Carpet Bomb Mock 1.0

Over the last five drafts the 49ers have selected seven defensive backs.

1st Round
Eric Reid (2013) - Stud

3rd Round
Chris Culliver (2011) – Presumed 2014 starter at CB but we should try to upgrade.

6th Round
Trenton Robinson (2012) – Waived and currently buried on the Skins depth chart.

7th Round
Marcus Cooper (2013) – Has some promise. Let go to KC
Curtis Holcom (2011) – Knee injury
Philip Adams (2010) – Lots of promise/too many knee injuries
Curtis Taylor (2009) – Made the roster a couple of times as the 4th or 5th safety.

The lesson here? Spend picks early and often on improving the defensive backfield. We've done pretty well drafting DB's the last two times we've committed a top 100 pick. So far the 49ers off season activity has screamed that they're going rely heavily on the draft to fill-out the secondary depth chart. I hope we go All-In early.


2014 Mock Draft
I'm assuming the worst case for now that our comp pick for Goldson will be a 4th.

We're likely going to spend picks at some point to move up and we've seen Baalke move up in the 1st round twice now. So we trade up a couple spots with #30 our 4th and one of our 7th round picks to jump up ahead a couple spots to start the secondary make-over.

1st (27+/-): Kyle Fuller – CB Virginia Tech
Our corners are good but not great and we should look to upgrade early. With Donatell coaching him up Fuller should be able to push for immediate playing time. He sounds like a very solid kid in the Eric Reid mold . . . and of course he has the long arms.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/kyle-fuller/97330
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/kyle-fuller/

2nd (56-KC): Donte Moncrief – WR Mississippi
We need to prepare now for a future without Boldin and maybe even Crabtree. Moncreif has great size and skills and he could learn from two of the best possession WR's in the NFL for at least one year.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/donte-moncrief/94135
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/donte-moncrief/

2nd (61): Deone Buchanon – S Washington State
He's a Norcal kid from Fairfield. 1st team All-American. Many here noticed that Bethea's contract could be easily unplugged with minimal cap damage as early as next year. Buchanon could make it happen sooner rather than later.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/deone-bucannon/95195
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/deone-bucannon/

3rd (77-TEN): E.J. Gaines – CB Missouri
He's not overly tall, but he's relatively long for his height and physical. First Team All-SEC. I've seen him projected from the 3rd to the early 5th but he seems to be rising fast. He'd be a solid value her adding depth with the potential to push for immediate playing time.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/e.j.-gaines/91732
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/ej-gaines/

3rd (94): Bruce Ellington – WR South Carolina
We went with the prototype WR earlier. Now we grab an explosive playmaker. With Boldin on board to lead by example I think it would be a great idea to double up and bring in two talented youngsters to learn how to be a Pro from one of the best professionals in the game. If we lose Crabtree to FA next year we'll be in a better position to deal with it. If we keep Crabtree we'll be frigging loaded and Boldin could become expendable next offseason when we're still trying to extend others.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/bruce-ellington/91834
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/bruce-ellington/

4th (126+/-): Traded (Fuller)

4th (COMP-133+/-): Tyler Larsen – C Utah State
Larsen adds competition behind Kilgore who's not exactly making a ton of money and could be relegated back to heavy tight-end if this kid has the skills and intelligence. Once he's up to speed, he's also adds depth to keep others in their original starting spots in case Kilgore goes down.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/tyler-larsen/102245
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/tyler-larsen/

5th (162+/-): Preston Brown – ILB Louisville
Solid run stuffer. Needs to work on is pass coverage.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/preston-brown/98814
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/preston-brown/

6th (198+/-): Traded (Gabbert)

7th (225+/-): Traded (Fuller)

7th (226+/-): Trey Millard – FB/H-Back/TE Oklahoma
I've seen a ton of mocks taking this guy as a red-shirt due to his torn ACL last October and I agree. It was painful to watch the fullback play after Miller went down last year. A back-up FB is a luxury, but Millard has the pass catching ability to be a very good H-Back/TE type as well as the back-up FB – AKA the Swiss Army Knife.
http://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/player/trey-millard/95921
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/trey-millard/

7th (250+/-): OLB/QB/TE



SUMMARY
So I carpet bombed the DB and WR positions on days 1 and 2 and then filled a few depth needs on day 3. Yes we'd be young in the secondary, but I have confidence that Donatell & Company can coach them up. We need to get younger and cheaper in the secondary.

As far was the WR's, yes we've had issues drafting WR's, but again we're facing the prospect of losing Crabtree along with an aging Boldin on a short term contract. We have to be ready to deal with that sooner rather than later. We need to develop at least two reliable targets aside from those guys. Between Patton, Moncrief and Ellington I think we would.

