Kyle Juszczyk breaks down the 49ers' 2026 offensive draft class

· Yahoo Sports

The San Francisco 49ers traded out of the first round multiple times during the 2026 draft, drawing plenty of outside scrutiny. Kyle Juszczyk isn't worried about it.

The veteran fullback appeared on the Rich Eisen Show this week and offered his early impressions of the rookie class after the team's first week of offseason work together — and he came away encouraged.

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Wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling, who was taken with the first pick of the second round out of Ole Miss, immediately stood out to Juszczyk for reasons that go beyond football.

"Just the conversation that we had and getting to know one another," Juszczyk said. "He grew up in Hawaii, he's from a military family, so he's very buttoned up, very well spoken. You can tell he's got a good head on his shoulders."

Juszczyk pointed to Stribling's explosion and acceleration as things that caught his eye right away.

"The way he's able to open up his stride so quickly for a guy of his size — that really stood out to me," he said. "I'm excited for this week when we're actually going against the defense and running plays."

Stribling could take on the role vacated by Jauan Jennings as a do-it-all receiver alongside deep threat Ricky Pearsall and 49ers newcomers Mike Evans and Christian Kirk.

Juszczyk also had early praise for running back Kaelon Black, a third-rounder out of Indiana who drew attention during the draft process because he wasn't invited to the NFC Combine. Juszczyk, who also wasn't invited to the Combine when he was going through the draft process, noted that concerns about Black's receiving ability out of the backfield appear overblown based on what he's seen so far.

"He looks very natural running his routes, very natural hands," Juszczyk said. "I think he's going to fit in just perfectly."

Black has a chance to play a role in the backfield alongside Juszczyk and starting running back Christian McCaffrey. He'll have to beat out 2025 fifth-rounder Jordan James as well as a few others, though, to make an impact on the team in 2026.

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Juszczyk breaks down the 49ers' 2026 offensive draft class

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