San Francisco 49ers Draft Preview

So here we are, the long arduous wait for the NFL Draft is finally over. All the talking will soon stop and we will finally know the players that are become new members of the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers have 11 picks in the draft, with six of those coming in the top 100.

Here is a quick rundown of the selections San Francisco possesses:

1. First round: own - No. 30
2. Second round: Chiefs (Alex Smith trade) - No. 24 (No. 56 overall)
3. Second round: own - No. 29 (No. 61 overall)
4. Third round: Titans (2013 draft trade) - No. 13 (No. 77 overall)
5. Third round: own - No. 30 (No. 94 overall)
6. Third round: Comp for Dashon Goldson FA departure - No. 36 (No. 100 overall)
7. Fourth round: own - No. 29 (No. 129 overall)
8. Fifth round: own - No. 30 (No. 170 overall)
9. Seventh round: Saints (Parys Haralson trade) - No. 27 (No. 242 overall)
10. Seventh round: Panthers (Colin Jones trade) - No. 28 (No. 243 overall)
11. Seventh round: own - No. 30 - (No. 245 overall)

San Francisco undoubtedly have one of the best rosters in the NFL, but there can be no doubt that there are still a number of holes that need to be addressed by general manager Trent Baalke. Here I break down the 49ers' requirements in the draft, rank the top players in each of those areas and make my first foray into the world of mock drafts. Enjoy!

The needs

First let's start with the holes the 49ers will be looking to fill in the draft.

Cornerback: Arguably San Francisco's greatest area of need following the departures of Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers, it would be a big surprise if the 49ers did not draft a corner early in the draft, especially considering the uncertainty over Chris Culliver's future given his off-the-field indiscretions.

Providing that Culliver - who is slated to be the starter alongside Tramaine Brock in 2014 - is able to play next season, then the 49ers will most likely be searching for a nickel corner in the draft.

There a few outstanding candidates for that position, but do not be surprised San Francisco choose to bring in two quality player in an area where their depth has been significantly reduced.

Wide Receiver: The 49ers may have brought in veteran Brandon Lloyd, but the fact remains that they need to add another dimension to their passing attack, either with a speed receiver to stretch the field, or a big body to aid an often ineffective red-zone offense.

Luckily this is one of the deepest receiver classes for years, meaning that San Francisco should have plenty of opportunities to give quarterback Colin Kaepernick an extra weapon to work with.

Defensive Line: San Francisco possess arguably one of the best defensive lines in football, but this is an ageing unit that could be well served by an injection of youth.

Veteran Justin Smith is 34, while Ray McDonald has only two years remaining on his contract. And, while the presence of 2013 second-round pick Tank Carradine - who missed the entirety of last season through injury - will help, the D-Line could certainly benefit from some extra depth.

Quarterback: Kaepernick is set for a contract extension, while Blaine Gabbert is seemingly locked into the back-up spot behind the Niners' premier signal-caller. However San Francisco does not have a clear number three QB and could be tempted to add one in the later rounds and give head coach Jim Harbaugh another project to work with.

Offensive Line: The 49ers signed Daniel Kilgore to an extension in the off-season, and he is likely to replace Jonathan Goodwin at center, however, it certainly could not hurt to infuse a little competition at the position.

NFL teams always like to have much depth as possible in the trenches, so expect the Niners to bolster the offensive line on day two or three.

Linebacker: With Aldon Smith facing a potential suspension from the NFL, and NaVorro Bowman set to miss much of the campaign as he recovers from the knee ligament injury sustained in the NFC Championship game loss to Seattle, the Niners could look for help at both inside and outside linebacker to help solidify an outstanding defense that may have a few extra holes in 2014.

Rankings

So now we've established the needs the 49ers need to address, but which players should they be targeting at those position. Here I've ranked my top 10 players at cornerback and receiver and outlined some players to watch at the other, perhaps less important needs.

Cornerback

1 Darqueze Dennard  - Michigan State
2 Kyle Fuller - Virginia Tech
3 Jason Verrett - TCU
4 Justin Gilbert - Oklahoma State
5 Bradley Roby - Ohio State
6 Phillip Gaines - Rice
7 Pierre Desir - Lindenwood
8 Stanley Jean-Baptiste - Nebraska
9 Jaylen Watkins - Florida
10 Marcus Roberson - Florida

Selcted others to watch: Lamarcus Joyner - Florida State, Bashaud Breeland - Clemson, Keith McGill - Utah

Wide Receiver

1 Sammy Watkins - Clemson
2 Mike Evans - Texas A&M
3 Odell Beckham Jr. - LSU
4 Marqise Lee - USC
5 Brandin Cooks - Oregon State
6 Cody Latimer - Indiana
7 Allen Robinson - Penn State
8 Kelvin Benjamin - Florida State
9 Bruce Ellington - South Carolina
10 Martavis Bryant - Clemson

Selected others to watch: Jordan Matthews - Vanderbilt, Donte Moncrief - Ole Miss, Davante Adams - Fresno State, Jared Abbrederis - Wisconsin

Players to watch at other positions

Quarterback

Jimmy Garoppolo - Eastern Illinois
Aaron Murray - Georgia
Logan Thomas - Virginia Tech
David Fales - San Jose State
Tajh Boyd - Clemson

Defensive End/Outside Linebacker

Demarcus Lawrence - Boise State
Marcus Smith - Louisville
Scott Chricton - Oregon State
Taylor Hart - Oregon
Josh Mauro - Stanford

Others

Shayne Skov - ILB, Stanford
Weston Richburg - C, Colorado State
Travis Swanson - C, Arkansas
Dri Archer RB/WR, Kent State

Those are just a selection of the players that the 49ers could be targeting in what is viewed as one of the best draft classes in years.

In my final pre-draft piece for Bleacher Report, I have tipped the 49ers to trade up and select LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the first round, that piece can be found here.

But with the draft less than two hours away, I've prepared a three-round mock without trades specifically for this blog, here goes:

1. First round (No. 30 overall): Allen Robinson - WR, Penn State
2. Second round (No. 56 overall): Phillip Gaines - CB, Rice
3. Second round (No. 61 overall): Marcus Smith - DE/OLB, Louisville
4. Third round (No. 77 overall) - Weston Richburg - C, Colorado State
5. Third round (No. 94 overall) - Dri Archer - RB/WR, Kent State
6. Third round (No. 100 overall) - Bashaud Breeland - CB, Clemson

But this is all just guess work, and after all the speculation and chatter, there is nothing left to do but enjoy the draft!