SANTA CLARA – Jerry Rice developed sure hands by making sure the bricks his father tossed didn't crash to the ground. The newest 49ers wide receiver, Michael Crabtree, said his hands were developed by keeping footballs from smashing into his chest.

"When I was younger, my brother used to throw the ball as hard as he can," Crabtree said Sunday. "He's six years older than me. And I got tired of catching it with my chest – it was kind of hurting my chest. So I started using my hands more."

Those hands set an NCAA record for passes caught in a two-year span (231) and made him the 10th overall pick in the draft. On Sunday, Crabtree made his first visit to the Bay Area as a member of the 49ers.

He came dressed appropriately in a gold suit and was immediately presented with his new jersey – a cherry red No. 15. Crabtree wore No. 5 at Texas Tech, but that number is available only to quarterbacks and kickers in the NFL.

Still, Crabtree said he was happy with the new jersey as well as the 49ers' uniform redesign.

"It's nice," he said. "I can't wait to see the all-white look, all those colors. That's my favorite part – getting dressed. I can't wait."

Crabtree's fashion sense is well-developed, but it was his toughness – both as a receiver and a blocker – that made him attractive to the 49ers.

The team stayed with that theme on the second day of the draft, finding several players in the later rounds noted for their grit and work ethic.

In the third round, the 49ers tapped Alabama running back Glen Coffee. At 209 pounds, Coffee doesn't have the bulk the 49ers were seeking, but he does have the attitude.

"I love contact, blocking as well as running," said Coffee, the Southeastern Conference's second-leading rusher last year with 1,383 yards. "I just love contact. I mean, I always want to fall forward, always falling forward. Just getting up the field, falling forward, but I can also make that big play. I feel I can do it all."

Coach Mike Singletary was clear that Frank Gore still was the team's top running back but that Coffee would help ensure that Gore, who suffered ankle injuries in each of the past two seasons, would be fresh through 16 games.

With its first pick in the fifth round, the team chose Pittsburgh's Scott McKillop, a blue-collar inside linebacker who could perhaps compose a tandem with Patrick Willis in the future. Later in the fifth, the 49ers nabbed perhaps their most intriguing draft prospect, Ball State quarterback Nate Davis.

At one point after the college season, the strong-armed Davis was considered the fourth-best passer in the draft, someone who would be taken no later than the second round.

But a learning disability, about which Davis spoke freely Sunday, caused his draft stock to crash. Davis said he's had trouble in the classroom since the seventh grade, but that it hasn't been an issue on the field.

Davis visited with the 49ers earlier this month. He met with quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson, who told Singletary he felt comfortable Davis could learn the team's offense.

"We talked to his former quarterback coach (and) he just said, 'The thing that you have to do with Nate is just make it simple to begin with. Start him out slower, just like we have to do with most quarterbacks anyways, and then just slowly, gradually, continue the process and he should do fine,' " Singletary said.

In the sixth round, the 49ers took Fresno State tight end Bear Pascoe, who grew up in Porterville. With Billy Bajema now a St. Louis Ram, the 49ers needed a tight end who could block, something at which Pascoe excelled at Fresno State.

The 49ers' draft ended with a couple of LSU Tigers. The first, Curtis Taylor, will provide depth at safety. The final pick, defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois, figures to compete at right defensive end.

Singletary said that when reviewing the game film of LSU defensive lineman Tyson Jackson, the third overall pick in the draft, Jean-Francois stood out as much as Jackson did.

Read Matthew Barrows' blog at www.sacbee.com/ninersblog.