A Mock Draft and a "Big Board" ... Just Because

I did a mock and something along the lines of a big board. Neither of these should be taken too seriously, but it'll be fun to see how drastically they change after the combine, pro days, leaked information and interviews go down—especially the mock draft.

Here is my "big board."

Click to Enlarge. Link Here.

Here is a colorful mock draft that may be impossible to read and/or blinding. I was having fun with Excel.

The "fun" version.

The boring, readable version

I'm looking at the mock now and would like to make some changes, but this was made prior to the Combine and it'll be changed soon enough. I might be the only person on earth that would draft Barr higher than Mack at this point. Mike Mayock has been saying he thinks Mack should be the No. 1 overall pick. So he'll likely leapfrog Barr in future mocks, but I'll have to stew on whether or not he should jump Barr in my rankings.

I should probably at least mention my thinking for the 49ers' picks, which I stretched out into the third round (I am expecting that we will receive a compensatory pick at the end of the third round for the departure of Dashon Goldson, which should be in the vicinity of the 100th pick).

I love Brandin Cooks. I loved him before the Combine, and I love him after. He was a little shorter than I was expecting at just a shade under 5' 10" , but only by about half and inch. I doubt that really hurts him as a prospect.

Besides the height, he had a fantastic Combine. He was fastest among receivers, running in the low 4.3 range (4.33 official, 4.30 unofficial). He had two good numbers in the vertical jump (36 inches) and the broad jump (10 feet) to display his lower body explosion—something that will help him get off the line of scrimmage in a hurry. His arm length at 30 3/4 inches is slightly above the norm for a player of his height, but his hands at 9 5/8 inches are very good size for a player under six feet.

You couple all these measurable with what you see on tape—a dominant receiver in one of the nation's top conferences with unparalleled production—and I think you have a steal at the 30th pick in the draft. As a matter of fact, after the Combine I wouldn't be surprised if Cooks gained steam and ended up closer to the middle of the first round than the end of it. He's tough as nails, and solidly built (as evidenced by his 16 reps on the bench press, very good for an undersized receiver), and simply put he is a play maker. Not quite as explosive and creative in the open field as Tavon Austin, but I think Cooks is a better pure receiver with the ability to make an impact at all three receiver spots.

I go against the grain and double dip at receiver. Part of it is the depth of this class. In most drafts I think Adams is pushed into the first round, or early second (which may well be where he ends up come May), but in this draft I think he'll end up closer to the end of Round 2.

This is all about the future. Boldin, even if resigned, probably won't be around for long, and Crabtree has already proven to be a difficult man to negotiate with.At the end of this season there's a chance both will be off the team, and a receiving corps built on Quinton Patton, Brandin Cooks and Davante Adams is (in theory) not a bad start to replacing those guys (at a much, much cheaper cost). If Adams is available at pick 56 he's likely one of the top players available, and in my quick theoretical mock universe he is the BPA. Plus, with Kaepernick likely to get a mega-extension in the near future, you can't provide him with enough (cheap) weapons.

Ed Reynolds is a guy that was talked about as a late first round pick by some prognosticators, but who has largely been forgotten during the season. He'd be a solid pick at the back end of the second round though. He's not very flashy, but he's a good player that is disciplined and instinctual. He's not the hard hitter that Whitner is, but he'd probably add something in coverage with his added length. He's also much more similar to Eric Reid in body-type and skill-set, so he'd give Vic Fangio a pair of "interchangeable" safeties to gameplan with. He'd also be more prepared than the other top safeties in this class to step in and start alongside Reid in the event we don't resign Whitner because he played under Fangio in his early days at Stanford, and has been playing in a similar system for his entire collegiate career.

I already mentioned my interest in Pierre Desir in a previous post. I would like to get a higher rated CB, maybe someone more ready to contribute right away, but I think between Culliver, Brock and Cox we have three strong—if not elite—corners and we can afford to take BPA as opposed to reaching for the position. Desir would give Ed Donatell (one of the best coaches on our team) a great athlete with ball skills to develop. He's very similar to Chris Culliver in size, and would be a great addition as a 3rd or 4th CB working on the outside (similar to Culliver's contributions in his rookie and sophomore seasons).

Dominique Easley is a Baalke red-shirt special. Like Tank Carradine and Marcus Lattimore before him, Easley is an athletic freak with first-rounder written all over him, but with damaged knee ligaments that will push him into the mid-rounds. With Justin Smith still playing, Tank Carradine developing behind him, Ray McDonald still under contract for a reasonable salary, and Tony Jerrod-Eddie coming along nicely, there isn't any rush to bring in another DE for our 3-4. But with Smith likely gone at year's end (or soon after) and Ray Mac's contract-end looming, it would be fantastic to have another talented body ready to step in and contribute in 2015 and the future.

Tyler Larsen is one of the top center prospects, and I think he's probably the best fit for us—a team that likes physical, nasty, maulers on the offensive line. He'd be able to compete with Daniel Kilgore and Joe Looney for the interior offensive line spots that are going to open up with Goodwin's departure and Mike Iupati's possible departure. 

It was a good Combine. I'll have some reaction and rearrangements coming later in the week. 

Tata for now.