"ATG Pretends to be a Draft Guru" Mock

Welcome to my second mock offseason of 2013! My first mock was roundly criticized, but hopefully I can do better on this one. People liked the pictures so I'll be sure to have plenty of those. As you can see, a lot has changed in a month and a half as Floyd in particular has rocketed up draft boards and I expect a lot to change in another month and a half. But here is my best attempt at one as things stand at the moment.

Release
Parys Haralson, David Akers

As you can see, in this mock Dashon is not returning. I would like to have him back, but it's looking less and less likely by the day. Dude's gonna get paid and it's probably not going to be by us.

FA Signings
Glover Quin FS Texans Not as good as Goldson but he'd be a respectable replacement for not as much money. Offers better coverage, but not the bone-jarring hits and play-making that Goldson brings to the field.
Mike DeVito DE Jets Underrated player and has starting experience in the 3-4. Can allow us to rest Smith and McDonald more.
Anthony Fasano TE Dolphins Very solid run blocker. Not the athlete Walker is, but hopefully without as many drops. He'd be an upgrade over Celek.
Terrance Knighton NT Jaguars Takes over for Sopoaga.
Veteran WR Insurance in case Manningham's knee is completely toast.
Veteran K There's a number of solid options out there in FA. Try out a bunch and pick one.


Draft

There's no way we draft 15 players. Just not enough room for that many picks. Therefore I have us bundling a number of picks to move up in the draft.

Trade #31 and 4th round pick to move up to the mid 20's.

1. Keenan Allen WR Cal JR




Ask me a month ago and no way would I have thought Keenan Allen would be within striking range of our pick. While Allen's been unable to work out for scouts so far, Patterson and Austin have gotten all the attention and have leapfrogged him on draft boards. We trade up a few spots using one of our large hoard of picks and stop the fall of the best WR in this draft class.

2a. Eric Reid S LSU JR




I've seen mixed reviews about his coverage abilities some sources saying he can cover TE's while others saying he's on the stiff side. He had a nice combine though including doing well in the agility drills and positional drills. I think he'd be very good to groom as Whitner's replacement and providing the hitting but with better ball skills and coverage ability.

2b. Jamar Taylor CB Boise St. SR



Terell Brown will be a free agent after next season and Carlos Rogers isn't getting any younger so the time is now to groom a replacement. He has the pure coverage skills to start at CB while playing with a physical style that fits the 49ers defense well.

3a. Jamie Collins OLB Southern Miss. SR



Had this guy in my first mock too. After blowing up the Combine why should I not include him again? One of my pet prospects in the draft.

3b. Travis Kelce TE Cincinnati SR



He was also in my first mock. Just as I suspected, his stock has boosted although McDonald has supplanted him as the top senior TE due to an abdominal injury. Has NFL bloodlines and the all around game you want to see out of the TE. I think he could be a Heath Miller type for us.

Trade a 5th (from Indy) and our original 6th to move up into the bottom of round 4.

4a.Kenny Stills WR Oklahoma JR



Solid, productive, experienced, fast. But in a deep class I think he can be had in the 4th. Him and Kaep can compare tats. Don't know what the syringe on the forearm is about though. Hope it isn't a sign of things to come!

4b. (Projected Comp Pick) Brennan Williams OT North Carolina SR



Was on track to be a 2nd day pick before a torn labrum cut his senior year short.

Trade 6th round pick (from Miami) and 7th round pick (from Cincinnati) for a mid/late 5th rounder.

5a. Matt Scott QB Arizona SR



He's Colin Kaepernick lite. Shorter, not as fast, and without the elite arm strength but still has plenty of athletic talent for Harbaugh to mold into a competent backup.

5b. William Gholston DE Michigan St. SR



Raw but talented prospect can learn from Justin Smith and refine his technique under arguably the best D-line coach in the NFL. Could take a couple years and a huge boom or bust prospect but the payoff could be huge.

7a. Quanterus Smith DE/OLB Western Kentucky SR



Would have been a likely 3rd rounder had he not torn his ACL in December. He could spend the year on IR learning the defense and rehabbing to full strength if he needs to. We have the depth and the picks to be able to take a flyer on him. But if he can return to health, he is one heckuva pass rusher.

7b. (Projected Comp Pick) Zac Stacy RB Vanderbilt SR



A personal favorite of mine. Vanderbilt's all time leading rusher was highly productive in the SEC, does a lot of things well and had one of the best combines of any RB. Don't know why he doesn't get more love but I guess he isn't flashy enough.

7c. (Projected Comp Pick) Rod Sweeting CB Georgia Tech SR



Had an excellent combine and was productive in a major football conference. Beyond that I don't know much about him but could be a solid PS player at least.

Now that I've spent hours putting this together, have at it!

I like the Keenan Allen pick. I think the we all want to see some production out of the 1st pick and he looks like he could be the guy. I REALLY dont like the Breenan Williams pick. I don't feel confidant Kilgore can start at center and Boone can play tackle. I would trust his experience their over a Williams and I would trust a Schwenke, Holmes, or Cave at center over Kilgore IMHO. Good mock sir!

Originally posted by eonblue:
I like the Keenan Allen pick. I think the we all want to see some production out of the 1st pick and he looks like he could be the guy. I REALLY dont like the Breenan Williams pick. I don't feel confidant Kilgore can start at center and Boone can play tackle. I would trust his experience their over a Williams and I would trust a Schwenke, Holmes, or Cave at center over Kilgore IMHO. Good mock sir!

