Draft Review
Despite the many free agent aquisitions, there are numerous holes in
terms of depth and the well documented problems of the offensive line.
The 49ers had their sights set on offensive tackle Mo Collins, and
after he fell from the teams most likely to pick lineman, it looked
like San Fran was home free. But the Oakland Raiders traded up with
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and nabbed Mo. The 49ers turned to plan B
which was to add depth to the secondary and made a great pick in choosing
R.W. McQuarters for Oklahoma State. McQuarters is a phenomanal athlete
who played both offence and defence in college but his real value for
the 49ers will be as a return man. The second round yeilded another good pick for the Niners in Center,
Guard Jeremy Newberry. Newberry is an underclassman who was coached by
Steve Mariucci while Steve was at Cal. Jeremy should provide depth at
both Center and Guard this year but eventually will be the starter at
Center, likely forcing Dalman to guard when either Ray Brown or Kevin
Gogan retire. The next pick for the 49ers was one of its most
questionable. Chris Ruhman was an underachieving tackle during his
career at Texas A&M but he does not have the athletic ability for Left
Tackle. The fourth round pick was
Lance Shulters, an unheralded safety from Hofstra. A superb athlete,
he was burned often in a college conference not known for football. He
did have a phenomenal showing at the Senior Bowl, but I want to see him
do that on the pro field before I believe it. He'll contribute on
special teams and ease the pressure on R.W. McQuarters. Phil Ostrowski was their fifth
round pick out of Penn State. San Francisco's coaching staff believes
he has the talent to start at guard down the road. Fred Beasley was chosen to backup at
both Fullback and Tailback and replace Marc Edwards (now starting) on
special teams. Ryan Thelwell was chosen in round 7. They're so high on
him that they traded a sixth round pick next year just to make sure that they got ahead of
San Diego, who was rumoured to take him, to get ahead of the Chargers.
- R.W. McQuarters-Oklahoma St. DB
- Jeremy Newberry-California OL
- Chris Ruhman-Texas A&M OL
- Lance Schulters-Hofstra DB
- Phil Ostrowski-Penn St. OL
- Fred Beasley-Auburn RB
- Ryan Thelwell-Minnesota WR