Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have released their latest 2011 NFL Mock Drafts, and they are in agreement that Patrick Peterson will end up with the 49ers at seventh overall. I have a hard time believing the best player in the draft will drop that far, but as we saw with Michael Crabtree, all it takes is one crazy pick to mix things up considerably.
The two ESPN NFL Draft “experts” went so far as to provide three rounds worth of projections. It’s hard to believe the second and third round can be mocked with any sort of legitimate accuracy, particularly without factoring in trades, but it remains a fun exercise.
Mel Kiper has the 49ers selecting the following players:
1. Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
2. Dontay Moch, OLB, Nevada
3. Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada
Todd McShay has the 49ers selecting the following players:
1. Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
2. Mikel Leshoure, RB, Illinois
3. Kenrick Ellis, NT, Hampton
Of all those picks, Leshoure leaves me the most confused. While Frank Gore is potentially on the back half of his NFL career, if he fully recovers from his hip injury he remains a top ten running back. Anthony Dixon didn’t exactly wow people last year, but he flashed some signs along the way. What I find funny about Leshoure is in his Scouts Inc scouting report it says: “Runs hard and fights for yards after contact but tries to make too much happen at times and can get caught dancing in the backfield.” Dancing in the backfield is one of the primary concerns 49ers fans have with Dixon.