Originally posted by NinerBuff:
First off, I think Brooks will take money somewhere else. Reminds me of David Bass last year. Finally has a full year of healthy, good play and cashes in (on another team). Also, we will sign a second tier WR like Manningham, Garçon, or Royal along with Morgan.
30th Pick: 49ers Select Melvin Ingram, South Carolina 6'2" / 276 lb
We'll see how tomorrow goes, but right now Melvin Ingram would be first on my 'realistic' board. I would love to have him play along side Willis, Bowman, and Smith. He could essentially take Aldon's job of situation pass rusher as he gets familiar with the system playing behind Haralson. And with the production of the rest of our front seven, he should be playing against inferior players and favorable situations (double teams on J.Smith, A.Smith, Willis, you name it).
I think if we can finalize that piece of the front 7 then our secondary will continue to have stellar play, regardless of whose back there. It's no coincidence that Whitner, Goldson, and Rogers all had their best years. They haven't played with as good a front 7 as there was last year. I believe the falloff wouldn't be to much if we lost Goldson or Rogers.
By taking Ingram at 30 (or potentially moving up a few spots), we would then focus on WR on rounds 2-4.
Still, I believe the front 7 will pay more dividends then WR for the first pick.
NinerBuff, I totally agree with you on this.
We are making a Super Bowl run (sounds amazing) and we are very close. A rookie WR does very little for us next season, but a guy like Ingram would step in immediately as a situational pass rusher like Aldon Smith did this season. He is also the right size to play OLB and he will be an replacement for Brooks.
I also agree that a WR like Manningham and Garcon makes sense for us. Although we lack an explosive threat, we need consistency at the WR position. Morgan, Manningham/Garcon, Crabtree are sufficient to get the job done right now. The loss of Morgan and a non-existent Braylon Edwards hurt us a lot last year. Players like Manningham/Garcon may not be all-pro, but they are consistent and good enough to for the offense to work.
We can search for the home run threat later in the draft, or maybe even in FA. Ideally we can pick up another CB somewhere in the draft.