Thursday, April 16, 2026

49ers News: One week away

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 07: (L-R) General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan speak during San Francisco 49ers practice ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at Fertitta Football Complex on February 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images) | Getty Images

49ers host Alabama OT Kadyn Proctor on pre-draft visit
“Proctor posted strong production in the 2025 season, earning an 86.1 overall offensive grade, an 81.1 run-blocking grade, and an 84.2 pass-blocking grade. The 6-foot-7, 352-pound tackle allowed 21 pressures and two sacks across 611 pass-blocking snaps. At the NFL Scouting Combine, Proctor ran a 5.21-second 40-yard dash with a 1.84-second 10-yard split, along with a 32.5-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot-1 broad jump.” 

49ers hosted Oregon OL Alex Harkey on pre-draft visit
“NFL teams believe he has true 5-position versatility,” Melo noted.” 

49ers host Oklahoma LB Kendal Daniels on pre-draft visit
“In 2025, Daniels started every game at the hybrid “Cheetah” position, finishing with 53 tackles, including nine for loss. He also added three pass breakups and one fumble recovery.” 

49ers hosting ‘prime Deebo Samuel’-type receiver ahead of 2026 NFL Draft
“The wideout is coming off his most productive season in 2025, recording 69 receptions for 937 yards and a career-high 13 touchdowns. His breakout campaign helped Indiana secure a College Football Playoff National Championship, earning him second-team All-Big Ten honors.” 

49ers mock draft roundup: Kiper, Brugler, others address San Francisco’s long-term future
“I don’t think the 49ers are going into draft night stressing that they must find a long-term solution at left tackle,” Brugler wrote. “But if the right player falls in their laps, it would make sense for them to go that direction — and Lomu could be that player. He is a work in progress (in several areas), but his athletic footwork and body control form a great foundation.” 

Brugler also has the 49ers selecting former Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard in Round 2.…Kiper wrote, “The legendary left tackle is turning 38 during training camp this summer, meaning San Francisco has to think about the future no matter what. 

“Iheanachor started 31 games in college, has long 33 7/8-inch arms, and is quick out of his set. But he’s also relatively new to football, having never played before 2022. He could use a little time to develop before eventually becoming the guy.”

San Francisco’s next selection comes at No. 58 overall, where Kiper addresses a pressing need along the defensive front. He projects the 49ers selecting former Illinois defensive end Gabe Jacas to bolster a pass rush that struggled with consistency last season.” 

49ers host WR Colbie Young, DT Tyler Onyedim on pre-draft visits
Young totaled 116 receptions for 1,437 yards and 13 touchdowns across four collegiate seasons split between Miami and Georgia. 

Onyedim recorded 138 tackles (20.5 for loss), 5.5 sacks, an interception, one pass defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery over 53 games at Iowa State and Texas A&M.”  

49ers’ need to upgrade safety position requires bold 2026 NFL Draft strategy
“Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (Toledo) is a lanky safety (6-foot-3, 201 pounds) with good ball skills and is very good at punching the ball out, as he forced nine fumbles in his college career. 

Others who might be of interest to the 49ers in the second round are Keionte Scott (Miami), A.J. Haulcy (LSU) and Bud Clark (TCU). San Francisco’s second-round pick comes at No. 58 overall. 

Cole Wisniewski (Texas Tech) was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but he is squarely on the 49ers’ radar. Wisniewski (6-3, 219) visited San Francisco during the pre-draft process. He registered eight interceptions during the 2023 season at North Dakota State.” 

Who could fill the 49ers’ offensive line need? Ten options, with help from ‘The Beast’ (paywall)
“Let’s say six offensive linemen get drafted before the 49ers pick, and that they pass on Utah tackle Caleb Lomu (who visited the team facility Tuesday), Arizona State tackle Max Iheanachor and Texas A&M guard Chase Bisontis at No. 27. If so, Pregnon would be the best option left in the second round. He made stops at Wyoming, USC and then Oregon to wrap up a six-year career as a first-team All-American at left guard in 2025. 

His large hands (11 inches) aren’t great yet, but he moves well and has some power at 6 feet 4 and 314 pounds. He’s a glass-eater who would start from Day 1.” 

