Pre Combine Mock Draft

2014 49ers Draft (Assuming Boldin, Whitner and Brown resign)

1. Jace Amaro TE Texas Tech (Trade own '14 1st & 4th to Cleveland for 26th overall)
2. Davante Adams WR Fresno State (From Kansas City)
2. Deone Buccanon SS Washington State
3. Victor Hampton CB South Carolina (From Tennessee)
3. Robert Herron WR Wyoming
4. Prince Shembo OLB Notre Dame (Compensatory for Dashon Goldson)
5. Brandon Linder OG Miami (FL)
6. De'Anthony Thomas KR Oregon
7. Tajh Boyd QB Clemson (From New Orleans)
7. Aaron Colvin CB Oklahoma (From Carolina)
7. Jonotthan Harrison C Florida

Remarks:

With Baalke's ability to find corners in the middle rounds, I don't see the front office going that direction in the first round. That leaves three options in the first: take BPA, target WR or target another position. The likely WR prospects that we would go up and get (Watkins, Evans and Lee) would all cost several picks to get. With 12 picks one might suggest it should be done. Baalke will understand that the depth beyond those three in this class are equal for about 5-7 receiver prospects. He waits to take one (Adams) in the second and trades up in front of New England to take Jace Amaro. This guy is a huge target with pillows for hands that can line up all over the field. His presence in the red zone is what makes this pick valuable. McDonald will still be used a lot on running plays and will get an occasional ball thrown his way.

Davante Adams will be groomed behind Boldin to become our future at the WR position. Herron provides a shifty slot guy that can get separation against aggressive DB's.

Baalke uses a third rounder to get one of the most physical CB's out there. Hampton is a bulky corner who plays with swagger. He will thrive in our defensive scheme.

I believe Whitner will resign for 2 years and Buccanon will be groomed to take over when he leaves. Deone is a favorite on here and I can see why. He plays with physicality and loves to get his nose dirty. We give him time to develop his coverage skills.

Pass rush is always a need and Prince Shembo is a great downhill pass rusher. As a situational pass rusher, he will thrive early in his career. He will also be a great ST guy.

De'Anthony Thomas is drafted as a pure KR. James may be on the way out and there hasn't been many positive return plays the last few years. Thomas won't see the field as a RB so this is a pure Devin Hester type of role.

With a tough Senior Bowl, Tajh Boyd has seen his stock drop severely. Clemson covered up his flaws by throwing short quick routes and his accuracy wasn't as exposed. Harbaugh will try to work with him as he is athletically gifted as anyone.

The C position will change next year with Goodwin likely leaving. The front office has been planning for this by grooming Kilgore to take over. I don't see Baalke using an early pick at the position. He brings in Harrison to provide competition in training camp.

Why Amaro?

Vernon is our #1 TE for 2 more years at minimum, we just spent our 2nd on a TE this past season and have a quality 3rd TE in development. He isn't an H-Back like Walker.

I'll never understand people saying we should take Amaro, Seferian-Jenkins, or Ebron. Same with anybody talking about taking a DT in the first.

I can accept it if he is just BPA but trading up for a #2 or #3 TE in our scheme? Never gonna happen. If it comes to it we'll just trade back and build picks for 2015.

No thanks to trading up for a tight end. That's pretty much the last of our needs. Davis is in his prime, we just drafted one in the second round last year, and Carrier has potential.

Originally posted by sfout:

Why Amaro?

Vernon is our #1 TE for 2 more years at minimum, we just spent our 2nd on a TE this past season and have a quality 3rd TE in development. He isn't an H-Back like Walker.

I'll never understand people saying we should take Amaro, Seferian-Jenkins, or Ebron. Same with anybody talking about taking a DT in the first.

I can accept it if he is just BPA but trading up for a #2 or #3 TE in our scheme? Never gonna happen. If it comes to it we'll just trade back and build picks for 2015.

Your whole logic is flawed when you say to completely not look at DT or TE. What are you suggesting that we have to take a WR or CB in the first?

