The 2011 NFL Combine wrapped up earlier this week and put us into the stretch run of the 2011 NFL Draft season. We’ll see a huge variety of NFL Pro Days on college campuses across America, but the Combine was where players could make their biggest move before the Draft. Accordingly, NFL mock drafts released over the last couple of days are of particular value. Folks are starting to factor in strong and weak Combine performances and adjusting projections accordingly.
Over at Niners Nation I put together an annual mock draft database of 49ers picks. I pick 30 mock drafts and use that to figure out what people are thinking about the 49ers first round pick. It’s not a scientific process, but the subjective information at least gets us in some kind of ballpark.
A look at the latest database (updated two days ago) continues to focus in on cornerbacks. The quarterback and outside linebacker positions are behind that, but cornerback is the clear-cut number one. I believe part of that is due to the fact that Patrick Peterson and Prince Amukamara are much more known commodities than the likes of Blaine Gabbert or Robert Quinn. They both appear to be talented players, but there are sufficient question marks that it’s hard to project them to a team like the 49ers with serious needs at those positions.