Final Mock Draft

#	team	name	pos	school
1	TEXANS	Mario Williams	DE	NC State
2	*JETS	Reggie Bush	RB	USC
3	TITANS	Matt Leinart	QB	USC
4	*SAINTS	D'brickashaw Ferguson	OT	Virginia
5	PACKERS	AJ Hawk	LB	Ohio State
6	49ers	Vernon Davis	TE	Maryland
7	RAIDERS	Brodrick Bunkley	DT	Florida State
8	**VIKINGS	Vince Young	QB	Texas
9	LIONS	Michael Huff	CB	Texas
10	CARDINALS	Jay Cutler	QB	Vanderbilt
11	***EAGLES	Haloti Ngata	DT	Oregon
12	BROWNS	Kamerion Wimbley	OLB	Florida State
13	RAVENS	Winston Justice	OT	USC
14	***RAMS	Antonio Cromartie	CB	Florida State
15	BRONCOS	DeAngelo Williams	RB	Memphis
16	DOLPHINS	Johnathan Joseph	CB	South Carolina
17	**BILLS	Chad Jackson	WR	Florida
18	COWBOYS	Donte Whitner	S	Ohio State
19	CHARGERS	Tye Hill	CB	Clemson
20	CHIEFS	Santonio Holmes	WR	Ohio State
21	PATRIOTS	Bobby Carpenter	OLB	Ohio State
22	49ers	Manny Lawson	OLB	NC State
23	BUCCANEERS	Eric Winston	OT	Miami
24	BENGALS	Jimmy Williams	CB	Virginia Tech
25	GIANTS	Gabe Watson	DT	Michigan
26	BEARS	Leonard Pope	TE	Georgia
27	PANTHERS	Ernie Sims	OLB	Florida State
28	JAGUARS	Chad Greenway	OLB	Iowa
29	*SAINTS	Nick Mangold	C	Ohio State
30	COLTS	Laurence Maroney	RB	Minnesota
31	SEAHAWKS	Richard Marshall	CB	Fresno State
32	STEELERS	Daniel Bullocks	FS	Nebraska
		Round 2
33	TEXANS	Ashton Youboty	CB	Ohio State
34	SAINTS	Demeco Ryans	OLB	Alabama
35	JETS	Darnell Bing	SS	USC
36	PACKERS	Jason Allen	FS	Tennessee
37	BRONCOS	Pat Watkins	FS	Florida State
38	RAIDERS	Thomas Howard	OLB	UTEP
39	TITANS	Ko Simpson	FS	South Carolina
40	LIONS	Marcus McNeill	OT	Auburn
41	CARDINALS	LenDale White	RB	USC
42	BILLS	John McCargo	DT	NC State
43	BROWNS	Kelly Jennings	CB	Miami
44	RAVENS	D'Qwell Jackson	LB	Maryland
45	EAGLES	Sinorice Moss	WR	Miami
46	RAMS	Tamba Hali	DE	Penn State
47	FALCONS	Cedric Griffin	FS	Texas
48	**BILLS	Daryn Colledge	OT	Boise State
49	COWBOYS	Max Jean-Gilles	OG	Georgia
50	CHARGERS	Andrew Whitworth	OT	LSU
51	VIKINGS	Roger McIntosh	OLB	Miami
52	PATRIOTS	Maurice Drew	RB	UCLA
53	REDSKINS	Abdul Hodge	MLB	Iowa
54	CHIEFS	Mathias Kiwanuka	DE	Boston College
55	BENGALS	Marcedes Lewis	TE	UCLA
56	GIANTS	Demetrius Williams	WR	Oregon
57	BEARS	Davin Joseph	OG	Oklahoma
58	PANTHERS	Charles Spencer	OG	Pittsburgh
59	BUCCANEERS	Danieal Manning	CB	Abilene Christian
60	JAGUARS	Joseph Addai	RB	LSU
61	BRONCOS	Mark Anderson	DE	Alabama
62	COLTS	Jon Alston	LB/S	Stanford
63	SEAHAWKS	Taitusi Lutui	OG	USC
64	STEELERS	Greg Jennings	WR	W. Michigan
		Round 3
65	TEXANS	Jonathan Scott	OT	Texas
66	TEXANS	Gerris Wilkinson	MLB	Georgia Tech
67	PACKERS	Chris Chester	C	Oklahoma
68	BRONCOS	Joe Klopfstein	TE	Colorado
69	RAIDERS	Bernard Pollard	SS	Purdue
70	BILLS	Brodie Croyle	QB	Alabama
71	JETS	Chris Gocong	DE	Cal Poly
72	CARDINALS	Dominique Byrd	TE	USC
73	BILLS	Anthony Fasano	TE	Notre Dame
74	LIONS	Roderique Wright	DT	Texas
75	PATRIOTS	Maurice Stovall	WR	Notre Dame
76	***RAMS	Demario Minter	CB	Georgia
77	RAMS	Spencer Havner	LB	UCLA
78	BROWNS	Oshinowo Babatunde	DT	Stanford
79	BRONCOS	Devin Aromashodu	WR	Auburn
80	COWBOYS	Stanley McClover	OLB	Auburn
81	CHARGERS	Todd Watkins	WR	BYU
82	DOLPHINS	Tim Dobbins	LB	Iowa State
83	VIKINGS	David Pittman	CB	Northwestern St
84	49ers	Roman Harper	FS	Alabama
85	CHIEFS	Tim Jennings	CB	Georgia
86	PATRIOTS	Dee Webb	CB	Florida
87	GIANTS	Antoine Bethea	FS	Howard
88	BEARS	Ryan O'Callaghan	OT	Cal
89	PANTHERS	Mike Haas	WR	Oregon State
90	BUCCANEERS	Terna Nande	OLB	Miami(OH)
91	BENGALS	Victor Adeyanju	DE	Indiana
92	JAGUARS	Ray Edwards	DE	Purdue
93	BRONCOS	Kellen Clemens	QB	Oregon
94	COLTS	Johnathan Lewis	DT	Virginia Tech
95	SEAHAWKS	Daryl Tapp	DE	Virginia Tech
96	STEELERS	Barry Cofield	DE	Northwestern
97	JETS	Greg Eslinger	C	Minnesota

