The San Francisco 49ers haven’t been shy about drafting players from the same school under the current regime.
They’ve drafted a pair of Notre Dame offensive linemen in the top 50 in Aaron Banks and Mike McGlinchey. Deebo Samuel and Javon Kinlaw both came out of the University of South Carolina.
There are examples of the Niners selecting the same prospects from the same school in consecutive years, like in 2021 and 2022, when Talanoa Hufanga and Drake Jackson were drafted.
If you want to go pre-John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers drafted Curtis Taylor and Eric Reid, a pair of free safeties from LSU. Another example is Kentwan Balmer and Kentavius Street, both from North Carolina State. The most recent and closest example is this year with Enrique Cruz and Dominick Puni, both Kansas alumni. That’s as close to the same school and position in consecutive years as it gets, dating back to 2008.
You see where we’re going with this. For the first time in the Next Gen Stats database, the 49ers drafted players from the same school at the same position in consecutive years. The 49ers drafted former Ole Miss wide receivers Jordan Watkins and De’Zhaun Stribling in 2025 and 2026. Both wideouts couldn’t be more different stylistically.
Watkins is under 6′ and 200 pounds with an arm length of 29 3/8. Some of his height-weight-speed comps include KC Concepcion, Patriots receiver Kyle Williams, Makai Lemon, and Mecole Hardman.
At 6’2 1/8, Stribling’s arm length is over two inches longer, and his hands are nearly an inch bigger. His comparisons are Sammy Watkins and Christian Watson.
Both were in the 90th percentile for speed. Watkins and Stribling had the same 10-yard split of 1.53, with Stribling just edging out Watkins’ 40-time at 4.36 compared to 4.37. Their usage in college wasn’t all that different, either.
Lane Kiffin used Watkins as an outside receiver on two-thirds of the snaps with the Rebels. He occasionally played in the slot, while sparingly lining up in the backfield (13) or tight end (17). Stribling played 591 of his 778 snaps out wide last year. He had more snaps in the backfield (20) and at tight end (27), while his uptick in the slot didn’t happen until the college football playoffs.
It’s almost as if the 49ers took the receiver lining up in the same spot at the same school in consecutive seasons. There was no overlap between Watkins and Stribling, as the latter played at Oklahoma State during Watkins’ final season at Ole Miss, so they weren’t teammates.
The path for Stribling in 2026 is clearer than Watkins’s. Stribling is a 1-for-1 swap with Jauan Jennings. Watkins will likely need to battle Ricky Pearsall for playing time. In limited action last year, Watkins played 16 of his 25 snaps out wide. There were even times when Watkins was the isolated receiver. Of course, that was before Mike Evans was on the roster. Watkins may need to earn his playing time as a special teamer or returner, barring injury.