What are our biggest needs..

Originally posted by InsertNameHere:

Originally posted by ninerjok:

Did Baalke just tip his hand he picks a CB #1?

Why do you say that?

Because Maiocco just quoted him as saying the team needs to build depth at cornerback. But it could very well be that's him just BSing the rest of the league.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by dompernick53:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by InsertNameHere:

Originally posted by jonjt49:
I agree with areas of concern..however I don't think we take back qb on day 2. The first three rounds should for impact players only. Not to mention there are only too good qbs worth taking...why draft a qd that's going to be a third string guy for the next two years.... your other things are absolutely right though(I say go find two b+ guys that won't break the bank in free agency...we be better off that way....

I think there's got to be someone that's worth a 4th or 5th round pick at QB.

Like who

Sean Mannion. Don't ask me why, I just have this hunch we shouldn't pass up on him like how we did with Brady unfortunately. Bring the kid home and let him develop behind Kap.

Some scouts were saying he looked undraftable at the senior bowl practices. I don't want a rookie as Kap's backup. I'd rather have Locker or JJ over a rookie QB who shouldn't be drafted higher than the 6th.

We should definitely have a vet as Kap's backup but we should be developing a QB as well, especially with Kap's regression from last season. If what those scouts were saying is true, then Mannion should be available to be your 6th round or later QB.

I would think our biggest needs are:

1. TE - regardless of whether Vernon Davis comes back healthy and motivated, we need a second TE that can stretch the middle of the field and be a presence in the red zone. If Vance McDonald had developed, this would be a position of strength. Goes to show how a failed draft pick has ramifications down the line.

2. WR - I'm thinking Crabtree is gone and Boldin has one year left on his deal. Too soon to tell how Ellington and Patton will shake out, but neither seem to be a deep threat. We need speed at the edge.

3. OLB - Brooks is likely gone and Lemonier is sub par. If an injury or off field troubles haunt either Smith or Lynch, we are in serious trouble.

4. CB - with Culliver and Cox UFAs, it is unlikely we will resign both. Frankly, I'd prefer they resign Gore over either of these guys. I like Brock and Johnson. It remains to be seen whether the CB development is due to Baalke's keen eye for later round picks or due to Donatell's coaching. Either way, we pick a CB with one of our first four picks. But given that we have Reaser and Acker and Ward competing this year, it is not as urgent of a need as the top three positions, IMHO.

5. QB - Kap is the starter. We have no backup and I'd rather we develop a young guy than sign another FA like Gabbert.


I actually don't think OL or DL are urgent areas this year. Even with McDonald's departure and if J. Smith retires, I like what I've seen from Tank, Dorsey should be healthy, Williams should be healthy, and Eddie and Dial are improving. We may add depth here, but I think unless a stud falls to the 49ers in the 1st round they invest their high picks on other positions.

With OL, the key is cohesion. A. Davis was injured last year. Kilgore too. Get those guys back, and develop the young guys and we should be fine. I would be highly disappointed if they draft an OL high in this draft. We invested too high picks last year with the intent to red shirt them (Marcus Martin would not have played had our starters remained healthy)

Originally posted by midrdan:
I would think our biggest needs are:

1. TE - regardless of whether Vernon Davis comes back healthy and motivated, we need a second TE that can stretch the middle of the field and be a presence in the red zone. If Vance McDonald had developed, this would be a position of strength. Goes to show how a failed draft pick has ramifications down the line.

The draft is super weak at TE and I don't even see any players that are better than Vance. VD is in his contract year, so expect a better year then last year. I wouldn't give up on Vance after 2 seasons (was hurt half of this year).

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by midrdan:
I would think our biggest needs are:

1. TE - regardless of whether Vernon Davis comes back healthy and motivated, we need a second TE that can stretch the middle of the field and be a presence in the red zone. If Vance McDonald had developed, this would be a position of strength. Goes to show how a failed draft pick has ramifications down the line.

The draft is super weak at TE and I don't even see any players that are better than Vance. VD is in his contract year, so expect a better year then last year. I wouldn't give up on Vance after 2 seasons (was hurt half of this year).