I'll throw it back at you. With Crabtree and Boldin both being back, where will any WR we take in the first (besides Watkins, Evans, Lee) sniff the field? We run more two WR sets than most of the league.

Also assuming the CB corps looks like Brock-Brown-Culliver, where does the first round CB become a need?

Originally posted by RumorHasIt:
Your whole logic is flawed when you say to completely not look at DT or TE. What are you suggesting that we have to take a WR or CB in the first?

I'll throw it back at you. With Crabtree and Boldin both being back, where will any WR we take in the first (besides Watkins, Evans, Lee) sniff the field? We run more two WR sets than most of the league.

Also assuming the CB corps looks like Brock-Brown-Culliver, where does the first round CB become a need?

My logic is flawed? lol wtf are you taking about? I never said a damn thing about a WR in the 1st. Only way we consider a WR in the first if it is either for Lee or Cooks, a true slot receiver. We don't need outsider players with Crabtree, Boldin, and Patton.

YES we take a CB in the first because we only have 2 CBs with starting experience under contract, because for all intents and purposes Rogers is not on this team, we already asked him to take a pay cut last year, he won't be back for his TEAM LEADING salary of $8 million and a cap value of $6.5m. We need a starting caliber corner for cheap like Dennard, Gilbert, Roberson, or Fuller. Someone that can at minimum be a #3 CB on day 1. We're not going to resign Brown because Baalke has proven he can find a good corner with his eyes closed, Whitner is a priority because he and Reid were a dynamic pairing and the Safety class is deep, not not top loaded at all. We'll be better served drafting a SS in round 2 or 3 and developing him behind Whitner.

Stop reading after he thinkz we can resign everyone ... Which in turn will probably lose us some great talent cause we'll be in cap h*ll. ..I don't understand why pplz want us to resign N extend everyone it just can't happen without loosening a lot of up N coming star playerz. ..Oohhh yea N a 1st round TE a wasted pick

lol no lol

Originally posted by sfout:

My logic is flawed? lol wtf are you taking about? I never said a damn thing about a WR in the 1st. Only way we consider a WR in the first if it is either for Lee or Cooks, a true slot receiver. We don't need outsider players with Crabtree, Boldin, and Patton.

YES we take a CB in the first because we only have 2 CBs with starting experience under contract, because for all intents and purposes Rogers is not on this team, we already asked him to take a pay cut last year, he won't be back for his TEAM LEADING salary of $8 million and a cap value of $6.5m. We need a starting caliber corner for cheap like Dennard, Gilbert, Roberson, or Fuller. Someone that can at minimum be a #3 CB on day 1. We're not going to resign Brown because Baalke has proven he can find a good corner with his eyes closed, Whitner is a priority because he and Reid were a dynamic pairing and the Safety class is deep, not not top loaded at all. We'll be better served drafting a SS in round 2 or 3 and developing him behind Whitner.

Did you bother reading the first sentence? I said "assuming Boldin, Whitner and BROWN resign." That's the whole basis of this mock. I agree that Rogers is gone. With Brock-Brown-Culliver back in that scenario, a CB is not a pressing must have in the first. That's why I mocked Hampton in the third.

My whole problem is that your basically saying dont draft Amaro because we already have McDonald. Having McDonald is not going to make us pass on a TE. He is a great blocking back that would still be used in heavy sets (which we use a lot). Celek and Carrier are both depth to the core.

Drafting Amaro is pure BPA target that can help from day one. He plays all over the field and is a matchup nightmare.

I can get not liking the pick but its flawed logic to pass on a player because of perceived depth.

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:
Stop reading after he thinkz we can resign everyone ... Which in turn will probably lose us some great talent cause we'll be in cap h*ll. ..I don't understand why pplz want us to resign N extend everyone it just can't happen without loosening a lot of up N coming star playerz. ..Oohhh yea N a 1st round TE a wasted pick

Re-signing those 3 players makes sense. I don't think we'll do it, but the idea that it's not possible/smart is overblown.

