Wow, is it already time for the draft to begin? Where did the time go?
Follow the pick-by-pick intrigue right here . . .
4:27 p.m.: The Rams are getting ready to go on the clock. Meanwhile, the 49ers decision-makers are in their seats, as I can see from my vantage point near the ceiling of their draft room.
4:32 p.m.: Roger Goodell opens the proceedings, “Good evening, football fans.” The Rams are on the clock. Teams have 10 minutes to make their picks in the first round.
4:35 p.m.: Q: do you have an idea what time the niners will be picking? @Bertleman
A: Sometime shortly after 6:30 p.m.
4:38 p.m.: The Rams select QB Sam Bradford with the No. 1 overall pick. The Lions are next.
4:42 p.m. Q: will the Niners trade down? @Jdoginzion
A: They’re open to that possibility. But there are a lot of teams looking to trade down, and probably not a whole lot that want to move up.
4:44 p.m.: The Lions select DT Ndamukong Suh at No. 2. The Bucs are next.
4:53 p.m.: The Bucs select DT Gerald McCoy. Now, this is where the draft begins. It’ll get interesting with the Redskins on the clock. Russell Okung, Trent Williams, Eric Berry or somebody else? I picked Williams in my mock. I’m feeling good about it.
4:58 p.m.: With the No. 4 pick, the Redskins select OT Trent Williams.
5:07 p.m.: The Chiefs at No. 5 select S Eric Berry. That should mean that Okung goes to the Seahawks at No. 6.
5:13 p.m.: OT Russell Okung will be the Seahawks pick at No. 6. And now it’s the Browns’ turn to select.
5:19 p.m.: The Dream-On Six are now gone.
5:22 p.m.: The Browns select CB Joe Haden at No. 7. And that’s a guy the 49ers realistically believed they had a chance to select at No. 13. Now, the fun part. Here comes the Raiders’ pick.
5:29 p.m.: The Raiders select LB Rolando McClain. The Bills could take a tackle. If they don’t, looks like the 49ers might get Bryan Bulaga.
5:30 p.m.: The Bills hustle their pick up to the podium. They go with RB C.J. Spiller.
5:40 p.m.: The 49ers trade up two spots with Denver.
5:44 p.m.: The 49ers give the Broncos their fourth-round pick to move up two spots to select OT Anthony Davis. They still have their selection at No. 17.
6:09 p.m.: On how his trip to visit the 49ers recently was different than other trips he took: “It felt a lot different. That’s why I was so big on the 49ers going into the process. Of course, I had to keep that to myself. There are great people in building. Great staff. It’s a tight-knit group. I like what Singletary is building. He was straight forward with me and told me what he was expecting as a player.”
On what it shows him that the 49ers were willing to trade up: “It’s a great feeling to . . . I can’t even talk right now. It’s an honor.”
On his level of commitment: “Let’s see. I love this game. We’ll see. Everybody with negative things to say. I really don’t pay too much attention to it. They’ll see a guy who’s ready to work, ready to learn, make himself the best tackle he can be.”
6:24 p.m.: The 49ers select Mike Iupati with the No. 17 overall pick. Wow. Do you think the 49ers might have thought that their offensive line wasn’t very good last season?
6:42 p.m.: Mike Iupati said he didn’t think he’d be going to the 49ers when he saw they had selected Anthony Davis earlier in the first round. He said he and Davis became good friends at the combine.
Iupati is most comfortable at left guard, which is the position at which David Baas started last season. Baas is playing under a one-year tender as a restricted free agent. I’d say the 49ers starting offensive line for this season looks like this:
LT Joe Staley, LG Mike Iupati, C Eric Heitmann, RG Chilo Rachal, RT Anthony Davis.
6:51 p.m.: The Packers select Bryan Bulaga at No. 23. And I thought, along with a lot of people, that he was going to go in the top 10.
7:31 p.m.: Mike Singletary confirms that Anthony Davis will play right tackle. He’ll compete against Adam Snyder for the starting job. Mike Iupati will line up at left guard, and compete against David Baas. Singletary said he expects both of those players to be starters early in their careers.
7:35 p.m.: Niners draft chief Trent Baalke had this to say — “I think we have an identity in this building, on this football team, that we’re trying to build. And whether it be offenisve lineman, linebackers, running backs, we’re looking for certain characteristics in these players. These two players have the characteristics that we’re looking for.”
7:47 p.m.: Fun fact — since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, the 49ers had not previously chosen an offensive tackle in the top 20 picks, and they’ve never gone with a guard in the top 30.8:32 p.m.: Trent Baalke just met with the media. He said the 49ers did not want to take any chances on losing Davis. That’s why they traded up two spots. He said he wasn’t worried about the teams picking ahead of them, he was worried about teams trading up to take a tackle. He said he would make that trade “100 out of 100 times.”
He also said the 49ers were prepared to select Iupati at No. 13 if Davis had been chosen.
Baalke said the 49ers never considered taking a quarterback in the first round. He reiterated that Alex Smith is the team’s quarterback. When I asked if that meant the 49ers would not take a quarterback in the second round, Baalke answered, “I can’t say that.”
8:35 p.m.: Among the players of interest that the 49ers could target in the second round: S Taylor Mays (USC), S Nate Allen (South Florida), OLB Sergio Kindle (Texas), CB Perrish Cox (Oklahoma State), DE Everson Griffen (USC) . . . and, dare we mention, QBs Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy?
That’s it for now.
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