The draft begins with the first round at 5 p.m. today, followed by rounds two and three on Friday and four through seven on Saturday. Action can be followed on ESPN and the NFL Network.
Maehl, a 2007 Paradise grad, will be entering his second season with the Texans, yet that doesn't preclude Houston from going after a wide receiver in the draft.
TEAM NEEDS
Wide receiver: Starters Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter turn 31 before the season. They want to add a young, talented receiver who works hard and is patient. As a rookie, the new receiver would play in four-receiver sets, which they don't use much. One thing their best receivers have in common: Johnson and Walter are 6-3. Not counting Trindon Holliday, who was a sixth-round pick in 2010 selected to return kickoffs and punts, the Texans haven't drafted a legitimate receiver since Jacoby Jones in 2007.
Guard: Antoine Caldwell, the new starter on the right side, has a history of nagging injuries. He's made 13 starts in three seasons. Left guard Wade Smith is solid but turns 31. They have no other guard on the roster who has started a game.
Outside linebacker: Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips says a 3-4 scheme never has enough outside linebackers to rush the passer. Last season
was a perfect example. After recording five sacks in the first five games, Mario Williams suffered a season-ending injury. With Williams gone, they need a third one to rotate with starters Connor Barwin and Brooks Reed.They found Reed in the second round, and he had a terrific rookie season with six sacks in 10 starts and 3.5 in two playoff games.
Offensive tackle: Left tackle Duane Brown is coming off an outstanding season and enters the last year of his contract. Right tackle Rashad Butler, who has replaced Eric Winston, has four career starts. They have no backup tackles who have started a game. Derek Newton, a seventh-round pick last year, saw action at tackle in the last game of last season when a lot of starters were rested for the playoffs.
Center: Starter Chris Myers is coming off a Pro Bowl season, but they have no backup. If he had been injured last season, right guard Mike Brisiel would have been forced to play center. Brisiel signed with Oakland. Backup guard Thomas Austin, who has no starts, played center in the second half of the last game against Tennessee and had some bad snaps.
San Francisco 49ers
The typically tight-lipped Trent Baalke dropped some news during his annual draft assessment with the media. The 49ers general manager and NFL executive of the year said the team is hoping one specific player will drop to them at the 30th slot in the upcoming NFL draft.
"You've got to be prepared to make the pick at 30, which we're prepared to do," Baalke said. "We'll see how the board falls. We certainly have more than one person, but there is (a player) in particular we feel will be there. And if he is, we'll be prepared to make the pick."
For Baalke the admission was revealing, particularly with the possible top-round prospects that have been interviewed or visited the team. Those include three possible first round receivers: LSU's Rueben Randle, Georgia Tech's Stephen Hilland Baylor's Kendall Wright. The team has also shown interest in Stanford tight end Coby Fleener, who Jim Harbaugh coached before coming to the 49ers last year.
Another possibility? Virginia Tech running back David Wilson, another player who visited the team and a prospect projected to go within the first 50 selections.
Baalke could also move up in the draft, something he has done three times in the last two drafts to nab his choice. In 2010, the 49ers moved up to draft Rutgers tackleAnthony Davis with the 11th overall pick. Last year, the team maneuvered toward the top of the second round to get Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick and they did the same thing in the fifth round to select Appalachian State guard Daniel Kilgore.
This is the first time Baalke won't have a pick in the first half of the draft, including last year when the team owned the seventh overall choice. Baalke contends that it makes it tougher to predict who will be there at 30 because there are so many unknowns.
However, the 49ers have the luxury of not having to draft a starter this year. Their roster, even at wide receiver, is stacked.
The only hole is at right guard, where Kilgore will compete with in-house competition including Alex Boone and another pick from last year, Montana State's Mike Person.
There's even speculation that Davis could kick inside from right tackle to right guard, but Baalke evaded that question, which is what Baalke usually does.
TEAM NEEDS
Guard: The team's only true need is at right guard. All the other positions are spoken for. Silatolu could come in and possibly start. The 49ers installed two rookies on their offensive line two years ago with right tackle Anthony Davis and left guard Mike Iupati. Silatolu will have a more difficult time because he's coming from a small school (Midwestern State in Wichita).
Wide receiver: Sure, the team signed Randy Moss, Mario Manningham and re-signed Ted Ginn Jr. - all of whom are deep-threat, outside-the-numbers wide receivers. However, they don't have a young prospect they could develop to become a future no. 1 option. The team doesn't know what it will get from Moss, Manningham is a nice piece for their offense but not a top receiver, and Ginn Jr.struggles with consistency.
