By James Brady

The 2009 draft has come to a close and I’ll admit: there was a ton of things going on that I didn’t see coming. What with Cleveland trading the upwards of three times, Rey Maualuga falling to the second round, the Raiders’… interesting picks and the biggest thing for myself (and you, hopefully) the falling of WR Michael Crabtree to the tenth pick. Nobody saw it coming, not even the 49ers. In case you missed it, the Raiders (aka Al Davis) selected WR Darrius Heyward-Bey with the seventh pick, that’s right–Crabtree wasn’t even the first receiver off the board! This blows my mind, I could picture all the fans’ collective jaws dropping and hanging for a good oh… entire season.

Day one includes the first and second rounds, in which the 49ers selected WR Michael Crabtree with pick 10 and making a trade with the Carolina Panthers at pick 43, in which the 49ers gave them a second and fourth round pick in exchange for… a first round pick in 2010! This is great, more first round picks are never a bad thing. My only complaint with the first day is the second pick could have been used for DE Everette Brown, who for some reason was just hanging around at pick 43–remember him? He’s the guy a good number of mock drafts had the 49ers selecting at pick 10. No needs were addressed on the first day, but again, a 1st rounder is never a bad thing. So…

2009 Draft Progress Report: A- To merit a plus at this point would require the 49ers to have picked someone with their second rounder, someone great who could come in and improve this team from day one. The grade is automatically at least an A for Crabtree, and a minus is a small hinderance if anything. On to day two…

Day two was pretty surprising. The 49ers took, in this order: RB Glen Coffee, LB Scott McKillop, QB Nate Davis, TE Bear Pascoe, S Curtis Taylor and DT Ricky Jean-Francois.

HB Glen Coffee is looking to be the backup from day one, becoming a change of pace back for Frank Gore. However, I feel like our should-be second stringer is already on the team: one Thomas Clayton. He was slected in round 3, with the 73rd pick in the draft. B-

ILB Scott McKillop is the pick that makes me scratch my head. He looks to be for depth, but we still have needs and I’m unsure if he was the BPA at this point. However, he should be productive on special teams and could develop into a great player, he’s got the instincts and will to get it done, while not being an entirely strong athlete. He was selected in round 5, with the 146th pick in the draft. C-

QB Nate Davis has all the tools to make it in the NFL. Taken off some team’s boards due to a learning disorder, Singletary feels that Nate is a guy worth looking into and developing. The guy has an arm, can make the throws and only needs to make a transition to be productive. He was selected in round 5, with the 171st pick in the draft. A-

TE Bear Pascoe is a great blocker, and not much else. He doesn’t move very athletically, but he’s intense and as a situational player should exceed. He fills the spot of TE Billy Bajema, recently released from the team. Bear’s blocking may be crucial to the 49ers having a successful running attack, as well as being proficient on special teams having blocked a few kicks in college. He also looks to be at least a bit better at receiving than Bajema who had just 7 receptions for 88 yards since 2005 for San Francisco. He was selected in round 6, with the 184th pick in the draft. B+

S Curtis Taylor was very productive in college, all years except for, well… last year. He was hampered by injuries but if the 49ers took him, they weren’t too concerned. I don’t feel he’ll climb and beat out Dashon Goldson for starter, but we’ll see what he brings to the team in the future. The 49ers get a lower grade because they’ve still yet to address OT or OLB. He was selected in round 7, with the 219th pick in the draft. B-

DT Ricky Jean-Francois is someone who likely will get very little playing time this coming season. He’s inexperienced, but has all the tools of a great DT, as of right now, he’s solely for depth and development and once again, the 49ers forego an offensive lineman or pass rushing specialist, thus closing the draft without going after a true need. He was selected in round 7, with the 244th pick in the draft. C+

2009 Draft Progress Report: B- At this point, I’m scratching my head at some picks but mostly at why we didn’t select an offensive tackle or a pass rushing outiside linebacker. The only explanation is that the 49ers had a different plan for those positions. Maybe they feel secure with OT Marvel Smith for the time being, either way the 49ers are definitely a better team going into next season. The acquisition of WR Michael Crabtree is perhaps the biggest news of the draft and I’m very glad we got him. He reminds me a lot of Michael Irvin, and has big shoes to fill, those of legendary receiver Jerry Rice. Remember him?

The reason that is just a progress report and not an official repot card is because I’m taking day three into account, the undrafted free agent signing period. Typically, McCloughan likes to sign eight to twelve players and I’ll keep this part short… As of right now, it seems like we’ve signed OT Alex Boone, RB Kory Sheets, DE Pannel Egboh and CB Jahi Word-Daniels. We’ve finally took an OT, and its a guy I’m convinced is going to be great, I’ve been watching him and I’m pretty confident if we lock him up he could possibly start at RT this coming season. It’ll be interesting to see, but there’s a need addressed and that makes the 49ers’ future look just a bit brighter going into next season…

2009 Draft Report Card: A- That’s an A, not an A-. Taking the undrafted signings into account, the 49ers have done pretty well with themselves. Michael Crabtree and Coffee look to immediately produce, along with blocking TE Bear Pascoe. undrafted signee Alex Boone can possibly start and we’ve acquired depth at a few positions. The 49ers, in three days time are a much stronger team than they were just four days ago.