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With the 88^th overall pick of the third round the San Francisco 49ers selected defensive end Corey Lemonier from Auburn. The 49ers have seven draft picks remaining in rounds 4-7, including the 31st and 34th picks of the fourth round.

The Niners continued to add depth on the defensive line with their only selection of the third round. With three of the first four picks focusing on defense, we can expect the Niners front office to target mostly offensive players in the final day of the draft.

Here is a scouting report on Corey Lemonier from NationalFootballPost.com

STRENGTHS – Lemonier has very good height, length and bulk for the position and with time in an NFL weight room, should be able to pack on additional muscle to his frame. He consistently demonstrates explosive speed off the snap, and flashes the agility and quickness to be a constant pass rush threat on the edge. He looks comfortable and fluid dropping into coverage, and does an excellent job of reading his keys and locating the ball quickly.

WEAKNESSES – While he consistently defeats his man on the edge, Lemonier tends to get upright once free, which limits his ability to change directions and finish at the QB. His upright play also causes him to miss high on too many tackles that he should be able to lower his shoulder and explode through. He is not aggressive with his hands, which makes it too easy for blockers to lock onto him and sustain blocks, in particular against the run.

SUMMARY – Corey Lemonier is certainly not without his faults as a prospect, but he has outstanding potential as an edge rusher and the natural instincts to help him transition to a new position at the NFL level. His combination of speed, agility and explosiveness makes him a constant edge threat, and he possesses the quickness needed to employ a wide array of moves in space. While he constantly pressured the QB in games I graded, he did not finish as often as he is clearly capable of in large part to his bad habit of getting upright and a bit rigid. However, he displays enough fluidity at the LOS and dropping into coverage to lead me to believe this is a very coachable issue. He must also improve his hand usage, as he does not do a good job of fighting off blockers at the LOS and can be particularly exposed on inside runs. While his flaws may be enough to scare some teams into waiting for him to fall to day two, I expect others to fall in love with his explosiveness off the ball as well as his read and react skills. He would be an outstanding fit in Pittsburgh or San Francisco, with teams that run 34 fronts and will be patient with his development.

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The San Francisco 49ers made their third trade of the 2013 NFL draft to select tight end Vance McDonald from Rice University with the 55^th overall pick in the second round of the draft.

The Niners received the 55^th overall pick from the Green Bay Packers. The Packers received San Francisco’s 61^st (second round) and 157^th (fifth round) overall pick  in this seasons draft. With their pick the Niners jumped ahead of divisional rivals  Seattle Seahawks. There may have been word the Seahawks were targeting McDonald.

Selecting a tight end with the 55^th pick of the draft fills another big need for the Niners, but this time on offense. After former Niners tight end Delaine Walker signed with the Tennessee Titans in the offseason, there was limited depth behind starter Vernon Davis. What made Walker so valuable to the Niners was his tremendous ability to block in the run game. Greg Roman’s offense utilizes as many blockers as possible on certain run plays, a lot of time with two tight ends on the offensive line. McDonald is a great fit to fill in for Walker as was a strong blocker at Rice. At the NFL Combine, McDonald bench pressed 31 reps of 225 pounds, which was best among tight ends.

Here is a full scouting report on McDonald from NationalPostFootball.com:

STRENGTHS – He has a wide, thick build with very good arm length and big hands to consider for the position at the NFL level. McDonald is a good overall athlete with solid agility, body control and balance in his play. At Rice, he was a highly productive receiver in the underneath to middle area of the field, showing a big wing-span and making for a big target for his quarterback. He aligned in multiple positions within his college scheme, but mainly out of the slot. He does a nice job of creating separation out of his breaks with good, sudden movements to gain separation from his defender. When he gets a free release, he eats up the cushion immediately and gets on top of the defense quickly. He has not been used as an in-line blocker but more out of the slot, but he is a very willing blocker who does a very nice job of blocking out in space. He is a tough competitor with a big body and he plays an aggressive brand of football. He has great functional strength as shown by the 31 repetitions he benched at the combine. McDonald was also the team’s long snapper and gives added value on special teams.

WEAKNESSES – He has above average height with only average long speed and explosiveness in his movements. He is not a player with great lateral agility and isn’t overly quick in short areas. While he looks comfortable catching the ball, there are times when his hands look out of sorts and he fights the ball through the catch, and this shows up almost every game. He doesn’t catch the ball at its highest point and doesn’t make full use of his long arms because of it. McDonald’s size is his greatest route running strength as he isn’t quick out of his breaks, but the combination of size and quickness he does have is enough to get the job done. He is not a vertical threat and lacks elusiveness in his run-after-catch ability. He is an inconsistent in-line blocker, but he was rarely used this way in the Rice offense and he does a nice job of blocking out in space.

