Final Grade: 49ers Draft

[erckm510]

I don't know I'm pretty tired of watching Lynch run on the defense he averaged 5 yards a carry in the NFC Title game. He might start ok, I'm pretty sure he's better than Williams, Dial or Dorsey. I'm sorry but I'm not in favor of drafting a guy that is going to basically play special teams. Also I could be wrong but I feel like the 49ers stay in their base 3-4 defense a lot more than many teams might because of the abilities of their two MLB's.

Snap counts show the 3rd corner more then the starting nt.

 

[imac_21]

I don't know I'm pretty tired of watching Lynch run on the defense he averaged 5 yards a carry in the NFC Title game. He might start ok, I'm pretty sure he's better than Williams, Dial or Dorsey. I'm sorry but I'm not in favor of drafting a guy that is going to basically play special teams. Also I could be wrong but I feel like the 49ers stay in their base 3-4 defense a lot more than many teams might because of the abilities of their two MLB's.

They don't. Glenn Dorsey played 435 snaps this year. Ian Williams played 13. That's only 448 snaps from our NT. This includes playoffs. So over 19 games our NT were on the field for 23.5 snaps per game. Out of our top 3 CBs, Rogers led the team in defensive snaps with 1046, Brown had 755 and Brock 663. Those numbers will be a little misleading due to Brown's injury putting giving Brock a starting role, but he also wasn't playing at all when Nnamdi was on the team.

49ers snap count for the 2013 season - Niners Nation

A case could be made that we need to focus on beating Seattle, and that should focus on stopping the run, but Seattle, despite Lynch's 5.0 ypc in the NFCCG didn't run the ball well that game. Sure Lynch averaged 5.0, but he had 40 of his 109 on one carry. Outside of that carry he had 69 on 21, just over 3 ypc. I don't like the idea of taking out his longest carry to make a point, but I do so here because I don't think having a dominant NT would have made a difference on that particular play.

The other issue with the calls to draft Nix is that he lasted to the 83rd pick. Teams in much more dire situations than us in run defense passed on him at least once. I didn't pay nearly as much (or enough) attention to the prospects this year, but following the draft on twitter today a lot of people were continuously mentioning leg injuries with regards to Nix. If we're going to ask him to anchor our DL against the run and take on double teams, both his "anchors" need to be dependable. If he's got a bad leg, he may not be able to anchor (a concern with Ian Williams this year as well).

With regards to draft grade, as I said above, I didn't pay enough attention to prospects this year to grade. Based on the little research I did I'm most excited about Reasler (sp?). The little footage (read: hilights) I saw showed a good burst and a willing hitter.

I like the Hyde pick as Gore is nearing the end, as much as we all would like to deny it (I really need a Gore jersey) and there are a lot of question marks surrounding Lattimore. I think we can all agree that neither Hunter nor James are "every down" RBs (particularly in the NFCW). And despite all our requests, demands and hopes of a more wide open offense it looks like we are a Bo Schembechler team, and having a potential 3 headed monster of Hyde, Lattimore and Hunter is intriguing (Hunter the least likely to still be still with us).

I like the idea of carpet bombing DB. We currently have a lot of question marks there, and it's clearly the weakest area of the team on paper (no idea what would be 2nd. Probably either RB or QB). My limited knowledge of the players in this draft didn't show a must-have CB. Even the top guys had a couple significant issues. The Jimmie Ward pick is a classic Harbaalke pick as a tweener (similar to Culliver, and then Johnson in the 4th this year).

And of course I'm on board with the "red shirt" approach.

 

[imac_21]

Shit, got too wrapped up in discussing the draft picks and forgot the reason I started that post.

The Niners don't use the NT much at all, but still keep all 4 LBs on the field. They tend to push McDonald and Smith inside and line up Brooks and/or Aldon with a hand in the dirt. Sometimes it's a 4-2-5 look, sometimes it's a 3-3-5 look, but the personnel is the same:
DL - Smith & RayMac
LB - Willis, Bowman, Aldon & Brooks
DB - Brown, Brock, Rogers, Whitner & Reid (based on last year)

Now, given that we are without Bowman for the first half of the season (maybe more) and potentially without Aldon (pending suspension), I wonder how that will effect the look in the front 7. Will we see more 4 man fronts? Something like Dorsey or Williams and Ray Mac at DT with J Smith and Tank at DE and Wills, Brooks and Lemonier/Skuta/Wilhoite at LB? On passing downs shift Smith inside, take Dorsey/Williams out and put Brooks and Lemonier at OLB as pass rush threats?

Sorry to hijack the thread. Just a little stream of consciousness.

 

[poewelch84]

I still don't like the idea of drafting a special teamer over a starter. However Borland is who they have so hopefully he ends up being better than I think he'll be. In my view they should have been able to get both. I think it was the knee injury and his use of social media that hurt him from what I heard. All I know is that with Watt, Nix and Clowney the Texans defense got better in a hurry.

 

[poewelch84]

Snap counts show the 3rd corner more then the starting nt.

That still isn't a special teamer in Borland. That would be Ward who the Niners drafted in the first round.

 

[Hangman]

Is it just me or are they drafting a lot of South Carolina players lately.

Culliver, Ellington, and Lattimore. I wonder if they have a friend on the team giving them the heads up just like Florida does with the Patriots.

 

[imac_21]

I still don't like the idea of drafting a special teamer over a starter. However Borland is who they have so hopefully he ends up being better than I think he'll be. In my view they should have been able to get both. I think it was the knee injury and his use of social media that hurt him from what I heard. All I know is that with Watt, Nix and Clowney the Texans defense got better in a hurry.

