Grade the 2007 draft

Four starters (one of them being the best player at his position in the league) and a good secondary depth pick has to be at least an A-.

Originally posted by 12b6demurrer:
Four starters (one of them being the best player at his position in the league) and a good secondary depth pick has to be at least an A-.

totally... when is the last time we have done something like that? Willis I think was the team's best draft choice since Owens in '96

Originally posted by redmanc07:
They say you shouldn't grade a draft until it has been 3 seasons so we are looking at the 07 class here.

Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 11 Patrick Willis ILB Mississippi
1 28 Joe Staley OT Central Michigan
3 76 Jason Hill WR Washington State
3 97 Ray McDonald DE Florida
4 104 Jay Moore LB Nebraska
4 126 Dashon Goldson SAF Washington
4 135 Joe Cohen DT Florida
5 147 Tarell Brown CB Texas
6 186 Thomas Clayton RB Kansas State

I give it an A. We drafted a future HOF player in Willis. Not to mention a lot of people thought or wanted Carriker at the 11 spot. We have our starting LT or RT for over a decade. Hill has been productive at times but seems to not get on the field too often. Big Mac has an explosive first step and helps make our front 7 one of the best in the biz. Goldson really shined last season in his starting role. And no one could forget the Zone favorite Thomas Clayton!

We basically got 4 or 5 guys that can start for this time for years to come barring injury. What do you guys think

Willis - Superstar.

Staley - Maligned a lot on the WZ but honestly the guy isn't bad. He just has a tough time staying healthy. But when healthy he is a pretty good pass blocker. He has range in the run game and can get out and make blocks down the field due to speed. He's pretty good IMO when healthy.

Hill - Gone.

McDonald - A gamble on a player with an injury which seems to have paid off. He's a talented player.

Moore - No impact.

Goldson - A hard hitter who has a knack for the ball. Causing fumbles and tipping the ball for interceptions. Not a speedy guy but a pretty good player where he was picked IMO. Easily worth the pick and worth resigning this year.

Cohen - No impact.

Brown - A pretty decent player where he was picked. Far from a superstar but late in the draft it's tough to argue with this pick.

Clayton - No impact other than preseason once in a while for a small time.

I'd give this draft a B grade. It's by far better than a lot of recent ones. The one with Vernon in it was a good draft too mostly because of Vernon. The Vernon and Willis picks and Frank Gore in different drafts were the best things we have done in recent times. But overall the 2007 draft was pretty good IMO. One of the better ones of a mostly failed administration of recent years.

Jason Hill was the only pick that hurt this draft, IMO. Man, I still hate that pick.

Originally posted by 9erred:
People seem to forget that the niners traded away the next years one pick to get Staley. We could have had sedrick Elllis the following year or Ryan Clady.

Ryan Clady, Sedrick Ellis> Staley, so I gave it a C

Clady. lol But willis was brillant and nolan was trying to keep his job with staley, glassman anyone lol.

Originally posted by strickac:
Jason Hill was the only pick that hurt this draft, IMO. Man, I still hate that pick.

It's hard to complain about 1 pick. When you look at the rest of this draft it's really impressive. If they drafted like that every year we wouldn't be in the situation we are in. I can live with this draft. With Hill I feel they mismanaged him and had no clue how to use him. He makes plays for other teams now that he is not with us. And that doesn't surprise me. Plus he had some injury problems. I didn't feel it was that he couldn't play. He could and can.

I remember being slightly disappointed we didn't get Ted Ginn. Good thing I wasn't the Niners GM.

My ten year ranking goes as follows

1. 2007
2. 2006
3. 2001
4. 2004
5. 2005
6. 2000
7. 2008
8. 2002
9. 2003
10. 2009

IMO, there is a major drop off after 2006... I think we really only had 2 good drafts in that decade.

Overall - A- solid picks and Willis will be HOF

2010:

Davis, Iupati, Bowman all Starters

Dixon looks good as the 3rd back.

Adams is in danger of being cut, Williams is injury prone, but I like him as well as Adams

Mays was traded

Byham injured, but has bright future.

8 picks, 7 remain

2009:

Crabtree, who knows, I dont think he should start, it should be Braylon and Morgan

Coffee, retired.

RJF only other contributer

7 picks, 4 remain

2008:

Ush, Balmer bust, Rachal, idk. Over DeSean twice YUCK

Reggie Smith seems decent, that C we drafted Wallace gone.

Morgan was a good pick. And Grant is back.

6 picks, 3 remained, 1 returned

2007:

Willis and Staley, starters

McDonald and Goldson, starters

Brown might not make it.

9 picks, 5 remain

2006:

VD best of the draft

Manny, gone

Brandon Williams, Michael Robinson, Marcus Hudson, Vickiel Vaughn, Melvin Oliver all gone.

Only other good pick is Delanie, Parys is ok.

9 picks in that draft, 3 remain

2005:

Alex and Gore remain as starters.

Snyder competing.

11 Picks, 3 remain

So since 2005-2010, we have had 50 picks made.

Of those, remaining are 26 players. Of those we have

Alex, Gore, VD, Davis, Iupati, Willis, Staley, McDonald, Goldson, Bowman as starters, and potentially Haralson and Crabtree or Morgan starting

RJF will be a good rotating NT. Delanie is solid as a 2nd TE

Dixon will be a 3rd back and maybe a FB at times. Snyder might start.

Grant is competing and looks like he will remain on team at ILB.

Reggie Smith will be a solid backup

K.Williams, Adams fighting for spots on team.

Rachal is terrible.

Brown is looking to stay.

Byham is hurt.

Taylor and McKillop prolly wont make the team.

Then other draftees left

2000- LS Jennings
2004- P Lee, CB Spencer & NT Sopoaga

the rest on the team are either FA adds or UDFAs

If you think about it, all of the past drafts from 2005 have been pretty solid, sure they could've been better but overall we've added some key players. The only draft that is looking very questionable and close to being a waste is the 2009 draft. None of those players seem to have made any impact on our team the past two years. Sure Crabtree added a little something but nothing that has actually wowed me.

Drafts are always hit or miss at certain parts of it, you can't get A's on every pick. With that said, the two 1st rounders both worked out. Staley, even though some on these boards don't like him, has been a solid point on the o-line for several years when healthy. Willis of course is an amazing pick. After that, a couple starters and some depth players is all I ask. Mcdonald and goldson have both been pretty solid picks, while brown is an ok depth player.

One of the stronger drafts we've had for sure, A.

Just because hindsight is 20/20 -- James Jones went 2 picks after we picked Hill....

Paul Soliai went 3 picks after we took Moore which would've taken away the need to draft Cohen and maybe snatch up Le'Ron McClain who went 2 picks later

Then the packers found Desmond Bishop in a 3 pick sandwich only 5 picks after we took Thomas....

Now not all of those other players would've filled needs but they are the notable names to follow our picks....but to draft a future HOFer in Willis and 2 pro bowlers in Staley and Goldson is a pretty successful draft so getting 2/3's of our picks to stick and landing 3 players like that pushes this up a B grade.

Did we get lucky on any UDFA during these years? Seems like good GMs tend to land 1 or 2 every other year or so.

who in the hell gave this draft an "F?"