Grade the 49ers Draft After Round 3

Duplicate removed. Sorry.

Overall My Grade is a D+

Ward D+
Hyde A-
M Martin B-
Borland D-
B Thomas D+

Overall I'm NOT Happy. This team is literally 2 playmakers away from doing something special. Instead Baalke puts on His Gordon Gecko Wolf Of Wall Street Pants on. Could have and should have went CB and WR in the 2 out of the 6 picks. Only pick I really like is Hyde. And Martin may or may not be a fit.

Power element missing. Limited hip snap -- not a road-grading mauler. Originally posted by BrianGO:
Brandon Thomas projects to guard in the NFL. He is exactly what you want, "a mauler guard who can learn the offense and eventually replace Iupati."

with ACL questions and to quote his profile ...... power element missing,.definitely not a road grading mauler

Originally posted by Mookster:
C- and here's why.....

Ward.... could have picked him up in the second with a similar move as getting Hyde. Instead drafting a WR or cover CB for depth in case Culliver has a relapse of stupidity or doesn't come back after his own ACL tear. Plus with have $23mil invested in Bethea and just drafted Reid with some depth behind. Ward will have to make a flawless transition back to CB for this to be a good value pick in my mind.

Hyde - With Lattimore coming back and LMJ on the roster an RB pick is an unnecessary luxury especially both trading up to get him and given the depth issue with CB we still have (see Culliver issue above). RBs are much more plug and play. Draft Gore's replacement next year after we know what we have in Lattimore. Bruce Miller could serve as the hammer back in short yardage.

2nd round trades - in a talent laden draft we went from 2 2nd round picks to 1 and picked up a 4th next year in a class that looks to be talent thin. Not good value especially with glaring needs at CB/WR and depth issues at DL and OG

Multiple 5th and beyond picks - outside of finding the diamond in the rough (highly unlikely but still possible) these are camp fodder, PS upgrades and eventual cuts. With such a full roster as it is these were ammunition to get high quality in early rounds. Now they're likely going to waste.

Red shirt OT - we have 3 OTs on the roster (Davis, Staley, Boone) and Marquardt signed last year and coming back after foot injury. Iupati likely gone after this year. Use the pick to get a mauler guard who can learn the offense and eventually replace Iupati.

I've always liked Stevie Johnson as a WR and getting him for what could be a mid round pick next year is a solid move. However, Buffalo is willing to eat a $10million+ cap hit to get rid of him and he's more expensive than drafting Cody Lattimer or Jordan Mathews with less time on his contract (4 +1 if a first rounder). after moving up to get Watkins SJ might have been a June 1st cut.

Overall I'm very disappointed in this draft. We could have come out with a high potentials for #1 WR and CB and instead have SS and RB depth with excess camp fodder in the late rounds. A very poor showing given the hype around this year's talent pool.

So basically you're upset we didn't get a WR or a CB.

Originally posted by bzborow1:
So basically you're upset we didn't get a WR or a CB.

I'm disappointed Baalke didn't address the needs of our team. IMO he left the team too one dimensional and added depth where it wasn't a high priority.

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:
Overall My Grade is a D+

Ward D+
Hyde A-
M Martin B-
Borland D-
B Thomas D+

Overall I'm NOT Happy. This team is literally 2 playmakers away from doing something special. Instead Baalke puts on His Gordon Gecko Wolf Of Wall Street Pants on. Could have and should have went CB and WR in the 2 out of the 6 picks. Only pick I really like is Hyde. And Martin may or may not be a fit.

I am with you, man. Hyde is the only guy and position I like although my own RB pick was Seastrunk. Other than that, likewise I am gutted with Baalke's ZERO action on CBs and WRs. Is just unbelievable.

Originally posted by Mookster:

Originally posted by BrianGO:
Brandon Thomas projects to guard in the NFL. He is exactly what you want, "a mauler guard who can learn the offense and eventually replace Iupati."

with ACL questions.

