The 49ers went into last week’s draft with a number of needs. They addressed two in the first round, selecting Oregon defensive end DeForest Buckner – by almost unanimous acclaim, a good pick – and Stanford guard Joshua Garnett, graded by many as the best run-blocking interior lineman in the entire draft.
Later, the 49ers selected some more offensive linemen, a running back, a quarterback and a wide receiver to address areas of the roster where depth is needed.
And yet one area of perceived need – inside linebacker – wasn’t addressed through 11 picks over seven rounds. It left many draft analysts and 49ers followers scratching their heads. It seemed especially odd considering that 49ers general manager Trent Baalke took a cornerback in Round 3, a cornerback in Round 4 and another cornerback in Round 7.
Two of those corners also come with question marks. Third-round pick Will Redmond of Mississippi State is coming off a knee injury and fourth-rounder Rashard Robinson of LSU was suspended for a chunk of 2015.
It seemed a bit odd to load up on corners with a quartet of young CBs already on the roster in Kenneth Acker, Keith Reaser, Dontae Johnson and Marcus Cromartie and with Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt seemingly capable of playing nickel coverage.
Grant Cohn, who covers the 49ers for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat didn’t like the Redmond pick, writing, “What an awful third-round pick for a position he didn’t need to fill.” Added Cohn: “The fourth-round pick was even worse,” noting Robinson’s suspension for team rules violations and citing his stats: just eight starts and one interception.
Cohn wasn’t alone in his criticism, but others took a contrary view. The analytics website Pro Football Focus liked both the Redmond and Robinson picks, and Peter Schrager of Fox Sports wrote that Baalke had a big need to address in the secondary. Schrager wrote the 49ers “hit that cornerback need with three guys loaded with potential.”
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On Thursday, Baalke answered questions about his draft in an interview on KNBR, and specifically addressed why he didn’t select an inside linebacker but took three corners.
“You have to look at where the NFL’s going,” he said. “Sixty-seven percent of our time is spent in nickel and dime (coverage). We’re playing a lot more three- and four-wide receiver sets. We’re even playing teams that are going empty (backfield) quite a bit.
“You can never have enough cover people, and as long as you can match good cover people with a good front seven, you’ve got a chance to play excellent defense, and that’s the goal.”
