The 49ers had an outstanding first round last April as it got two building blocks for the foundation of their future, but the rest of the picks didn’t show much at all.  Inside linebacker Patrick Willis was arguably the best player in the entire draft last season.  He played in 16 games (all starts) for the 49ers and he made 174 tackles, had 4 sacks, forced 2 fumbles and defensed 5 passes.  Willis is already one of the best players in the NFL so the sky is the limit for him.  The 49ers traded back into the 1st round to select OT Joe Staley last year and it proved to be a smart pick.  He played in 16 games (all starts) for the 49ers last season.  Staley will be one of the foundation pieces for the O-Line of the future for the Niners.  WR Jason Hill was the first of the third round picks for the 49ers and he didn’t do much.  He played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Niners and he caught 1 pass for 6 yards.  DE/DT Ray McDonald was the second of the 3rd round picks for the Niners last April.  He played in 9 games (0 starts) and he made 3 whole tackles.  LB/DE Jay Moore and DT/DE Joe Cohen both spent their rookie seasons’ on the Injured Reserve List after being drafted in the 4th round by the Niners.  Safety Dashon Gordon was the Niners’ other 4th round pick last season and he played in 10 games (0 starts) and he finished with 16 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  The 5th round pick of the Niners last season was CB Tarell Brown.  Brown played in 9 games (0 starts) last season and he made only 2 tackles.  RB Thomas Clayton was the last pick the 49ers made last season (6th round) and he spent his rookie season on the practice squad.

GRADE FOR THE 2007 SEASON:  B

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  B+