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Thus far, the common theme of San Francisco 49ers picks in 2015 NFL mock drafts has been the wide receiver position. I imagine this will not change too dramatically, although the players listed probably will. I'll be updating the mock draft database later tonight, but in the meantime, Bucky Brooks is the latest NFL.com writer to post a mock draft. He joins Daniel Jeremiah, who posted his last week.
Jeremiah went outside the box and had the 49ers select a defensive lineman. Bucky Brooks is decidedly in the box with his pick, West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White. His justification, like plenty others, is that the 49ers have enough big-bodied wide receivers, but need a speed threat. I suspect we will see plenty of this justification between now and late April.
At this point, it seems like if you are getting your hopes up about Kevin White, you probably should not. Mock drafts might get positions right, but Trent Baalke has done plenty of zagging when we were expecting a zig. It is inherently difficult to figure him out since he does go out of the box at times, but given what we've seen in recent years, what do you think would be that outside the box pick?
Since 2011, you could make the argument Eric Reid is the only pick that was fairly conventional. The 49ers needed a safety, and while some disagreed with Reid as the specific guy, it was not a complete shock that the 49ers made a move for him. On the other hand, Aldon Smith, A.J. Jenkins and Jimmie Ward all caught us pretty well off guard. They addressed positions of need, but they were three guys most of us probably did not expect. It is probably too early to start noting sleeper first round options, but it is certainly something to keep in mind as the draft approaches.