Sanu is big, versatile, and talented. Is he a good fit with 49ers?

I looked around at 2012 NFL Mock drafts around the web focusing on on the potential NFC champion 49ers. We post at least 2012 NFL mock drafts every week so from time to time I like to give our readers some outside opinions. The San Francisco 49ers will host the New York Giants on Sunday in a game that no one predicted before the season. With the big one that Alex Smith had last Sunday and the fact that they will be selecting in the late 20′s quarterback will not be addressed in the 2012 N.F.L. draft. Wide receiver seems like the easy way to go, but I was curious what direction the other mocks on the web were taking.

Walterfootball.com

Picking  31st Mohamed Sanu, WR, Rutgers

Braylon Edwards was brought in as a deep threat, but was a big disappointment. The 49ers don’t need a receiver with Josh Morgan coming back and Kyle Williams emerging, but it wouldn’t hurt to add someone with talent at the position. Mohamed Sanu would be a nice complement to the other receivers San Francisco currently has on its roster.
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2012 NFL Mock Draft Roundup San Francisco 49ers - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Alex Smith isn't great, but he's Proven clutch this year

Last week was quite exciting as the Giants traveled out to Green Bay to stun the Packers. It was not stunning that the Giants won, they are a very talented team, it was stunning that they beat down the Packers in Green Bay. The Ravens on the other hand didn’t play a great game, but were able to overwhelem T.J. Yates and the Texans, though Arian Foster might now be the number one running back in the league in my mind. The Patriots absolutely walloped the Broncos and the 49ers played smash mouth football to upset the Saints, thanks in part to a large number of turnovers.

What will this week bring? Let’s check it out.

Baltimore +7.5 at New England

+7.5 Whew that seems like an awful lot of points. I’m one of the Joe Flacco “haters” and have never found him that impressive, but still I think 7.5 is way too many points for a team that can play defense. The Ravens also have a lot of talent on offense with good pass catching tight ends, the deep threat that is Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin. They also have one of the best running backs in the league in Ray Rice. I think the Patriots can win this game, but I”m not willing to lay 7.5 points.

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NFL Picks vs the Spread Championship Weekend - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Alex Smith isn't great, but he's clutch

Today, Alex Smith the “bust” proved to all N.F.L. fans what 49ers fans have realized this entire season. Alex Smith is a clutch N.F.L. quarterback who has been perhaps the best quraterback in the fourth quarter this season outside of Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers.

This is not the first time Alex Smith has lead a fourth quarter come-back, in fact it’s not even close. Alex Smith has been doing this all season. Alex Smith went all Tebow today, he relied on his defense creating turnovers for and putting up points that way for the first three quarters in the game, but in the end he went “Alex Smith time”

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Suddenly Alex Smith is a Clutch Quarterback - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Aldon Smith's pass rushing skills are pivotal in this game for the 49ers

Today the New Orleans Saints will travel out to San Francisco to take on the defensive oriented 49ers.

One of the keys to this game will be whether or not the San Francisco 49ers, and specifically Aldon Smith can get consistent pressure on Drew Brees, one of the hardest quarterbacks in the league to sack. If not it could be a long day for the Saints. That’s just one matchup in the game

Here is what else I’ll be watching for in the game:

The Field Conditions

Much has been made about the Saints leaving the comfy confines of their home dome to travel out to San Francisco to play on their potentially muddy field, and I think for good reason. I watched the Saints play the Titans in Tennessee and they did not look like the same unstoppable offense on that surface. I think a large part of it to is crowd noise at home. The Saints run a million different looks at teams and have more open wide receivers than any other team in the league based on route combinations and play calling. A slower track definitely favors the 49ers.

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New Orleans Saints at San Francisco 49ers: Can Aldon Smith Pressure Drew Brees - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Jesse’s Giants are red hot right now, facing a Green Bay Packers team that barely skipped a beat when Matt Flynn took over as the quarterback in week 17.

My Broncos are getting ready for their second battle with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, a team that beat the Broncos earlier this season on Denver’s home field.

There are some other intriguing matchups this weekend, specifically the matchup taking place in San Francisco with arguably the best defense in the conference (SF) and the best offense (NO).

The Houston Texans will also try and beat the Baltimore Ravens on their home field, something that has not been done so far this season, as Baltimore is 8-0 on their home field.

Now, on to the predictions.

