2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft: Pick No. 49

Rd. # Player Pos. College 2 49 Chris Cook CB Virginia General Manager: JCruize

With the 49th pick of the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select Virginia cornerback Chris Cook.

Here is JCruize's reasoning for the pick:

When I took Bryan Bulaga with the 13th pick, I said that there were three key positions that the 49ers would address in the first half of this draft. One was right tackle, and obviously that is where Bulaga fits in. Another was at the left guard position, but with no guards of value at this pick, I moved on to the third major area. This is at cornerback and is why I give you Chris Cook. With Walt Harris and Dre' Bly declaring for free agency, that left the 49ers with Nate Clements, Shawntae Spencer, and former Lion Keith Smith. Clements is 30 and only started six games last season due to injuries. Although Spencer started all sixteen games at right cornerback, he really is a nickelback at best. Cook not only gives the 49ers some much needed depth, but he also gives them some youth.

Other players I considered were Jason Worilds, Koa Misi, and Morgan Burnett. Both Worilds and Misi would have filled in at an outside linebacker spot to give the 49ers more pass-rushing fire power. Morgan would have been nice at FS, giving that position some nice youth and depth. But in the end, Cook is a great fit at a position that is a major weakness.

Continued after the jump...

The skinny on Cook:

Cook is a 6'2", 212 lb. corner from Virginia. He loves to be physical with the receiver. He does not have the ability to mirror his man but is fast enough to close on the ball quickly and is a very good open-field tackler. He was suspended twice for academics and almost bolted for the NFL in 2009. Cook stayed, though, and became a team captain while leading the Cavaliers in interceptions this past season. Cook has the size and physical presence that makes him a perfect fit in Mike Singletary's aggressive pressure defense. And in a division that could feature a rookie quarterback (St. Louis), a new quarterback taking over for a retiring Pro-Bowler (Matt Leinart), and an injury-prone quarterback (Matt Hasselbeck) with a once third-stringer (Charlie Whitehurst) as his backup, it makes perfect sense to draft Cook.

Check out the 2010 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.