Now that all the dust has settled from the 2012 NFL draft, it's time to sit back and reflect on how it all happened, and which teams fared better than others.
SB Nation's Ryan Van Bibber came up with his NFC draft grades, giving the San Francisco 49ers a C for their efforts:
San Francisco decided not to try and wait, or trade up, for A.J. Jenkins. The Rams wanted him at No. 33, so maybe teams are really onto something. Joe Looney, a guard from Wake Forest, adds depth. He might need to play a big role this season, and I wonder if he can do that at this point in his career.
Where does LaMichael James fit? I want to see more from Kendall Hunter. San Francisco has a deep enough roster to take risks.
If there's one thing the 49ers have been working on this season in terms of their roster, it's certainly depth. At many of the skilled positions, including receiver, running back and quarterback now has a strong mix of talent that will compete for the starting position.
Jim Harbaugh, Trent Baalke and the rest of the Niners braintrust believe in their system, and know that they can bring the best out of all their players, now they want the players to do the same for one another through competition.
Talent-wise the 49ers did very well in this draft, but in terms of a pre-conceived paradigm such as picking the best player available or drafting for folks needs (well, what outsiders deem as a need for their team) it's easy to see why such a mediocre grade was placed.
For more discussion and analysis of the San Francisco 49ers, please head over to Niners Nation.