He tore an ACL freshman year and tore an ACL in the offseason heading into the draft. If he holds together he could be a great addition but it's a risky pick. It might be hard psychologically, let alone physically, to get back into beast mode after 2 ACL tears on separate occasions and while learning the NFL game. He's on the team now so I hope he holds up and will be more than happy if he kicks arse in 2015.

Originally posted by Mookster:

Originally posted by bzborow1:
So basically you're upset we didn't get a WR or a CB.

I'm disappointed Baalke didn't address the needs of our team. IMO he left the team too one dimensional and added depth where it wasn't a high priority.

I agree the Hyde pick was a bit of head scratcher. This has nothing to do with the talent of Hyde, he's really good, but he was a luxury pick. Well, one area the 49ers needed to get better at is 3rd and 1, and Hyde might fill that role for this season. Certainly isn't a sexy draft, but the NFC West is won with physicality and that is certainly what the 49ers are after here. It is a double-down on their strategy in some ways. They will not be pushed around...

Borland - Bowman is gone for a while and there is no guarantee he's the same guy, and Aldon Smith may also be gone to start the season. We have a need here.

Martin - Center need is well documented.


Two guys that might be interesting in the 4th:
- Martavius Bryant, WR, CLE
- Aaron Colvin, CB, OKLA

Originally posted by buck:

Originally posted by aclarke49:
Ward: C- most had him in 2-3
Hyde: B-
Martin: A
Borland: F
Thomas: B+

Most of who? Who are they and why is what they say important?

CBS Grades:

Ward----B (they have Reid and Bethea--didn't see a need--I disagree)
Hyde-----C+ (see below)
Martin----A (they like this for need and quality)
Borland--B- (questioned picking this high, his ability to play inside)
Thomas--B (low due to injury, but only available here due to injury--contradictory grade?)

They are critical of taking too many backs over the past few years (2009-2014)--Coffee, Dixon, Hunter, Miller, James, Lattimore, and Hyde. I disagree--many teams take RBs regularly...can be good ST players and the niners have had good luck with lower round backs. Hyde and James are the only guys drafted above the third round...not exactly overspending on backs.

I absolutely love this draft, especially when you count in Stevie Johnson which I do. Just think about what we have now that we didn't have before the draft.

A legit 3 WR set with Crabs, Boldin and Johnson: Johnson is the real deal, a 1K yard WR as our 3rd guy also big time insurance policy for if we can't get Crabs to resign.

Ward: A slot CB who also fills the role of backup safety at both spots which was a need, potentially a future starter at S and a good ST player

Hyde: We all love Gore but this maybe his last year, we love the potential of Lattimore, but no smart team would rely on him given his injury history, Hunter isn't a feature back and is on his contract year and LMJ even if he stays we obviously don't see him as a future feature guy. The #1 back in the draft is huge for a running team like we have.

Martin: #1 C in the draft by many, big time competition at the position. He can play guard also, I don't see any possible way our OL doesn't improve from last year. Either Kilgore wins the C job and is an improvement over Goodwin or Martin does, either way we're younger and better at the position and we needed that.

Thomas: One of the top rated OG, will redshirt, very unlikely the team would have been able to resign Kaep, Crabs, Aldon (whom is def still in the long term plans) and Iupati. Getting both Thomas and Martin gives us options at OG that look good. Plus the team has already paid both tackles good money, will likely give Boone a decent contract in the next year or so, these 2 young guys plus Kilgore (who didn't get a huge contract, just an okay one) keeps C and LG cheap for the next several years.

Borland: Wasn't huge on an ILB in the 3rd round considering we have so much tied up in the position with Willis/Bowman already. Still though, the #2 player at the position for a position we obviously value very much for our defense. Bowman will almost certainly go on PUP and miss 6 weeks and will take at least a few weeks to get back to being Bow, an upgrade is nice. He's a ST stud and that's more valuable that a lot of people like to admit.

