Many people thought the 49ers would take a wide receiver with their first round pick, but they wound up making Jimmie Ward of Northern Illinois the fourth safety taken when they used the 30th overall pick.
While General Manager Trent Baalke admitted that the team was fond of Odell Beckham, who went 12th to the Giants, he doesn’t think missing out on the five wideouts who were picked on Thursday night is going to cost the team a chance to get better on offense.
“We feel good about the wide receiver corps all the way through the draft,” Baalke said, via the Bay Area News Group. “We feel there’s value to be had at every level. We felt all along it was one of the positions that had some depth to it.”
With five of the 68 picks on Day Two, the 49ers are well positioned to address that wide receiver need in the second and third rounds whether they package picks to move up or stay where they are. USC’s Marqise Lee, Fresno State’s Davante Adams and Indiana’s Cody Latimer are a few of the appealing prospects still available, affirming Baalke’s confidence that the position can still be addressed in a helpful manner.
UPDATE 3:00 p.m. ET: Or, as we learned moments after publishing this post, they could trade for Stevie Johnson and address their wide receiver need in a completely different manner.