The WFAA Bloggers' NFL mock draft
30. San Francisco 49ers -TE Coby Fleener (Stanford) -- MIKE MARSHALL
When you think about what the 49ers did last year, it's astonishing. They made it to the NFC championship game in the most unconventional way, by taking the football out of their quarterback's hands. You might be saying “what about Vernon Davis?”. He's a special player at a unique position but TE isn't QB or even RB. You can have multiple TE threats on the field at the same time. The Patriots all but perfected that kind of system last season. The 49ers have already shown some real interest in that type of offensive system with their use of Delanie Walker last season. His numbers don't match what a hybrid TE's should, because honestly nobody's receiving numbers in San Francisco look good.
Vernon Davis has proven the ability to stretch the seam on the line or off (Aaron Hernandez). Coby Fleener is the type of athlete who could find a mismatch on every play (Rob Gronkowski). Another interesting angle of using the tight ends as wide receivers is that you don't have to pay a TE what you'd have to pay a WR for that production. The ultimate icing on top: Fleener played 3 very productive seasons for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford. With the additions of Mario Manningham and Coby Fleener, first downs won't seem like such a chore in 2013.
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
