Top Five Players at their Position for 2011: Pre-Season Picks

I didn't say it before, but thanks again OTC for all you do for this board. What a great resource to have.



Next year's draft class seems ripe for us just like this last one. Let's just say for a minute we are going to have very serious needs at CB, NT, DE/OLB, C, and QB. Next year, all these position have high quality players between the first and second rounds. We can land two great players in any of those positions.

I really like the NT, CB and QB top-heavy quality. It seems the pass rushers are not as abundant as this last year. Still, I love our chances to continue building this team from the draft up, the way it should be.

The one thing I have learned OTC, is that the college season changes so dramatically by the end of the season with players such as Ansah, McCluster, Dan Williams, Courtney, etc who leaped so far ahead of their original projection at the start of the season. I am sure this next class will be no different especially if we see more infusion of underclassmen.

So far so good.

Originally posted by ninertico:
I didn't say it before, but thanks again OTC for all you do for this board. What a great resource to have.



Next year's draft class seems ripe for us just like this last one. Let's just say for a minute we are going to have very serious needs at CB, NT, DE/OLB, C, and QB. Next year, all these position have high quality players between the first and second rounds. We can land two great players in any of those positions.

I really like the NT, CB and QB top-heavy quality. It seems the pass rushers are not as abundant as this last year. Still, I love our chances to continue building this team from the draft up, the way it should be.

The one thing I have learned OTC, is that the college season changes so dramatically by the end of the season with players such as Ansah, McCluster, Dan Williams, Courtney, etc who leaped so far ahead of their original projection at the start of the season. I am sure this next class will be no different especially if we see more infusion of underclassmen.

So far so good.

Agree, thanks for all the hard work OTC. Looks like a pretty good list... correct me if I am wrong but right now it looks like a top heavy draft but not as deep as this year's. Lots of good QBs and WRs if we need them. Couple of other positions we might need look good too. I think CB is our #1 need as of right now and probably will be next year.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by SunDevilNiner79:
I've learned my lesson over the years and don't bother doing pre-season picks.

Shoot I remember when Greg Hardy was a prospect in the 1st round and Dan Williams was considered 3rd round at best.

I remember when I people knocked on me for being so high on Dan Williams when the last college season began

Here are some of my favorite prospects (not BEST, just guys I like and will keep an eye on)

QB Jake Locker - I think the hype machine is revved up too much, IMO he still has a lot to prove

RB Allen Bradford - A lot of the USC defenders would rave about how good this guy was, but he never found playing time. I'm very interested to see what he can do.

WR A.J. Green - He single-handedly beat ASU last year. It will be a great competition to see him vs. Julio Jones for top WR, my money is on Green.

TE Lee Smith, Marshall - Thrown out of Tennessee for driving drunk, I think he he will have a huge Senior year. And I love 6'6" TEs.

DE/OLB Jabaal Sheard, Pitt - Over shadowed by Romeus

NT Cory Grant, TCU - only a 300lbser, but I think he may have some potential

Interesting you have Prince Amukamara at #1 Cornerback. Dunno much about him since I can't watch much Nebraska games. Strengths, weaknesses, maybe?

Christian Ponder the 2nd QB....haha....made me chuckle...hopefully thats a joke/mistake

you have 5 defensive players from North Carolina. guess i have to catch a game this year.

Originally posted by Sjceruti:
Christian Ponder the 2nd QB....haha....made me chuckle...hopefully thats a joke/mistake

Christian Ponder's legit. Too bad he's made of glass.

Any thoughts on Kevin Riley??? Reminds me of Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees, but a bit more mobile.

Does anybody what makes Peterson a better prospect than Amukamara? How does their skillset compare to each other?

Originally posted by Thorhawk:
Adrian Clayborn

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Originally posted by kronik:
That's alot of tarheels. Man, are they gonna actually show some better results on the scoreboard?

all of their good players are on D

Pouncey.

Originally posted by matt49er:

Originally posted by kronik:
That's alot of tarheels. Man, are they gonna actually show some better results on the scoreboard?

all of their good players are on D

they have a slew of top notch defensive playmakers.

Quinn, Sturdivant, Burney, Williams, Carter just to name a few.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Before the season begins, it's important to know who to look out for. I'm not going to give you the common people's list, which the media or others may view as the "top" -- but rather, who really to pay attention to.

These are obviously going to change by draft time, but in regards to 49ers' possible targets, let's preview the upcoming draft eligibles and the best likely to be available. Here we go:

OFFENSE

Quarterback:
1. Jake Locker, Washington
2. Christian Ponder, Florida St.
3. Ryan Mallet, Arkansas*
4. Pat Devlin, Delaware
5. Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M

Running back:
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama*
2. DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma
3. Montel Harris, Boston College*
4. Noel Devine, West Virginia
5. Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma St.

Tight End:
1. Weslye Saunders, South Carolina (his first name is indeed spelled like that)
2. Luke Stocker, Tennessee
3. Jeffrey Anderson, UAB
4. Charlie Gantt, Michigan St.
5. Mike McNeill, Nebraska

Wide Receiver:
1. A.J. Green, Georgia*
2. Julio Jones, Alabama*
3. Michael Floyd, Notre Dame*
4. Jonathan Baldwin, Pitt*
5. DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss*

Tackle:
1. Matt Reynolds, BYU*
2. Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin
3. Anthony Castonzo, Boston College
4. Lee Ziemba, Auburn
5. Marcus Cannon, TCU

Center:
1. Mike Pouncey, Florida
2. Stefen Wisniewski, Penn St.
3. Colin Baxter, Arizona
4. Ryan McMahon, Florida St.
5. Zane Taylor, Utah

Guard:
1. Rodney Hudson, Florida St.
2. John Moffit, Wisconsin
3. Benjamin Ijalana, Villanova
4. Justin Boren, Ohio St.
5. Steve Schilling, Michigan


DEFENSE

3-4 Defensive End:
1. Cameron Heyward, Ohio St.
2. Marvin Austin, North Carolina
3. Jared Crick, Nebraska*
4. Adrian Clayborn, Iowa
5. Allen Bailey, Miami

3-4 Nose Tackle:
1. Jerrell Powe, Mississippi
2. Kendrick Ellis, Hampton
3. Phil Taylor, Baylor
4. Anthony Gray, Southern Miss
5. Cory Grant, TCU

Inside Linebacker:
1. Don'ta Hightower, Alabama*
2. Chris Galippo, USC
3. Mike Mohamed, California
4. Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina
5. Korey Williams, Southern Miss*

3-4 OLB:
1. Robert Quinn, North Carolina*
2. Akeem Ayers, UCLA*
3. Von Miller, Texas A&M
4. Jack Crawford, Penn St.*
5. Adrian Robinson, Temple

Cornerback:
1. Prince Amukamura, Nebraska
2. Ras-I Dowling, Virginia
3. Patrick Peterson, LSU*
4. Rashad Carmichael, Virginia Tech
5. Kendrick Burney, North Carolina

Free Safety:
1. Deunta Williams, North Carolina
2. Raheem Moore, UCLA*
3. Robert Sands, West Virginia*
4. Chris Culliver, South Carolina
5. Blake Gideon, Texas*

Strong Safety:
1. DeAndre McDaniel, Clemson
2. Mark Barron, Alabama*
3. Jermale Hines, Ohio St.
4. Ahmad Black, Florida
5. Devonte Shannon, Buffalo

I really really wanna Mark Ingram is compared to Emmitt Smith. Emmitt Smith was great a football player and beautiful style to run for talent!