Running back: The 49ers have a full stable of backs with starter Frank Gore, and backups Kendall Hunter, Brandon Jacobs, and Anthony Dixon. What they don't have is a clear replacement for Gore in any of the aforementioned players. Turbin has all the ingredients to become a 49ers running back. He's a local kid, he's 222 pounds and he has home-run ability (three runs of over 80 yards last year). He also can catch passes. He's a little raw and needs to work on his pass protection.
Defensive line: Starters Justin Smith, Isaac Sopoaga and Ray McDonald logged some big-time minutes last season. Ricky Jean Francois is a versatile and able backup, but behind him the 49ers have Ian Williams and Demarcus Dobbs, both rookie free agents who made the team in training camp last year. This draft is plentiful with defensive linemen and Clemson's Brandon Thompson could be available with the 30th overall pick.
Cornerback: The team has developing players Chris Culliver and Tramaine Brockbacking up starters Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers. A seventh-rounder from last year, Curtis Holcomb is also coming off a knee injury suffered in training camp.
Nevertheless, in a pass-first league, corner could be an option in the middle to late rounds. The 49ers have chosen late-round cornerbacks from small schools in each of the last two years, and Northeastern State's Jeremy Lane could the late-round choice this year.
Oakland Raiders
The Raiders' draft room has been run by Al Davis since he arrived in 1963, with the owner expecting everyone to be prepared and arriving on decisions in part through the questioning of his scouts and coaches with regard to players on the board.
Now it's up to McKenzie, who realizes he is replacing an icon.
"Coach Davis, this has been his deal since the Raiders were the Raiders," McKenzie said. "I am the new guy. This is my first time drafting after a legend has been drafting for the Raiders for so long. So it's huge. But I'm excited about it and looking forward to it."
--Running back Napoleon Kaufman, who retired from football during the prime of his career in 2000 to pursue the ministry, has returned to the organization as the team chaplain.
Kaufman has been pastor of The Well Christian Community in the suburban Tri-Valley area for the past nine years.
"I'm so excited to be part of the Raiders organization once again," Kaufman said. "I've always considered myself a Raider."
Kaufman, along with director of player engagement Lamonte Winston, will give theRaiders' players more support with life and spiritual issues as part of the Reggie McKenzie era.
--Although the Raiders parted with starting tight end Kevin Boss and didn't get nearly the production they had from Zach Miller, lost in free agency a year ago, quarterback Carson Palmer is expecting big things from second-year man David Ausberry.
Ausberry was a wide receiver at USC who got minimal playing time, but was intriguing as a tight end for the Raiders as a seventh-round draft pick.
Palmer has spent time throwing with Ausberry this offseason and thinks he'll play a role in the new offense.
"You can run screens with him, you can line him up outside if he's your tight end in a base personnel group, and I would love to have the matchup with him on a linebacker," Palmer said. "He's a great kid, works very hard and he wants it. He's a special talent and I think once the coaching staff sees him on the field, the way he moves, there's going to be some special things for him."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "You can't be out there worrying about somebody hurting you or trying to hurt somebody because you won't get nothing done that way." -- Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly addressing the issue of bounties in the NFL.
TEAM NEEDS
Defensive tackle: Oakland is set with starters Tommy Kelly and Richard Seymour, but the fact is both are best suited to play a three-technique, with Kelly more often than not the one who plays closer to over center in the 4-3 defense. Coach Dennis Allen has been coy about whether Oakland will mix in some 3-4 defense -- it seems unlikely they would make that their base -- but the Raiders definitely are in the market for a stout interior player who could play over the nose in a 3-4 and tie up blockers in a 4-3. Oakland gave up five yards per carry to opposing rushers last season and getting a defensive tackle who specializes in run defense is a priority.
Quarterback: Terrelle Pryor arrived in the supplemental draft in the previous regime, and Allen and offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will take a long look to see if he fits into Oakland's new offense which utilizes a lot of bootlegs and timing passes designed to get their speedy receivers the ball in the open field. If not, Oaklandcurrently has only Rhett Bomar on the roster, so any injury situation that involves starter Carson Palmer could doom a season. McKenzie was part of a Green Bay scouting staff that found Matt Flynn in the seventh round and he'd love to do it again.
Cornerback: The additions of free agents Ron Bartell and Shawntae Spencer help replace departed former starters Stanford Routt and Chris Johnson, but the jury is out on second-year players DeMarcus Van Dyke and Chmidi Chekwa. Finding late-round gems at cornerback was always a Packers specialty when McKenzie was in the personnel department.
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