mock draft / draft strategy

I'm not down with an OG in the first unless he's the BPA, I just don't see that happening and I think we can afford to pass on a RB this year.

It all depends upon the grades that the 9ers give for Konz and Zeitler, Glenn should be drafted earlier. If Konz makes it to #31, he should be BAP and fits a need. The questions is what is the difference between Zeitler and the 2nd tier of OG? I would rather see the 9ers trade up in the 2nd for someone like Osemele, as the price will be much less. Then go BAP in the 1st for someone like Fleener, Jenkins, or Hill.

Originally posted by sachie23:
Lets not sleep on Kilgore here. A lot of "experts" had Snyder ranked as one of the worst starting guards in the league last year. I think the 9ers like Kilgore a lot and if Baalke/Harbaugh think he can play I'm okay with it. Why draft a guard early if you think Kilgore's your guy? Makes no sense to have 3 young guards. I wouldn't be surprised if they sign a vet and don't even address guard in the draft.

One remaining question : If Snyder was so bad and Kilgore is the answer, why didn't he play last season ? I am not so sure they are sold on him.
If they wanted to sign a vet who can help, they should have done it. There is no more cap space left to get somebody who can help.

The first round should be for acquiring exceptional talent. Every time you target a particular position, you risk a reach that sets the franchise back for many years to come. I highly doubt we're going to get a Fitz/Megatron quality WR at the bottom of the 1st round, so going WR doesn't really create a competitive advantage. It just gives us another B to B+ WR who can be shut down by a B+ to A- corner.

Speaking for myself, I still like Coby Fleener. He would give the team 5 legit receiving threats from a 2TE set ... sending him in motion allows you to create a completely different look to exploit the defense.

One of the best things we can do for the WR's is to keep the safeties in the middle of the field because they're afraid of the TE's (Or to burn the safeties if they cheat outside to cover the WR's) Fleener is a matchup nightmare, which is why he would be ideal for the Harbaugh/Roman offense.

Originally posted by niners9:
cartwright is also a RB. i know he was signed for ST, but if we are in a bind he can play and has the experience. i also dont think a 5th round RB will be gore's successor. RB is a very important position on this team and gore's eventual replacement i would bet will be drafted higher.

gore, hunter and cartwright(ST) i believe are locks to make the team. with jacobs and dixon competing for the 3rd spot. i just dont see a need of drafting another RB this year. but most likely drafting one high next year.

At rb, the chance of finding a gem in the later rounds seems to be higher than on other position. So i would like to take a try here. That (and the situation after this year) is the reasoning behind the pick.

Originally posted by NinerBuff:
I don't want a G in in the first again, and I don't think our payroll people want that either. That would be 4 first-rounder salaries. I think we draft a WR because IMO WR is the position that has limited this offense.

There isn't a WR that can be labeled our #1. Crabtree may continue to improve on the end of last season and get ~1000yds. Or he may continue with mental lapses and dropped passes and has another mediocre season. In that case, we would probably trade/drop him.

Mario Manningham is going to be part of the next few years, due to his contract. He could be a solid #2-3 or he could be a guy who benefited strongly from having two really good receivers ahead of him on the depth chart and not be very good. Either way, I'm pretty sure he's here for this year and next, which is the only receiver I can say that for.

We are rolling the dice with Moss; if he does well, great, if not it's what I expected.

Kyle Williams is a similar case to Crabtree, but he may have serious confidence issues hampering him for awhile. He may get cut before the season starts.

Ted Ginn Jr. was brought on for PR/KR, for which he is excellent. If he contributes as a WR, we're in trouble.


I can see us drafting early. We still don't have a number #1. I think we have to strongly consider a WR, even if it requires us moving up substantially.

Imo, if we want to get a wr, who really helps us, we have to get up at around #13-15. This will at least cost us our next years 1st rounder. I don't think Baalke will do that. The last drafts showed us, that he values picks a lot. The niners are not in desperate need for one player to get over the hill. The team is still young and will get better every year, so don't move in that dead end. As i said earlier, there is no other #1 option available for us.
The only other option is Fleener, but this pick would not be a need pick and i don't really see the niners select a third receiving tight end besides Davis and Walker.

Originally posted by mebemused:

Resist reaching for an OG in the first because it is our biggest hole. Let the draft come to us.

According to OTC, at our second round pick there are a number of very good OGs:
Brandon Brooks OG
Brandon Washington OG
Ben Jones, C/OG

Even the third round:
Tony Bergstrom OT/OG
James Brown OG

And the fourth round has:
Philip Blake C/OG

This

I think many are putting too much stock into Hill...yes, he has terrific measurables. But, he played in a run-first GA Tech offense...had to learn very few pass patterns. Yes, he had great ypc, but that can be deceiving...defenses geared up to stop the run and the few times they did go downfield, he made the most of it. He could surprise, but I don't think you spend a 1st rd pick to find out. I'm not at all sure Harbaalke see any of the WR's that could be available to be at the top of their draft board. So, I think the obvious choice is Fleener...for several reasons. The first is he's one of Harbaugh's boys...recruited him, coached him and he loves using TE's downfield. He played in a pro-style offense at Stanford...has great hands and pretty darn good speed for his size. That's too much to pass up...he's a lot more of a sure thing than any of the WR's that might be available at #30. I also don't see Baalke using all 7 picks for players...that is, I fully expect him to trade up once, maybe twice for higher quality players than are likely to fall to the 29th or 30th pick each round. For the same reason they'd draft Fleener (Walker's in the last yr of his contract), I pretty much expect them to take a good RB. I'd love to see Baalke trade up in the 2nd rd to get Doug Martin. There's nothing he doesn't do very well, plus he can return kicks. Gore's days are numbered...the wear 'n tear shows more every season. Jacobs is on a 1-yr contract. Why not get a guy who can be your every down back now...as Bill Walsh used to say, better to draft a player's replacement a year early than a year too late. With the remaining picks, take best OG/C and WR you can find. If you have a 5th pick, make it an OLB.