‘Low-maintenance’ Mike Evans is a different kind of 49ers WR1 (paywall)
“Rick Stroud, the Buccaneers beat writer at the Tampa Bay Times since 1990, is familiar with prima donna pass-catchers: He covered Johnson for four seasons. In Stroud’s 12 seasons covering Evans, he appreciated his “all-out” approach to all aspects of his position, including blocking and clearing out the middle of the field by running go routes on which he wasn’t even a secondary target. 

“We know in the NFL there’s a lot of divas,” Stroud said. “There’s a lot of guys that come back to the huddle and they’re always open. And I’m sure Mike felt that way at times, too. But Mike was never that guy. It’s rare to talk about ‘unselfish’ at a position that is intrinsically selfish. But that’s who Mike is. He truly is.” 

Stroud noted that Evans is fiercely proud. And he was deeply disappointed last year when injuries forced him to miss nine games and prevented him from passing Rice with a 12th straight 1,000-yard season. But he said Evans’ primary focus has been winning, pointing to the bargain contract he signed with the 49ers as the latest evidence.”



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Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Daily Dawg Chow 4/15; speculation continues over possible draft trade

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 24: Andrew Berry of the Cleveland Browns speaks during a press conference at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine on February 24, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The latest Cleveland Browns coverage from Dawgs By Nature:

More Cleveland Browns news:



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Tuesday, April 14, 2026

How Jerry West found catharsis by speaking openly before his death in 'The Logo'

Jerry West’s legend was so well established when he retired from the Los Angeles Lakers in 1974 that he’d already been the inspiration for the NBA’s logo. Half a century later, West remains seventh all-time in points per game and holds the points-per-game record for a playoff series, numbers even more remarkable because he did it without the three-point shot.

But, of course, West wasn’t done. As a scout and general manager, he was a key architect of the Showtime Lakers teams of the 1980s and later acquired both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to build another dynasty. West also was an executive for the Golden State Warriors in their heyday, providing crucial advice on player personnel.

Through it all, however, West struggled with depression and a sense of self-loathing, and had trouble with intimacy, much of it a by-product of a hardscrabble childhood in West Virginia with a domineering father.

That dichotomy, his outer success and inner turmoil, are the heart of “Jerry West: The Logo,” a new documentary for Prime Video, from “black-ish” creator Kenya Barris, directing his first documentary.

“I’m from L.A. and was a fan of the Showtime Lakers growing up,” Barris says, so he put his name in for the project figuring he’d at least get to meet a hero. “But we immediately hit it off and I felt a kinship with him.”

That ability to connect was part of West’s magic, as attested to by the string of NBA legends who pay tribute to him in the documentary, including Lakers such as Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Pat Riley and O’Neal, along with Steph Curry and Michael Jordan.

Vlade Divac was traded by West to secure the rights to Bryant, but he selected West to introduce him at his Hall of Fame induction. In a recent phone interview, Divac praised West as “a father figure when you needed it and a friend when you needed it. He was very honest and he cared about people and helped you achieve your goals. He's one of the best guys I ever met. Period.”

Barris, who did extensive interviews with West before the Laker icon died in 2024, spoke by video recently about making the documentary, which also includes NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledging for the first time that West was the sport's logo. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Read more:Jerry West, Lakers legend and architect of 'Showtime' era, dies at 86

Jerry had already opened up about his life in his memoir, "West by West," but do you think this was still cathartic for him?

His book really drew me to doing the documentary because it was so honest. I think the idea of him actually saying these things out loud in front of a camera with his kids and his grandkids around was a catharsis for him.

Did he feel he was nearing the end?

Jerry would say, "I feel like I'm in God's waiting room." He didn't like getting old because he was so much in touch with his body as an athlete — he could jump higher and run farther than his friends. When I first met him, he was on the treadmill and jogging with weights. He was in his 80s but was saying, "I used to be able to jog with more weights."

He was feeling old but I don't think that he thought he was about to pass.

Was he annoyed by his depiction in HBO’s Lakers series “Winning Time,” which generated controversy in 2022?

