Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:Originally posted by NinerBuff:Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:Originally posted by NinerBuff:Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
I'm not worried about next year, to be honest. Though I think our overall talent level and performance will get better, I don't think we'll see huge changes in terms of wins/losses until year three anyway. And I'm ok with that, so long as we're consistently trending in the right direction.
The Jets, Bucs, Rams, and Falcons all resurrected their franchises with the addition of a franchise QB.
I don't know if we can pull the same stunt, but we have the talent throughout the rest of the roster to make a similar jump, pending the addition of a franchise QB. Blaine Gabbert may not be as talented as Matt Ryan or Sam Bradford or Josh Freeman, but I'd be hard pressed to think he isn't as good as Mark Sanchez.
I'm not about to resign to loosing the next two years. That's Alex Smith talk. A rookie QB with an offensive minded coach can win NOW, not in 2014.
If people took that approach during the Walsh era, he would've been out of a job before 1981. All I'm saying is, if we don't manage to secure that franchise QB this year, we're likely going to be stuck with a losing record again. That won't mean we're not getting better as a franchise, because it sometimes takes a year or two to REALLY see results.
Guess what I'm saying is, even if we don't win next year, if we're building the right way, I'm ok with it...knowing that we're going in the right direction in a sustained fashion is more important than our winning % next year (IMO).
That's reasonable, even if its hard to take. We have a majority of the pieces in place to immediately switch from mediocrity to upper echelon, with a franchise QB.
Do you think trading up to secure Gabbert would be altogether positive, or put us further back on your timeline for success?
I like Gabbert, but I don't think he's the only guy in this draft that Harbaugh can mold into a winner. I think Ponder could be that guy and possibly even Dalton (to a lesser extent)....and I even believe he could make the corrections needed in Jake Locker to turn him into something special.
IMO, those are the guys that have the raw tools you need to play and succeed in a west coast offense. So I personally wouldn't move up to get Gabbert, knowing I could make other moves. Now, if Gabbert falls to #7, that would be interesting.
It would surprise me if Gabbert was there at 7, and if he was gone, I like going with Ponder in the 2nd (or even moving into the late 1st for him). I worry about Ponder holding up against injuries. But I guess that's a concern for any of these guys.
The reason I think Gabbert gives us the best chance NOW is he joins the club in late April and can join the skill position group to gain chemistry outside team facilities well before the CBA is passed. And with the limited armchair GM-ing I've done recently, I think Gabbert has the best set of tools to compete and win now. But what do I know
) and could work out off premises with the skill position group i.e. Davis, Crabtree, Morgan, Walker, Ginn and co.