PHOENIX – Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster was the first of the 49ers’ 30 pre-draft visits to the team’s Santa Clara facility.
Team general manager John Lynch said the club has already met with Foster, an expected first-round draft pick and the likely top inside linebacker available in the draft.
“We brought in Reuben Foster,” Lynch said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings. “He came in, and we had a nice visit with him.”
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Foster (6 foot, 229 pounds) was a unanimous first-team All-American and All-SEC pick. He won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker. Foster had a controversial trip to the NFL scouting combine. He was sent home after allegedly getting into a confrontation with a hospital worker in Indianapolis.
“I think that’s why you do those things,” Lynch said. “You try to gather information, and react and make decisions accordingly. And so that’s why these things are valuable.”