The 49ers took a  lot of players that were off the board as far as the draft experts were concerned.  But, I did like three of the first four players the Niners took.  OLB Aldon Smith will fill a huge need for the Niners who didn’t have much of a pass rush at all last year.  QB Colin Kaepernick gives the Niners a solid QB for new head coach Jim Harbaugh to develop.  RB Kendall Hunter came to the Niners in the 4th round and he should have been gone by the time they picked.  Hunter will be able to give Frank Gore a break when he needs one.  I really don’t like any of the rest of the 49ers’ picks as they seemed like they were reaching with almost every one of them.

PROJECTED GRADE:  D+

The San Francisco 49ers took cornerback Curtis Holcomb out of Florida A&M with the 250th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Holcomb is 5’10″, 190 pounds and he ran a 4.47 40 at the Rattlers’ Pro Day.  Holcomb will have to adjust to a huge jump in competition but he has the physical tools to make that jump.  He played in 45 games in his four years at Florida A&M and he had 12 interceptions that he returned 213 yards (17.8 avg).  If nothing else, Holcomb should be able to help the Niners right away on special teams.

The 49ers took G/T Mike Person out of Montana State with the 239th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Person is 6’4″, 299 pounds.  He will likely have to kick inside in the pros because he’s not fast enough to handle the speed rushers in the NFL and he doesn’t have the size to handle the bull rushers.  At least inside, the Niners will be able to help him a little bit.  Person played in 12 games (all starts) for Montana State last year and he played in 53 games (all starts) in his four years there.  He is a developmental project for the Niners.

The 49ers picked OLB Bruce Miller out of Central Florida with the 211th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Miller is 6’1″, 248 pounds and he runs a 4.84 40.  Miller was a defensive end in college and his motor always runs hot.  The 49ers envision possibly converting him to fullback instead of outside linebacker, and he might be excellent at that job opening up holes for Frank Gore.  Miller will also likely be a standout on special teams for the Niners.  Miller played in 14 games (all starts) for Central Florida last year and he had 63 tackles, 13.5 tackles for a loss, 8.5 sacks, batted down 2 passes, forced 2 fumbles and he had 2 interceptions which he returned for TDs.  Miller played in 53 games (47 starts) in his four years in college and he had 219 tackles, 57.5 tackles for a loss, 35.5 sacks, he batted down 9 passes, forced 6 fumbles and he had 3 interceptions (2 returned for TDs).

The 49ers picked safety Colin Jones out of TCU with the 190th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Jones is 6’0″, 208 pounds and he ran a supersonic 4.34 40 at TCU’s Pro Day.  Jones didn’t play much until his senior season with the Horned Frogs.  Jones played in 13 games (12 starts) for TCU last year and he had 80 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks.  Jones is purely a strong safety type as he is a very aggressive player against the run and short passes.  He also will be an asset on special teams.  But, he has issues running on the longer patterns with WRs.

The 49ers drafted 23-year old WR Ronald Johnson out of USC with the 182nd overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Johnson is 5’11″, 186 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  Johnson is a pure slot receiver as he would likely get handled easily outside by corners.  He does run good routes and he catches whatever hits his hands.  Johnson played in 13 games (12 starts) for USC last year and he caught 64 passes for 692 yards (10.8 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He played in 47 games (20 starts) in his four years with the Trojans  and he caught 138 passes for 1,750 yards (12.7 avg) with 20 TD grabs.  Johnson also has value as a punt returner, so this was likely a solid pick for the 49ers.

The 49ers took C/G Daniel Kilgore out of Appalachian State with the 163rd overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Kilgore is 6’3″, 305 pounds and he runs a 5.28 40.  Kilgore is not a mauler as he gets by on athletic ability.  He played left tackle his last season at Appalachian State and he started all 13 games.  He played in 48 games in his four years in college.  Kilgore will have to kick inside in the pros as he would get destroyed at tackle without any help.

The 49ers took 22-year old RB Kendall Hunter out of Oklahoma State with the 115th overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Hunter is 5’7″, 199 pounds and he runs a  4.4 40.  Hunter is a tough guy who runs really hard despite his lack of size and he has the speed to take the ball to the house any time he touches it.  Hunter played in 13 games (all starts) for Oklahoma State last year and he carried the ball 271 times for 1,548 yards (5.7 ypc) with 16 TD runs.  He also caught 20 passes for 101 yards (5.1 avg) last year.  Hunter played in 46 games (28 starts) in his four years with the Cowboys and he carried the ball 708 times for 4,181 yards (5.9 ypc) wiht 37 TD runs.  He also caught 63 passes for 519 yards (8.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs at Oklahoma State.  This was an outstanding pick for the Niners as many draft “experts” had Hunter getting picked in the 2nd or 3rd round.  Hunter should be able to give Frank Gore a break more often than he got one last year.