2016 NFL Draft: San Francisco 49ers Live Thread for Day Two

Welcome to Niner Noise’s NFL Draft Live Blog!

The second round of the NFL Draft is tonight!  Follow along in this live thread for quick and rapid responses to all the goings on in the second and third rounds of the draft–all the picks, all the trades, and all the action.  The 49ers traded out of the second round last night as part of an overall strategy to build through the lines–they took defensive end DeForest Buckner with the seventh overall pick, and then bounced back up to grab guard Josh Garnett.  That leaves them with only one pick tonight; number 68 in the third round.  They do, however, have plenty of day three picks, so it’s entirely possible they’ll bounce back up.  We’ll have it all for you as it happens.

If you have anything specific you want to ask, leave it in the comments, or tweet to @SFNinerNoise or @BryKno and you might see your post answered here.

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Where do we go from here?

Today was certainly less exciting for the 49ers–only having one pick, and using it on a member of the all-ACL team will do that for you.  There will be some good talent available on day three, though.  The 49ers also have eight picks tomorrow, so it will be a very, very busy day.

Who’s left from a 49ers point of view?

1. Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State
2. Chris Moore, WR, Cincinnati
3. Andrew Billings, DT, Baylor
4. Pharoh Cooper, WR, South Carolina
5. Alex Lewis, OT, Nebraska
6. Joshua Perry, ILB, Ohio State
7. Hassan Ridgeway, DT, Texas
8. Sheldon Day, DT, Notre Dame
9. Jordan Payton, WR, UCLA
10. Willie Henry, DT, Michigan

The 49ers can’t trade out of their next pick–it’s a compensatory selection at #133.  But with so many picks, they could bounce up almost anywhere–you can probably ignore the first ten picks or so of the fourth round, but after that, anything goes in San Francisco.

Some more players who might be available as we get a little further down on day three:

• Nick Kwiatkoski, ILB, West Virginia
• Christian Westerman, OG, Arizona State
• Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech
• Brandon Allen, QB, Arkansas
• Devontae Booker, RB, Utah
• Jalen Millls, S, LSU
• Briean Boddy-Calhoun, CB, Minnesota

Still plenty of talent available.  Let’s see what Baalke and company do tomorrow!

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Pick 97: Seattle takes Rees Odhiambo, OG, Boise State

Pick 98: New England takes Justin Simmons, S, Boston College

And that’s the end of day two!

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Pick 95: Detroit takes Graham Glasgow, C, Michigan

Pick 96: New England takes Vincent Valentine, DT, Nebraska.

I was hoping the 49ers would take Glasgow just for the awkwardness of talking about one of Jim Harbaugh’s new players joining the team.  I guess there’s always Willie Henry.

Meanwhile, I remember unlocking Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII, so I think I know a thing or two about him.  They should equip him with the Knights of the Round materia and take over the league.

…I’m being informed this is a different Vincent Valentine.

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Pick 93: Cleveland takes Cody Kessler, QB, USC

Pick 94: Seattle takes Nick Vannett, TE, Ohio State

What on Earth is going on with Connor Cook.  This is my shock of the draft so far.  No, he wasn’t a team captain at Michigan State.  That’s enough to drop him to the third day?!

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Pick 91: New England takes Jacoby Brissett, QB, North Carolina State

Pick 92: Arizona takes Brandon Williams, CB, Texas A&M

Something is clearly up about Connor Cook, something we don’t know about.   He’s not the most thrilling prospect out there, certainly, but for all 32 teams to pass on him over and over, and drafting Hackenberg and Brissett over him?  Something’s afoot.

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Pick 89: Pittsburgh takes Javon Hargrave, DT, South Carolina State

Pick 90: Seattle takes C.J. Prosise, RB, Notre Dame

Prosise is Marshawn Lynch’s replacement, but he’s a very different kind of player.  He’s only been a running back for one season;  he was recruited as a safety and converted first to wide receiver before settling in at running back.  He’s a jack-of-all-trades kinda guy, but it remains to be seen how he’ll really fit in the NFL.

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Pick 87: Cincinnati takes Nick Vigil, ILB,  Utah State

Pick 88: Green Bay takes Kyler Fackrell, OLB, Utah State

Well, of course the Utah State linebacker dynasty clogs up our draft boards yet again.

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Well, that’s not surprising–they don’t really have the ammo to move back up.

