New Year's Mock

49ers Picks assuming we win the coin toss against the Raiders:
1.9, 2.56 (Saints), 3.70 (Bears), 3.74, 4.126 (Steelers), 5.134 (Jets), 6.170, 7.201, 7.218 (Chiefs). Note: 4th round pick #'s and later don't include compensatory picks. We're not projected to receive any compensatory picks this year.

Free Agency:
Overhaul the offensive line by signing Andrew Norwell (LG) and Weston Richburg (C). Garnett gets a chance to compete for the other guard spot.

Target Dion Lewis or re-sign Hyde if Lewis isn't available. No sense creating a need where there isn't one. Hyde has improved as a receiver and should continue to improve as we overhaul our offensive line. We could go after Allen Robinson, but this feels like an exceptionally deep WR class so we choose to address WR in the draft and sign a top CB instead.

Sign Malcolm Butler (CB). Butler is 27 and one of the best corners that could be available in free agency. The Patriots signed Stephon Gilmore to a long term deal and haven't extended Butler, so they may be willing to let him walk. We could use a #1 corner opposite Witherspoon. Dontae Johnson has struggled and will be a free agent.

Sign Jeremiah Attaochu (OLB) to compete for the SAM position. He's been hampered by injuries and is on the bench for the Chargers so he won't be a priority to resign, but has the size and athleticism to compete at SAM and rotate in on the defensive line in nickel. Still just 24 years old.

Draft:
Trade 2nd round pick 56 (340, 3rd round pick from Chicago 70 (240), and 4th round pick 126 (46) for Eagles 1st round pick 28 (660). Trade favors us based on the traditional pick value chart 660-626, but Eagles get to replenish picks as they do not currently have a 2nd or 3rd round pick.

Round 1, Pick 9: Roquan Smith OLB, Georgia 6'1 225
Barkley and Nelson are both gone by now or one of them would have been the pick. Smith is one of the best defensive players in the draft but falls to 9 due to concerns over his size and ability to take on blockers. He's an ideal fit for WILL in our defense, plays sideline to sideline, and is great in coverage. Pairing Smith with Foster gives us one of the most athletic linebacker corps in the NFL and helps shore up our pass defense over the middle of the field.

Round 1, Pick 28: Marcus Davenport, DE, UTSA 6'6 255
Other options here include Arden Key and Clelin Ferrell. Davenport is the rawest of the three, but may possess the most long term upside. In this mock, Chubb and Landry are long gone and both Key and Ferrell are off the board, so the 49ers trade up for the last top edge rusher knowing he'll be long gone by pick 56. Davenport gets to rotate in as a rookie and split time with Dumervil at Leo while developing pass rush moves, an effective counter, and getting better at shedding blockers.

Round 3, Pick 74: Equanimeous St. Brown, WR, Notre Dame 6'4 205
The 49ers take advantage of a deep WR class to grab St. Brown in the 3rd round. He's a good fit as a precise route runner with good size and the ability to stretch the field. St. Brown could rise up draft boards with a solid combine, but for now was rated the #12 WR in the draft in the recent USA Today WR rankings. He has good height and length but is more of a finesse receiver at this point in his career and isn't much of a red zone threat. St. Brown would be ranked a lot higher if he had a QB who could get him the ball (Wimbush has atrocious accuracy). Best case is he turns into a poor man's AJ Green which could be an awesome value in the 3rd round.

Round 5: Isaiah Prince, OT, Ohio State 6'6 310
Prince was awful in pass protection in 2016, but has improved there in 2017. College football film room called him the most improved player in the Big 10 in 2017 and that was before allowing just one QB pressure to Penn State after getting abused in 2016. He's a former 4 star high school recruit who has plenty of physical talent for RT and took the criticism he received last year to heart and worked to improve which I really like. Meyer called him one of the team's most improved players going into the season and his teammates praised him for improving his technique in the offseason. Developmental RT who is raw, but young and willing to put in work. He can sit for a year or two until Staley hangs up his cleats and Brown likely shifts over to LT.
https://www.cfbfilmroom.com/2017/10/24/ohio-state-buckeyes-midseason-stats-review/
https://www.landof10.com/ohio-state/ohio-state-isaiah-prince-improvement