It may be that the draft is super weak in terms of depth, but Maxx Williams and Funchess are both guys that I think would be an improvement over McDonald. Both are tall, both have good but not elite speed, and both can catch. It remains to be seen whether Funchess can be a consistent blocker. But if Williams falls to the 2nd round we should grab him without hesitation.

Originally posted by NYniner85:
Some scouts were saying he looked undraftable at the senior bowl practices. I don't want a rookie as Kap's backup. I'd rather have Locker or JJ over a rookie QB who shouldn't be drafted higher than the 6th.

Which scouts exactly?

Originally posted by dompernick53:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by dompernick53:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by InsertNameHere:

Originally posted by jonjt49:
I agree with areas of concern..however I don't think we take back qb on day 2. The first three rounds should for impact players only. Not to mention there are only too good qbs worth taking...why draft a qd that's going to be a third string guy for the next two years.... your other things are absolutely right though(I say go find two b+ guys that won't break the bank in free agency...we be better off that way....

I think there's got to be someone that's worth a 4th or 5th round pick at QB.

Like who

Sean Mannion. Don't ask me why, I just have this hunch we shouldn't pass up on him like how we did with Brady unfortunately. Bring the kid home and let him develop behind Kap.

Some scouts were saying he looked undraftable at the senior bowl practices. I don't want a rookie as Kap's backup. I'd rather have Locker or JJ over a rookie QB who shouldn't be drafted higher than the 6th.

We should definitely have a vet as Kap's backup but we should be developing a QB as well, especially with Kap's regression from last season. If what those scouts were saying is true, then Mannion should be available to be your 6th round or later QB.

If he is chilling there in the 6th then sure, I don't see the point in going earlier on any of this QBs. No sense in wasting a pick on a QB for the sake of "developing" them. There are plenty young QB's in FA and J Johnson is better than half of this prospects lol. I think scheme, poor blocking, injuries, and dropped balls played a big part in Kap's regression (wasn't even a real regression).

Originally posted by midrdan:
It may be that the draft is super weak in terms of depth, but Maxx Williams and Funchess are both guys that I think would be an improvement over McDonald. Both are tall, both have good but not elite speed, and both can catch. It remains to be seen whether Funchess can be a consistent blocker. But if Williams falls to the 2nd round we should grab him without hesitation.

They might be, they might not be. I don't think McDonald has been given a full opportunity to show his abilities. They took a guy who was a college slot WR and made him into a fulltime blocker and gave him a career defensive coach to be his position coach. If McDonald were coming out in this draft he'd easily be looked at as one of the very best prospects along with Williams. I think there's way too much potential there for the 49ers to just give up on the guy and drop another high pick on a TE.


I have a feeling that VD will bounce back from the terrible season he had in 2014, especially with far better coaching. Sparano might be the best TE coach that he's ever had. I also think that McDonald will improve from better coaching as well. Beyond that you still have Celek and Carrier, as well as Millard who is definitely more the swiss army knife type of player. Carrier is especially intriguing, he's a guy in need of some better coaching but showed some tremendous hands, made some outstanding catches and in general did a good job when his number was called, he might be a keeper.

Originally posted by ninerjok:
Because Maiocco just quoted him as saying the team needs to build depth at cornerback. But it could very well be that's him just BSing the rest of the league.

If Baalke says that the 49ers need to build depth at CB, that makes it very clear to me that they'll be drafting DL early.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by NYniner85:
Some scouts were saying he looked undraftable at the senior bowl practices. I don't want a rookie as Kap's backup. I'd rather have Locker or JJ over a rookie QB who shouldn't be drafted higher than the 6th.

Which scouts exactly?

My bad Draft Analyst (not scout) Dan Brugler.

Oregon State redshirt senior QB Sean Mannion has looked "undraftable" at Senior Bowl practice, according to CBS Sports' Dane Brugler.
"So far we've seen undraftable QB Sean Mannion in practice. Just like most of his 2014 game film," Brugler tweeted. The Beavers prospect finished with 3,164 passing yards this season to go with 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Beavers won four of their first five games, but just won one game the rest of the way, with Mannion under center. Mannion will be lucky if a team pulls the trigger on him late on Day 3, due to his size (6-foot-5, 229 pounds) and four-year-starter experience

He is projected as a 6th rd pick on CBS and he lacks mobility which by the sounds of the new staff doesn't fit here.

