Neglected D Line

Originally posted by InconvenienTTruth21:

Where you draft DLine doesn't matter. Who cares where they're drafted. Doesn't matter where you draft your DLinemen. Good players are good players.

But they haven't drafted any Dline.

Originally posted by maxsmart:

Originally posted by InconvenienTTruth21:

Where you draft DLine doesn't matter. Who cares where they're drafted. Doesn't matter where you draft your DLinemen. Good players are good players.

But they haven't drafted any Dline.

Well we do run a 3-4, have a stud DE, solid NT, and another very good DE in raymac.

Originally posted by maxsmart:

But they haven't drafted any Dline.

Kentwon Baler says hello. He looked great on paper, but there were warning signs that were ignored/overlooked. That doesn't mean I disagree. I thought the should have drafted dline last year.

Originally posted by maxsmart:

Sopoaga 31 y/o, Ray McDonald 28 y/o, Justin Smith is 33 y/o = that's an OLD Dline!
Plus they had poor depth, and ride the starters until they drop dead! They should shuttle fresh Dlinemen in and out to keep them fresh and keep the pressure on the pass rush.

Either Derek Wolfe or Kendall Reyes are already upgrades over McDonald, and would have /should have split time all year long, not just "replaced Justin". Plus they will improve with time, while our entire starting Dline is on the downside of their careers. That was also true in April 2012 and should have been addressed in the last draft. Live and learn. Go niners!

Wolfe and Reyes probably wouldn't start over McDonald. Reyes wouldve been a solid pick, but Wolfe gets the benefit of having Miller/Dumervil playing along side.

If we would've drafted a 3-4 DE and Justin stayed healthy, fans would be cursing the organization for not drafting a WR early. Without Jenkins, we'd be entering the playoffs with another band of practice squad misfits. The team attempted to fill the biggest need (WR). It's hard for me to criticize Baalke for that.

I do agree that we have neglected the NT position. Ian Williams isn't the answer and Soap could be on his way out. However, we've managed to get solid production from less talented players (Franklin/Sopoaga). DE depth is thin right now, but I think the team really likes Dobbs. Losing him hurt. It's a numbers game and Harbaugh is trying find his guys. He inherited Ginn and has no long term use for him, but he eats up a roster spot because we weren't settled at returner. Haralson eats up a spot. Goodwin may be in that boat, not convinced the team is satisfied there. Regardless, we improve every year and the personnel folks, led by Baalke, has been as good as any team on the league.

I'm not sure the point of this thread. I think everyone agrees Defensive line now is our top priority.

Originally posted by azninersfan:

I'm not sure the point of this thread. I think everyone agrees Defensive line now is our top priority.

After we resign Goldson.

Originally posted by maxsmart:

They picked ZERO DL for the last 3 years, RJF in the 7th rd 4 years ago and McDonald in 3rd Rd 6 years ago. Soap in the 4th Rd 7 years ago. I'm all for drafting on both sides of the ball, but the D line is the key to the defense and has been neglected.

It's funny how when you start losing a bit, people begin to blow things out of proportion. Let me give you an example: The Philidelphia Eagles love D Line men, they take them consistently in the 1st round and also pay big money to bring them to their team ala(Cullen Jenkins & Jason Babin)..... Other then Trent Cole can you name one good D Line starter in Philly? Sometimes filling a "need" with what you believe may be a busy player, isn't a wise move. We have management who figured that the 1st round D Line talent (based off where we are picking) are equivalent to the later round players.... I don't question them one bit.

^ Brandon Graham is also on that list. He's going to break out next season. He'd be a stud at 3-4 OLB.

Originally posted by maxsmart:
Thanks for the input. I guess what I've learned from y'all is that:

* It's good that the starting DLine are age 28, 31 and 33 y/o
* It good that our Dline depth is mostly UDFA who no one else in the NFL wanted

* It's good that the 49ers drafted AJ Jenkins instead of Derek Wolfe (40 tackles 6 sacks) or Kendall Reyes (28 & 5.5) who I wanted at the time of the draft.

* It's great that in the last 3 years, the 49ers have drafted SIX OLine and ZERO DLine.
Even though they have FOUR first round draft picks on the OL, it's more important that they still draft extra OLine and then cut them rather than picking any D lineman. Even though they have more first round O linemen than any team in the NFL, they pick Jason Slowey and Mike Person and cut them (who are then signed by other teams) and pick Joe Looney (who never plays a down) and Daniel Kilgore because O linemen are way more important than Dline.

