More on Bowman and a sign off

0

That's it for me for the second day. We'll return tomorrow with the 49ers having three picks in the sixth round and one in the seventh.

The 49ers picked Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman. Bowman is a 242-pound inside linebacker with a troubled past. He was part of group that beat up a man at a fraternity party in 2007, which cost him the final two games that season. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He lost his father suddenly in 2008 but played in all 13 games made 106 tackles after earning the starting job after week four. He violated his probation in the spring of '09 after admitting to using pot. He projects as Patrick Willis's back up and could certainly help out on special teams.

He said he had to deal with his character issue and was thankful to Mike Singletary and the 49ers for picking him. He expected to go earlier in the draft. He worked out this off-season in South Florida with Vernon Davis and Frank Gore.

One draft guide noted he's good in coverage and showed up in big games. However, it also said that he doesn't take on blocks well, and Bowman said he likes to play in space.

The 49ers traded their third for Chargers' third (91 overall) and their sixth-rounder (173) and their 2011 fourth-rounder.

The 49ers traded the pick to the Chargers who took linebacker Donald Butler. Still don't know the trade terms.

Two more picks then the 49ers are up.

Did Carroll ever appear? We can't get ESPN 2 in the press room. On to more important things, nearly all the corners that I wrote about this morning are STILL available with the exception of Jerome Murphy and Chris Cook are still available. Murphy and Cook are the only ones to go in the second round.

Carroll obviously should have told Mays he needed to work on his back pedal or his coverage skills instead of saying he was draft ready. But really, did anyone expect Carroll to take Mays over Earl Thomas?

We are making much more about this than we need to, but Carroll is expected to go on ESPN or EPSN2 to respond to Mays' comments.

Just doing a little background on Mays, he said his didn't do much backpedaling or coverage at USC. When he was coached to be more aggressive going after the ball at the Senior Bowl, he made an interception at the goal line. Does this indicate he can be a complete corner?

Here's the quotes on Mays' exchange with reporters about Pete Carroll.

"It was just interesting. I thought, I definitely thought from the relationship that we have, from the things that he had told me about what I needed to be, what the draft process is, things that I needed to do, I felt he told me the complete opposite of the actions that he took, which was definitely alarming. There were things he told me I needed to do as a football player versus the actions he took and who he took as a safety. I understand it's a business, but with it being a business, honesty is all I'm asking for.

Q: Look forward to playing him twice a year now? A: I look forward to playing for Coach Singletary 16 games a year than I look forward to playing against Coach Carroll twice a year.

Q: What was Carroll's advice? A: Just in terms that I didn't have anything to worry about, that my game was OK, that my backpedal was fine, my tackling was fine, it was all the things that I asked, what do I need to work on, what do I need to show all these points. I was kind of led to think I was OK. It is what it is and I'm so happy to be with the 49ers on the team Ronnie Lott played on.

Pete Carroll has already made his first enemy in the league and it's his former safety Taylor Mays. Carroll with the sixth pick in the draft yesterday, took Earl Thomas, a safety from Texas, and not his own safety from USC, Mays. "He told me the complete opposite from the action he took," Mays said of former coach at USC. "I understood it's a business, but be honest."

Mays expected to go much earlier and said he comes in with the biggest chip on his shoulder than anybody else in the draft and with the Carroll situation, he said it's been amplified.

Mays, however, said he will relish playing 16 games for Mike Singletary than the two he'll play against his former coach in Seattle. Mays also said all the right things. He admitted he needs work on his coverage and down the field skills, and he's looking forward to working with the 49ers' coaches on improving that aspect of his game.

Playing at USC, Mays knows and wants to emulate Ronnie Lott. He expects to hear from him later today. Mays also knows Dashon Goldson, because he went to high school in Seattle when Goldson played at Washington. "I think he's a safety that so underrated," Mays said of Goldson. "He's a supreme athlete."

Mays said he's also looking forward to playing with Takeo Spikes and Patrick Willis. "Those guys bring the wood."

This is not good news for Michael Lewis, whose salary escalates to $5.7 million next season. With Mays on board, the 49ers might be asking Lewis for that pay cut.

You can't make too much out of conference call, but with the words he uses and his seriousness, he SOUNDS like Lott. This guy could be really interesting.

The 49ers again drafted another combine warrior in Mays. He often doesn't play to his measurables, and is not a cover safety at all. He'll function as a fourth or fifth linebacker in the box. Also, Michael Lewis might expect to take a pay cut with Mays in the building.

For those wondering, here are his combine numbers: 230 pounds, 4.36 speed, bench-pressed 225 24 times, 41-inch vertical leap. He can also really hit and apparently knocked more than one player out the game. However his coverage skills are wanting. Most of his interceptions came early in his career, although he did make a pick in the Senior Bowl.

Taylor Mayes is now a 49er!

Jimmy Clausen just went to the Panthers. How about that? We'll never know if the 49ers wanted him. Niners are on the clock.

The Cards just traded up for a linebacker Daryl Washington out of TCU.

For you Raiders fans, the Raiders just went with Lamarr Houston from Texas. He'll be good for their conversion to a 3-4.

I'm back and there are plenty of cornerbacks available. Wait, we might have the first trade of the day. The Raiders just traded to New England to get Rob Grankowski. There are a lot of players still available including Segio Kindle, Jimmy Clausen and a slew of cornerbacks.

I'm going to out of pocket for about 15 minutes. I'm going on KNBR with Ralph and Tom.

There goes Dexter McCluster of Ole Miss to KC. I love this guy. He can return kicks, could be a great slot guy. He might be more of a receiver than an RB.

By the way, the two first round picks, Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati were in earlier in the afternoon. Here's what Iupati said when asked when the call came in from the 49ers. "It was the craziest experience of my life. Just sitting there on the phone and my mom was crying on the right and I see everyone crying. I was tearing up myself. It was probably the craziest phone call ever."

Tampa Bay just went with blog favorite, Brian Price. He could have been a fine backup to Aubrayo Franklin.

There goes one of the corners, Chris Cook of UVA. He could be the guy the 49ers were trying to move up to get?

Rams go with Rodger Saffold the tackle out of Indiana with the first pick of the round. I wonder what Manny Lawson and Parys Haralson feel about that. They might be facing him two times a year.

Here we go, we've got three minutes until Dexter McCluster and the start of the second round.

There are rumors out there that the 49ers are trying to move up, along with everybody else apparently.

Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | April 23 2010 at 07:00 PM

Listed Under: Draft Prospects