Top 100

As always, this is not a prediction of the order players will ultimately get drafted, just my ranking the odds of who will become a great NFL player. For projection of how the draft might go, look here.

rank	name	pos	school	ht	wt	40
1	Reggie Bush	RB	USC	5'11	201	4.40e
2	Mario Williams	DE	NC State	6'7	295	4.66
3	Vernon Davis	TE	Maryland	6'3	254	4.38
4	AJ Hawk	LB	Ohio State	6'1	248	4.59
5	Brodrick Bunkley	DT	Florida State	6'3	306	4.94
6	Michael Huff	FS/CB	Texas	6'0	204	4.34
7	Vince Young	QB	Texas	6'5	229	4.45e
8	Matt Leinart	QB	USC	6'5	225	5.00e
9	DeAngelo Williams	RB	Memphis	5'9	214	4.45e
10	Antonio Cromartie	CB	Florida State	6'2	208	4.39
11	Haloti Ngata	DT	Oregon	6'4	338	5.12
12	D'brickashaw Ferguson	OT	Virginia	6'6	312	5.10e
13	Jonathan Jospeh	CB	South Carolina	5'11	193	4.31
14	Tye Hill	CB	Clemson	5'10	190	4.3
15	Kamerion Wimbley	DE/OLB	Florida State	6'4	248	4.61
16	Manny Lawson	OLB/DE	NC State	6'5	241	4.43
17	Chad Greenway	OLB	Iowa	6'2	242	4.75
18	Bobby Carpenter	OLB	Ohio State	6'2	256	4.65e
19	Nick Mangold	C	Ohio State	6'4	300	5.05
20	Santonio Holmes	WR	Ohio State	5'11	188	4.40e
21	Laurence Maroney	RB	Minnesota	6'0	217	4.40e
22	Chad Jackson	WR	Florida	6'1	213	4.32
23	Marcus McNeill	OT	Auburn	6'8	336	5.07
24	Jason Allen	FS/CB	Tennessee	6'1	209	4.39
25	DeMeco Ryans	OLB	Alabama	6'1	236	4.62
26	Ernie Sims	OLB	Florida State	5'11	231	4.5
27	Ko Simpson	FS	South Carolina	6'1	209	4.45
28	Ashton Youboty	CB	Ohio State	6'0	189	4.40e
29	Darnell Bing	SS	USC	6'2	227	4.50e
30	LenDale White	RB	USC	6'0	238	4.50e
31	Jimmy Williams	CB/FS	Virginia Tech	6'2	213	4.45e
32	Thomas Howard	OLB	UTEP	6'3	239	4.42
33	Donte Whitner	S	Ohio State	5'10	204	4.4
34	Richard Marshall	CB	Fresno State	5'11	189	4.42
35	Sinorice Moss	WR	Miamai	5'8	185	4.38
36	Winston Justice	OT	USC	6'6	319	5.10e
37	Kelly Jennings	CB	Miami	5'11	178	4.39
38	Gabe Watson	DT	Michigan	6'3	339	5.25
39	Eric Winston	OT	Miami	6'7	310	4.94
40	Max Jean-Gilles	OG	Georgia	6'4	355	5.47
41	Tamba Hali	DE	Penn State	6'3	275	4.75e
42	Mark Anderson	DE/OLB	Alabama	6'4	254	4.61
43	Leonard Pope	TE	Georgia	6'8	258	4.62
44	Daryn Colledge	OT	Boise State	6'4	299	5.04
45	Ryan O'Calaghan	OT	California	6'7	344	5.35
46	Jay Cutler	QB	Vanderbilt	6'3	226	4.77
47	Joseph Addai	RB	LSU	5'11	214	4.4
