UPDATE: The 49ers were rewarded with two compensatory picks on Friday in the seventh round. It gives them 12 overall picks with four in the seventh round, and two in the sixth round (one from Seattle for Kentwan Balmer) and two in the fourth (one from a draft-day deal last year with San Diego). One of their seventh round picks was from Detroit for quarterback Shaun Hill.

Picking through the resume of 49ers general manager Trent Baalke, you realize he might not be a draft guru. Now maybe the last draft and this upcoming one will prove that assessment wrong, but for now, we have to assume the 49ers are fairly average judgers of draft-eligible talent.

The last decade of drafting prove this to be true, and while former general manager Scot McCloughan is gone, most of his staff stayed. These are the same guys who made the same picks for the last six years.

With that in mind, the 49ers should seriously consider trading back in this year’s draft for two reasons. First, the top end of the draft is filled with risky prospects, secondly, the 49ers need players at positions (quarterback, pass rusher, cornerback) that are difficult to evaluate. Thus, without an ace evaluator, the 49ers need to attack these needs with quantity, which will hopefully result in quality.

At the seventh overall pick, the 49ers are likely to be confronted with a number of players with potential problems such as Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley (inconsistent effort), Auburn quarterback Cam Newton (where do you start with his issues?), even LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson (tight-hipped, loses concentration). Both former Redskins and Texans general manager Charley Casserly and former 49ers, Rams and Cardinals scout Dave Razzano have said the top of this draft is fraught with bust-potential prospects.

So get out of that spot and settle in the middle or back of the draft where the prospects are more solid. Instead of taking Fairley, the 49ers could trade back and get a safer pass rusher such as Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan and then maybe a solid quarterbacking prospect in Florida State’s Christian Ponder. Then the 49ers have the 45th pick overall in the second round to either get another pass rusher type or a cornerback.

That would also allow them enough picks in the later rounds to stock up on outside linebackers, cornerbacks and even quarterbacks.

In the last decade, the 49ers proved adept at drafting a Pro Bowl punter, long-snapper, middle linebacker and running back. But now they have to take chances on pass rusher, cornerback and quarterback. It would be best to go after those spots with two or three possibilities instead one potentially expensive miss.