O-coordinator selection is just one of Singletary’s priorities for San Francisco

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Thursday, January 22, 2009  |  Comments( 2 )

San Francisco 49ers
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Welcome to the world of the National Football League and being the top dog of the San Francisco 49ers, Mike Singletary! When Singletary was an assistant coach under Mike Nolan, he could just concentrate on his position players and what was going on with them.

Now that Singletary is San Francisco’s head coach, he has to worry about offense, defense, special teams, the upcoming draft and a multitude of other things that can affect the outcome of a team.

At the forefront of Singletary’s offseason to-do list is finding an offensive coordinator for the 49ers. Former St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan was offered the position on Jan. 15, but he turned the job down. Now Singletary is zoning in on Clyde Christensen, Rob Chudzinski and former Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski.

In addition to finding the right man to lead San Francisco’s offense next season, Singletary must work with scouting personnel to determine the best college player to pick at No. 10 in April’s draft. Selecting 10th may not garner the same attention as the top pick in the draft, but it still brings plenty of responsibility.

Which player should the 49ers select, then? Do they go with a defensive player who can grow with stars Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes? Or should San Francisco pick an offensive player who can help quarterback Shaun Hill, running back Frank Gore and tight end Vernon Davis put more points on the board?

Trying to guess how the draft will pan out is far from an exact science. Much speculation is involved in the process, especially once the top two or three picks are off the board. Here are what some football Web sites are saying about which way the 49ers will go in Round 1:

· www.walterfootball.com - According to Walter Football, the 49ers will shore up their defense and grab ex-Florida State defensive end/outside linebacker Everette Brown in the first round. Brown, who recorded 13.5 sacks last season, would definitely help San Francisco’s pass rush.

· www.nfldraftdog.com - NFL Draft Dog also thinks that the 49ers will go for a defensive player, selecting former University of Southern California linebacker Brian Cushing. He only had 2.5 sacks for the Trojans last season, but the 260-pounder did play defensive end for USC in 2006.

· www.nfldraftsite.com - NFL Draft Site also believes that the 49ers will improve their defense. They project former Wake Forest outside linebacker Aaron Curry as the pick. However, a number of other draft sites predict that Curry will be off the board by the time the 49ers make their selection.

· www.nfldraftcountdown.com - NFL Draft Countdown deviates from the other sites in that it has San Francisco choosing quarterback Mark Sanchez, a former USC star. Several sites have Sanchez going as high as first overall, so it's questionable whether he'll even be available at No. 10.

· www.fftoolbox.com - Fantasy Football Toolbox is also jumping on the Sanchez bandwagon for the 49ers.
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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every...
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