Frank Gore? Unhappy? That's news to me. He's not taking part in the offseason program. He likes to train in Miami, where he's building a house. He's not unhappy. He a couple years left on his contract.

The coaches obviously want to win. When they feel comfortable putting Clayton in a regular-season game, they'll do it. But he has to earn his way on the field. He's had some moments in the exhibition season, but he's yet to prove himself -- in the eyes of the coaches. As for the No. 2 back this season, I think the 49ers will draft somebody in the second, third or fourth round. The onus will be on that person to win the job.

I'm tired just reading those questions. The thing about a good inquiry about running backs is you need more than one question to really make it work. You can't survive any more with just one workhorse person asking questions. That's why the 49ers want to get somebody to complement Frank Gore. I don't think it'll be in the first round. You can't pair Frank with a first-rounder. That's almost an insult to him. And RB is a position that is very deep in the draft. Singletary and McCloughan have said the want a bigger back, so somebody like Jennings would seem ideal. But, at the same, time it would be difficult to pass up an opportunity land a burner like Sheets. The 49ers brought him in for a background check a couple weeks ago.

I talked to someone with an NFL team today. (Not the 49ers.) He told me that he knows of some teams that have taken Raji off their draft boards. I don't know that the 49ers have gone to that extreme, but I can see them being pretty cautious, considering the huge money that would be going his way. Personally, I think the 49ers would not be disappointed if Raji were selected in the first nine picks. I think, probably, Andre Smith would be ranked ahead of Oher.

I'm not a big fan of Jenkins with the No. 10 overall pick. The 49ers just took somebody like him last year. Reggie Smith was brought in as a corner, tried out there for a year and now he's a safety. Jenkins, by all accounts, is one heck of a football player. But he's probably cover-2 corner. And I don't think you can draft a guy at No. 10 to play safety when he really has no track record as a safety. I'd be more comfortable taking Oher at that point in the draft, if the choice was between those two players.

I really wonder about Raji. I don't see Smith as being that much of a character risk. He was suspended for the bowl game because he had dealings with an agent. In the NFL, he can talk to agents all he wants. In fact, he's probably talked to too many agents. That's been the biggest issue with him. So, my answer is, Smith appears on the surface to be a lot less of a risk than Raji. But, also remember, these teams -- and the league -- do thorough background checks on these players. They know a lot more about these guys than any one of us.

We shall see with Manusky. He's really had autonomy for half a season as a coordinator. Certainly, the 49ers have no mad-scientist kind of coach like Mike Martz. But sometimes Martz could outthink himself. I get the feeling that the 49ers will use the KISS approach to game-planning this season, instead of coming out in five wides or playing Big Sub the entire game just to throw off an opponent.

Josh Morgan was seen as a No.1 type receiver before all of his physical problems. Hill has always just been in a battle (no pun intended) to get on the field. . . . I have the Jags taking Orakpo, so I don't see WR as a must-get for them in Round 1 . . . Battle is entering the final year of his contract. It doesn't look as if he has a long-term future here, so he's going to have to impress in camp . . . It's possible Crabtree or Maclin could be there at No. 10, but I doubt it. . . . If Jags go with a tackle at 8, that could take somebody from the 49ers that they would've selected, sure.

Goldson has been penciled in as the starter. The question with him is whether he can show consistency. I think he's clearly ahead of Smith because this will be his third camp. As for Roman, I think he gets a bit of a bad rap because of the obvious: Zero picks in more than two seasons. That said, even if the 49ers wanted to get Goldson in the lineup, they would not have been able to do it. Remember, Goldson missed seven games with a knee injury last season after Roman beat him out during training camp.

I was a street free agent.

Brown's size is a bit of a concern. If you're coming off the edge and you're not 6-3, you better have Freeney-type quickness. And I'm not sure teams are convinced Brown has that burst. Orakpo, I think, goes first among those three players. Opinions on Maybin range across the board, but all it takes is for one team that likes him to make him a high draft pick.