NFL Draft-49ers

If only, if only. That's what many 49ers' fans are thinking after their dreadful 2005 and 2006 drafts. In the 1st round of the '05 draft, they selected QB Alex Smith over Aaron Rogers who fell to Green Bay and just threw for just over 4,000 yards last year (as opposed to Alex Smith's zero, zip, and nada). In the 2nd and 3rd rounds they did well, selecting David Baas and Frank Gore, but other than that, there are no impact players or even back up material players really.
Then in '06, they selected workout wonder Vernon Davis, a TE out of Maryland over such players as; Donte Whitner, Ernie Sims, Haloti Ngata, Kameron Wimbley, and Antonio Cromartie, then selected OLB/DE Manny Lawson with the 22nd pick ahead of players like Davin Joseph, Santonio Holmes, Nick Mangold, Mathias Kiwanuka, and DeMeco Ryans. If you add up the total number of players they drafted that are worth a crap in that draft, you would come out with a big, fat, goose egg. (They did right the ship a bit in '07 with the drafting of a star MLB in Patrick Willis and a great Tackle in Joe Staley)

The Niners current roster isn't anything to oogle after-although I think they have some under the radar players like QB Shaun Hill-and while they've added a handful of free agents, none of them are expected to really help. The 49ers, like many teams, are putting their eggs in the "build through the draft" boat apparantly, and will need a little bit of their 2007 magic for that to work.

With the 10th pick, the 49ers could go a number of ways-QB, DT, DE, WR, Tackle, OLB, or safety-so there's no telling what they will do. Me personally, I think they will try to upgrade their defense instead of going with the sexy Mark Sanchez pick (Coach Singletary loves Shaun Hill) and if they do, I expect it to be a pass rushing OLB. Aaron Maybin, Everette Brown, and Brian Cushing are all possibilities.

In the second round (pick 43) I think the Niners will go for a safety, provided Western Michigan's Louis Delmas is still there. If he isn't, DJ Moore, Marcus Freeman, or maybe even an inside linebacker are possibilities.

With their remaining picks (3/74, 4/111, 5/146, 5/171, 6/184, 7/219, and 7/244), San Francisco will probably target their RT position, find a run-stuffing DE, try to get younger at their LB spots, and maybe find a speedy backup running back for Frank Gore like Glenn Coffee or Antoine Smith

THE PICK: Aaron Maybin-DE, Penn State