This recap was provided by jimbagg from the zone

"Was on air at noon today with Fitz and Brooks. KNBR may post the entire interview on their website. Here are my notes from listening to it.

McCloughan says the combine value is really in the medical exams and interviews, since new recruiting rules now prohibit NFL scouts from speaking with the college trainers when they visit a school.

Said that he is NOT influenced much by physical performance, incl the 40-yd time, at the combine. Prefers to watch tape to find the real football players. Cited Gore as an example.

Said that low Wunderlich scores are no big thing. If he sees a low Wunderlich score on a player of interest, it just prompts more investigation to find out why (backgorund interviews with college coaches, etc).

Believes that Day 1 picks need to be able to contribute immediately.

Beleieves that there is value in selecting players who have performed at a high level for multiple years, without major injury, in big-school programs and big games. Believes that they are less awed by big crowds and are more prepared to contribute in the NFL more quickly. Also cited the value of leadership, especially being a team captain. Cited Haralson and Lawson as examples. Used Walker as an example of a small school guy, who would more likely be a Day 2 pick.

His 14th draft. Said that on a 3-4 of those accasions (with other teams), the team drafted specifically for need and the player selected never worked out in all of those cases. Consequently, he and Nolan are on the same page being heavily oriented to BPA. Explained that when the club went on the clock, the club would look at the 3-4 BPA's at that time, and if all were rated essentially with the same score on the Niner board, then position need could become a factor.

Said that in these times, while dedicated to building the club through the draft, FA and other means (trade?) also needed to be included in assembling the most talented team possible.

When specifically asked if a pass rusher, shutdown corner and WR were on the off-season acquisition list, he agreed.

They will have evaluated over 700 draft-eligible players before the combine, with a concentration on eliminanting most and arriving at a numerical ranking of the top 150 or so. Tweaking may occur after the combine mediacl and persoanl interviews, but the vast bulk of the pre-draft work is done before the combine and before the start of FA.

Said that both the FA list and the draft are both more loaded on the defensive-side this year, and that's a "good break for the Niners" since it's no secret that most of the club's needs are on that side of the ball.

Had a lot of energy in this interview and sounded very confident (but not cocky)about his convictions and the homework that they already have in the bank for both FA and the draft."

• KNBR