The unfinished business for next year will be re-vamping the DE position a bit. We know Cowboy is close to riding off into the sunset and RayMac isn't getting any younger. But I think we're good this year with Carradine basically coming in as a rookie.

FINAL PROJECTED ROSTER
QB (2): Colin Kaepernick, Blaine Gabbert
RB (5): Frank Gore, Bruce Miller, Kendall Hunter, Marcus Lattimore, LaMichael James
WR (6): Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin, Quinton Patton, Donte Moncrief (R), Bruce Ellington (R)
TE (3): Vernon Davis, Vance McDonald, Garrett Celek
OL (8): Joe Staley, Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati, Alex Boone, Daniel Kilgore, Joe Looney, Jonathan Martin, Tyler Larsen (R)

DL (7): Justin Smith, Ray McDonald, Ian Williams, Tank Carradine, Glenn Dorsey, Quinton Dial, Tony Jerod-Edie
LB (8): Patrick Willis, Aldon Smith, Ahmad Brooks, Dan Skuta, Corey Lemonier, Michael Wilhoite, Nick Moody, Preston Brown (R)
CB (5): Tramaine Brock, Chris Culliver, Kyle Fuller (R), E.J. Gaines (R), Chris Cook
S (5): Eric Reid, Antoine Bethea, Deone Buchanon (R), C.J. Spillman, Craig Dahl
ST (3): Phil Dawson, Andy Lee, Kevin McDermott

That's 52 by my count with one wild card, either a 3rd QB or a 4th TE . . . or possibly Tukuafu until Millard is healthy and up to speed.

PUP
NaVorrow Bowman – ILB
Trey Millard – FB

Nice draft. I don't think you have to throw in a 7th to move up 3 spot in the 1st. A 4th round pick should do it. Maybe even a 5th round pick. Last year we moved up 13 spots for a 3rd. We could probably move up about 5-6 spots for a 4th.

Good mock. I think I'd rather have Phillip Gaines than EJ in the 3rd-4th area though. And your last pick, imo, should be a developmental QB (Savage, Wenning, Mathews, Vaughan) or PS RB with potential (McKinnon, Crowell, Bibb, Fluellen type)

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
Nice draft. I don't think you have to throw in a 7th to move up 3 spot in the 1st. A 4th round pick should do it. Maybe even a 5th round pick. Last year we moved up 13 spots for a 3rd. We could probably move up about 5-6 spots for a 4th.

yeah, that pick could potentially be a Spencer Long draft-n-stash

Very solid!

Sign me up for this! Nice mock.

Good mock overall -- the strategy and positional targeting is sound. Some of the players I do not think we will go after, but the overall draft scheme seems to fit well.

I like it...a lot. Only exception I might have is Larsen...he's a good player, that's not it. Just not sure it's a needed pick. Kilgore's the C now...and he has Looney, Seymour and Snyder for b/u. Baalke wouldn't have extended Kilgore's contract if he and Harbaugh didn't have faith in him. Drafting another interior OL just doesn't seem "prudent". Instead, I'd take a DL. Prior to 2013, Ray Mac played a ton of snaps and now wouldn't be too soon to add more depth. Both Williams and Dorsey are entering the last year of their contracts. Both could be re-signed...or not. Overall, though, one of the best mocks I've seen.

Originally posted by CorvaNinerFan:
I like it...a lot. Only exception I might have is Larsen...he's a good player, that's not it. Just not sure it's a needed pick. Kilgore's the C now...and he has Looney, Seymour and Snyder for b/u. Baalke wouldn't have extended Kilgore's contract if he and Harbaugh didn't have faith in him. Drafting another interior OL just doesn't seem "prudent". Instead, I'd take a DL. Prior to 2013, Ray Mac played a ton of snaps and now wouldn't be too soon to add more depth. Both Williams and Dorsey are entering the last year of their contracts. Both could be re-signed...or not. Overall, though, one of the best mocks I've seen.

Thanks for the input everybody . . . much appreciated

Love the strategy. Have same one. Also have Fuller and Moncrief as my first two picks. Now you know why I love the strategy.

Great mock. this mock is probably the one I agree with the most that I've seen so far.

love it, doubt buchanon will be there tho.

I could live with this like it a lot. Hope Osgood is re-signed though. And Ventrone over Dahl would be prefered, sick of our STs going downhill every other year.

Nice. I would like a DL somewhere though.

That's 52 by my count with one wild card, either a 3rd QB or a 4th TE . . . or possibly Tukuafu until Millard is healthy and up to speed.

I'm guessing that we keep Morris at CB. I like that kid, and I think he's gonna be a player for us.