The show was entertaining, but it really bothered him and he didn’t think it was fair. I think that series might've pushed him into wanting to do this, if I'm being completely honest.

He and his family talk openly on camera about his mental health issues.  Was it hard to balance that tonally with his great accomplishments in basketball?

I did not want to make something that was morose or a melodrama. But it would not be complete if he didn't talk about the struggles. When I first met him, he was just coming out of a depression and anyone who's ever been through that understands that it is actually a struggle. So forming a whole picture of who this character was was really important. And also it was important for his family because they lived through this with him as well. They were sad to see him suffer, but they had suffered through it too.

We wanted to really talk about who this character was and what formed him. Most of who we are is formed between the ages of 0 and 12 and in those years, Jerry saw a lot and went through a lot of stuff.

Read more:How Jerry West vs. HBO became TV's biggest feud in years

When his older brother was killed in Korea and his father put the casket by the Christmas tree …

That was crazy. If we could get the audience to understand who this man was, it would give them empathy for everything after.

As a GM [general manager], he was a white guy in this predominantly Black sport, but he came in with a chip on his shoulder, too, and he saw these young players who hadn’t had strong father figures and came from socioeconomically deprived places like he did and he was able to build real relationships with them.

He didn't want to talk about it a lot in the doc, but he did a lot for civil rights and for players' advocacy of the NBA, for the Black players, who didn’t have the same voice that he had. But he did it quietly.

One thing the documentary avoids is the contentious relationship with Phil Jackson — who isn’t even mentioned — and the cause of West’s departure from the Lakers right after he built that dynasty. Did he not want to discuss it?

We spoke about it. You can't have that long a career and not rack up some controversial things. But I did not want this to be a salacious look at the negative accounts. I got in there the idea of a strain with the Lakers, but I wanted to make sure to not defile that relationship based upon certain things that I wasn't going to dig into. It was not a gotcha sort of documentary. It was more of a tribute to him.

People have wondered if he had stayed on, whether he could have stopped the relationship between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal from going south, and I would have been interested to know what he thought.

We did talk about that. He believes that he could have got them to stay together and he said that he believes they could have gone on and won four or five more championships.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.



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Monday, April 13, 2026

Former NFL player Chris Payton-Jones, 30, dead in a Florida car crash: ‘A great player but even better person’

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Chris Payton-Jones in a white football jersey with blue accents and the UFL logo, Image 2 shows Football players Chris Payton-Jones and Nick Whiteside posing for a photo

Former NFL player Chris Payton-Jones died in a Florida car accident on Saturday night. He was 30.

Payton-Jones, who was driving a sedan, collided head-on with a pickup truck in Alachua County, according to News 4 Jacksonville.

He was the only person killed in the crash. The truck’s three passengers suffered only minor injuries. His family confirmed his death.

Chris Payton-Jones #9 of the St. Louis Battlehawks poses for a portrait on March 07, 2024. Getty Images

Payton-Jones signed with the Lions, Titans, Vikings and Raiders, playing in 29 games over six seasons in the league. He recorded 48 tackles and seven passes defended in the NFL.

The 6-foot, 230-pound defensive back out of Nebraska most recently played for the Seattle Battlehawks of the UFL in 2024 after spending 2022 in the XFL with the SeaDragons.

Former coaches of Payton-Jones have praised him as a role model, dedicated athlete and community pillar following his death.

Sandalwood High School coach Adam Geis — who coached Payton-Jones as a three-star cornerback prospect in 2014 — remembered him as a genuine, dedicated player, driven by an elite work ethic.

“He was one of my all-time favorites! The kid never missed a workout, never missed practice, and never wanted to come off the field. Everyone loved him,” Geis said, according to News4Jax.

“He was always unbelievably positive. I’ve never heard that kid ever say anything negative about anyone or anything. … It was always a pleasure to be around him. You were always happy to see him.”

Chris Payton-Jones #3 and Nick Whiteside #10 of St. Louis Battlehawks pose for a photo after a game against Arlington Renegades at The Dome at Americaâs Center on May 02, 2025. Getty Images

Another of his high school coaches, Patrick Clark, described him as the “hardest working human being I’ve ever been around.”