Clearly there were issues with Nix. The idea being presented on this board that he was a first rounder is obviously flawed as he went in the 3rd round. It doesn't matter what reason(s) he fell, not a single team viewed him as the best value with their first or second round pick. Unfortunately there were issues at hand that caused him to be a third rounder. The Niners clearly felt his issues were enough that he wasn't worth their 3rd round pick. Given that your evaluation is based off games, and the Niners evaluation (and the rest of the league's) is based off game film (not tv tape), interviews and medical reports some deference may be required.

 

[poewelch84]

Clearly there were issues with Nix. The idea being presented on this board that he was a first rounder is obviously flawed as he went in the 3rd round. It doesn't matter what reason(s) he fell, not a single team viewed him as the best value with their first or second round pick. Unfortunately there were issues at hand that caused him to be a third rounder. The Niners clearly felt his issues were enough that he wasn't worth their 3rd round pick. Given that your evaluation is based off games, and the Niners evaluation (and the rest of the league's) is based off game film (not tv tape), interviews and medical reports some deference may be required.

Oh I'm not a talent evaluator, but he injured his knee and his career at Notre Dame was over, I'm sure that played a role in this. Gore had first round talent but injuries dropped him to the 3rd round. I wouldn't at all be shocked if Borland was never anything more than a special teamer and back up, I would be with Nix.

 

[imac_21]

Oh I'm not a talent evaluator, but he injured his knee and his career at Notre Dame was over, I'm sure that played a role in this. Gore had first round talent but injuries dropped him to the 3rd round. I wouldn't at all be shocked if Borland was never anything more than a special teamer and back, I would be with Nix.

Andrew Williams also hurt his knee at Miami and was drafted in the 3rd round. That didn't work out so well. I wonder what the ratio of DL tearing their knee in college that are successful in the NFL, to those that aren't is?

 

[poewelch84]

Andrew Williams also hurt his knee at Miami and was drafted in the 3rd round. That didn't work out so well. I wonder what the ratio of DL tearing their knee in college that are successful in the NFL, to those that aren't is?

not sure, McDonald had at least one knee injury if I'm not mistaken and he has developed nicely.

 

[Hangman]

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[poewelch84]

Hang Man I like Borland just not over a guy like Nix, I would have liked to get them both. Also my parents just bought a small place in Bourne Ican't wait to get down at some point this summer.

 

[Hangman]

not sure, McDonald had at least one knee injury if I'm not mistaken and he has developed nicely.

Yes, McDonald had 2 torn ACLs in college. One on each knee

 

[Hangman]

Hang Man I like Borland just not over a guy like Nix, I would have liked to get them both. Also my parents just bought a small place in Bourne Ican't wait to get down at some point this summer.

I am a big believer in linemen both on defense and offense. Bigger the better for NTs. But, I feel right now there is no place on the team for a NT. Williams and Dorsey did a great job last season. Williams was injured from week 2 on, but even after him the NT was not a need position or not a position that needed shoring up. ILBer is a position that needs to be shored up.

Bowman might not be back till the last half of the season at best. Who knows how well he will playwhen he does come back. I have seen his injury take out some good players and make them a shell of their former selves. Scott McKillop is an example of this. It ended his career and he was playing damn well too before hand. Darius Fleming has not even had the chance to play after tearing his ACL. Probably will get cut to make room for Borland.

 

[BOB11]

Kiper gave us an A...2014 NFL draft - Mel Kiper grades the draft class for every NFL team - ESPN

 

[whysies]

Bros- I really liked the Martin pick too and expect him to be a starter down the line. But we aren't actually expecting Harbaugh to let a rookie start this year, are we? Especially one who is so young and raw and who plays such a crucial position that requires a lot of knowledge of the playbook/line calls? I mean, there is just no way he starts at center unless Kilgore gets hurt. It's impossible, not on this team with this coaching staff.

Eric Reid is the only player I can think of that Harbaugh let play such an important position as a rookie, and he was a lot more seasoned and there was much more of a need there IMO. I'd love to see Martin beat out Kilgore but I just don't see it happening.

 

[Robotech]

Kiper gave us an A...2014 NFL draft - Mel Kiper grades the draft class for every NFL team - ESPN

That's good to see. I like that we used all of our picks to add depth to the team instead of trading up.

 

[BINGO]

I just think that we did a huge mistake passing up on Dri Archer. When we go back to this draft to reevaluate 3-4 years from now, history is not going to remind us that we traded out somewhere in the middle of the third to pick up an additional 6th round pick. We had the opportunity to get Brandon Thomas (which we did), and Dri Archer who I predict will be one of the best return specialist to ever play in the pros. We needed to help out our offensive unit (constant great field advantage to start a drive) by giving them a dynamic return specialist, we fumbled away that opportunity when we traded away our 3rd round pick. I am also suspicious that the only reason Baalke did not trade away the last pick of the 3rd round was only because it was a comp pick. We got lucky there.

 

[NinerSickness]

I just think that we did a huge mistake passing up on Dri Archer.

Same here. I also think it was a huge mistake not re-signing Ted Ginn last year. Archer would have instantly made a significant part of the team a lot better IMO. He might end up being one of the 2 or 3 best return men in the game.

 

[BINGO]

The good news is that we have a boatload of DBs. A few of them I knew very little about entering this draft in terms of their abilities. I spent a great deal of time these past couple of hours doing a bit of research on them. They seem like legit NFL ready type players, all of them have the potential to get on the field immediately as role players this upcoming season.

History works in our favor as well when it comes to evaluating the DB position (with the exception of Cully). Shawnte Spencer, Tramaine Brock, Tarrell Brown, Dashon Goldson, Eric Reid, the kid from Rutgers that the Chiefs stole from us last year, etc. I'm not even including Darryl Morris. Not only does our track record support the fact that we are pretty good in evaluating DBs, it also shows that our coaching staff knows how to develop them in getting them ready to compete and produce on the field.