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		49ers draft report By David Zizmor April 24, 2010

	SANTA CLARA--Anyone who was watching for the 49ers to pick at #13 and #17 got a little bit of a surprise because the Niners traded up from the #13 spot to the #11 spot and with that pick they took Anthony Davis he is a physically huge tackle out of Rutgers from New Jersey. This guy is a tackle he's probably going to come in and start on the right side and be the right tackle with Joe Staley playing on the left tackle side. Davis is a big, big dude and he was raised as one of the top offensive tackles in the draft and there were some people who thought he would go to the top ten. Davis went to the Niners at #11, this is a big move for the 49ers and before we talk about Anthony Davis let's bring up the other guy who was taken in the first round by the Niners at #17 they picked Mike Iupati out of Idaho. This guy is a guard and offensive lineman and what I understand will probably play the left guard position that's where he's penciled in. Really we have to look at these two picks taken together because you draft a tackle, you draft a guard, your clearly saying, “our offensive line was not good last year and we need to get better" and when you draft guys like Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati these guys are gigantic. These are big men their both along the lines of 6'5 320 lbs, these are big guys who can protect the passer block for the runner and just wreak havoc. They’re really tough to get around, they have good speed. Iupati is said to have a little trouble with pass protection but he's an absolute beast in run blocking. Davis, there are some question marks around him like there are around a lot of picks, this is a guy who is very young, he's only 20 years old right now and he might 21 years old before the season starts but this is a 20 year old guy that was one of the top offensive prospects in the country when he went to college. Matter of fact he almost went to Ohio State but he decided to stay in his home state of New Jersey and go to Rutgers where the program has got much better in the last few years. He came out after his junior season and everybody says this guy has a ton of talent and is scheduled in the future to be the best tackle out of this draft. This is also a good safe pick for the 49ers and their two good picks for need, so fortunately for the Niners their needs matched with the talent that was available to them in the first round. Moving down to the second round the Niners drafted their needs in the secondary with Taylor Mays the safety out of USC and if your thinking a safety out of USC sounds familiar for a 49er, well the last guy who was a safety from USC who played for the 49ers wore #42 was Ronnie Lott and I heard a Ronnie Lott interview on the radio and he was very excited because Taylor Mays was joining the 49ers in their second round pick. It's a really good pick for the 49ers, you can kind of see head coach Mike Singletary's influence on those two first round picks as well as the second round picks these guys are big tough maulers. These guys who play down and dirty football. Mays as a safety is a big hitter. His cover skills are a little bit suspect, that's when he splits into the second round and there are some people who say he's not that great in pass coverage but he's a fantastic hitter. When you look at the way the 49ers secondary is set up right now Dashon Goldson is a really good cover safety and also a big hitter in his own right, but he's a very good cover safety. Mays will play the position Michael Lewis currently plays and Lewis is only okay and is not a particularly good cover safety but he's also one of those guys who plays close up to the line and is a great hitter. He has good instincts as far as getting a nose for the ball especially when it's up close to the line. That's what Mays is going to do and hopefully with his skills set, his size, his physical attributes this is a guy who can learn to be a better cover player. He's going to be a rookie, he's going to be able to learn from the best. The 49ers also selected Navarro Bowman a linebacker from Penn State and Penn State is known for producing fantastic linebackers over the years and this guy is no exception. This is a player in terms of his actual raw talent and is as good as any first round linebacker. This is a guy who has first round ability but he's got some off field issues that pushed him back into the third round before the 49ers got him. In his sophomore season he was involved in a big fight at a fraternity party and he got community service and a fine. Then Bowman broke his probation because he was smoking marijuana. He had a couple of off field issues but in the end he graduated from college and Singletary talked to him, 49ers scouts talked to him and he seems to be okay. One of the things he has to remember when we’re talking about guys in the draft that supposedly have character issues on or off field problems we have have to remember that these guys are 21, 22, or 23 years old and their decision making isn't always the best. Were not talking about guys who aren't 100% mature. I'm 34 years old and I know plenty of people my age who aren't mature, so these kids who have all these different things going on in their lives you can bet their going to do stuff that's not so great. They have to be given a chance to succeed and when you have a guy like Mike Singletary who gives you a lot of tough love and expects a lot from you but teaches you and loves you, you know that plays well with some of these kids who did a couple of stupid bad things here and there but nothing too crazy. Were not talking about kids who murdered someone or robbed a liquor store, these are guys who had some problems and got into a little bit of trouble but with the right environment they could succeed and that's what the Niners are looking for. Their getting some guys who are very talented and their getting Bowman who has some question marks here. Bowman is a guy who may start right away but he's going to play inside line backer spot. Now Lewis is one of the Niners he's not going anywhere for a long time. The other inside linebacker is Takeo Spikes who is the leader of the Niners clubhouse but he's also a little bit up there in age as far as linebackers are concerned. Dave Zizmor is covering the 49ers and Raiders NFL draft for Sportstalk radio