Niners Free Agent Thoughts

I wanted to add my thoughts into some current Niners news. First, the signing of Allen Rossum doesn’t do anything for me. I suppose Rossum is a “name” player, but couldn’t the Niners just take a defensive back or receiver off the current roster and plug him into the returner position? Receiver Jason Hill was a blazer coming out of Washington State. Why not give him the duty along with running back Michael Robinson? I just don’t like the idea of a player like Rossum taking up a roster spot and precious salary cap space when he won’t offer anything else to the Niners.

As for the Niners’ interest in DeShaun Foster, I don’t see the point. He is a good complement to Frank Gore physically, but are the Niners trying to employ running backs with the lengthiest injury histories?

I loved Foster at UCLA (my favorite college besides Montana State) although I always held my breath when he was running. He has great upside and could be a good gamble at a reasonable price, but that seems to be the story of his career.

Additional Thoughts

Don Banks posted his latest mock draft for CNNSI.com and has targeted Indiana wide receiver James Hardy for the Niners. Hardy has been a popular projection for the receiver-needy Niners. He has great size (6-5, 218) and looked impressive athletically at the Combine. I didn’t see his pass-catching drills though. But if Alex Smith and/or Shaun Hill is going to be successful at quarterback, they do need targets at which to throw. Vernon Davis isn’t enough.

The guys at NFLDraftCountdown.com updated their mock draft on Wednesday. They have Auburn defensive end Quentin Groves going to the Niners. Here is what they have to say:

“Picking this low after such an awful season must be a tough pill to swallow but that is reason #1,567,811 why you should think long and hard about trading away those future #1’s. What the 49’ers need more than anything is a true impact wide receiver but it’s unlikely they’ll be able to find a guy like that here and they will probably hope that new offensive coordinator Mike Martz can get more out of the guys they already have on hand. The Niners have to upgrade their pass rush and even though Quentin Groves played defensive end in college he is a fantastic athlete who ran a 4.5 at the Scouting Combine and would be an ideal fit at outside linebacker in their 34 scheme.”

I don’t know anything about Groves, but for what it’s worth, Limas Sweed, DeSean Jackson and Mario Manningham were the only three receivers off the board by the Niners’ pick. Then where is Hardy? And why wouldn’t NFL DC project him to the Niners?

They have Hardy going to the Raiders with the 34th overall pick. Then they project the Niners selecting LSU receiver Early Doucet with the 39th overall pick, proclaiming that Doucet “is a great fit for Mike Martz’s system.”