A majority of the draft rumors that surrounded the San Francisco 49ers had the team drafting a wide receiver in the first round. However, the 49ers surprised everyone by drafting safety Jimmie Ward instead. There went all of the reports that San Francisco was looking to trade their way to the top for someone like Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans. Still in need of a receiver, a deal could be made over a rookie.
According to general manager Trent Baalke, the 49ers felt no pressure to draft a wide receiver early. Right now the team has a healthy Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin returning to the field making the need to trade up for someone elite not necessary. This year's draft is considered extremely deep at the position and Baalke intends to test that.
"We feel good about the wide receiver corps all the way through the draft," Baalke said, via MercuryNews.com. "We feel there's value to be had at every level. We felt all along it was one of the positions that had some depth to it."
The 49ers have five picks to make on Friday alone. They will draft a wide receiver, maybe two. The team attempt to trade one of those picks in the first round, but the deal failed. Baalke admitted the team attempt to make a move for Odell Beckham Jr. but could not get a team to bite and the New York Giants drafted him at No. 12. The team ended up staying put at No. 30 and not getting the LSU star.
"We certainly liked him as a football player," Baalke said. "The price of doing business when you're trying to move from 30 up to the top 10 or close to the top 10 becomes pretty stiff. And you're giving up a lot of football players to go get one football player. And if you look at history, a lot of times that works against you."
The 49ers will make their first pick at No. 56 and then again t No. 61. They have a lot of options to work with even with players like Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin off the board. The team would target USC standout Marqise Lee. Vanderbilt's leading receiver Jordan Matthews is available. Cody Latimer from Indiana is ranked ahead of both receivers and still on the board.
Jim Harbaugh confirmed what Baalke said about the depth of the draft. The head coach noted the team spent plenty of time scouting wide receivers and really felt the ones predicted to go in the second round were on an even playing field with those in the first round.
"All the players that went in the first round are extremely good players," Harbaugh said. "Our scouting staff, our coaching staff, scouted it very similar and I thought the strategy to make our pick when it was our time to pick worked out for us."