Looney has also been working at center. So who knows what we have there as well, but i agree center may be a need. Depends on how the staff feels with kilgore and Looney going forward.

I like the positions you picked going WR, S, CB with first 3 I just would've selected different players. But great detail and love the Kelce, Gholston and Quanterus Smith picks.

Pretty good mock but where is the kicker. If we cut Akers its because if the money, a rookie would be much cheaper than a vet FA and we need to make sure we spend a pick on one to guarantee he is ours. Also I think we need to address the Dline before the 5th round. I know you signed some in FA but there Dline is pretty deep in this draft and we can get some really good players in 2nd 3rd round. I do like the Allen pick!

Getting d-line help in free agency is something I hope we do so we can get Allen or a safety in the first

Originally posted by niners9:
Pretty good mock but where is the kicker. If we cut Akers its because if the money, a rookie would be much cheaper than a vet FA and we need to make sure we spend a pick on one to guarantee he is ours. Also I think we need to address the Dline before the 5th round. I know you signed some in FA but there Dline is pretty deep in this draft and we can get some really good players in 2nd 3rd round. I do like the Allen pick!

We'd still cut Akers if he was making rookie money after the year he had.

Nice mock like the picks to fill holes on the roster.

Originally posted by eonblue:
I like the Keenan Allen pick. I think the we all want to see some production out of the 1st pick and he looks like he could be the guy. I REALLY dont like the Breenan Williams pick. I don't feel confidant Kilgore can start at center and Boone can play tackle. I would trust his experience their over a Williams and I would trust a Schwenke, Holmes, or Cave at center over Kilgore IMHO. Good mock sir!

I did have Holmes in my first mock but wanted to switch it up a little bit. Although Boone could play tackle in a pinch, he was so good at guard that I'd prefer to keep him there. The reason I took an OT instead of an interior lineman is simply because linemen who have the athleticism to stay with pass rushers are harder to come by and more valuable than interior guys imo. It's easier to turn a tackle into a guard (like Boone) than a guard into a tackle.

Thanks for the feedback!

Originally posted by niners9:
Pretty good mock but where is the kicker. If we cut Akers its because if the money, a rookie would be much cheaper than a vet FA and we need to make sure we spend a pick on one to guarantee he is ours. Also I think we need to address the Dline before the 5th round. I know you signed some in FA but there Dline is pretty deep in this draft and we can get some really good players in 2nd 3rd round. I do like the Allen pick!

We will cut Akers because he was the worst kicker in the NFL last year not because of the money.

I toyed around with the idea of grabbing a Dlineman in the 2nd or 3rd round, but I just felt that secondary was the bigger need given our upcoming free agents and they made more sense at those picks. I would like to restructure Smith's contract and add 2 more years onto it. He still has a couple more years in the tank imo. If we don't and let him go after next season it would make more sense to draft a Dlineman up high.

Onboard with every single one of these picks with the exception of Jamar Taylor in the 2nd. I'd go with a number of different CBs here (Darius Slay, Dwayne Gratz or even Robert Alford) rather than Taylor, but that's just my preference....definitely like the idea of going DB this early though, just might go with someone else. And not sure we're that active in free agency, so we might need to use more of those picks than we think. All around though, excellent mock.

Originally posted by btthepunk:

Originally posted by niners9:

Pretty good mock but where is the kicker. If we cut Akers its because if the money, a rookie would be much cheaper than a vet FA and we need to make sure we spend a pick on one to guarantee he is ours. Also I think we need to address the Dline before the 5th round. I know you signed some in FA but there Dline is pretty deep in this draft and we can get some really good players in 2nd 3rd round. I do like the Allen pick!

We'd still cut Akers if he was making rookie money after the year he had.

That's not a given. He was hurt and he was coming off one of the greatest seasons for a kicker. Basically his salary didn't match his performance last year and given the fact that he is not a young gun they will not give him another chance. they will look in a different direction since we are currently close to the salary cap. It's the best decision financially IMO. A vet will cost more than a rookie.

Not bad, not bad at all. I really like the first 5.

Originally posted by niners9:

Originally posted by btthepunk:

Originally posted by niners9:

Pretty good mock but where is the kicker. If we cut Akers its because if the money, a rookie would be much cheaper than a vet FA and we need to make sure we spend a pick on one to guarantee he is ours. Also I think we need to address the Dline before the 5th round. I know you signed some in FA but there Dline is pretty deep in this draft and we can get some really good players in 2nd 3rd round. I do like the Allen pick!

We'd still cut Akers if he was making rookie money after the year he had.

That's not a given. He was hurt and he was coming off one of the greatest seasons for a kicker. Basically his salary didn't match his performance last year and given the fact that he is not a young gun they will not give him another chance. they will look in a different direction since we are currently close to the salary cap. It's the best decision financially IMO. A vet will cost more than a rookie.

The fact they brought in other kickers and even signed Cundiff I think makes it a given that even if Akers was paid like a UDFA he would be cut. Sure he was amazing in 2011 but 2012 was Jose Cortez-esque.

There is a lot to like about this draft. Considering his injury and his 40, Keenan Allen might slip all the way to us at 31 without a trade-up. Eric Reid is perfect for 34, and my fave at that position. Not in favor of going FA for kicker when there are a couple cheaper, draftable ones available. I also like most of the rest of your draft with Taylor, Collins, Kelce, and Q.Smith especially. Great effort here.