With EVERY position addressed, should 49ers move up in 2015 for top WR/CB?

Shockingly the 49ers addressed every position during the draft week, through the IR/NFI list and trades (Stevie Johnson, QB Gabbert and OT Martin)

WR- Stevie Johnson & Bruce Ellington for 2015 free agent Michael Crabtree
RB- Carlos Hyde- for 2015 free agents Kendall Hunter and Frank Gore
C- Marcus Martin- for 2014 free agent Jonathon Goodwin
OG- IR Brandon Thomas- for 2015 free agent Mike Iupati
LB- Chris Borland- for injured Navorro Bowman
OLB- Aaron Lynch for 2016 free agent Aldon Smith
S/CB's- Jimmie Ward, Dontae Johnson, Acker and IR Reaser - for 2014 free agent Carlos Rogers and Tarelle Brown


The IR players this year will also be able to show what they can do.

DL- Tank Carridine, Dial, Lawrence Okoye: These guy will determine if the 49ers need to draft a top D-lineman in 2015 draft, or Free Agency.
RB- Marcus Lattimore
OT- Luke Marquardt


They even got a potential upgrade on IR rehabbing and learning the playbook for a year.
FB- IR Trey Millard- for Bruce Miller

EVERY position has been addressed since the last game a few months ago through 2013 IR/PUP list players, trades, 2014 draft and I didn't even include free agent signings. That being said it almost seems as though the 49ers only need may be at CB (depends on how the rookies, Chris Cook and Eric Wright play.)
The ONLY upgrade on offensive skill positions side of the ball is at WR. (And yes C, OG and OT has also been addressed.)

TE: Vernon Davis, best in the league
RB: 2 SOLID candidates in RB's Marcus Lattimore and Carlos Hyde (I guess a home run hitter couldn't hurt, but how many 4.3 RB's are available, if any)
FB: Trey Millard can be an upgrade over Bruce Miller and will spend the year rehabbing and learning on the NFI/PUP list.

Thus the top position to address in the 2015 draft is CB, and then STUD WR on offense.

2015 CB's
Ifo Ekpre-Olumo Oregon
Tra Waynes Michigan St.

2015 WR
Amari Cooper Alabama
Nelson Agholor USC
Jalen Strong ASU
Devante Parker Lousivlille

Examining some of these guys, it's clear why Trent Baalke decided to wait a year to address the speed factor. Next year's draft may not have as many receivers, but there will be bigger and faster receivers at the top of the draft. In addition, he's waiting for Michael Crabtree to come off the books. Next years rookie WR, will get a year to learn from Anquan Boldin. 2015 WR's: Boldin, Johnson, Patton, Ellington and 2015 WR???

Trent may also decide to go the CB route depending on the this years crop of DB's fare.

All in all, pretty darn good job by Trent Baalke. Some teams didn't even address their biggest needs, 49ers on the other hand addressed EVERY position.

Premature to ask.

And thinking we know who the top prospects will be in a year from now never works out.

Too soon to worry about WR. Even if we lose Crabs, we still have Boldin for a year, Stevie for two, and another year of development for Patton and Ellington. I don't see a need for a top shelf WR until Boldin actually leaves or retires, but even then I have a feeling we can get one via trade at some point much like Boldin and Stevie came here. There are always situations around the league where talented WRs get paid and then fall out of favor with management for whatever reason.

CB is a huge concern imo. That being said, we've been very good at getting value out of signing vets (dating back to Walt Harris) and developing lower and undrafted picks (Brown, Brock). This could just simply be the way our front office prefers to address the position. It's not like Seattle threw high picks at their secondary either, so there is a precedent to developing an elite secondary without committing the resources to doing so.

IMO what this team needs more pass rush. We've had great players on D for years dating back to Nolan's tenure, but our defense didn't step up into top 5 territory until we got Aldon. The problem now being of course, Aldon himself, since we have no idea what kind of stupid he will do next. Without Aldon's pass rush, we are back to being a solid but non-elite D.

Also, can we get a gotdamn punt returner already.

Originally posted by jreff22:
Premature to ask.

And thinking we know who the top prospects will be in a year from now never works out.

True.