That’s better news, at least.  He moves to slot, Jimmie Ward to safety, and Jaquiski Tartt to ILB, perhaps?

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Pick 85: Houston takes Braxton Miller, WR, Ohio State

Pick 86: Miami takes Leonte Carroo, WR, Rutgers

I really like how Miller’s transition to wide receiver has gone so far–he’s still developing, of course, but he’s got plenty of talent.  Plus, gadget plays!  You can’t have enough gadget plays.

And now we will be sad as Carroo goes off the board.  Guy catches everything.

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Pick 83: NY Jets take Jordan Jenkins, OLB, Georgia

Pick 84: Washington takes Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech

If you told me the 49ers were taking an injured cornerback in the third round, I would have assumed you were talking about Kendall Fuller.  Obviously, we don’t have access to their medical records, so Fuller’s knee injury might have been bad enough to bump him below Robinson, but I think Fuller’s the better player.

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Pick 81: Atlanta takes Austin Hooper, TE, Stanford

Pick 82: Indianapolis takes Le’Raven Clark, OT, Texas Tech

But if other teams take all the Pac-12 players, who will Chip Kelly draft?

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Pro Football Focus Grades Garnett and Redmond

PFF loved the selection of DeForest Buckner at number 7, but what do they think of the rest of the 49ers draft?

"28. San Francisco 49ers: Joshua Garnett | Grade: C+(Pick acquired in trade with Kansas City Chiefs) The top run-blocking guard in the class, Garnett is the best run blocker on the move and he will crush opponents at the point of attack. Coming out of Stanford’s power/gap scheme, he pulled quite a bit and he’s excellent at blocking through targets while on the move. It’s an interesting fit for the 49ers and new head coach Chip Kelly (who likes to run more zone concepts), but Garnett will still have plenty of opportunities to block on the move, but also move defensive tackles on their inside zone concepts. Pass protection is an issue at times – he ranked 26th in the draft class at +2.8 – but Garnett’s run blocking was too much to pass up for San Francisco."

"5 (68). San Francisco 49ers: Will Redmond | Grade: C+Redmond is a solid zone defender that can read the quarterback’s eyes, but that also gets him into trouble at times with double moves. His +1.3 coverage grade ranked 56th in the class, but he’s yet another 6-foot corner that will get a chance to develop."

Personally, I’d have Garnett’s grade a little higher, and maybe Redmond’s grade a little lower, but I agree that neither has been as solid as taking Buckner at #7.

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Pick 79: Philadelphia takes Isaac Seumalo, OL, Oregon State

Pick 80: Buffalo takes Adolphis Washington, DT, Ohio State

I had Seumalo listed as a center, not a guard, but he played everything but left guard in college.  Versatility!

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Pick 77: Carolina trades up with Cleveland, takes Daryl Worley, CB, West Virginia

Pick 78: New England takes Joe Thuney, G, North Carolina State

Just looking ahead, there’s going to be some good talent available on day three.  A number of promising receivers, some inside linebackers–a number of prospects I’ve been looking hard at.

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Pick 75: Oakland takes Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State

Pick 76: Cleveland takes Shon Coleman, OT, Auburn

The Raiders are kind of killing this draft.  That makes two or three in a row.

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Reactions to the Redmond pick

He will have had a full 11 months to recover from his ACL by the start of the regular season, so he may not go straight to PUP-IR like some of the Niners other recent all-ACL players.

It sounds like his knee won’t be a serious, long-term issue, but it would be nice to have a year when we weren’t doing medical checks, wouldn’t it?

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Pick 73: Miami takes Kenyan Drake, RB, Alabama

Pick 74: Kansas City takes KeiVarae Russell, CB, Notre Dame

Russell is someone I liked quite a bit, but I didn’t think the 49ers would address cornerback so early.

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Catching Up

69: Jacksonville takes DE Yannick Ngakoue, Maryland

70: Baltimore selects DE Bronson Kaufusi, BYU

71: NY Giants select S Darian Thompson, Boise State

72: Chicago selects DE Jonathan Bullard, Florida

Lots of value on the defensive line down here.

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With the 68th Pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers Select…

Will Redmond, CB, Mississippi State

Well, there’s your Trent Baalke pick.  Will Redmond missed the second half of the season with a torn ACL.

