A year ago, San Francisco 49ers general manager Bill Walsh and player personnel director Terry Donahue were just three months into their jobs when it was time to draft.

The 49ers are now faced with a pivotal draft in which they might need to select as many as five starters with their 10 picks, so Donahue and Walsh are clearly on the hot seat.

If there's one misconception about the 49ers' draft, it is this: Walsh does not run the draft, though he does have the final say in the case of differing opinions.

Instead, it is Donahue who has evaluated every player on the 49ers' draft board. He is the one who blends all the information from the team's scouts and coaching staff. And as the 49ers spend this week going through defensive players, Donahue is the one at the head of the table.

That said, the final stamp still rests with Walsh. If there are differing views on draft day about what position the 49ers should select or which player should be their next pick, Walsh has the authority to take charge and exercise his veto power. One source close to the 49ers said Walsh made his voice heard just once during last year's draft when he selected cornerback Anthony Parker in the fourth round with the 99th overall selection.

Donahue, who is being groomed to eventually take over for Walsh as team GM, has been spending all his time preparing for the draft in recent months. Coach Steve Mariucci and Walsh have other responsibilities that have kept them from devoting every minute inside team headquarters on the draft.

TEAM NEEDS going into draft -- Cornerback, defensive end, inside linebacker, quarterback, offensive tackle.

CB -- The 49ers started seven different players at this position a year ago and there is no one remaining that they envision as a reliable starter. Monty Montgomery and Ramos McDonald might be given shots at earning a starting spot but time is running out on R.W. McQuarters, a first-round pick from 1998. It is entirely possible that the 49ers might need to find two starting corners from this draft.

DE -- Last season, six different DEs accounted for just seven sacks. With the 49ers' problems in the secondary, it places even more reliance on the pass rush to rattle opposing quarterbacks. Chike Okeafor and Jeff Posey are young, unproven outside pass rushers. Gabe Wilkins has accounted for just one sack in two seasons and it is likely that he will be released after June 1 for cap room. In a pinch, the 49ers might move DT Junior Bryant to the outside.

ILB -- Currently, the 49ers have two linebackers on their roster: Ken Norton Jr. and Winfred Tubbs. The reason the 49ers will be looking for an ILB is because they believe that Tubbs might be better suited to play on the outside, where he would take the place of cap casualty Lee Woodall. The 49ers will almost assuredly have to find a starting linebacker via the draft.

QB -- The 49ers will select a quarterback on the first day of the draft. That seems like a given. It is looking more and more as if Steve Young will not be back with the team next season. Young will likely let the 49ers know what he wants to do after he returns from his honeymoon at the end of April. The 49ers will have already drafted another QB by then. Jeff Garcia is the only other QB on the roster.

OT -- The 49ers have told Young that they don't plan to select any offensive linemen early in the draft, but they will still look to get a big and athletic tackle. The 49ers return their line from a year ago, and it did not play too poorly in the last six games of the season.