“A great player but even better person. He was never the biggest or fastest, but he did things the right way, and the game paid him back for it,” Clark said.

“Ultimately, he was going to make his biggest impact off the field as he was transitioning to a career of service in media and development of young athletes. I credit Chris as a huge inspiration to my coaching career as I moved up in the ranks. He is everything you want in a student athlete.”

Anthony Becht, who coached Payton-Jones during his time with the Battlehawks, said his “heart was broken” over the news of his former player’s death.

“Chris was an outstanding player, a fantastic teammate and an incredible human being. Chris was a joy to coach and be around the past two seasons in St. Louis,” Becht said.

“I love that young man. Sending out deepest respect and condolences to the Payton-Jones Family from myself, my staff, and from all his teammates that loved and worked with him. The world lost a good one.”

In recent years, Payton-Jones became well known in his local community for his Flashflix media company and YouTube channel, which has more than 1.3 million views. The channel was focused on local sports in Jacksonville. 

“He just was an honest, genuine, true-to-himself type of person,” Clark said.



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Sunday, April 12, 2026

SB Nation Reacts: Jordan Walsh is the Celtics playoff x-factor

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 9: Jordan Walsh #27 of the Boston Celtics drives to the basket during the game against the New York Knicks on April 9, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

If the Celtics season were represented by one player, it would be Jordan Walsh. As CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell writes:

One hallmark characteristic of this Celtics season has been that as soon as it appears Joe Mazzulla has a solidified rotation, things change.

That latest change?

Jordan Walsh is back.

Over the past 7 games, Walsh has re-established himself as a key member of the Celtics lineup, averaging 20.2 minutes per game.

And, in a Tuesday night win against the Charlotte Hornets, he was crucial, tallying 9 points (on 4-4 FG), 6 rebounds, and a steal in 18 minutes of action — while also guarding Hornets star LaMelo Ball for much of the second half.

“He just understands that when he’s at his best defensively, he’s impacting the team’s best players, creating turnovers,” said Mazzulla. “I thought he was big tonight.”

Whether it’s a recognition of the old adage that “defense wins championships” or Mazzulla just has a gut reaction, Walsh has seemingly locked in a role in the rotation in favor of teammates like Ron Harper Jr., Hugo Gonzalez, and at times, Baylor Scheierman.

And the fans agree. Walsh won our poll for who could be Boston’s biggest x-factor heading into the playoffs:

With one game left in the NBA’s regular season, you can still wager on Walsh with FanDuel’s player props or Boston as a +550 to raise the Larry O’Brien at https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba.



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NBA Playoffs 2026: Where to watch, start date, TV schedule and more

Aqib Talib hints Broncos aren’t finished making splash moves

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 24: General manager George Paton of the Denver Broncos speaks to the media during the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 24, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Good morning, Broncos Country!

Denver Broncos insider Aqib Talib is back with possible news.

Earlier this week, the former Broncos cornerback said on Arena Gridiron that Denver could be in for another big move. He also said it could happen during the NFL Draft.

You can see it in this clip and embedded in the story.

Prior to the Jaylen Waddle trade, Talib said something big was coming for the Broncos. He didn’t say what, but he did say it was coming. Shortly after, the Waddle trade was announced. So Talib has a track record.

Whether this comes to fruition, time will tell. But as Talib said on the show to Skip Bayless:

“Cmon, Skip. You still don’t believe? You still don’t believe me? You still don’t believe me, Skip? Cmon, now.”

That was followed by Bayless saying, “Unfortunately, I do. And I’m dreading what’s about to happen.”

Now, let the speculation begin as to what move Talib is talking about.

Could it be a move in the Draft?

Swing move for another big-name player?

Since the Broncos no longer have a first-round pick, thanks to the Waddle trade, it was looking to be a “slower” Draft. Denver doesn’t have a selection until No. 62 in the second round.

Now that Talib is saying the Broncos could make another big move, that adds fuel to the fire. The trade for Waddle was already massive and has made the offense and the team instantly better. To follow that up with another move would be epic for Denver.

As Samuel L. Jackson said in “Jurassic Park,” “Hold onto your butts.”



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