WR, DL, OL, CB, OLB, TE, C, QB

As for QB, outside of Winston and Mariota i think theres only 1 or 2 QBs worth drafting. One being Sean Mannion. But even then anything before a 6th round pick would be reaching.

Originally posted by midrdan:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by midrdan:
I would think our biggest needs are:

1. TE - regardless of whether Vernon Davis comes back healthy and motivated, we need a second TE that can stretch the middle of the field and be a presence in the red zone. If Vance McDonald had developed, this would be a position of strength. Goes to show how a failed draft pick has ramifications down the line.

The draft is super weak at TE and I don't even see any players that are better than Vance. VD is in his contract year, so expect a better year then last year. I wouldn't give up on Vance after 2 seasons (was hurt half of this year).

It may be that the draft is super weak in terms of depth, but Maxx Williams and Funchess are both guys that I think would be an improvement over McDonald. Both are tall, both have good but not elite speed, and both can catch. It remains to be seen whether Funchess can be a consistent blocker. But if Williams falls to the 2nd round we should grab him without hesitation.

Is Funchess a TE or WR He can't block and drops a ton of balls, plus they probably have to spend a early 2nd on him...no thanks. Like Phoenix stated Vance hasn't really had a a shot and Mangini was his TE coach... Way too early to call him a bust. Millard is intriguing and between VD, Vance, and Carrier I think they will be fine.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by dompernick53:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by dompernick53:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by InsertNameHere:

Originally posted by jonjt49:
I agree with areas of concern..however I don't think we take back qb on day 2. The first three rounds should for impact players only. Not to mention there are only too good qbs worth taking...why draft a qd that's going to be a third string guy for the next two years.... your other things are absolutely right though(I say go find two b+ guys that won't break the bank in free agency...we be better off that way....

I think there's got to be someone that's worth a 4th or 5th round pick at QB.

Like who

Sean Mannion. Don't ask me why, I just have this hunch we shouldn't pass up on him like how we did with Brady unfortunately. Bring the kid home and let him develop behind Kap.

Some scouts were saying he looked undraftable at the senior bowl practices. I don't want a rookie as Kap's backup. I'd rather have Locker or JJ over a rookie QB who shouldn't be drafted higher than the 6th.

We should definitely have a vet as Kap's backup but we should be developing a QB as well, especially with Kap's regression from last season. If what those scouts were saying is true, then Mannion should be available to be your 6th round or later QB.

If he is chilling there in the 6th then sure, I don't see the point in going earlier on any of this QBs. No sense in wasting a pick on a QB for the sake of "developing" them. There are plenty young QB's in FA and J Johnson is better than half of this prospects lol. I think scheme, poor blocking, injuries, and dropped balls played a big part in Kap's regression (wasn't even a real regression).

I definitely agree a lot of Kap's regression revolved around factors he couldn't control. In regards to Mannion, watch this video of him I believe from his RS Soph year against a stacked UCLA D (Datone Jones, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks) to name a few. Good pocket awareness, gets the ball out relatively quick, good ball placement for the most part on his passes. Bad throw on the int but that is gonna happen to every QB now and then.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by NYniner85:
Some scouts were saying he looked undraftable at the senior bowl practices. I don't want a rookie as Kap's backup. I'd rather have Locker or JJ over a rookie QB who shouldn't be drafted higher than the 6th.

Which scouts exactly?

https://twitter.com/search?q=mannion%20undraftable&src=typd

Dane Brugler ‏@dpbrugler Jan 20
So far we've seen undraftable QB Sean Mannion in practice. Just like most of his 2014 game film... #SeniorBowl

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by ninerjok:
Because Maiocco just quoted him as saying the team needs to build depth at cornerback. But it could very well be that's him just BSing the rest of the league.

If Baalke says that the 49ers need to build depth at CB, that makes it very clear to me that they'll be drafting DL early.

This.
I wouldn't read too much into what Baalke is saying.
Plus, depth doesn't necessarily mean spending a first/second round pick.
We built depth at that position last year and didn't take a CB until the 4th round