Draft a PK or KO specialist?

I say no. Here's why:

Nedney may be getting long in the tooth and shorter on his kick-offs, so some have speculated that perhaps the club should use a late-round pick on a PK. While competition might be appropriate for Nedney in the upcoming training camp, it seems to be much wiser to use the FA channel to acquire a PK.

The NFL official website currently lists 36 "active" PK's. Only 5 out of these 36 (14%) were acquired as draft picks by their current team. They are:

Sebastian Janikowski - Round 1 by Oakland
Jason Hanson - Round 2 in 1992 by DET (56th overall)
Stephen Gostkowski - Round 4 in 2006 by NE (118th overall)
David Buehler - Round 5 in 2009 by DAL (172nd over all, KO only, no PK)
Mason Crosby - Round 6 in 2007 by GB

There are other drafted PK's who are still active in the NFL, but none are with the team that originally drafted them.

Yes, even Super Bowl hero, Garrett Hartley, was acquired as a FA by NO.

Conclusion: FA is the place to find PK competition. Drafting a PK would seem to be a wasted pick, since the Niners are not in a position to give 2 of 53 roster spots to PK's (one for KO and one for the true PK).

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/thread.php?num=136466&highlight=kicker

With all due respect, that other thread is about getting competition for Nedney. This thread is specifically focussed on the DRAFT, and whether using a pick on a PK is smart or not. MadDog, among others has suggested using a pick on a PK. That's a different subject from whether the club might benefit from competition for Nedney via FA.

You answered your own question.

Originally posted by jimbagg:
With all due respect, that other thread is about getting competition for Nedney. This thread is specifically focussed on the DRAFT, and whether using a pick on a PK is smart or not. MadDog, among others has suggested using a pick on a PK. That's a different subject from whether the club might benefit from competition for Nedney via FA.

From the initial post in that thread:

Quote:
Should the 49ers draft (probably pick up an undrafted rookie kicker) with a big leg?

I say look for a replacement or competition after this coming season.

Ricky Schmitt did a great job for us the preseason he kicked for us and he's very athletic. I would rather look at free agents and undrafted kickers than waste a draft pick on a kicker.

Maybe if there is a stud there in round 6. Otherwise just bring them in as undrafted FA or whatever.