2011 NFL Draft Round 2: Did the 49ers Already Gamble and Lose?

The 49ers went all-in Thursday, but not in the way most expected. 

Conventional wisdom was that if the 49ers’ brain trust went for the home-run pick it would be Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert, not Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith. 

By not only passing on Gabbert, but gambling their first pick on a sophomore pass-rusher who most experts had well out of the top 10, Trent Baalke and Co. are leaving themselves open to some serious criticism from the 49ers’ Faithful. 

The question is do Baalke and coach Jim Harbaugh have an ace up their sleeve? 

All signs now point towards player transactions, both trades and free agency, opening up sooner rather than later. 

This means that if the 49ers have an under the table deal in place to trade for a QB (like Philadelphia’s Kevin Kolb) or sign a veteran free agent (like Matt Hasselbeck) suddenly quarterback takes a back seat to pass-rusher and cornerback on the 49ers’ needs list. 

Under that scenario it made sense for the 49ers’ brass to take the top pass rusher on their board after top CB Patrick Peterson was snapped up by Arizona at No. 5. 

Now San Francisco can look to fill the hole in their secondary in Round 2 with the likes of Aaron Williams or Brandon Harris.   

On the other hand, the skeptic's scenario is that Baalke and Co. saw the consensus second-ranked quarterback Gabbert falling down the board and assumed the QB hype around the draft was overblown. 

Therefore they figured they could take a pass on Gabbert and still snag the either Jake Locker or Christian Ponder in the second round, or move up to get them in the back half of the first.

Instead the run on QB's started at pick No. 8 and now San Francisco might not even get the likes of Andy Dalton if they don’t move up from their current position. 

We should get a guess shortly as to whether the 49ers’ are secretly holding pocket kings or just bet the farm and lost.