2015 49ers Draft Needs

Let's be real: Best player available not playing: QB, RB, OT, MLB. To me, everything else is on the table.

FS/SS
DE
NT
RB
QB
K

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by Gore_21:
Now that Dorsey is back not sure DL would be taken before say round 4 or 5..

How do you feel now?


I think DE just moved up near the top, either 1st or 2nd round worthy.

I think DL had the be pretty high priority. There is a little bit of a youth movement going on. We've got young guns at RB, WR, TE, OL, CB, and LB. We need to get younger at DL. I've spoken before about taking a DE in the first and maybe even getting a NT even though we've extended Dorsey. Does anyone know where we plan to play Kaleb Ramsey?

I'm hoping our lineup next year looks something like Tank, Dorsey, Smith (or a high draft pick), Dial, Williams, and Okoye. That's 6 guys with room for one or two more. If we acquire that much depth, I'm hoping Baalke can work some of his trade magic and move Tony-Jerod Eddie. Nothing against him, but if we do draft DE high and if Okoye is ready to be on the 53 man roster, we'd have a bit of a surplus and could afford to move one of our guys to a DL hungry team.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
How do you feel now?
I think DE just moved up near the top, either 1st or 2nd round worthy.

With this team lately I should have known. This is my updated list for the rounds next year:
1. Arrested Player Replacement. 2. Injury Replacement 3. Holdout Replacement 4. Arrested Player Replacement. 5 Injury Replacement 6. Injury Replacement 7. Arrested Player Replacement


We will see if McDonald is still with us this year and next year. He's a FA after 2015 I figured we would be ok with him and Justin for 2 more years and then draft someone in the 1st to compete with Carradine, Dial, etc. It depends on if we wanted to develop them a year or not. Now I can see it being a 1st round need especially if no McDonald, we haven't went DL in the first since 2008 with Balmer. CB was like 2002 with Rumph but depends on if you count Ward as a CB or S. If they have him as the S of the future then maybe CB, but DL still might trump it especially if no McDonald.

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
I think DL had the be pretty high priority. There is a little bit of a youth movement going on. We've got young guns at RB, WR, TE, OL, CB, and LB. We need to get younger at DL. I've spoken before about taking a DE in the first and maybe even getting a NT even though we've extended Dorsey. Does anyone know where we plan to play Kaleb Ramsey?

I'm hoping our lineup next year looks something like Tank, Dorsey, Smith (or a high draft pick), Dial, Williams, and Okoye. That's 6 guys with room for one or two more. If we acquire that much depth, I'm hoping Baalke can work some of his trade magic and move Tony-Jerod Eddie. Nothing against him, but if we do draft DE high and if Okoye is ready to be on the 53 man roster, we'd have a bit of a surplus and could afford to move one of our guys to a DL hungry team.

TJE is a free agent at the end of the season.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
I think DL had the be pretty high priority. There is a little bit of a youth movement going on. We've got young guns at RB, WR, TE, OL, CB, and LB. We need to get younger at DL. I've spoken before about taking a DE in the first and maybe even getting a NT even though we've extended Dorsey. Does anyone know where we plan to play Kaleb Ramsey?

I'm hoping our lineup next year looks something like Tank, Dorsey, Smith (or a high draft pick), Dial, Williams, and Okoye. That's 6 guys with room for one or two more. If we acquire that much depth, I'm hoping Baalke can work some of his trade magic and move Tony-Jerod Eddie. Nothing against him, but if we do draft DE high and if Okoye is ready to be on the 53 man roster, we'd have a bit of a surplus and could afford to move one of our guys to a DL hungry team.

TJE is a free agent at the end of the season.

So much for that :-/. In that case, I hope he balls out and earns a Ricky-Jean Francois like contract with the opportunity to start somewhere.

Idk guys I don't think we have any significant positions of need at the moment. I think it depends on if Crabtree is resigned, how the O-line plays, and how the D-line plays. I think we just go BPA in the draft, unless a real position of need arises

Updated my original post a bit. Right now this is probably what I would do. I feel good about this list it would really bolster our team depth. The top 3 spots are something we haven't addressed high in the draft for 4-5+ years.

1. DL? - Depends on if McDonald is back but it would be nice to have another option for after McDonald and Smith. Carradine and Dial are options now, I hope TJE and Dobbs are gone.

2. G or G/T - Assuming Kilgore or Martin is the center of the future. We will likely let Iupati and Boone go. Could use another G or G/T to compete with Looney and Thomas for Iupati job after this year and then the Boone job in 2 years.

3. Backup QB - Harbaugh is better at drafting them then signing them. Take the time to mold some rookie instead of washed up vet.

4. (DEN) 4th/5th S - Our pick to Buffalo, this is for the trade down with Denver. Dahl should be gone so a 4th S who can probably play both spots and ST well.

5. CB/WR Depth - Depends on who is re-signed for both sides.

6. CB/WR Depth - (whatever not taken in 5th) - Depends on who is re-signed for both sides.

7.(Indy Cam J) - 3rd TE/4th ILB/4th RB/K? (we probably go vet kicker like always though)

2 Comps - 2 other things from that list not taken in the 7th. 3rd TE/4th ILB/4th RB/K?

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
Let's be real: Best player available not playing: QB, RB, OT, MLB. To me, everything else is on the table.