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Aldon Smith was drafted 7th overall as a bit of a “reach” but What do draftniks know? (apparently nothing)

2011 could have been the year that we remembered as the year the Green Bay Packers went undefeated, but that ended last Sunday. 2011 will be remembered for a lot of reasons though. 2011 is the year of the shorter kick-off, and the year of the quarterback as Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Eli Manning (a little bit behind pace, but he needs to average 319 yards per game to reach 4,000 for the season) are all challenging Dan Marino’s single season passing record. 2011 is the year that will make of break the franchises of the Panthers (Newton), Bengals (Dalton), Vikings (Ponder), Jaguars (Gabbert), and Titans (Locker).

But somewhat quietly 2011, has also become the year of the young pass rusher. There are a handful of  very-young pass rushers who have emerged in the age of passing who look to have great years. These players have completely wrecked their fair share of games this season in impressive fashion. With a combined experience of less than four year and a combined age of only (66-all three players are 22 years old), this trio of pass rushers has accumulated 38 sacks on the season. These three players are Giants DE Jason Pierre Paul (13.5 sacks), 49ers OLB Aldon Smith (13 sacks) and Denver Broncos Von Miller (11 sacks.5).

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For the 49ers, Giants, and Broncos Young Franchise Pass Rushers Have Emerged in 2011 - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Big Ben Shrugged of an ankle injury but it wasn't enough to beat the 49ers

What a crazy week of football.There are teams out there who just have no desire to make the playoffs. The Titans had a great opportunity to make a final push for the playoffs, but fell flat against the Colts. not to be outdone the New York Giants got steamrolled by the Washington Redskins at home. The New York Jets got their doors blown off by the Philadelphia Eagles. Who wants to make the playoffs? We’ll find out these next two weeks.

#32. Indianapolis Colts-
The Colts are terrible. Peyton Manning for M.V.P. Jim Caldwell might have saved his job by winning one game this season, which is just funny to me. If you win one game you had a better season than if you lose all 16 games? They’re both still terrible and I don’t think Caldwell is that great of a coach anyway.

#31 St. Louis Rams-

The Only thing the Rams are playing for is to be slightly better than the Minnesota Vikings, the problem is the Vikings look competitive most weeks, while the Rams look forever away. Sam Bradford has had a brutal second year mired by injuries. The Rams need to know if Bradford is the answer next year and the best way to do that is to get better up front and at the WR position. Give him a chance. Will it be with Spags seems less likely every week.

#30 Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings, surprisingly only have two wins. When you watch them play you think they are better than a two win team, but they make too many mistakes to win some of these tight games. What sucks for Jared Allen is that he is having a career year, a defensive N.F.L. Player of the year, kind of season, but isn’t even in that conversation.

Christian Ponder looks like he’s a guy you can rely on to win a few games for you and manage most, but that’s not a knock. The Vikings might actually be better off losing out and hoping the Rams win one to get Franchise LT Matt Kalil in the N.F.L. draft. Picking third is going to be a tough position for them without the kind of value you’re looking for at third overall if you don’t need a quarterback

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NFL Power Rankings Week 16: Pittsburgh Steelers Lose a Big Game, 49ers Pushing Towards a Playoff Bye - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Will they get In?

The 2012 NFL season is winding down and the playoff picture is becoming clearer every week.  Last week I discussed the AFC/NFC South picture.  This week we will discuss the improving AFC/NFC West conference playoff picture.  We will go into remaining schedules and predictions.

AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs: The NFL can certainly change quickly.  The Chiefs were the AFC West 2010 Champs.  In 2011, injuries have decimated this team and now their HC Todd Haley was recently fired.  I think Haley is a good OC, but not a good HC.  He lacks the ability to remain consistent in his day to day approach.  Injuries were a huge detriment this season with season ending injuries to Matt Cassell, Jamal Charles, Tony Moeaki, and Eric Berry.  That is a lot of talent on the IR.  Currently at 5-8 they are not mathematically out of the playoffs but they are not going to make it in this year.   They play the Packers and the Raiders at home before going to enver.  At best the Chiefs will finish 6-10 and a good chance of improving next year.

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Will they Get In? AFC/NFC West Playoff Picture: The John Skelton Dilemma - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football

Trading Peyton Manning is the Right Move - NFL Mocks - NFL Mocks - Covering the 2012 NFL draft, Mock Draft Database, Scouting Reports, and Fantasy Football