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San Francisco 49ers Draft Clemson P Bradley Pinion

View all of San Francisco's selections from the 2015 NFL Draft

With the 165th pick (fifth round) in the 2015 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected Clemson punter Bradley Pinion.

As a junior last fall, Pinion owned a 42.6-yard average with 28 punts inside the 20-yard line and only two touchbacks. He forced opponents to fair catch his punts 33 times, the most among any Power 5 conference specialist.

Pinion also served as the Tigers kickoff man.

"I forwent my senior season and this is one of the reasons I did it," Pinion said. "I felt as if I was the best in this class. That's the confidence that I have about myself, and I guess it showed in the Draft.

"I'm really glad that the 49ers picked me up, and I'm really excited to get out there and start my career there."

Pinion is the first punter selected by the 49ers since the team took Andy Lee in 2004. The draft pick expects to compete with Lee for San Francisco's punting/kickoff job this summer.

"Andy Lee is a very accomplished punter. He's done great for the past decade," Pinion said. "It's just one of those things where everywhere you go there is going to be competition. I'm just looking forward to compete and trying to earn a spot."

Listed at 6-foot-5, 229 pounds, Pinion was also a basketball and soccer player in high school. He drew national attention when he hit a 100-yard kickoff as a camp for prep kicks in 2011. More recently, he said he hit a 65-yard field goal while training for the draft.

So what makes Pinion think he'll be successful in the NFL?

"My ability to control the ball, my ability to put the ball inside the 20," he said. "And also, I think my kickoffs really put me apart as well. Not only punt, but I can kick the ball off out the back of the end zone. It's one of those things, you get two-for-one."

Below are scouting reports and Tweet reaction on Pinion:

NFL.com: "Has NFL-desired ratio of punting distance to hang time with a 42.6-yard average and a 4.1-second hang time. Forced opponents to fair catch his punts 44 percent of the time. Only 2.6 percent of his punts went for touchbacks (75 total punts in 2014)."

CBSSports: "Huge punter with good hang-time but lacks directional consistency."

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