Baalke loves his redshirts, but he has a mixed bag at selecting them–at best.  Some have said that Redmond might have been a first-round pick had he not torn his ACL in October, but honestly, I’m tired of the team taking injured players.  He’s only 5’11”, he’s not a very good tackler, and he has little experience tackling.  He’s a pick the 49ers might have taken at #105…if they still HAD pick 105.  I dunno, I’m not sure I get the thinking here.

If the 49ers  wanted a cornerback, why not Kendall Fuller?  Or Notre Dame’s Keivarae Russell?  Or West Virginia’s Daryl Worley?  Or Minnesota’s awesomely-named Briean Boddy-Calhoun.  No, I understand WHY Baalke made the pick–torn ACL!–but I don’t think it was a very good selection.

It’s not like Josh Garnett–the best guard in the draft, perhaps a bit early for the position.  I’m not sure that Redmond was the best corner left, and I’m not sure that I’m down with drafting yet another redshirt player.

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Will this be Connor Cook?  Pick is in…

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Pick 66: San Diego takes Max Tuerk, C, USC

Pick 67: Dallas takes Maliek Collins, DT, Nebraska

Tuerk was definitely someone I had my eye on as well, so that stings a little bit.  Probably wouldn’t have been the pick at this spot regardless, but he’s a talented player.

Here we go, guys…

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Pick 64: Tennessee takes Kevin Byard, S, Middle Tennessee

Pick 65: Cleveland takes Carl Nassib, DE, Penn State

Two blanks, as far as the 49ers are concerned.  Nice couple of picks for the 49ers, though Nassib was someone I was eyeing, pre-Buckner.

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Getting Warmer…

Third round is here!  49ers are due up at #68!  Here are my top six still available:

QB: Connor Cook
WR: Chris Moore, Braxton Miller
DL: Andrew Billings, Jonathan Bullard
CB: Kendall Fuller

…if the 49ers take Cook, I may get fired.

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Pick 62: Carolina takes James Bradberry, CB, Samford

Pick 63: Denver takes Adam Gotsis, DE, Georgia Tech

Samford apparently is the new place to find your second-round defensive backs!

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Pick 60: New England takes Cyrus Jones, DB, Alabama

Pick 61: New Orleans trades up with New England, takes Vonn Bell, S, Ohio State

Welcome to the draft, New England!  I’m sure losing your first-round pick was…deflating.

…I apologize, I’m required by the Sportswriters Code to make one joke about that mess per article mentioning the Patriots.

Also, the 49ers don’t need a safety, but Bell’s value was getting too good to ignore.  A little disappointed he just went.

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Pick 58: Pittsburgh  takes Sean Davis, S, Maryland

Pick 59: Tampa Bay trades up with Kansas City, takes Roberto Aguayo, K, Florida State

The kicker is gone!

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever draft a kicker on day two.  It’s bad to take a kicker on day THREE.  And you trade UP for a kicker?  No.  No.

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Time for the 49ers to wake up!

Glad you asked!

We’re getting close to the end of the second round, and it’s time for the team to actually start thinking about who to pick.  We’re beginning to move into range for a possible trade up, as well.  Very interesting to see what San Francisco does from here.

Here’s a few names to keep in mind as the draft continues:

QB: Connor Cook
WR: Chris Moore, Braxton Miller, Leonte Carroo, Pharoh Cooper
OT: Alex Lewis
DT: Andrew Billings, Jonathan Bullard
ILB: Joshua Perry
DB: Vonn Bell, Kendall Fuller, Keanu Neal

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Pick 56: Chicago takes Cody Whitehair, OL, Kansas State

Pick 57: Indianapolis takes T.J. Green, S, Clemson

Mel Kiper had Whitehair ahead of Josh Garnett in the first round. I’m not sure about that, but I like his versatility quite a bit.

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Your Hopes

A quick smattering of players you hope will fall to the 49ers on twitter:

Welp.  People wanted Mackenzie Alexander, but he just went off the board.  Cue the cursing in Niner Noise land.

Braxton Miller, the converted quarterback, IS an interesting option.  He’s probably one of the top ten players remaining, too.  Curiouser and curiouser.

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Pick 54: Minnesota takes Mackenzie Alexander, CB, Clemson

Pick 55: Cincinnati takes Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh

Alexander has great ball skills and is a talented man-to-man cover corner.  He would have been a nice little addition to the team.

