NFL Draft, 2024

[deep9er]

The CRAZY part of this list of humans is that there are legitimately like 3-4 dudes on this list that have a chance to crack the 53!

I think that Anderson is a relative lock given how much they have paid him. Dude is 6'3, 326 coke machine in the middle of the DL.
Nugent has a legitimate shot given how weak our C position is.
Schrader has a puncher's chance given how good he has been and Mitchell being on the last year of his contract.
Pline has a chance to make the roster given a.) His size and ability and b) TE being the weakness on this roster after Kittle.

Mordecai could pull a Purdy and bump into QB3 over Allen if he shows the potential that made him a dual threat, 4-star recruit out of high school. This regime does a better job than any other in recent memory of utilizing the PS as a developmental playground to cultivate role players and team chemistry.

We certainly hope some of these guys do well and make the PS, if not the 53. One big reason is the cap can be better managed going forward.

For myself, not expecting any of these guys to become starters but filling back-up spots capably, is big too. I recall last season we were so high on some of the UDFA's too, but realistically most don't pan out. Agree Evan Andersen will likely make the PS just on his contract alone. He would have to perform POORLY not to make it. Its too bad Khalia Davis didn't work out, I thought he was a GOOD developmental player and by now, would be a big contributor.

 

[DurbanPoison2121]

We certainly hope some of these guys do well and make the PS, if not the 53. One big reason is the cap can be better managed going forward.

For myself, not expecting any of these guys to become starters but filling back-up spots capably, is big too. I recall last season we were so high on some of the UDFA's too, but realistically most don't pan out. Agree Evan Andersen will likely make the PS just on his contract alone. He would have to perform POORLY not to make it. Its too bad Khalia Davis didn't work out, I thought he was a GOOD developmental player and by now, would be a big contributor.

They are keeping Hargrave, Collins, Givens, and Elliott. So it comes down to whether Davis or Anderson flashes in TC. I feel like we will keep 5 DT on the 53 and try to stash 1-2 guys on the PS. Davis hasn't flashed as much as I thought he would and at this point only seems to be a pass rushing DT, not someone that has shown to be stout or even average against the run. We already have 3 dudes who pass rush better then Davis at that position so at this point, Davis may be redundant...and replaceable.

 

[DurbanPoison2121]

I keep watching tape of the guys we have drafted and signed as UDFA...and I am so impressed by these guys! Even the latest FA we signed, Chris Hubbard, will probably make the 53 as a swing tackle. I feel like this, by far, the deepest offense we have seen since the Shanahan era started, especially at WR, where we are legitimately 6 deep (Deebo, BA, JJ, Pearsall, Cowings, Conway) with Bell and Gray on the outside looking in. Our RB room is super deep, with talented guys like Schrader on the outside looking in. Our OL, although we didn't jump the talent level at starter much (Puni?), we seemed to close the gap from starter talent to reserve talent. For example, McKivitz and Hubbard are damn near interchangable now. Puni seems talented and tough enough to push both Banks and Feliciano/Burford for a starting spot, if not Brendel based on Puni's work at C during the Senior Bowl. Dobbs was a great, cheap option at backup QB and by signing Mordecai as an UDFA, there is a toolsy guy that Shanny can either groom or let go while not having to count on him for at least a year or two. The only place where I cringe is at TE once we stop talking about Kittle. There is hope that Latu improves, but based on last year, that shouldn't be hard bc Latu was TRASH last year. Willis will likely be our TE3...I'm hoping for a TE2 to be cut early in camp and we pounce on the opportunity.

All in all, I like the versatility and depth of our offense.

