San Francisco 49ers: Who Will The 49ers Target In The Draft?

July 28, 2013; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke (facing) watches during training camp at the Marie P. DeBartolo Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

By now, everyone has read hundreds of mock drafts that covers just about every possible scenario in the draft. Some of them make sense, but a lot more don’t. The 49ers have been mocked a player from just about every position, and 49ers’ fans have been critical of those mock drafts because a lot of them don’t fit with what the team needs. The 49ers don’t have many roster holes, but the ones they do have are often times gaping. The 49ers filled some holes during free agency such as back-up QB (Blaine Gabbert), and depth on the offensive line (Jonathan Martin). Now they just need to fill the rest of them in the draft.

CB:

There is a debate going on between 49ers’ fans on whether they should go CB or WR in the first round of the draft. You can’t go wrong with either one, but since the 49ers’ seem to be happy with Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin, and Quinton Patton, it seems less likely that they will go WR in the first round. The 49ers rarely have three WRs on the field at the same time, so adding another high pick might not make sense here.

CB makes much more sense in the first round since the 49ers need more talent and depth at the position. Drafting a cornerback in the first round would mean that the 49ers are hoping that they would be able to start in the future.

Potential Targets:

Justin Gilbert
Bradley Roby
Darqueze Dennard
Jason Verrett

WR:

Like I mentioned above, the 49ers already have three pretty good WRs. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t/shouldn’t draft another WR pretty high. Michael Crabtree is set to be a free agent next year, and he might just follow the money. Anquan Boldin is up there in years and might not be the same player this year or next. And Quinton Patton is still an unknown. The 49ers will most likely draft a WR in the first or second round in order to get some insurance for the future. They will target draft picks hoping that they could start as soon as possible.

Potential Targets:

Sammy Watkins
Kelvin Benjamin
Marqise Lee
Mike Evans
Davante Adams
Odell Beckham Jr.
Brandin Cooks
Donte Moncrief

S:

On the first day of free agency, Donte Whitner signed with Cleveland and was replaced by Antoine Bethea. That doesn’t mean the 49ers are done at the safety position. Bethea seems like a stop gap for a year, maybe two. The 49ers want to get their guy to play next to Eric Reid. They were successful with Reid, so they might try to strike gold again and get younger at the position.

Potential Targets:

Calvin Pryor Ha-ha Clinton-Dix
Marqueston Huff
Craig Loston
Brock Vereen
Deone Bucannon

Note* In the 49ers’ scheme, the safties are interchangeable.

In the mid-to-later rounds, the 49ers might target every position. The 49ers have lots of draft picks, so that means lots of choices. If you would like to study up on potential draft choices, just visit this site.