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Pick 52: Atlanta takes Deion Jones, OLB, LSU

Pick 53: Washington takes Su’a Cravens, S/OLB, USC

Is Cravens a safety?  An outside linebacker?  An in-the-box hybrid guy?  He’s talented, but I’m not sure where he fits.

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Pick 50: Houston trades up with Atlanta, takes Nick Martin, OC, Notre Dame

Pick 51: NY Jets take Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State

OOOOH NOOOOO!

Hackenberg, at one point, was projected to be the top player in the draft.  A bad season last year dropped him, but most people had him under Connor Cook.  It’s a little surprising to see him drafted here, but maybe this is a Teddy Bridgewater-esque fall and recovery.

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49ers Still Chilling

Not much to report on, 49ers-wise; they’re still out of trade range and no one’s really been taken that they should feel incredibly upset about.  Connor Cook and Christian Hackenberg continue to fall, but would the 49ers really use a third-round pick on them now that they’re keeping Kaepernick?

Speak up–who do you hope the 49ers will target?

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Pick 48: Green Bay trades up with Indianapolis, takes Jason Spriggs, OT, Indiana

Pick 49: Seattle trades up with Chicago, takes Jarran Reed, DT, Alabama

Spriggs is another one I had looked at for the 49ers in round 2 for some time; more athletic than strong, I thought he would fit well in Chip Kelly’s system.

Reed is the last player I gave a first-round grade to, so curses that he went to the dreaded Seahawks.

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Pick 46:Detroit takes A’Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama

Pick 47: New Orleans takes Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State

I’m a fan of Thomas, too, but he’s the most boom-and-bust receiving prospect in the first three rounds.  I’m a little surprised New Orleans didn’t take another defender, but I can’t blame them too much for gambling on Thomas.

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Pick 44: Oakland takes Jihad Ward, DE, Illinois

Pick 45: Tennessee takes Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama

Jihad Ward is going to be the most mispronunced name in this draft–it’s juh-HODD, not GEE-hahd.  I like him, too–whenever I had the 49ers taking a quarterback or tackle atop the draft, Ward always seemed to slip into my draft for the 49ers.

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Fans Prefer Garnett

A quick poll of the Niner Noise audience indicate they’re happier with Garnett than, say, Ragland + McGovern.  Fair enough!  Garnett is kind of perfect for Chip Kelly’s system, and you want to get some offensive players for your offensive coach.  I still feel that it’s this pick, not the Buckner pick, that we should judge Baalke and company on–they gave up some notable opportunities and passed up on some tempting players to grab him.

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Pick 42: Baltimore takes Kamalei Correa, OLB, Boise State

Pick 43: Tennessee takes Austin Johnson, DT, Penn State

Correa’s another player I liked a lot in the leadup to the draft; Baltimore did some good stuff by trading back twice and still getting their guy.

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Pick 40: NY Giants take Sterling Shepard, WR, Oklahoma

Pick 41: Buffalo trades up with Chicago, takes Reggie Ragland, ILB, Alabama

Chicago trades down because of Spence going at #39, in all likelihood.  Some disappointed fans up here in Chi-Town, if noises outside my window can be trusted.

I was hoping Shepard would fall a little more.  I suppose this means that other talented players will fall, but dang.  He’s a tailor-made slot guy who is going to be a star.

Ragland I had kind of written off falling, but man, did I want Ragland.  He would have looked really, really good next to Navorro Bowman.

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Pick 38: Miami trades up with Baltimore, takes Xavien Howard, CB, Baylor

Pick 39: Tampa Bay takes Noah Spence, OLB, Eastern Kentucky

Baltimore trades back again–twice in three picks!  They are aware they can make some actual picks, right?

In all seriousness, it’s a good strategy to get more picks in this basic window; it’s  just unusual to see someone slide down twice in rapid succession.

I’m not sure I would have taken Howard here if I was Miami–I see Kendall Fuller and Mackensie Alexander still on the board.  Howard is a different kind of player, and we’re entering the part of the draft where teams start to have big differences on their draft board, but I’m not so sure about this one.

