2011 NFL Draft Grades: Grading the San Francisco 49ers' Draft Picks

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2011 NFL Draft Grades Take A Closer Look At the San Francisco 49ers

When the San Francisco 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh, it was only a matter of time before the team brought in a quarterback.

After completely missing on Alex Smith years ago, the team came into the first round in a great position to select a quarterback, and when the 49ers landed on the clock, there was a chance to select Blaine Gabbert to be the franchise player under Harbaugh.

Instead, San Francisco went and took Aldon Smith to bolster the defensive line. It was a little bizarre because while the 49ers needed a pass rusher, it was a slight reach and there were much more pressing needs, especially under center and in the secondary.

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In the second round, the 49ers got their man in Colin Kaepernick out of Nevada, a pick that was a little puzzling, because he's a very raw prospect and is going to need a ton of work at the pro level.

I know that Harbaugh has an impressive track record of molding quarterbacks, but this was a bit of a reach that early in the second round.

San Francisco eventually addressed its need in the secondary with Chris Culliver and Collin Jones in the third and sixth rounds respectively, but I'm not sure that the team's reaches in the first and second rounds won't come back to haunt the 49ers down the line.

Hopefully Harbaugh can get a veteran quarterback because there's no way Smith can be the man under center and Kaepernick is years away from being an effective starter.

Grade: C

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