This will be the last edition of This Week in Niners Nation before the draft begins. We won't bring you one next Friday as draft coverage will be in high gear. Who wants to read me crapping on when you can get all the latest info on the future superstars of our favorite football franchise. Who this might be, we won't know until it happens. We may trade up, we may trade down, we may trade all around. It's gonna be fun, so stay tuned.
As for this week's edition...it's pretty much all draft. There's not much else we could talk about around these dates. I'm running late and want to get as many posts in as possible, so excuse the brevity of the intro and the lack of spellchecking and dive right in with me!
General Draft Mayhem
James Brady discusses the 49ers' draft strategy, the different possibilities and whether or not they might trade up. He uses recent draft history and team tendencies to dissect the situation. I would definitely like to see as many impact players added to the roster as we can squeeze in. | 49ers' tendency to 'latch on' to players lends credibility to possible trade (Brady)
One prospect who keeps rising, and who many 49ers fans would love to see on the roster is Jonathan Cyprien. We need a free safety. He plays the position. The team recently hosted him, so we're definitely interested, or at least faking interest to throw off other potential suitors. Will he be around for us to choose? | 49ers host Jonathan Cyprien; What does any of it all mean? (Fucillo)
So many people think we're going to draft a fast tight end to replace Delanie Walker. Not so fast, says Tre9er (Tre would appreciate the corny humor). What makes everyone think that we need the exact same roster as last season to succeed. All I care about is blocking. Sure Walker was fast, but he couldn't catch a cold. | 49ers don't need carbon copy of Delanie Walker (Tre9er)
Tre9er has another post here about what it takes to remain competitive in the NFL. You have to constantly upgrade your talent, across the board, every year. Can we upgrade at OL? The backups need bolstering. What about CB? I think we all know that answer. | There will be a lot more roster turnover than you might think (Tre9er)
Looking at the Prospects
Many people are wondering if this is the year the 49ers look to add Frank Gore's heir apparent to the roster. That implies it's not Kendall Hunter or LaMichael James. Marcus Lattimore's name pops up frequently but another name I keep hearing is Le'Veon Bell. Nick gives us a deeper look at the young man who many would like to see selected. | Le'Veon Bell prospect profile (Chiamardas)
Trevor Woods re-examines the tight end position, a definite need for the team after losing Delanie Walker in free agency. Many of the extended mock drafts have us taking a tight end with one of our first three picks, so it's worth getting to know these guys. One of them will be a 49er soon. | Re-ranking the tight ends (Woods)
With Frank Gore getting old, Kendall Hunter coming back from injury and LaMichael James viewed as more of a change of pace back, would the 49ers draft a running back? If they do, it could spell the end of Anthony Dixon, which would make my Twitter feed a lot more boring. | Re-Ranking the running backs (Woods)
The depth we added last season at outside linebacker got injured. We do sort of have to incoming rookies in Cam Johnson and Darius Fleming. Might we add to the pool of talent? | Re-ranking the 3-4 outside linebackers (Chiamardas)
Draft History
Steve Busichio takes a look at some of the best and worst drafts in our teams last 10 years. He's gotten through three parts so far. FIrst up is the 3rd worst draft of the era, the 2004 class. It was bad, as you'll see. Andy Lee is the stallion amongst mules. | 49ers draft rewind: Worst of the worst, part 1 (Busichio)
Coming in at third best is the 2010 draft, still showing us the fruit it bears on our title-contending current team. The offensive line was in shambles so we took Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati. NaVorro Bowman, one of the best middle linebackers in the league is a third-rounder. What a draft, the first of the Trent Baalke era. | 49ers draft rewind: Best of the best, part 1 (Busichio)
And for the 2nd worst draft of the last 10 years, 2003. It should come as no shock that these two poor drafts went back to back. That's the recipe for building a contender for the No.1 pick. Hey, it worked. Brandon Lloyd is the lone standout on this list, and even he didn't produce much for us. | Draft rewind: Worst of the worst, part 2 (Busichio)
Anything Else?
One big non-draft topic on everyone's mind this offseason is the impending extension of Colin Kaepernick and what it might cost the team. If last year's Super Bowl run is any indication, he'll be due to make a fortune soon. What can we really expect from all this speculation? | Colin Kaepernick and the mighty QB contract (Hurley)
In our latest instalment of our #Channel 49 Q&A Mailbag, Trevor and I tackle such questions as who is the long-term answer at center, will the 49ers keep all four of our 'starting' cornerbacks, and the prospects of British olympian Lawrence Okoye. | #Channel49 Twitter Q&A mailbag, Vol. 5 (Malone & Woods)
Following the recent contract extension of right tackle Anthony Davis, many of us began wondering...who's next? Well, it very well may be Mike Iupati. The team has began the initial dance and I'd love to see this offensive line kept intact for as long as possible. | 49ers have begun contract negotiations with Mike Iupati (Fucillo)
One of the big mysteries going into the upcoming season will be what, if anything, we will get from recent signee Nnamdi Asomugha. He was much maligned in Philadelphia and was ran out of town after being the most prized free agent two years earlier. Liberty_JAC takes a look at how he matched up with Calvin Johnson using All-22 technology. | All-22: Nnamdi Asomugha vs Megatron (liberty_JAC)
What's our worst nightmare as a franchise? I think every single one of us will answer a Colin Kaepernick injury. Nothing would set the team back more than having Colt McCoy or Scott Tolzien have to guide us through the postseason. | Colin Kaepernick: Accounting for the inevitability of injury (SoCaliSteph)
Among all the draft hype and buildup, the schedule was released during the week. With the league looking to have it's name in the news at all times, you think they'd wait until May to do it. Well, it's here. We got off as easy as we could for a first-place finisher. We only have two 10am PT starts and one of those is in London, where we'll be staying for days beforehand. Fooch takes a look at it and gives us his insight. | 49ers schedule 2013: Early thoughts (Fucillo)
And Chris Culliver has put his foot in his mouth once again, this time with his fingers. Steph takes a look at the most recent stink he's created, this time using derogatory language towards women. He hates homosexuals, women, and what's next...puppies? | The new Chris Culliver: Misogynistic? (SoCaliSteph)
FanPosts
Oh, it's draft time and all the FanPosts will deal with the subject, as you would expect. Ninersfootball starts us off with a look at what people think we need on defense. Everyone has us taking a safety early, but they propose, and with good reason, that our pass rush was just as much to blame for our postseason failures on defense. I say we draft one of each! | Draft thinking - misdiagnosed defensive needs (ninersfootball)
Then I offer two mock drafts for your enjoyment. First is Roy_from_Israel with a complete first round and a look at later 49ers selections. We take...D.J. Hayden in the first round. We could soon be losing cornerbacks and might be moving Chris Culliver to free safety. Hmm... | My first (and last) mock draft (Roy_from_Israel)
Finally, Optonal comes in with their complete 49ers draft mock. We take Datone Jones, Jesse Williams and Bacarri Rambo with our first three. Not sure how I feel about that. We take some sleeper offensive help later on. | 49er fan mock draft 3.0 (Optonal)
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the draft!
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