2011 NFL Draft, 50 in 50: Von Miller - OLB - Texas A&M (46 of 50)

The 49ers are not certain as to what the draft will offer them with their first selection. There may or may not be free agency and there may or may not be a draft even according to new information this afternoon. But even so, life goes on and we have to assume that everything will be operation as normal before the season kicks off.

There are several needs and areas of concern for the 49ers to fill. There is also a lack of depth in at a bunch of other different positions as well.

One of the top three area's of concern as far as fans are concerned, is at the outside linebacker position. Despite the 49ers having one of the top pass rushing defenses in 2009, some folks still feel that grabbing a stud pass rusher is an absolute necessity thus ignoring concerns and weaknesses in the secondary. The 49ers secondary ranked toward the bottom half of the league last year.

There is a relatively strong class at the linebacker position this year and a not-so-strong class as far as defensive backs are concerned. So this would lead one to think that a team in this situation would draft high where one position is thin at and draft a bit later for the position that is a bit deeper at.

But there is always the appeal of a potential star. If a team is sitting at their current slotted selection and there are a bunch potential mediocre players versus a potential star, then who do you select at that point? And would that player possibly be worth trading up for if he has that potential?

After the jump, we will take a look at this year's top prospect as a pass rusher in Von Miller out of Texas A&M.

Most people that have seen Von Miller in action know that he was one of the single-most explosive players in college football last year as far as defense was concerned. He sent offensive players home with migraine headaches with his big time ability to crunch players. He is a very good speed rusher off the edge but has problems in getting separation once a lineman has squared him up. There will be techniques that he will learn at the next level to help shed the NFL caliber blockers and he is athletic and smart enough to pick up on them once he has learned the ropes.

Here are his career stats:

Summary: Miller will most likely be a top five pick in this years draft. It's even conceivable that he goes as high as the second overall pick to the Denver Broncos. Miller, as mentioned above, is one of the most explosive players coming out this year. His hitting ability makes an explosion of C4 look like mild. He can flat out light players up. If he were to slide to the 5th overall pick, I believe that the Cardinals, who have that selection, would be attracting a lot of attention to trade with. However, if he were to fall that far, the Cards would be hard pressed not to take him there. There is absolutely no chance that Miller would slide out of the top ten. He will be there on draft day and we should be seeing smiles at his table very early on, this Thursday.

PREDICTION: 1st Round - Broncos, Bills, Cardinals, or a team trading-up.