Chris Borland was widely expected to be the first Badger taken in the 2014 NFL Draft, but that didn’t happen with his former defensive teammate Dez Southward going first. However, Borland may have found a nice situation to be in, as the San Francisco 49ers took Borland with the No. 13 (73rd overall) pick in the 3rd round.
With the 77th-overall pick (3rd round), the #49ersDraft Wisconsin LB Chris Borland. pic.twitter.com/T3ESKIcSyr
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) May 10, 2014
In his four years at Wisconsin, Borland tallied 420 tackles, 50 tackles for loss and 17 sacks to go along with tying the all-time record for forced fumbles with 14. In his final three years in a Badger uniform, Borland never put up fewer than 103 tackles and had a career best 145 tackles in his redshirt sophomore season.
Many thought that Borland would test better at the scouting combine in February, but he ran a slower-than-expected 40-yard dash and only tested out with a 33-inch vertical. However, those numbers improved at Wisconsin’s pro day.
Late in the process there were some rumblings of teams backing off because of the health of his surgically repaired right shoulder. In a report by Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel one executive in personnel had this to say:
“The issue with his shoulder is that he had a repair and the screw has kind of slid down into the joint,” the executive said. “So there’s a feeling that he’s going to have to have another surgery. It would be his third one.”
However, it took just one team to fall in love with Borland, who according to McGinn’s article was “one of the most admired players in the entire draft.”
Borland comes in to a 49ers team that has a need on the inside at linebacker, especially with Navarro Bowman missing the first half of the season and the who knows what is happening with outside linebacker Aldon Smith.
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