49ers get a closer look at intriguing WRs Elic Ayomanor and Nick Nash at local pro day

SANTA CLARA — It’s fitting that the 49ers, as they remodel their roster this offseason, are also renovating their facility.

Construction crews are out in full force at both Levi’s Stadium, which will enjoy a big video board upgrade for the 2025 season, and the adjacent 49ers practice fields. By next month’s organized team activities (OTAs), the team will have two 100-yard practice fields — a significant upgrade over the two 80-yarders that came before. The extra room will come in particularly handy when the 49ers host the Denver Broncos for a joint practice during training camp in August.

All the construction moved the 49ers’ local pro day, an annual workout for prospects who attended either high school or college in the Bay Area, out of its usual home inside the stadium and onto the practice field. Prospects ran through a light workout Wednesday afternoon as a crew leveled dirt just a few yards away.

The local pro day is neither a star-studded event nor an indicator of whom the 49ers might draft. Last year, for example, not a single one of the 44 attendees was drafted. But the 49ers did later sign one participant, wide receiver Terique Owens (son of Hall of Fame 49ers wideout Terrell Owens), and he’s still on the team.

Might another diamond in the rough come from this year’s attendees?

The most logical candidates may again be at receiver. Stanford’s Elic Ayomanor is a big, physical wideout who broke into a grin when asked about the 49ers’ Jauan Jennings, a big receiver known for annoying defenders with his bruising blocking.

“I was about to mention [Jennings] earlier, because he does get his head in there,” Ayomanor said. “I really take pride in being a pest out there. That was one of the mantras of our receiver room [at Stanford]. You get gratification from all that. That’s the game of football. It’s not just about catching touchdowns. It’s about hitting someone in the mouth, too.”

Ayomanor also caught his share of touchdowns at Stanford, especially during the marquee game of his college career. That came on a 2023 Friday night at Colorado, where he dominated cornerback and future Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter in a sensational 13-catch, 294-yard, three-touchdown performance. Stanford’s 46-43 double-overtime victory over the Buffaloes marked the largest comeback win — 29 points — in school history.

“I don’t think things changed that much for me, but the perception of who I was as a player changed a lot,” Ayomanor said of the impact of that nationally televised game. “But I approached everything the same way that I always have, from the beginning.”

The 49ers watched Ayomanor closely last month when they attended Stanford’s pro day. Wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson ran him through specific routes. General manager John Lynch, who’s also a Stanford alumnus, talked to Ayomanor again at the 49ers’ facility on Wednesday.

Lynch’s son Jake — now a defensive quality control assistant on the 49ers’ staff — was Ayomanor’s teammate at Stanford.

San Jose State prospect Nick Nash might also intrigue the 49ers, whose 11 picks are the most of any team in the 2025 NFL Draft, with a lower-round selection. Nash began his time with the Spartans as a quarterback before switching to wideout, where he won college football’s triple crown — he led the nation in catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns — in 2024.

Like Ayomanor, the 6-foot-2 Nash has plus size for the receiver position and, as his 2024 statistical surge suggested, significant potential upside.

“Teams like the fact that I’m still a raw receiver and I’m still new to the position,” Nash said. “They would have an opportunity to develop somebody.”

The 49ers are at a crossroads of sorts at receiver. They’ve traded away Deebo Samuel, a move in the direction of building a wideout room that separates more effectively against man coverage. They had no real choice but to keep Brandon Aiyuk, who’s working back from a torn ACL and MCL but might not be ready for the start of the season. Jennings and Ricky Pearsall, who excelled to close his rookie season, might be the centerpieces to begin 2025. Veteran signee Demarcus Robinson and perhaps even second-year man Jacob Cowing will support Jennings and Pearsall, but there’s certainly room for another body at the position — one the 49ers have drafted regularly since Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan have been in charge.

The team is also at a crossroads at linebacker, the position of Cal’s Teddye Buchanan — another local pro day participant. He’s expected to be a mid-round pick. After Dre Greenlaw’s departure to Denver in free agency, the 49ers want to restock help for superstar Fred Warner, and Buchanan is a mid-round candidate.

Reminders of the 49ers’ need to remodel that linebacker position were scattered all over the practice field Wednesday. There was the actual field renovation, of course. Then there was the sight of new 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, a former linebackers coach who had lobbied hard for Greenlaw to re-sign earlier this offseason.

Finally, there was the presence of former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year. As a youngster, Buchanan — a San Francisco native who played his prep ball at St. Ignatius — had watched Willis dominate alongside NaVorro Bowman for the 49ers.

A chance to meet one of his childhood idols, then, might’ve been the top highlight of the local pro day.

“I had a great talk with Patrick Willis,” Buchanan said. “Simple advice: Bring it every single day. Wake up ready to attack the day.”