But that's not neglecting the DLine.
And the 49ers front office never makes any mistakes

Thanks guys for setting me straight

Just as we have learned from you that over the course of three seasons, we should have completely ignored more pressing needs to draft defensive line depth. Hey who knows maybe somebody else would have Bowman or Aldon Smith now. Maybe somebody else would have Kendal Hunter or Mike Lupati. But who cares, we would have a Derek Wolfe or Kendall Reyes kind of player then maybe we would be discussing the lack of depth elsewhere.

Like others have said, any team can look at some position and question why more hasn't been done to upgrade the depth or talent there but it isn't like we have 10 picks in every draft and endless amounts of money in free agency, there has to be some give and take somewhere. Obviously when the team drafted Jason Slowey and Mike Person or Joe Looney and Daniel Kilgore they felt that those players were better than any defensive tackle or defensive end on the board at the time. And sure we can point facts and say that some of those guys were released but whos to say that if Defensive lineman were drafted instead that they wouldn't have been released as well.

Who cares if we have a couple of undrafted free agents for depth at the dline position. Sometimes undrafted players are better than first round players. The team clearly has felt comfortable with what it has had and the defensive line has hardly been a position of weakness over the last three years and like other posters have said, be patient, we have a lot of picks next year and you don't know that the team didn't stockpile picks so that it could draft more depth at the dline position in the upcoming draft. Maybe the team felt there was better depth, talent, and value at the position this coming year to be had than last year and obviously the team felt there was bigger and thinner positions on the team in the other drafts than the defensive line. Again I urge you to be patient and let Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh build this team not us armchair gms that sit back and analyze every decision made.

Originally posted by maxsmart:

They picked ZERO DL for the last 3 years, RJF in the 7th rd 4 years ago and McDonald in 3rd Rd 6 years ago. Soap in the 4th Rd 7 years ago. I'm all for drafting on both sides of the ball, but the D line is the key to the defense and has been neglected.

You forgot Kentwan Balmer in the 1st rd 4 years ago, which is not hard to do. The only reason I reason I remember is I wanted DeSean Jackson a WR and we passed on him twice. I totally get what you are saying and agree our d line has been neglected. The thing is the draft can be a bit of a craps shoot, look at the 2008 draft we completely crapped out in that one. Who do you like at d line in this upcoming draft?

Originally posted by azninersfan:

I'm not sure the point of this thread. I think everyone agrees Defensive line now is our top priority.

What is the point of any thread here?
This entire website is nothing but mental masturbation

Originally posted by strickac:

Originally posted by azninersfan:

I'm not sure the point of this thread. I think everyone agrees Defensive line now is our top priority.

After we resign Goldson.

And after we draft another WR, like many here have advocated

Originally posted by maxsmart:
Thanks for the input. I guess what I've learned from y'all is that:

* It's good that the starting DLine are age 28, 31 and 33 y/o
* It good that our Dline depth is mostly UDFA who no one else in the NFL wanted

* It's good that the 49ers drafted AJ Jenkins instead of Derek Wolfe (40 tackles 6 sacks) or Kendall Reyes (28 & 5.5) who I wanted at the time of the draft.

* It's great that in the last 3 years, the 49ers have drafted SIX OLine and ZERO DLine.
Even though they have FOUR first round draft picks on the OL, it's more important that they still draft extra OLine and then cut them rather than picking any D lineman. Even though they have more first round O linemen than any team in the NFL, they pick Jason Slowey and Mike Person and cut them (who are then signed by other teams) and pick Joe Looney (who never plays a down) and Daniel Kilgore because O linemen are way more important than Dline.

But that's not neglecting the DLine.
And the 49ers front office never makes any mistakes

Thanks guys for setting me straight

What you fail to consider is that if Kendell Reyes or Dereck Wolfe came here they'd be in AJ Jenkins shoes while if AJ Jenkins went to a different squad he perhaps could actually have playing time and have a chance to show what he could do.

Say what you want about the age of our starters Smith and McDonald both have the starting gigs locked down and we're just not a team that rotates lineman in and out. Justin Smith's injury really exposed our lack of depth but it's not like that's something we should have anticipated. Justin Smith has been one of the most injury free players in football. There's a reason why Indy never had a backup for Peyton Manning too.

Originally posted by maxsmart:
And after we draft another WR, like many here have advocated

Another WR is ideal, but if Jenkins and Mannangham can bring it next year, we're fine there. We will need another WR though. Ginn is gone and Moss won't be here much longer.

Originally posted by strickac:
Another WR is ideal, but if Jenkins and Mannangham can bring it next year, we're fine there. We will need another WR though. Ginn is gone and Moss won't be here much longer.

I look at a like Green Bay and they're picking tight ends/ receivers every single year between rounds 2-4. Jones, Nelson, Finley, Cobb. It's really the way to go about it.

I don't think we need a 1st rounder but we definetily need a James Jones type prospect.