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Pick 36: Jacksonville trades up with Baltimore, takes Myles Jack, OLB, UCLA

Pick 37: Kansas City takes Chris Jones, DT, Mississippi State

And here’s the other shoe dropping from the trade up for Josh Garnett.  Would you rather have Garnett, or Reggie Ragland and a pick at the top of the fourth round?  It’s an open question.  I do think that offense is the biggest concern the 49ers had, and if you went out and got an offensive-minded coach like Chip Kelly, you have to give him tools to run his offense.  On the other hand, imagine Ragland and Buckner anchoring the 49ers defense for the next five years, plus a guard like Missouri’s Connor McGovern could have been drafted in round four.  The 49ers gave up a bunch for Garnett; Trent Baalke and company are putting a lot of faith in him.

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Pick 34: Dallas takes Jaylon Smith, OLB, Notre Dame

Pick 35: San Diego takes Hunter Henry, TE, Arkansas

And there goes Jaylon Smith.  If he didn’t get hurt, he could have been the top pick in the draft, but he won’t see the field for a year–and even then, there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever get back on the field, or if he does, that he’ll be the same player he was in college.  The potential is certainly there, but that injury is Marcus Lattimore-esque.  I had him going in the mid-third round; this feels early for the risk.

It’s an argument to pay college players, really–he gave everything for Notre Dame, and may never reach his full potential now.

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Pick 32: Cleveland takes Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, Oklahoma State

Pick 33: Tennessee takes Kevin Dodd, DE, Clemson

A couple edge-rushers off the board early.  This is pretty much the only negative thing you can say about the 49ers drafting DeForest Buckner atop the draft–there’s depth at edge rusher.  Not that either of these guys are as good as Buckner, but you could have waited and maybe addressed another position at #7.

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3:55 PM

One of the bigger non-draft pieces of news last night, at least for the 49ers, is that no deal was struck with the Denver Broncos.  Colin Kaepernick is still in town, and it looks like he will be for the immediate future.  The Broncos traded up to draft Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, essentially squashing those trade possibilities.

It seems likely, at this point, that the 49ers will stick with Blaine Gabbert and Kaepernick as their top two quarterbacks this year, but they could still add a developmental talent later in the draft.  Both Connor Cook and Christian Hackenberg are likely to be gone by the time the 49ers are next naturally on the clock, so keep an eye on Arkansas QB Brandon Allen or North Carolina State QB Jacoby Brissett today.

Personally, I think the 49ers at this point save quarterback until day three, looking for Indiana’s Nate Sudfeld, Stanford’s Kevin Hogan or USC’s Cody Kessler.  There’s also Oregon QB Vernon Adams; I don’t personally feel he’s worth a draft pick, but the Chip Kelly connection could see him come into town anyway.

We’ll have to keep an eye on what the 49ers do at the most important position in football.

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3:40 PM

Ready for another 64 draft picks?  I knew you were.

The 49ers addressed their needs at offensive guard and pass rusher with their first two picks of the draft.  While I don’t think I would have traded back up for Garnett considering the quality of the players still on the board, it is refreshing to see the team actually moving up for targets for once.  It’s just nice to feel like the team has a strategy, which was what was missing from 2014.

The top ten players still on the board, on my 49ers-centric list, are:

1. Reggie Ragland, ILB, Alabama
2. Myles Jack, OLB, UCLA
3. Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State
4. Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State
5. Jarran Reed, DT, Alabama
6. Hunter Henry, TE, Arkansas
7. Chris Jones, DT, Mississippi State
8. Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh
9. Vonn Bell, S, Ohio State
10. Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State

The key value in the draft does seem to be in the late second and early third rounds, so it will be interesting to see if the 49ers try to get more picks in this range.

The 49ers don’t pick until 68, and it’s unlikely they’ll be on the clock any earlier than, say, 58.  With that in mind, here are the ten best players who could be available around that range:

1. Nick Martin, C, Notre Dame
2. Sterling Shepard, WR, Oklahoma
3. Leonte Carroo, WR, Rutgers
4. Pharoh Cooper, WR, South Carolina
5. Alex Lewis, OT, Nebraska
6. Josh Perry, ILB, Ohio State
7. Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, Oklahoma State
8. Nick Vannett, TE, Ohio State
9. Jordan Payton, WR, UCLA
10. Austin Hooper, TE, Stanford

Lots of potential receiving options there, so that’s where I’d put my money at this point.  We’ll see how the draft breaks down, though!

Next: 49ers Picks, Grades and Analysis

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Enjoy the draft, everybody!