result is the 49ers may have gotten one of the best values in the entire draft.
Some had viewed Harold, a defensive end at Virginia who is seen as an outside linebacker and pass rusher in San Francisco’s 3-4 alignment, as a talent worthy of a first- or second-round pick.
NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock, on the draft telecast, said he was surprised Harold “lasted that long” when the 49ers selected him.
Over the past two seasons for the Cavaliers, Harold – who is 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds – had 29½ tackles for loss, 105 total tackles and 15½ sacks.
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In many ways, Harold is similar to Smith, a former defensive end at Missouri who made the transition to the NFL with the 49ers and became an elite pass rusher. Harold told Bay Area reporters that he admires Smith’s game so much that he made a photo of Smith as his iPad cover image when he was a freshman at Virginia.
“I thought I had similarities to him,” said Harold.
Baalke said the 49ers were “a little bit” surprised that Harold was available at their spot in the third round.
“We had him rated a little higher than where we took him and feel good about the pick,” Baalke told reporters, adding that he was just too good a talent to pass on. And, though the outside linebacker corps already had plenty of talent, Harold will have the opportunity to show what he can do.
“You can never have too many guys that can rush the passer,” said Baalke. “I think that’s proven. The more guys you can line up on the edge or within different packages, we may build a package for those guys. I would look for that potentially.”
Harold, meanwhile, said he’s going to show he’s willing to work to make his mark.
“I’m going to bring a lot of passion, toughness,” Harold said in a conference call with reporters. “I’m a natural leader and I’ll do whatever the coaches want.”
