Mike Mayock conference call transcript: What did he say about the 49ers?

The 2014 NFL Draft is a week away, which means NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock had his annual pre-draft conference call. The man is a machine, and sa I understand it, he went for nearly two hours today. He answers any and all questions, and will usually touch on draft needs for virtually every team. You can read the full transcript if you want, although it's 20 pages of thoughts!

Mayock was asked two specific questions about the 49ers.

Q. The 49ers appear to have a need for a nickel corner. They have preferred bigger body types. If you feel it's accurate, why would you make a case that Jason Verrett might be a good fit for them or a smaller guy like Lamarcus Joyner?

Mike Mayock: You want me to make a case why those two guys would fit?

Q. Yes. The 49ers appear like they need a nickel corner, but they prefer bigger body corners. If you feel strongly with those guys, why would the 49ers make an exception for them?

Mike Mayock: First and foremost, I still believe with 12 picks they're going to trade up. I think they're either going to target a corner or a wideout. I don't expect to see them on the clock at 31, mostly because the corner and wideout board will be wiped out by then.  However, if they're sitting at 31, and you're talking about Verrett on the board, I think he's by far the best value you can talk about at that point. I do think they have some other issues at corner. I mean, Culliver is coming off an ACL, they signed Chris Cook. They need starting corners in addition to nickels. That to me is critical. But Jason Verrett competes on the outside, he competes on the inside. He gets beat up a little bit on the jump ball situations. But I would hesitate most of the time with guys that size. But because he's so fast and so competitive, I believe he's a first-round pick and I think he's a natural nickel.

Q. As far as the 49ers are concerned, obviously there are question marks about Aldon Smith, his availability this season, even beyond this season. Which defensive end/outside linebackers do you see as being Aldon Smith like, somebody the 49ers might be able to pick up perhaps second or third round in this draft?

Mike Mayock: Aldon Smith like? You're probably not going to find that. There are some intriguing 3-4 outside linebacker candidates in the second and third rounds. DeMarcus Lawrence from Boise is one of them. Marcus Smith from Louisville. Trent Murphy, right in your backyard at Stanford, is an intriguing guy because he's engendered comments both positively and negatively. There's a lot of scouts and coaches, especially the 4-3 teams don't like him, fifth and sixth round grades, but the 4-3 teams like him.  The four guys I would focus in on if you don't get one in the first round would be those three plus Jeremiah Attaochu from Georgia Tech. They're the four guys that in the first hundred picks will be off the board for 3-4 outside linebacker teams.

Speaking of Mayock, he published his fourth set of positional rankings earlier this week (pre-Combine, post-Combine, post-Pro Day). I'm pretty sure these are his last, although he might put together a Top-100 list. For now, here are rankings for the pertinent positions. I've included all four so you can see how some players have moved around. Mayock did two linebacker rankings, and then split them out into inside linebackers and outside linebackers for the latter two. I have included only those latter two.

Wide Receiver

Cornerback

Safety

Defensive End

Defensive Tackle

Outside Linebacker