First Mock Draft

FA (the remainder of it)

Geoff Schwartz - good RT/RG who can either be a versatile backup, or compete for a starting role. If Davis continues to struggle, he can fill in nicely.
O.J. Atogwe - He's a backup at this point, which is fine, since we have no backup to speak of, and the draft is very thin at safety

Draft

My basic philosophy is that while we're stacked defensively, and need to draft developmental defensive players in order to take over the aging starters, on offense we're quite deficient, and need starters now. Further, I don't think we can house too much depth, and are thus better getting quality players, rather than going for boom or bust prospects. I'm all for trading up for the right player, or trading down as well, and have gone back and forth between the two ideas. I don't love the options available to us at 30--although Fleener makes sense for a number of reasons.

Trade (30) and (62) and next year's 3rd for 14th pick

1. David DeCastro OG Stanford- our O-line is terrible on the right side, and Anthony Davis is struggling to live up to expectations. The good news is that there's lots of potential there, the bad? Potential doesn't prevent defensive lineman from crashing into our QB within 1.5 seconds. DeCastro knows the system, is ready to play now, and is about the safest OL prospect since Joe Thomas. He's Steve Hutchinson, and will provide for us what Evans and Nicks provided NO. If Smith is our starter, we need to surround him with a talented cast--especially on the line.

3. Devon Wylie WR Fresno St. - May fall a bit on draft day due to size (5'9''), but is a quick and fast receiver, with return ability. Becomes our starting punt returner, and will eventually take over as the slot receive.

4. Akiem Hicks DE University of Regina - Has incredible size for a 3-4 end, with very long arms. Is a raw player, but has had nice production, and can develop behind Smith and company for a few years. Exactly the type of defensive player I like looking at in this draft. Character concerns will need to be investigated.

5. Desmond Marrow CB Toledo - Talented and tall corner. A developmental prospect with upside.

6. Chris Awusu WR Stanford - Will his track speed propel him higher? Doubtful. Considered a FA type prior to the combine. I can see Harbaugh taking a flyer on his old player here.

7. Delano Johnson OLB Bowie State - Developmental pass rusher. See the trend with 4th round down? The team is deep for now, build for the future with later picks. Also can be the situational pass rusher we need.

7. Brad Starks WR West Virginia - Purely a developmental prospect, who can learn behind Randy Moss, and play a similar role in 2 years. PS player.

How is Anthony Davis struggling?

Originally posted by genz22:

How is Anthony Davis struggling?

Last year, Davis had 8 penalties, gave up 10 sacks, and was responsible for 35 QB pressures. Pro Football Focus, which has incredible NFL statistics, ranked him 58th, of 76 active OTs last year, and other game reviews gave him absolutely failing grades. He's still very young and talented, and could be, like Jason Peters, an incredibly dominant force once he puts it all together. But to say he struggled last year is quite an understatement.

Yea not feeling trading away 3 draft picks for Decastro. And you still want to draft 3 wr's?

Originally posted by lamontb:

Yea not feeling trading away 3 draft picks for Decastro. And you still want to draft 3 wr's?

DeCastro is probably the best O-line prospect, at any of the top 5 spots in half a decade, and since we haven't shown a ton of skill in drafting good linemen, we should try focusing on elite players that are as close to a sure thing as possible. DeCastro fits the bill.

As for trading away picks, in a way this is not a bad time to do it. We have a pretty deep team. What we are lacking is very good offensive players. Depth is not currently the issue.

Finally, another WR is a must for PR. The other 2 are drafted in rounds 6 and 7. These are rounds where you try to get developmental players. In 2 years we won't have a single current receiver under their current contract, and we don't know if Moss lasts all year. So yes, I fully support getting 3 receivers.

i thought anthony davis was mauling people last year. he wasnt the problem, the turnstile named chilo rachal right next to him was the problem

I dont get why people still think Anthony Davis is "struggling." He had a solid year last season.

Having said that, love the DeCastro pick. If that happened we'd have the 2 best young guards in the NFL.

We're going to have to get up a lot more than that to trade up 16 picks. Like giving up our 2013 first round pick. Look what the Falcons gave up to trade up 15 picks last year.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:

Originally posted by lamontb:
Yea not feeling trading away 3 draft picks for Decastro. And you still want to draft 3 wr's?

DeCastro is probably the best O-line prospect, at any of the top 5 spots in half a decade, and since we haven't shown a ton of skill in drafting good linemen, we should try focusing on elite players that are as close to a sure thing as possible. DeCastro fits the bill.

As for trading away picks, in a way this is not a bad time to do it. We have a pretty deep team. What we are lacking is very good offensive players. Depth is not currently the issue.

Finally, another WR is a must for PR. The other 2 are drafted in rounds 6 and 7. These are rounds where you try to get developmental players. In 2 years we won't have a single current receiver under their current contract, and we don't know if Moss lasts all year. So yes, I fully support getting 3 receivers.