But it's pretty nice to see that the 49ers have addressed EVERY position offense and defense. Whether all of the guys work out or not is another question, but they sure did a nice job of plugging holes w/talent.

Biggest question marks IMHO will be how the NFI/PUP list players perform. Lattimore, Carridine, Dial, Okoye, returning Ian williams and to a lesser extent Marquardt. If none of these guys play to their capabilities then D line, will be a major need for the 49ers in 2014 and 2015. However, I don't see that happening. Williams played well when healthy as did Dial. Carridine and Okoye are the two big question marks and are also the two behemoths tabbed to replace Okoye and McDonald in the future.

Whoa homie. Let's play some football first.

Tough to say. Most people thought this was the draft where we would trade up due to the number of picks we had. Next year we won't be as well stocked, but Baalke has never been shy about trading up to get his guy. He's done it before with Reid and A. Davis.

Depth won't be a problem on this team next year, that's for sure. I would love to keep both Crab and Iupati, but if not, it won't cripple the team. We have fall back options. That's why the Stevie Johnson trade and loading up on OL depth was brilliant to me. The team is well protected no matter what.

Originally posted by jreff22:

Premature to ask.

And thinking we know who the top prospects will be in a year from now never works out.

And predicting our team needs a year from now does not work all that well either.

Okoye is a nice story but won't make this roster. If Tank comes back 100%, he will sit behind Smith. Obviously we will need another body to replace RayMac and/or be the primary swing backup but we can't really control the draft. If we can't trade up, the targets could be gone before we pick.

Either way our needs will change in 10 months. If Kap takes a step back one could argue that QB might be the biggest priority in 2015. No way to know yet.

The biggest need going into this draft was WR and CB...did we half ass address it or are we just running in circles?

Originally posted by Garlicboy:

Originally posted by jreff22:

Premature to ask.

And thinking we know who the top prospects will be in a year from now never works out.

True.

But it's pretty nice to see that the 49ers have addressed EVERY position offense and defense. Whether all of the guys work out or not is another question, but they sure did a nice job of plugging holes w/talent.

Biggest question marks IMHO will be how the NFI/PUP list players perform. Lattimore, Carridine, Dial, Okoye, returning Ian williams and to a lesser extent Marquardt. If none of these guys play to their capabilities then D line, will be a major need for the 49ers in 2014 and 2015. However, I don't see that happening. Williams played well when healthy as did Dial. Carridine and Okoye are the two big question marks and are also the two behemoths tabbed to replace Okoye and McDonald in the future.

The biggest question marks will emerge after we have played some football.

Originally posted by znk916:
Too soon to worry about WR. Even if we lose Crabs, we still have Boldin for a year, Stevie for two, and another year of development for Patton and Ellington. I don't see a need for a top shelf WR until Boldin actually leaves or retires, but even then I have a feeling we can get one via trade at some point much like Boldin and Stevie came here. There are always situations around the league where talented WRs get paid and then fall out of favor with management for whatever reason.

CB is a huge concern imo. That being said, we've been very good at getting value out of signing vets (dating back to Walt Harris) and developing lower and undrafted picks (Brown, Brock). This could just simply be the way our front office prefers to address the position. It's not like Seattle threw high picks at their secondary either, so there is a precedent to developing an elite secondary without committing the resources to doing so.

IMO what this team needs more pass rush. We've had great players on D for years dating back to Nolan's tenure, but our defense didn't step up into top 5 territory until we got Aldon. The problem now being of course, Aldon himself, since we have no idea what kind of stupid he will do next. Without Aldon's pass rush, we are back to being a solid but non-elite D.

Great point with Aldon. We did draft Aaron Lynch who has Aldon like qualities so that is a definite plus. Brooks is getting old, but Lemonier and/or Skuta look more than capable of replacing him. But Aldon is definitely the difference between good and great defense.

CB's, I'm not as skeptical. People forget Eric Wright was an above average CB with 14 career INT's and he's on a 1 year prove it deal.
http://www.ninersnation.com/2013/7/19/4539580/eric-wright-scouting-report-what-to-know-about-the-new-49ers
Chris Culliver is also in a contract year and if he can stop getting in trouble off the field and focus on football, he will be just fine.