 

[deep9er]

I keep watching tape of the guys we have drafted and signed as UDFA...and I am so impressed by these guys! Even the latest FA we signed, Chris Hubbard, will probably make the 53 as a swing tackle. I feel like this, by far, the deepest offense we have seen since the Shanahan era started, especially at WR, where we are legitimately 6 deep (Deebo, BA, JJ, Pearsall, Cowings, Conway) with Bell and Gray on the outside looking in. Our RB room is super deep, with talented guys like Schrader on the outside looking in. Our OL, although we didn't jump the talent level at starter much (Puni?), we seemed to close the gap from starter talent to reserve talent. For example, McKivitz and Hubbard are damn near interchangable now. Puni seems talented and tough enough to push both Banks and Feliciano/Burford for a starting spot, if not Brendel based on Puni's work at C during the Senior Bowl. Dobbs was a great, cheap option at backup QB and by signing Mordecai as an UDFA, there is a toolsy guy that Shanny can either groom or let go while not having to count on him for at least a year or two. The only place where I cringe is at TE once we stop talking about Kittle. There is hope that Latu improves, but based on last year, that shouldn't be hard bc Latu was TRASH last year. Willis will likely be our TE3...I'm hoping for a TE2 to be cut early in camp and we pounce on the opportunity.

All in all, I like the versatility and depth of our offense.

That's good because in the big picture our offense needs to score more consistently. Yes by some metrics we're a top offense as is but as the play-offs clearly proved, its never enough. Our offensive skill players appear to have more depth, but we didn't do much at C and ROT? Should Purdy get injured due to a poorly blocked pass rusher, we're screwed.

Big questions on defense due to so many new players plus, new DC. Then hopefully no issues between Sorensen and Staley? These Coaching decisions make sense on paper, but should the D start out poorly, LOTS of issues arise. So more so our offense needs to be even better, and at times carry the defense.

 

[deep9er]

"Foerster does admit there is a limit to how low a team can go while still maintaining the integrity of the offensive line. But the long-time coach believes it is unnecessary to put five first-round picks across the line of scrimmage.

“Now, there's a line,” Foerster said. “This is what I always say with offensive line play -- there's a line below which that, with offensive line play, that if you just drop a little bit below it, it’s a gaping hole. All of a sudden, you're like, ‘He can't block anybody.’ And now we got a major problem. But as long as they're at that line and just above it, you can survive it and you can take care of them.”


Ok i get the bigger picture where you don't need five "All Pros" or five "1st round picks", but most fans would say we're close to this line at C and RT. Not going to say we're below it but can't help think we're pretty close at RT? TW won't play forever at this level so what happens if he drops off which could be steep? What if he retires after this season? You can't just draft a quality OT prospect anytime you want, so at some point you have to prepare for the following season. OT is hard to obtain and even Foerster admitted this, and next season we might need two of them.

 

[DurbanPoison2121]

"Foerster does admit there is a limit to how low a team can go while still maintaining the integrity of the offensive line. But the long-time coach believes it is unnecessary to put five first-round picks across the line of scrimmage.

“Now, there's a line,” Foerster said. “This is what I always say with offensive line play -- there's a line below which that, with offensive line play, that if you just drop a little bit below it, it’s a gaping hole. All of a sudden, you're like, ‘He can't block anybody.’ And now we got a major problem. But as long as they're at that line and just above it, you can survive it and you can take care of them.”


Ok i get the bigger picture where you don't need five "All Pros" or five "1st round picks", but most fans would say we're close to this line at C and RT. Not going to say we're below it but can't help think we're pretty close at RT? TW won't play forever at this level so what happens if he drops off which could be steep? What if he retires after this season? You can't just draft a quality OT prospect anytime you want, so at some point you have to prepare for the following season. OT is hard to obtain and even Foerster admitted this, and next season we might need two of them.

This was exactly what I was trying to explain within our draft. Outside of the top 5 OT, the rest of the OT was going to need work to get them up to NFL speed technically and strength-wise. It made sense to me that they didn't draft OL until the 3rd round. My hope is that they allow Puni to compete with Burford for the RG role and allow Feliciano to play C, where I feel he is significantly better than Brendel.