48	Davin Joseph	OG	Oklahoma	6'3	311	5.09
49	Chris Gocong	DE/OLB	Cal Poly	6'2	263	4.7
50	Andrew Whitworth	T/G	LSU	6'7	334	5.15
51	Roman Harper	FS	Alabama	6'0	198	4.55e
52	Maurice Drew	RB	UCLA	5'7	207	4.39
53	Daniel Bullocks	FS	Nebraska	6'0	212	4.38
54	Mathias Kiwanuka	DE	Boston College	6'6	256	4.75
55	Mike Hass	WR	Oregon State	6'1	208	4.63
56	Pat Watkins	FS	Florida State	6'4	211	4.42
57	Jonathan Scott	OT	Texas	6'6	316	5.31
58	Dominique Byrd	TE	USC	6'3	255	4.65e
59	Devin Aromashodu	WR	Auburn	6'2	201	4.35
60	Demario Minter	CB	Georgia	5'11	190	4.4
61	Abdul Hodge	ILB	Iowa	6'0	236	4.76
62	Stanley McGlover	DE/OLB	Auburn	6'2	252	4.61
63	Joe Klopfstein	TE	Colorado	6'6	255	4.62
64	Greg Eslinger	C	Minnesota	6'3	292	5.13
65	Dee Webb	CB	Florida State	5'11	183	4.41
66	Marcedes Lewis	TE	UCLA	6'6	261	4.84
67	Jeremy Trueblood	OT	Boston College	6'8	316	5.25
68	Todd Watkins	WR	BYU	6'2	202	4.4
69	Mike Degory	C	Florida	6'5	305	5.39
70	Will Blackmon	CB/WR	Boston College	6'0	198	4.46
71	D'Qwell Jackson	ILB	Maryland	6'0	230	4.7
72	Brodie Croyle	QB	Alabama	6'2	205	4.87
73	Cedric Griffin	CB	Texas	6'0	199	4.55
74	Anthony Fasano	TE	Notre Dame	6'4	259	4.85e
75	Garrett Mills	FB/TE	Tulsa	6'1	241	4.64
76	Elvis Dumervil	DE/OLB	Louisville	5'11	257	4.75
77	Daryl Tapp	DE	Virginia Tech	6'1	262	4.84
78	Kyle Williams	DT	LSU	6'1	299	5.16
79	John McCargo	DT	NC State	6'1	302	5.11
80	Taitusi Lutui	OG	USC	6'4	334	5.37
81	Tim Jennings	CB	Georgia	5'8	185	4.32
82	Eric Henderson	DE	Georgia Tech	6'2	270	4.78e
83	Barry Cofield	DE	Northwestern	6'4	304	4.94
84	Johnathan Lewis	DT	Virginia Tech	6'1	309	5.05
85	Babatunde Oshinowo	DT	Stanford	6'2	304	5.33
86	Gerris Wilkinson	LB	Georgia Tech	6'3	233	4.72
87	Tim McGarigle	ILB	Northwestern	6'1	242	4.73
88	Jesse Mahelona	DT	Tennessee	6'0	311	5.10e
89	Brad Smith	WR	Missouri	6'2"	212	4.45
90	Rodrique Wright	DT	Texas	6'5	300	5.06
91	Leon Washington	RB	Florida State	5'8	201	4.42
92	Jerome Harrison	RB	Washington State	5'9	201	4.47
93	Ray Edwards	DE	Purdue	6'5	273	4.79
94	Derek Hagan	WR	Arizona State	6'2	208	4.42
95	Bernard Pollard	SS	Purdue	6'2	224	4.60e
96	Victor Adeyanju	DE	Indiana	6'4"	270	4.8
97	Hank Baskett	WR	New Mexico	6'3	224	4.49
98	Martin Nance	WR	Miami-Ohio	6'4	215	4.61
99	Parys Haralson	DE/OLB	Tennessee	6'1	253	4.8
100	Dion Byrum	CB	Ohio	5'11"	185	4.38

