At this time last year the San Francisco 49ers were coming off their third consecutive trip to the NFC Championship Game and appeared poised to make a run at their second Super Bowl berth in three years with core players like inside linebacker Patrick Willis and defensive end Justin Smith leading the way. Sure, there were reports of in-house fighting between general manager Trent Baalke and then-head coach Jim Harbaugh, but their relationship seemed to work despite the tension -- and winning cures all.
Flash forward to San Francisco dropping four of its final five regular-season games, including two to the rival Seahawks, and finishing third in the NFC West behind Seattle and Arizona with an 8-8 record in 2014.
Big changes followed this offseason, as the organization replaced Harbaugh with defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, whose substantial changes to the coaching staff included naming two new coordinators. There also has been a tremendous amount of roster turnover. G Mike Iupati (Arizona), RB Frank Gore (Indianapolis) CB Chris Culliver (Washington) and CB Perrish Cox (Tennessee) all have notably departed via free agency.
Baalke also has to address a front seven that's been the foundation of the 49ers' success under Harbaugh with ILBs Willis and Chris Borland retiring. Smith is still reportedly considering retirement and San Francisco cut DE Ray McDonald. Baalke has started to address some of the holes via free agency, but it's important that he draft well and find players that contribute early if the Tomsula era is to get off to a strong start.
Here's a look at players San Francisco should look to target on the first two days of the draft, plus two sleepers they would do well to land on Day 3.