Originally posted by longtime49erfan:
I think you have neglected to include one vital ingredient in terms of analyzing the 49ers 2012 picks. In fairness, I think most analysts have failed to include this ingredient in their analyses.
That ingredient is coaching. You - and most others - tend to grade players based on their statistics, performance, history, etc. However, in order to properly grade a draft pick, you must integrate the coaching element, too. What will these players be like after being coached by Jim Harbaugh and his staff?
You are correct in your statement that we will not really know how successful (or not) this draft was for 3 years. However, we should begin to get a sense of how these players will respond to the 49ers coaching staff and philosophies during this off season, OTAs, training camp, and the 2012 season.
IMO, if the draft makes the team better, then it is a good draft.
This is a great point and too often overlooked in terms of draft evaluation. From the viewpoint of Baalke and Harbaugh, they are looking at their draft picks in terms of what they can be with an entire off-season of great coaching. The vast majority of draftniks are not.
For example, they might agree with Maddog in that Stephen Hill is overall, a better athlete and even that he has more upside than AJ Jenkins. However, they also see that right now, Jenkins is a much more polished player than Hill and that after an off-season of NFL weight training and excellent coaching, AJ could help the team far more than any other wideout they could have gotten at pick number 30.....and who am I to disagree?
Another example is Looney. Right now, it appears he is a good road grader but that he is lacking in terms of his pass protection skills. Well, B and H probably look at him as having all of the athleticism necessary to be a very good OG in the NFL but simply needs some time to refine his pass protection techniques...and they feel they can help him do that.