We continue our run through the 49ers 2011 NFL Draft picks as we check out Trent Baalke's comments about each player's film. Baalke broke down some tape and gave some background on each of the 49ers draft picks, giving the media a better idea of who some of these guys are and how they might fit in with the 49ers. Last Saturday we discussed Colin Jones, Sunday we discussed Ronald Johnson, Monday we discussed Daniel Kilgore, and Tuesday we discussed Kendall Hunter.
Today we check out the 49ers last draft pick, cornerback Curtis Holcomb of Florida A&M via Trent Baalke's film discussion.
In 2010 the 49ers drafted cornerback Phillip Adams out of South Carolina State with their final pick. A year later the 49ers drafted Holcomb out of Florida A&M. Both schools are in the MEAC and based on the 49ers.com roster page, they're actually similar builds. I have no idea whether this means we're looking at similar players. Given their late round status, it can be difficult to get more details on such players. As Baalke says in the video in reference to Holcomb, "The guy Mel Kiper had to fumble through his stuff for cuz he wasn't rated."
However, Baalke indicated there were actually similar reasons for drafting the two cornerbacks. The 49ers had a scout at Holcomb's Pro Day (not sure if it was his own or Florida A&M) and the scout came away impressed with Holcomb's performance. This led the team to look a little more into his film and really liked what they saw.
Naturally, Holcomb was another "gold star" guy, whatever you want to make of that. He was apparently a four-time captain for the Rattlers, which is pretty impressive considering he was only their four or five years (not sure if he red-shirted). Holcomb follows in a line of 2011 draft picks that are "wired right" and all about football. The team apparently drafted ten gym rats. Baalke referred to Holcomb as "all about football, very smart, very competitive."
Baalke was asked by Maiocco whether Holcomb had done much return work. Apparently he hasn't, but the team would like to still take a look at him in the role through practice. Baalke commented about players turning into great return men in spite of a lack of such experience at the college level. Does anybody actually recall particular return men who did not do much return work in college? It's not easy information to figure out, but it has me wondering.