We got a slow start on things this year, but finally I was able to sit down and put together our initial 2010 mock draft database. For those who have discovered Niners Nation since last year's draft, the mock draft database is a tool I think it helpful for people to better understand the 49ers draft possibilities. There are thousands of mock drafts floating around the Internet, but why should you be expected to search for them all? This isn't even a drop in the bucket, but it was 30 of the easier mocks to find.
Obviously every one of these mocks could be wrong. Furthermore, it's still only the end of January, which means a lot of things will change between now and late April. Players draft stock can skyrocket or plummet in a matter of days, so some of these guys might even drop out of the first round entirely by April.
This year was a bit trickier because the 49ers have a pair of first round picks. I listed the two picks for each mock, and in the cumulative results I tried to track who went where. We've got the total number of picks at each position and by each player. Beyond that, I also listed them based on which of the two picks the 49ers grabbed. The coin flip still has to happen, but we still have options to consider.
I thought I'd take a look back at our community mock draft results from last weekend. Smileyman took C.J. Spiller and Bryan Bulaga with the 49ers two picks. In looking at the database, the three most common picks were Bulaga, Spiller and Taylor Mays, each listed 7 times. Among positions, the two most common selections were offensive tackle (24 of the 60 total picks) and safety (11 of the 60 total picks). The next two tied at 7 were running back and cornerback. RB is all CJ Spiller, so really we're talking a running back and also a return man in that situation.
Of all the mocks, the one that seemed least likely was Saturdays 2 Sundays, which projected CB Joe Haden and S Taylor Mays with the two first round picks. Maybe that would set up the secondary (depending on your thoughts about both), but can the 49ers afford that kind of luxury at this point? Because I would view a pair of selections like that as a bit of a luxury, given the 49ers other needs.
The duo of OT/RB and OT/S were the two primary pick pairings. CJ Spiller was matched with an offensive tackle in six of his seven selections (Haden with the other). The offensive tackles involved included Bryan Bulaga (7), Bruce Campbell (6), Anthony Davis (6), and Trent Williams (5).
If we look back at last year's database, updated shortly before the draft, it's hard to re-assess because of the fall of Crabtree and the team dealing away their second round pick. Outside linebacker and offensive tackle were the top two projected positions (19 total), but obviously neither happened anywhere in the draft. Just one more thing to remember when considering this year's database.
At this point I'll be updating the database once a week, generally on Saturday afternoon/evening. I've found that a lot of mocks tend to update once a week. Some do it more frequently, but I like the idea of just updating once a week.