Have Niners tipped their hand to who they are going to draft?

It seems that everyone from their dogs to supposed draft experts is presuming that we are drafting DL or Safety with the first pick. Given the past few drafts the one thing the Niners have not been is predictable. Given this I started to think about what we did in free agency. The key isn't who we got in FA, but who we didn't get.

Exhibit A: Percy Harvin. As I understand it we offered the Vikings our 1st rd pick for him but Seattle's pick was higher than ours.

Exhibit B: Joshua Cribs. We went after him as well and did't get him.

Both of these players are similar. They are both explosive players, great in space, and multi dimensional. Players like Percy and Cribs are very hard to come by. They play WR/RB/PR/KR. Harbs LOVES players that can play more than one position.

So I think they are targeting a player that can play WR/RB/PR/KR. Looking at this years draft there are 2 players that fit that description in the first rd.

Tavon Austin & Cordarrelle Patterson

I think that they will target Tavon Austin 1st and if they cannot trade up to get him they will try and get Cordarrelle Patterson.

I think they will target Tavon Austin first because of what history has shown us the past couple of years. They don't care about size as long as they have shown in college that they are durable. I think both have shown to be durable.I think what slides the bar to Austin favor is that he has played for a big college for 4 years in a major confrence were Cordarrelle Patterson only has 1 yr at Tennessee. Now this is not an indictment on Cordarrelle Patterson. I just think that Austin has a better resume if you will.

I know some of you are going to say that there is no way that the Niners will draft 2 wr in the 1st rd back to back years. That Baalke would be throwing in the towel on A.J. Jenkins if he made a move like that. I think that they are 2 types of players. A.J. is a traditional receiver. Tavon is for a lack of a better word, a Swiss army knife. Sorry Walker but you are no longer on the team. He can line up all over the place. Roman would be able to do a lot with this kid. Not to mention we need a replacement for Ginn. Plus we do not have very many wr in contract for long term.

To all those draft pundits that think we need to get a Safety or DL in the 1st round. Here is some history for you. The highest DL we drafted on our team is a 3rd rounder. Thats Ray McDonald. As for Safety Dashon Goldson was a 4th rounder.

Another reason I think we draft Tavon or Cordarrelle Patterson is this. This draft is deep at both S and DL. Our scout team is pretty darn good at finding dimonds in the rough. Players with Tavon's and Cordarrelle's skill set are very hard to find. I might be wrong, but I think my logic makes sense. We have the fire power to move up to get a player we want. WHY NOT! GO NINERS!!!!

Originally posted by greywolf447:

Exhibit A: Percy Harvin. As I understand it we offered the Vikings our 1st rd pick for him but Seattle's pick was higher than ours.

How did you come to this understanding? Did you have a link?

Eifert would not be as sexy as Austin but I think he gives the Niners just as much versatility. If we can run and pass successfully out of those 2 TE sets, you know that's Harbaugh's wet dream.

Originally posted by buck:
How did you come to this understanding? Did you have a link?

I read it in a article or saw it on tv.

Here is a link from espn.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/73725/percy-harvin-trade-had-49ers-attention-too

Glad they were looking at all options!

49ers need a pass rusher or Qb in 2011 they took Aldon Smith and tried to trade back in round one to secure Kapernick

in 2012 they need to upgrade wr positon and they took A.J. Jenkins over Stephen Hill and other higher rated wrs

Niners need a FS and a DL that may rotate in with pass rush skills so Margus Hunt and best available FS with #34 is where they are headed, but they may trade one of their first two picks.

Originally posted by greywolf447:

Originally posted by buck:
How did you come to this understanding? Did you have a link?

I read it in a article or saw it on tv.

Here is a link from espn.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/73725/percy-harvin-trade-had-49ers-attention-too

Thank you.

Sick of all the man-love for Tavon Austin.

There is a big difference in drafting an undersized rookie who played in a gimmick offense with the top QB in the draft and trading for a proven vet like Harvin. Austin has major bust potential and I highly doubt Baalke will take that risk.

MAYBE, if Austin falls to 31 and is BPA, we take a chance on him. But I see no way in hell we trade up for him.

Originally posted by blm7754:
Sick of all the man-love for Tavon Austin.

There is a big difference in drafting an undersized rookie who played in a gimmick offense with the top QB in the draft and trading for a proven vet like Harvin. Austin has major bust potential and I highly doubt Baalke will take that risk.

MAYBE, if Austin falls to 31 and is BPA, we take a chance on him. But I see no way in hell we trade up for him.

I agree, the only WRs worth mortgaging a draft for are the Julio Jones, Calvin Johnson, AJ Green types, and I don't think anyone in this draft qualifies. Although Cordarelle Patterson might.

Originally posted by blm7754:

Sick of all the man-love for Tavon Austin.

There is a big difference in drafting an undersized rookie who played in a gimmick offense with the top QB in the draft and trading for a proven vet like Harvin. Austin has major bust potential and I highly doubt Baalke will take that risk.

MAYBE, if Austin falls to 31 and is BPA, we take a chance on him. But I see no way in hell we trade up for him.

He is a play maker. Mike Mayock agrees with me. He is a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. I would have give up draft picks for that.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000161849/article/tavon-austin-catapults-on-mike-mayocks-top-100-list

Well, if you are trying to predict based on Baalke's past tendencies, its unlikely the 49ers would trade up for Austin because of the cost unless he fell into the 20's, which is unlikely. They would have to get up to at least 15 but probably higher and the cost of going up that far from 31 goes against their philosophy, especially in a draft where the consensus is that there its a deep draft but flat at the top where there is not much separating the top 50 or so players. Baalke traded up 2 spots to get A. Davis and 5 or 6 spots to get Kap. Its reasonable to expect something similar if Austin or another player they like fell to 20 or 21. The only way they trade up that far would be if the other team was so desperate that they gave the 49ers an offer they could not refuse. Patterson could be in play though assuming he fell into the 20's.

If Star Lotuleilei fell to 15 do you think Baalke would go after him?

Originally posted by greywolf447:

Originally posted by buck:

How did you come to this understanding? Did you have a link?

I read it in a article or saw it on tv.

Here is a link from espn.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/73725/percy-harvin-trade-had-49ers-attention-too

Still see no evidence we "offered our 1st", to me that's Baalke just doing his due diligence and seeing what the Vikings would take. Baalke probably found Seattle offered and wasn't going to do that.

They can get their safety in the second if they don't trade up for Vaccaro in the first. They could trade back from the first and still get good value. If you're a betting man or woman a sure way to go broke is trying to predict what Baalke is going to do.

Harbaugh and Baalke has seen what Randall Cobb has done for the Packers this past year and Tavon Austin has basically the same skill set. They both could line up in the backfield, in the slot and can return kicks. With the addition of Percy Harvin in our division, Baalke might want himself a "swiss knife" as well.