SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - A year ago, Trent Baalke guided the San Francisco 49ers through the draft for the first time and added a few key pieces to a team favored to win the NFC West and reach the playoffs after a long absence. His top two picks became immediate starters on a revamped offensive line, while several others also made impacts as rookies.
In Baalke's second go-round, after a recent promotion to general manager, his moves next week will be an even bigger deal: San Francisco is in dire need of a difference-maker at quarterback. And this could be the best chance to find that person in a time of uncertainty with the lockout.
"It's a critical decision," Baalke said this week.
The 49ers have the No. 7 overall pick next Thursday night. They are likely to use that first selection on a defensive player such as outside linebacker and proven pass-rusher Von Miller or cornerback Patrick Peterson - the kind of shutdown defender the veteran unit could use in the backfield - if either is still on the board. Or, it could be reliable run-stopping linebacker Robert Quinn out of North Carolina.
But Baalke and new coach and former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh will have their eyes on all the talented QBs in this draft to see who might fit well into their West Coast offense.
While San Francisco has extended an offer - an "olive branch" as Baalke put it - to 2005 No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith to return and compete for the starting job this year, the Niners still hope to find their man of the future.
"Obviously, we need a quarterback," Baalke said. "When I made that statement, that the quarterback of the future wasn't on the roster, you simply look at the roster, and we have one quarterback under contract, and that's David Carr. So we've got work to do, whether it's in free agency, whether it's this draft, or whether it's in a trade. We've got to figure it out ... I've got tremendous confidence in Jim and the coaching staff to win football games with whoever we bring in here."
A college star at Michigan and a first-round draft pick taken 26th overall by Chicago in 1987, Harbaugh played 15 seasons in the NFL for the Bears, Colts, Ravens, Chargers and Panthers.
During the evaluation process of potential draft picks, he put the QBs through a quiz in which he had them draw up plays and coverages to find out how they would handle different reads and progressions in the offense.
"If you have the DNA of a quarterback, you have the ability to figure things out," he said. "I don't think there's any one way to know if a guy's going to be a Pro Bowl quarterback, even a starting quarterback. There's a lot of factors, and I'm not professing to have all the answers. You do the best you can and you try to evaluate the quarterback like you do any other position."
Last year, Baalke selected right tackle Anthony Davis at No. 11 and then left guard Mike Iupati six spots later. Both started every game for a team that underachieved and finished at 6-10 following a surprising 0-5 start. The 49ers haven't had a winning season since their last trip to the playoffs in 2002.
Filling in some missing parts through the draft is the only option considering teams can't sign free agents during the lockout. The 49ers also hold one pick in each of the second and third rounds with a total of 12 selections, most of any NFL team.
San Francisco has two of its core players on either side of the ball locked up to long-term deals: linebacker Patrick Willis and tight end Vernon Davis. Baalke orchestrated those contracts last year in what became a productive first few months as the team's top personnel chief. He certainly showed something to team president Jed York, who this winter said he would launch a national search for a new GM and wound up elevating Baalke right from within the building.
Then, Baalke lured the biggest recruit of all - Harbaugh - to move some 10 miles down the freeway from Stanford four days after football's hottest commodity had led the Cardinal to a 40-12 victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl and a school-record 12 wins.
Everybody involved is eager to get going, and at this point the draft is the first and only step until the lockout ends. York has vowed to return this downtrodden franchise to its glory days of the past when San Francisco was a perennial contender in not only its division but for Super Bowl titles.
"We're doing everything we can to prepare for the season and we're moving full steam ahead as if we're playing," York told fans in a call-in forum Wednesday night. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what Jim can do with this team. I know it's going to be very special."
With the unsettled labor situation, it's hard for Baalke to compare running this draft to going through the process a year ago after he took over top executive duties following the abrupt departure of then-GM Scot McCloughan. Still, there were experiences he gained.
"I think the No. 1 thing I learned through the process is you've got to stick to your beliefs. Every time you make an exception, you usually get burned," Baalke said. "I think you learn a little bit every year. You stick to the core values of what you're looking for."
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AP Sports Writer Antonio Gonzalez contributed to this story.