I'm not sure I can say Decastro is a better prospect than Iupati much less the best offensive lineman prospect over the last 5 years. And how far are they trading up to get him in your mock?

Depth is always an issue. Every player is one hit away from being sidelined. Plus giving up those draft picks isn't really about depth in my opinion. You can find good starters/immediate contributors with your 2nd and 3rd round picks. I don't mind trading them I just wouldn't trade them for Decastro or any guard.

Another wr for PR's isn't a must b/c I think they are going to let Cox handle that. Though there is nothign wrong with taking a late round flyer on some dudes.

Originally posted by hondakillerzx:
i thought anthony davis was mauling people last year. he wasnt the problem, the turnstile named chilo rachal right next to him was the problem

Interestingly enough, according to Pro Football Focus he graded out terribly as a run blocker as well. He graded positively as a run blocker in 5 games, was avg. in 4 games, and bad in the other 9 (playoffs included). He's still young, and much improved from a horrendous year prior, but as it stands today, AD is a liability. I know "online scouts" are usually just amatures stating worthless opinions, but this website uses concrete data, and do some very good analysis. Their valuation metrics are top notch.

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:

Originally posted by lamontb:
Yea not feeling trading away 3 draft picks for Decastro. And you still want to draft 3 wr's?

DeCastro is probably the best O-line prospect, at any of the top 5 spots in half a decade, and since we haven't shown a ton of skill in drafting good linemen, we should try focusing on elite players that are as close to a sure thing as possible. DeCastro fits the bill.

As for trading away picks, in a way this is not a bad time to do it. We have a pretty deep team. What we are lacking is very good offensive players. Depth is not currently the issue.

Finally, another WR is a must for PR. The other 2 are drafted in rounds 6 and 7. These are rounds where you try to get developmental players. In 2 years we won't have a single current receiver under their current contract, and we don't know if Moss lasts all year. So yes, I fully support getting 3 receivers.

I'm not sure I can say Decastro is a better prospect than Iupati much less the best offensive lineman prospect over the last 5 years. And how far are they trading up to get him in your mock?

Depth is always an issue. Every player is one hit away from being sidelined. Plus giving up those draft picks isn't really about depth in my opinion. You can find good starters/immediate contributors with your 2nd and 3rd round picks. I don't mind trading them I just wouldn't trade them for Decastro or any guard.

Another wr for PR's isn't a must b/c I think they are going to let Cox handle that. Though there is nothign wrong with taking a late round flyer on some dudes.

a few points of reply:

I disagree about DeCastro, as I've stated, but that's a matter of opinion. While Iupati might have been a more talented prospect, he was nowhere near as pro-ready and fundamentally solid. The only guard I can think of being this highly thought of recently was Brandon Albert. His progress was significantly hampered by the conversion to OT, but as an OG prospect, he was elite. But if we disagree about how good DeCastro is, we can leave that alone, as it may be a matter of opinion at this point.

I didn't mean that we don't need depth for players because I don't anticipate injury. Rather, I meant that we have good depth right now at a lot of key positions, and I don't see depth being as big of an issue for our team as offensive starters. That's not to say we can't use depth at S, DL, RB, etc, but we are also in need of solid offensive linemen, and IMO, that's a bigger need.

You're also right about finding starters in rounds 2-3. Just think that we haven't had a ton of success with finding good O-linemen in the second round, and may need to hedge our bets. At the end of the day, it comes down to how much I value DeCastro as a prospect.

Finally, as for Cox, relying solely on him is a scary proposition. While he handled punts in college, his role with such in the NFL has been limited. Further, he still has off the field issues and can get kicked off the team at the first hint of mis-conduct. And if he gets hurt, that leaves...KYLE WILLIAMS as the backup. Do we need to argue that point?

Originally posted by SFrush:
We're going to have to get up a lot more than that to trade up 16 picks. Like giving up our 2013 first round pick. Look what the Falcons gave up to trade up 15 picks last year.

Not a fair comparison. Trading into top 5 is WAY more expensive. For example, going from pick 6 to pick 2 cost 3 1's and a 2. Going from 30 to 26 clearly would not cost anything close to that.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
Not a fair comparison. Trading into top 5 is WAY more expensive. For example, going from pick 6 to pick 2 cost 3 1's and a 2. Going from 30 to 26 clearly would not cost anything close to that.

Your trade was 30 to 14. That's going to be expensive anyway you shake it.

Originally posted by SFrush:
Your trade was 30 to 14. That's going to be expensive anyway you shake it.

Completely in-line with most draft calculators. This draft is not particularly strong in the mid-teens for teams not looking for offensive linemen. Draft calculators aren't 100% accurate, but give good indication.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
Completely in-line with most draft calculators. This draft is not particularly strong in the mid-teens for teams not looking for offensive linemen. Draft calculators aren't 100% accurate, but give good indication.

There certainly not which is why I don't use them.