Including S? I feel like with the investments into Ward and Reid that's a position the team will try to avoid.... although if a Safety is the best player on the board, I can see Ward having a prolonged stay at Nickel.

And why did you say no to RB? Because of Hyde?

I know it's way early BUT:

A). IF Justin stays healthy - I see them keeping him for another season. He's too much of a difference maker to let leave.

B). I think Ray Mac, whether he's convicted or not, will be either released or asked to reduce his contract substantially.

C). I think our OLine is pretty solid for the most part. I see Iupati not being resigned and Looney or Thomas taking over there
AND Boone staying w/the team.

D). WR is an area that has the most questions. Boldin will be back [thank God] and so will SJ. Lloyd because of age will need to
be replaced - maybe by Patton. Crabs being resigned is main question. If he can't be negotiated with then WR will be THE
priority in the draft.

F). WR, DLine, will be the 2 top priorities.

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
We definitely are much younger now. Brock and Cox are probably our "oldest" corners in terms of NFL seasons, entering into year 5, aren't they? Outside of that, Culliver, Cook (if he sticks), Ward, Johnson, Acker, and Reaser give us a pretty young group of corners. I'd still draft one anyway in 2015, but there is a serious youth movement going on in our secondary.

I'd also look at safety because our backups have probably hit their ceilings.

Agreed. Though Reid is a stud, he's injury prone.

Following week 1 here's my outlook.

Main Free Agents in 2015 Offseason:

RB Gore
RB Hunter
WR Crabtree
LG Iupati
OLB Skuta (Right now he is better than Lemonier)
CB Culliver

Minor Free Agents in 2015 Offseason:

QB Gabbert
QB Johnson
WR Lloyd
WR Osgood
TE Celek
DE Dobbs
DE Jerod-Eddie
ILB Wilhoite
CB Cook
CB Cox
LS Nelson

Of the FAs to be, the main guys to retain are Crabs and Cully. I would love to retain Skuta, Gore and Hunter if we can.

I would let Gabbert, J.Johnson, Lloyd, Celek, Dobbs, and maybe TJE go. Though TJE is just a ERFA and can be brought back for $585K.

I wouldn't mind Osgood on 1yr deal for TC. Cook and Cox can come back, I like Cox more, and he seems to have a higher role on the team over Cook. Nelson is a RFA, so he can be brought back cheap, same for Wilhoite as a RFA, though I agree with some who say Borland should and could beat him out in the future.

Guys who have hi cap numbers in 2015 that need to be addressed.

Kap- He will restructure once and save between $9M and $11M in cap space, that would put us under the cap by a few million.

Aldon- Needs to be extended, or let go if he slips up. Hoping he keeps his head straight, need to reduce his number from $9.754M down to closer to $2.5M for 2015

McDonald - Could be a cap cut

Dahl - Same as McDonald.

Vernon and Willis - Need extensions, can lower base salary and turn into signing bonus, and tack on extra years.

Brooks - Needs to show something this year, or he is in danger of losing his spot on the roster.

J.Martin - Has a high $1.024M number, that's a lot for a backup Tackle, so might need a redo if he proves to be valuable.

Stevie - Making a lot at $6.025M, I can see an extension, with lowered base salaries in 2015 and 2016.

Some guys who may retire:

Dawson, Boldin, and Justin Smith. I think Cowboy and Boldin stick around for another year. Dawson could be a cap cut if he doesn't get his kicking under control.

Guys who may get extended:

Boone - Possible, but he may want to test FA as a Tackle.

Looney - Cheap extension would work.

-3rd-down RB

-D-liner, you can never have too many of them

-O-Liner, see above

-OLB, see above and given that Aldon and Brooks are high-paid guys.

-WR, especially if one or several of the older guys departs. Patton, Ellington remaining is the worst-case scenario. If we win the SB, Boldin will leave imho. Crabtree could extend, Lloyd is on the bubble as well imo. SJ could be retained.
But SJ and Crabtree would cost us too much, I think.

-QB-backup

-Safety-backup (Bethea will be gone, Ward will take over, Reid is there. That does not cut it...unless McRay pans out)

Can't have too many pass rushers. Smith has his peaks and valleys. Brooks is getting older. I say draft another 3-4 OLB.

Originally posted by communist:
-3rd-down RB

-D-liner, you can never have too many of them

-O-Liner, see above

-OLB, see above and given that Aldon and Brooks are high-paid guys.

-WR, especially if one or several of the older guys departs. Patton, Ellington remaining is the worst-case scenario. If we win the SB, Boldin will leave imho. Crabtree could extend, Lloyd is on the bubble as well imo. SJ could be retained.
But SJ and Crabtree would cost us too much, I think.

-QB-backup

-Safety-backup (Bethea will be gone, Ward will take over, Reid is there. That does not cut it...unless McRay pans out)

Bud don't you mean Dahl will be gone? Bethea signed a 2yr deal essentially. But I think he sticks around long term, he is perfect at SS.

Agreed with your other assumptions. I think Lattimorre can take over 3rd back duties if he plays in 2014.