SUMMARY – Rice’s Vance McDonald is a big tight end with very good athletic traits with an intriguing NFL future. McDonald is a one-speed player who is fast, but not quick to change directions or out of his breaks as a route runner. He needs a step or two to get up to full speed and can surprise cornerbacks by eating up cushion quickly to run past them. McDonald is a very good route runner as he finds a way to get open, but he lacks short area quickness to separate from defenders and does it using his big body. He is a very smart route runner who understands the system he plays in, and exploits defenses with his understanding of soft areas in zone coverage. McDonald tends to fight the ball at times and can have inconsistent hands that cause him to drop the ball. While McDonald is fast, he possesses one speed and if defenses can disrupt his momentum, he will struggle to finish the route. He isn’t elusive and won’t hit the homerun, but he will move the chains because of his ability to put his head down and run through contact. At Rice, he wasn’t used as an in-line blocker but he was good out in space, bullying the smaller players he went against. He looks to be a very willing blocker but teams will have to develop him from an in-line perspective. McDonald was used in a variety of ways at Rice, and he could be seen lining up out wide, or taking a hand-off and running a tight end reverse. However, he was lined up in a majority of the time out of the slot and that’s where he is best suited in the NFL. He has been a very productive tight end in college because of his mismatch ability and his size/speed combination. He also can contribute early on special teams and it gives added value to his selection. McDonald warrants consideration starting in the middle-to-late part of the second-round.

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The San Francisco 49ers selected defensive end Cornellius Carradine from Florida State with the 40^th overall pick in the second round.

The eighth pick of the second round for the 49ers came via a trade with the Tennessee Titans. The selection of Cornellius Carradine fills a huge need on the defensive line and it will give the Two Smith’s, Justin and Aldon, and the defensive front-seven depth in case injuries occur, as was the case late last season.

A big concern with Carradine is he tore ACL late last season, Still, the pick gives the defensive line another dominate pass rusher on the outside to complement Aldon Smith.

Stay tuned to Niner Noise for a full analysis of the draft pick.

Here is a scouting report on Cornellius Carradine from NationalFootballPost.com:

STRENGTHS – Carradine’s production in his first, and only, season as a starter at Florida State was impressive. You would never guess that he has limited starting experience when you see his variety of polished pass rush moves. He uses his hands extremely well to slap the pass blocker’s hands down to stay free and can beat him inside or around the corner. Outstanding technique taking on run blocker at the POA, Carradine jolts blocker upright, holds ground, sheds and makes tackle consistently on runs at him. When left unblocked on the backside he does an excellent job of maintaining backside contain and making sure the play is going away before crashing down the LOS. When offenses try to “reach block” him on the backside he gets inside blocker consistently, keeps blocker on back and has elite speed chasing down the play in pursuit. On the handful of snaps that Carradine dropped off the ball into coverage he looked surprisingly smooth and fluid moving out in space and seemed to have a good sense and awareness.

WEAKNESSES – Obviously, the most pressing question surrounds Carradine’s recovery from the torn right ACL that he suffered in the fourth quarter against Florida. If NFL medical personnel determine that he will make a full recovery then he will likely be a first round pick. Despite being an elite pass rusher, Carradine lacks an explosive first step off the ball. In addition to his recovery from injury, Carradine’s lack of playing experience is a concern because players who only started one year in college have a history of failure in the NFL. This is an even bigger concern because he did not even complete one full season as a starter after injuring his knee.

SUMMARY – In the first few games evalauting Florida State, Carradine impressed me and then the more film I evaluated he continued to jump off the film. For a player with limited experience, I was shocked at how instinctive, smart and technically sound he is. Displaying great competitiveness on every snap, Carradine made a ton of plays through sheer effort and hustle chasing down ball carriers 10+ yards down the field. Although he was often the last defensive linemen moving at the snap, he was by far the most productive of Florida State’s defensive linemen in the five games evaluated – He was involved in 1 play out of every 7.31 snaps which is a rare ratio and usually that of a Top Five Overall Pick. In the end, Carradine’s play on the field no doubt warrants being picked in the Top Ten, but the health of his right knee will be the primary determining factor in where he gets drafted. If his knee checks out and NFL medical personnel feel that he will return to 100% within a season or two then he will likely be a first round pick, but if there are any medical questions he will slide into the second round. I believe that while he will likely need a season to get back to 100%, by the 2014 season he will be a starting defensive end and eventually a high end starter.