Originally posted by tatdwolf49:

Stop reading after he thinkz we can resign everyone ... Which in turn will probably lose us some great talent cause we'll be in cap h*ll. ..I don't understand why pplz want us to resign N extend everyone it just can't happen without loosening a lot of up N coming star playerz. ..Oohhh yea N a 1st round TE a wasted pick

It's really not that difficult to resign all three. Brown will not get close to what I'm guessing you perceive on the open market. He is 29 and coming off of injuries. Boldin is a lock to come back and Whitner will be back more than likely. It is absolutely feasible by cutting Rogers and restructuring some of the vets.

Originally posted by RumorHasIt:
Did you bother reading the first sentence? I said "assuming Boldin, Whitner and BROWN resign." That's the whole basis of this mock. I agree that Rogers is gone. With Brock-Brown-Culliver back in that scenario, a CB is not a pressing must have in the first. That's why I mocked Hampton in the third.

My whole problem is that your basically saying dont draft Amaro because we already have McDonald. Having McDonald is not going to make us pass on a TE. He is a great blocking back that would still be used in heavy sets (which we use a lot). Celek and Carrier are both depth to the core.

Drafting Amaro is pure BPA target that can help from day one. He plays all over the field and is a matchup nightmare.

I can get not liking the pick but its flawed logic to pass on a player because of perceived depth.

It is nearly impossible to re-sign Boldin, Brown, Whitner AND Phil Dawson. We only have $5.5 mil in cap room. Cutting Rogers gets us to $12. Cutting Jon Baldwin gets us to $13.5.

Please tell me how we sign a player who just had his 2nd best season of his career at age 33 and played it for $6M, a player who is ticked he lost $2M to a snafu and is easily one of the most underrated CBs in the NFL, and a SS who had his best season of his time with us at a price of $3.3 per year. Plus a kicker that is going to cost us roughly $3M just for ONE year.

Boldin is going to command at least $6M and it will take a creative contract to have a lower cap # then $4.5M. Brown will likely get a deal comparable to Sean Smith of KC, with a cap # between 3.5 and 4.5 million, Whitner "wants to come back" but he'll cost at least $4M per year. Plus Dawson's $3M. We're looking at no less than $12M in cap hits and we need to have enough cash to sign up to 12 picks. Which is about $3M PLUS.

That is $15 Million. It isn't possible unless we get several players to restructure like Gore, Staley, McDonald, etc.

Originally posted by RumorHasIt:
It's really not that difficult to resign all three. Brown will not get close to what I'm guessing you perceive on the open market. He is 29 and coming off of injuries. Boldin is a lock to come back and Whitner will be back more than likely. It is absolutely feasible by cutting Rogers and restructuring some of the vets.

See above. Whitner's value has risen, not dropped from his signing with us in 2011. Brown played through his injury and played well, coaches will want his toughness, even at 29. Boldin is going to cost comparable to what we paid him for 2013.

Like what Rollin said it IS POSSIBLE but it is going to require a TON OF WORK.

are you guys not seeing,we dont need a starter in any position. anybody we pick will not start unless they beat someone out which is highly unlikely.
i think we should move up and select m. evans or k. benjamin,safety and corner in the second

Originally posted by sfout:

See above. Whitner's value has risen, not dropped from his price. Brown played through his injury and played well, coaches will want his toughness, even at 29. Boldin is going to cost comparable to what we paid him for 2013.

Like what Rollin said it IS POSSIBLE but it is going to require a TON OF WORK.

Love how you went back and edited "physically impossible" to "nearly impossible" to now "possible but requiring a ton of work."

Which is it lol?

Originally posted by Rgonelove:
are you guys not seeing,we dont need a starter in any position. anybody we pick will not start unless they beat someone out which is highly unlikely.
i think we should move up and select m. evans or k. benjamin,safety and corner in the second

We need a "starter" at CB......

Our nickel CB plays starter snaps and right now we have exactly 4 CBs under contract, 3 of them have extensive experience, 1 of those 3 wont be back because he costs too much for his declining skills.