Our friends at Mocking the Draft put together a new 2014 NFL mock draft this past Monday, and I had planned on writing about it Monday morning. Unfortunately, certain 49ers legal issues arose Sunday afternoon, and this got pushed to the back burner.
Well, things have quieted down (and if they get hot again, I really might just go back to Las Vegas!), and it's time to take a deep dive into Matthew Fairburn's latest. And I wanted to anyway because it featured some new names. In his latest mock, Matthew has the 49ers drafting Oregon State wide receiver Brandin Cooks, Vanderbilt cornerback Andre Hal and USC center Marcus Martin.
30. San Francisco 49ers - Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon State
The 49ers made a run at DeSean Jackson but came up short. If there's a player with DeSean Jackson upside in this draft, it's Brandin Cooks. Cooks had a productive final season at Oregon State and is strong enough to play on the outside in the NFL. He's no DeSean Jackson just yet, though.
56. San Francisco 49ers - Andre Hal, CB, Vanderbilt
After releasing the mediocre Carlos Rogers, adding a cornerback seems like a likely course of action for the 49ers in the first two days of the NFL Draft. Andre Hal is a physical player with some technique issues to work out, but he's the next best corner on our board and worthy of this pick.
61. San Francisco 49ers - Marcus Martin, C, USC
The 49ers added a wide receiver and a cornerback, so the next biggest need is arguably center. Marcus Martin surprised some by entering the NFL Draft after his junior season, but if he comes off the board in the first two rounds, it will look like a smart move.
Cooks does not qualify as a "new name" per se, but it is new in the sense that the mocks have been focusing more on cornerback in recent weeks. I think cornerback makes more sense up there, but if they're high on a specific wide receiver, maybe they go that way.
Andre Hal is a very interesting selection in the sense that opinions appear to vary wildly on him. CBS Sports and NFL.com rate him out as a 6th or 7th round cornerback, and as the No. 27 cornerback. Mocking the Draft views him as the sixth best cornerback in this year's class. I've emailed them to get some thoughts on why they think their ranking of Hal is so different from some of the draft media.
Fooch's Update: I heard back from Dan Kadar. Matthew is apparently big on Hal, and views him a bit like TCU cornerback Jason Verrett. According to MtD, Hal "doesn't have the impressive size or anything, but he very much has good instincts. He's more of a jammer at the line, but capable of playing zone. I don't care for him as much playing off man coverage."