April 28, 2011MAIOCCO ARCHIVE49ERS PAGE49ERS VIDEOMatt MaioccoCSNBayArea.comSANTA CLARA -- So what attracted Missouri defensive endoutside linebacker Aldon Smith to the 49ers?Here's the word from the 49ers' draft room . . . Coach Jim Harbaugh on Aldon Smith
"The draft is full of good players. We took a guy we liked the most as a football player, as a person. We think he has tremendous upside. (We're) excited about adding a Missouri Tiger to our football team.". . . The way he rushes the passer. The way he plays the run. His ability to play on his feet -- what he's done and what we project him to be able to do as an outside linebacker in our 3-4 scheme and add to our defense, add to our pass rush."We watched a lot of tape on him, and we had him here for a visit. I'm really impressed him as a person. He's an All-American young man. He's got great wiring."He's a strong, tough guy who shows he loves football. . . . Another thing I'm excited about is his wingspan -- his Dwayne Wade wingspan. . . . He's very rarely on the ground, unless he's going to make a tackle. Very rarely does he go to the ground, he's got an uncanny ability with his balance, with putting a hand down, being able to get back up and redirect without going to the ground."NEWS: 49ers select OLB Aldon Smith with No. 7 pick
GM Trent Baalke on Aldon Smith
"Well, he's a young man from the University of Missouri. He's young; he's a 20-year old guy. He's a junior that came out early. A guy with a lot of unique skill sets for what we're looking for."Obviously, we had to get better on defense. We had to add to the defensive side of the football and this is a young man that has versatility. He's going to have to learn how to play on his feet in certain situations, but we feel very confident that he can learn to do that."The unique things he brings to the table, the ability to line up at various positions, whether it's on his feet, 5-technique, move down into the 3-technique position at times; just a lot of flexibility and versatility."
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