Team Spotlight: San Francisco 49ers

Update: 4/25

Draft Choices (10 total):
Round 1 (#6)
Round 1 (#22)
Round 3 (#84)
Round 4 (#100)
Round 5 (#140)
Round 6 (#175 and #192)
Round 7 (#213, #236 and #254)

Offensive Needs
San Francisco is in a place where they have obvious needs for starters at certain spots, and the rest of the spots have no depth. The first thing that sticks out is the lack of an impact playmaker on offense. Alex Smith needs a security blanket--a player who he can count on in 3rd down situations. That player could be a WR or TE. WR is now more of an option with the recent trade of Rashaun Woods. The offensive line looks to be in place with the addition of three starters last year. LT Jonas Jennings was brought in from Buffalo while David Baas and Adam Snyder were day one draft picks. Mostly depth issues along the line, so aside from that playmaker, I'd consider the rest of the offensive needs day two or free agent options.

Day One:
WR/TE

Day Two:
OT, OG, OC, TE, KR/PR


Defensive Needs
The defense was way ahead of the offense in 2005, but there are still holes. With Derek Smith re-signed, the run defense is intact and should be stout as it was in '05. NT, MLB and SS need fillers at most. Like the offense, the achilles heel of the 2005 defense was 3rd downs. The 49ers lack a #1 CB and an elite pass-rushing LB. Finding a starter at FS is also a must. With the addition of Sammy Davis at corner, there is less of a need there, but who the #1 guy will be is still a question. Even though Bryant Young is still playing at a high level, a quality DE should be taken if/when value is present.

Day One:
OLB, FS, CB

Day Two:
LB, DE

Nolan vs. McCloughan
Head Coach Mike Nolan and Player Personnel Director Scot McCloughan are eachothers yin and yang during the draft process. Nolan wants football players more than athletes. His guys have to buy into the system, first and foremost. There is a common term Coach Nolan uses to describe his type of player--accountability.

"We need to draft smart, tough, passionate, committed players who want to make plays. We need more of those," he says. "If they are a step slow or an inch short, I am OK with that. But when I look at them, I want to be able to trust them."

