Monday means brand new mock drafts as people eventually work toward posting new mock drafts every day as the 2012 NFL Draft approaches. The mothership posted the latest NFL Mock Draft where they decided to mix things up a bit and have the 49ers drafting South Carolina cornerback Stephon Gilmore:
Conventional wisdom in most of the recent mocks gives the 49ers a receiver here, but all the first-round worthy guys are off the board. Gilmore would be a nice addition for the 49ers, who run a lot of zone coverage out of the base defense. He also has tremendous ball skills.
Most recent mock drafts have the 49ers looking at wide receivers given the wide spread discussion of the position's production in 2012. Given the lack of receivers on the roster, there will be some turnover, but it remains to be seen how much exactly.
In the meantime, the cornerback position is difficult to figure out until Carlos Rogers' situation is resolved. While it is true that a team can never have enough cornerback depth, if the 49ers re-sign Carlos Rogers, that lowers the need for high end talent. You want quality corners, but if they lock up Rogers, they would have Rogers for 3-5 years (depending on the deal), Tarell Brown through 2013 and Chris Culliver through 2014.
If they let Rogers walk, cornerback increases in need, even with Brown and Culliver likely to be the starters next year. The 49ers went with a good deal of nickel this year, which allowed them to get Culliver a lot of experience. I don't know if I see the 49ers going first round for a cornerback, but if Rogers walks, I could see a second day pick on the position.