Giving it an A+ for right now also because a lot of good CBs and WRs remain on the board and the 49ers have been ninjas with their trades. We essentially got S.Johnson for free with our maneuvering in the 2nd round and that cannot be discounted. Although I agree with many that the team doesn't see outside CB as nearly as big of a need as many here including myself made it out to be, I am almost certain we'll get one, maybe 2 before the draft is out and probably a WR with return skills. The draft this year is so deep at CB and WR, many of the guys still left on the board probably would be 2nd or 3rd round picks in most drafts, 49ers have simply got great value everywhere and done an excellent job managing this draft and there is no reason to believe that won't continue tomorrow.

Originally posted by JimHarbaugh:
How do you think the 49ers have done after Day 2?

1st) Jimmie Ward S/CB
2nd) Carlos Hyde RB
3rd) Marcus Martin C
3rd) Chris Borland MLB
3rd) Brandon Thomas OT

I just don't understand this draft at all. We need a tall, fast WR. We need a CB.

So we pick a Safety in the 1st round. A slow, one dimensional, thumper RB in the 2nd round. The C is good competition. Borland is better than people think and Bowman is out to start the year so he may start for a while. Brandon Thomas an injured, undersized OT? What?

This team needed SPEED at skill positions on offense. We have none minus Vernon Davis. We got absolutely none. We needed speed and cover ability in the secondary and took one guy out of position no less. We could have used a tall redzone target. We still got none. I just don't get this. It makes no sense.

Did not address positions of need. Did not upgrade speed and explosiveness. Picked a bunch of OL. We did the last few years too. So I guess we gave up on those guys already.

We had a lot of picks. No way all our picks make the team. So Baalke trades back for even more picks? Why? Trade up for quality. Not quantity. We had tall fast WR's staring us in the face and the ammo to deal up in the 2nd and we let it slide by. We had Rasheed Hageman if we wanted to deal up. I just don't see how the guys we got make us much better.

I'm very, very disappointed so far......

I think the 11 picks the 49ers have(had) gave them a lot of room to do what they wanted to do.Get a guy here get a guy there. Not going crazy which they could have done. For Example trading 3 picks this year 1st,2nd,3rd and a 1st (32nd overall) next year for Clowney.

We needed instant impact people and I'm not so sure we got them. I hope im wrong but usually I'm right. Baalke kinda choked.

Originally posted by BrianGO:

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by BrianGO:
1st) Jimmie Ward S/CB - A-
2nd) Carlos Hyde RB - B
3rd) Marcus Martin C - A+
3rd) Chris Borland MLB - B
3rd) Brandon Thomas OT - A

Why only a B for Hyde Brian?

I am trying to be fair. A "B" is pretty good.

Running backs are hit and miss. If he hit a position of need, it would be an A+, but it wasn't exactly a position of need, so it gets a good grade, but a "B".

Getting the best RB in the draft at 57 is pretty good. I know its not a pressing need for this season, but our offense is built to play off of a power running game, and Hyde could be our Marshawn Lynch. Either way, its looking pretty good that at least 1 of him or Lattimore pan out.

Despite being surprised by every single pick thus far, I really like our draft through 3 rounds. This is how you become a world class organization for decades, by constantly staying ahead of the game by having enough picks to keep taking big value guys. We shored up our future at OL simply by not needing to reach for pressing needs. Martin and Thomas could end up being our starting C and LG longterm.

Its possible that we felt coming in to this draft, that most of the WR were underwhelming, even though the position is deep. Instead we were able to get Steve Johnson, and could let everyone else go nuts drafting WR's, while we collected the falling value picks.

Our corps of pass catchers for Kap heading into next year is very deep all of the sudden. Crabtree, Boldin, VD, Johnson, Lloyd, Patton, etc. There will be time for drafting a WR of the future type guy next year.

I bet we spent alot of time tomorrow trading a few of our remaining picks for picks next year. Maybe one of our 4th's and one of our 5th's we give up this year in order to get a 3rd and a 4th for them in 2015. At this point there isnt many guys who we could take that will make the team.

CBS Prospect rankings by position:

Ward--#1 SS
Hyde--#1 RB
Martin--#1 C
Borland--#2 ILB
Thomas--#10 OG (injury reduced status)

Value-wise, this is a damned good draft so far!