Rookies Dontae Johnson and Keith Acker, have a chance to contribute and I trust the 49ers coaching staff. Just look at the job they did with Eric Reid, Tramaine Brock, Chris Culliver, Perrish Cox and even Marcus Cooper who they tried to sneak onto the practice field and played well as a rookie with the Chiefs.

Culliver, Brock and Wright/Ward can be more than adequate with Reid and Bethea behind them. If one guy at of Morris, Acker and Johnson becomes a solid future starter there's your CB problem solved.

Originally posted by NickSh49:
Whoa homie. Let's play some football first.

Originally posted by buck:
The biggest question marks will emerge after we have played some football.

This is the Draft forum, isn't it?

Originally posted by Garlicboy:

Originally posted by znk916:
Too soon to worry about WR. Even if we lose Crabs, we still have Boldin for a year, Stevie for two, and another year of development for Patton and Ellington. I don't see a need for a top shelf WR until Boldin actually leaves or retires, but even then I have a feeling we can get one via trade at some point much like Boldin and Stevie came here. There are always situations around the league where talented WRs get paid and then fall out of favor with management for whatever reason.

CB is a huge concern imo. That being said, we've been very good at getting value out of signing vets (dating back to Walt Harris) and developing lower and undrafted picks (Brown, Brock). This could just simply be the way our front office prefers to address the position. It's not like Seattle threw high picks at their secondary either, so there is a precedent to developing an elite secondary without committing the resources to doing so.

IMO what this team needs more pass rush. We've had great players on D for years dating back to Nolan's tenure, but our defense didn't step up into top 5 territory until we got Aldon. The problem now being of course, Aldon himself, since we have no idea what kind of stupid he will do next. Without Aldon's pass rush, we are back to being a solid but non-elite D.

Great point with Aldon. We did draft Aaron Lynch who has Aldon like qualities so that is a definite plus. Brooks is getting old, but Lemonier and/or Skuta look more than capable of replacing him. But Aldon is definitely the difference between good and great defense.

CB's, I'm not as skeptical. People forget Eric Wright was an above average CB with 14 career INT's and he's on a 1 year prove it deal.
http://www.ninersnation.com/2013/7/19/4539580/eric-wright-scouting-report-what-to-know-about-the-new-49ers
Chris Culliver is also in a contract year and if he can stop getting in trouble off the field and focus on football, he will be just fine.

Rookies Dontae Johnson and Keith Acker, have a chance to contribute and I trust the 49ers coaching staff. Just look at the job they did with Eric Reid, Tramaine Brock, Chris Culliver, Perrish Cox and even Marcus Cooper who they tried to sneak onto the practice field and played well as a rookie with the Chiefs.

Culliver, Brock and Wright/Ward can be more than adequate with Reid and Bethea behind them. If one guy at of Morris, Acker and Johnson becomes a solid future starter there's your CB problem solved.

Brooks is one year older than Patrick Willis

Originally posted by NickSh49:
Brooks is one year older than Patrick Willis

which is another way of saying Patrick is getting old too

people think of him and Bo as twins, but Patrick is 4 yrs older I believe

Originally posted by jreff22:
Okoye is a nice story but won't make this roster. If Tank comes back 100%, he will sit behind Smith. Obviously we will need another body to replace RayMac and/or be the primary swing backup but we can't really control the draft. If we can't trade up, the targets could be gone before we pick.

Either way our needs will change in 10 months. If Kap takes a step back one could argue that QB might be the biggest priority in 2015. No way to know yet.

The biggest need going into this draft was WR and CB...did we half ass address it or are we just running in circles?

We addressed WR with Stevie Johnson, but Michael Crabtree is a free agent next year and Anquan Boldin the year after.

CB: We have 3 free agents in 2015: Chris Culliver, Eric Wright and Perrish Cox.

We addressed the positions, but we have more free agents at WR and CB coming up in 2015.

Originally posted by Garlicboy:

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Whoa homie. Let's play some football first.

Originally posted by buck:

The biggest question marks will emerge after we have played some football.

This is the Draft forum, isn't it?

Last I checked it was.

How does that make the questions you are asking any less premature?

But, excuse me. Go ahead and knock yourself out.

There are sites on the web that are doing mock drafts for next year already.

So, maybe it never too early.