McCloughan, a son of a scout, has more of a traditional and sometimes "meat market" view of prospects. To him you have to match up physically with your opponent. If you look at his track record in Seattle and so far in San Francisco, you'll see that McCloughan will take a chance on a prototype athlete. Remember Anton Palepoi? The less charasmatic McCloughan puts it this way;

"I believe it's a big man's game," he says. "You have to be able to hold up over a 16-game schedule in this league."

Expect Nolan to be making the calls at the start, but give way to McCloughan on day two. A few projects are sure to be selected with those extra picks in the late rounds.


Senior Bowl Impact
The 49ers coaching staff was in charge of the South squad at the 2006 Senior Bowl. I really like the potential of the 49ers taking a few of these guys in the 2-5 round range. The Senior Bowl wasn't top heavy with talent, but there were some solid NFL starters there. The South was especially deep with tweener rush 'backers and safeties. History has shown us that teams take a high percentage of players they coached at the Senior Bowl. With Mike Nolan's philosophy of the way guys practice, I'm sure this face time was a huge factor in evaluations.

Day One Projection
Round 1, pick #6
Vernon Davis, TE, Maryland
If you take all factors into consideration, Davis makes the most sense. He passes Nolan's test of work ethic. He passes McCloughan's test of prototype size/speed/strength. The x-factor is surrounding Alex Smith with the talent he needs to succeed. "Duke" Davis makes the 49ers better than any other player that will be available at #6. Mario Williams will be long gone, making AJ Hawk and Michael Huff the only other options. Hawk becomes increasingly more valuable with Julian Peterson signing in Seattle and might be the pick if he falls to #6. Huff's value is considerably lower if he's a FS. If he's a CB, there are still questions about his coverage ability due to playing safety at Texas. The final factor is depth at these positions. This is the only opportunity for San Francisco to add that impact offensive playmaker. There is an abundance of 3-4 OLBs in this draft, and DB is one of the most talented positions as well. A starter can be found in round 2 at either spot.

Davis could be the final piece of the future offense in San francisco. It takes offensive players longer to get to full speed. So adding this piece now would give them a chance to jell, while adding impact players on defense going forward.

Trading down from this pick has lost its luster. It would be a disaster to trade down behind division rivals Arizona and St. Louis. No 49ers fan welcomes the thought of Vernon Davis knifing through their defense for the next 10 years as a member of the Rams. That leaves only three teams as potential partners. Is it worth the distinct drop in talent just to add another body?

Round 1, pick #22
Manny Lawson, OLB, NC State
The 49ers recently aquired this pick from Denver for their 2nd and 3rd round picks. Outside linebacker is the biggest position of need coming in, defensive back also make sense here, but a starter at safety could be available in the 3rd round at that deep position. With the depth and the way talent is shaking out at OLB in this draft, this is a place where need can meet up with value to perfection. Lawson is a player that fits like a glove into the weakside linebacker of a 3-4 scheme as a rusher. He has potential in coverage with more time at linebacker and could play on the strongside as well. Most importantly, he can get after the quarterback. Lawson is a freak athletically and still has a ton of potential with his 4.4 speed at 6'5". Bobby Carpenter, Kamerion Wimbley, Chad Greenway and Antonio Cromartie are other names you could hear called in this slot.

Round 3, pick #84
Roman Harper, S, Alabama
A lot of people compare Michael Huff to legendary 49ers safety Ronnie Lott. To me, Harper fits the comparison even more. Harper has everything you need in a pro safety. He's the quaterback of the defense, has good range, great instincts and hits like a safety should hit. Harper is a "Nolan guy" and was on the South squad at the Senior Bowl. This pick could be Nolan's chance to steal a long-time starter on defense. In a dream scenario, San Francisco would be able to take a guy who slips like Chris Gocong or Mark Anderson here to play outside linebacker and still get a guy like Harper at the top of round 4.

Other 3rd round options I like for SF; Chris Gocong, Maurice Drew, Joe Klopfenstein, Stanley McClover, Danieal Manning, Barry Cofield, Ryan O'Callaghan and Daryn Colledge.