Round 6: Kamryn Pettway, RB, Auburn 6'0 235
We already have a change of pace RB in Matt Breida. Pettway gives us a bruising north-south runner who can run over defenders. Pettway falls due to injury concerns in a deep RB class, but he was voted first-team all-SEC in 2016 with 1224 rushing yards in 9 games. He isn't a good receiver out of the backfield and wouldn't be a fit as a #1 RB in our offense, but we need depth at RB and Pettway would be a great short yardage/goal line option with the size and athleticism to contribute on special teams. Mel Kiper thought he could have been taken in the 2nd/3rd round last year if he didn't get hurt. Missing most of the 2017 season due to injuries drops him further. He's playing today against UCF, but averaging under 4 YPC so far. Has another year of eligibility and hasn't declared yet.
http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2016/12/mel_kiper_jrs_assessment_of_au.html

Round 7: BPA

Looks like an excellent and realistic draft. Appreciate the work you put in.
I love roquon but I think Rueben Foster is best suited at WLB. Not sure he will be able to hold up physically at MLB

Nice draft. Smith & Foster flying around the field would be crazy

Originally posted by Bellaleo:

Looks like an excellent and realistic draft. Appreciate the work you put in.
I love roquon but I think Rueben Foster is best suited at WLB. Not sure he will be able to hold up physically at MLB

Thanks! You may be right about Foster. He's a little bigger than Smith and I thought Foster did a good job taking on blockers at Alabama, but the NFL is another story. I really like the idea of the two of them flying around on defense, but our defensive line would have to keep them relatively clean.

Great mock, but like others I've seen, I think they expect too much from FA

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Great mock, but like others I've seen, I think they expect too much from FA

2 big FA signings (Norwell and Butler) and one middle of the pack signing (Richburg)? We have plenty of cap space for this since Norwell and Butler aren't going to break the bank like an elite pass rusher would (not that there's a chance Demarcus Lawrence hits free agency). I almost didn't include Malcolm Butler, but thought that was being too conservative in free agency with how much cap room we have.

I've seen a lot of mocks where roquon goes to us but that would give us 3 starting WLB while still leaving us thin at WLB and SLB

Yes resign Hyde, unless we can get a better back. Lieving it to brieda and a 3rd or lower round back would be a mistake

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:

Originally posted by Bellaleo:

Looks like an excellent and realistic draft. Appreciate the work you put in.
I love roquon but I think Rueben Foster is best suited at WLB. Not sure he will be able to hold up physically at MLB

Thanks! You may be right about Foster. He's a little bigger than Smith and I thought Foster did a good job taking on blockers at Alabama, but the NFL is another story. I really like the idea of the two of them flying around on defense, but our defensive line would have to keep them relatively clean.

Yeah I'm against having a smaller lb than foster. Too many stingers. Foster needs to put on 15 lbs over offseason

A

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:
Great mock, but like others I've seen, I think they expect too much from FA

2 big FA signings (Norwell and Butler) and one middle of the pack signing (Richburg)? We have plenty of cap space for this since Norwell and Butler aren't going to break the bank like an elite pass rusher would (not that there's a chance Demarcus Lawrence hits free agency). I almost didn't include Malcolm Butler, but thought that was being too conservative in free agency with how much cap room we have.

I agree that the money makes sense, my criticism is more that other teams will be vying for these guys too. I doubt we get everyone, and it doesn't make sense to spend all of our money this year anyway.

A lot of people have been mocking both the top guard and top center to us in FA. Of course that's the dream, and mock drafts are more fun when you're not drafting O line men, but not sure how realistic it is. I do like this mock very much tho. IF we do land a combo of richburg/norwell/Jensen in FA, it's be a dream come true and open up the draft a ton for us

Malcom Butler is dope, patriots have done him dirty. I'm sure he's played in games where he could care less about his assignments. He'd come here and be appreciated.

Taking a guard at 9-10 is bogus. Impact player around the football or more picks.

Originally posted by Bellaleo:

I've seen a lot of mocks where roquon goes to us but that would give us 3 starting WLB while still leaving us thin at WLB and SLB

Foster is a MIKE. Re-sign Coyle to back him up.

Malcolm Smith and Roquan Smith are WILL. Malcolm makes the calls on D if Foster isn't ready.

Eli Harold and Jeremiah Attaochu at SAM