MadDog49er's FInal Draft Review and Niners' Draft Grade

Originally posted by AmpLee:

BTW, did Aaron Lynch steal you lunch money?

I can remember another "train wreck of a person" become quite a player for us. A guy who you wanted no part of. Ahmad Brooks. Again, it's probably best left to the staff who are in the know to determine the "train wreck"ness of a human being. Lol.

If you look back at when the Bengals released him, the only team to put in a claim off waivers for Brooks was the Niners. And, that was with the previous administration.

31 teans in the NFL bypassed Brooks...those "in the know"

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Bottom line though.. you did want to pick 4 guys that went undrafted. All 32 teams disagreed with you on these players worth. Because of that I have to downgrade your grade drastically. Sorry Maddog. And you started off so well too.

Just for fun, let's play with the last two undrafted. Let's say that the Niners selected 253 and 254, and neither of my two picks were drafted in the last two slots (255 and 256), you would downgrade?

Originally posted by AmpLee:
BTW, did Aaron Lynch steal you lunch money?

I can remember another "train wreck of a person" become quite a player for us. A guy who you wanted no part of. Ahmad Brooks. Again, it's probably best left to the staff who are in the know to determine the "train wreck"ness of a human being. Lol.

Baalke interviewed the guy more than once and Harbaugh's good friend and Lynch's coach vouched for the kid. I have to believe that the team had way more information than anyone on this board about Lynch.

Originally posted by AmpLee:

And now Brooks is one of the best players at his position in the league. Your point was?

You were critiquing my analysis of Brooks at that time when the rest of the league, who you classified as "in the know" felt the same exact way. If he was such a hot commodity back then, everyone would have put a waiver claim on him, which they didn't.

Originally posted by MadDog49er:

Originally posted by theduke85:

Wow, interesting. I'm very intrigued by the Lynch pick. Harbaugh mentioned that he talked with USF's coach before the pick and that he vouched for Lynch. Of course, Harbaugh talks up literally every player, so it's tough to take what he says publicly seriously.

However, I read the he was kicked out of an interview before the draft because he was caught lying. That's awful. Doesn't sound like the guy has put the past behind him...

The team obviously feels that the upside outweigh the risks. I disagree.

Maybe the Niners can find someone to do an exorcism on Lynch. Just sayin.......

Interesting to me that Borland gets a B grade from you being picked 77th but Sam should not have been drafted at all. Both have athletic limitations (Sam has more), but Sam has reasonable length and size for a 4-3 DE and Borland has horrible size and length for any position. Both were productive college players who may not translate to the NFL. Borland had a 31" vertical and 4.83 40 at the combine. Sam had a 25.5" vertical and 4.91 40 at the combine, but improved on those numbers with a 30.5" vertical and 4.69 unofficial 40 at his pro day which converted would likely be faster than Borland's combine 40. Borland also jumped 35" but ran a 4.84 and 4.87 40 at his pro day (not sure how these guys are adding 5" from jumping on their own field).

If a team is willing to draft Borland in the 3rd, it doesn't surprise me at all that another team was willing to draft Sam in the 7th even with the media attention that will bring. I don't agree with your statement that he was drafted because he was gay at all. A ton of teams admitted he dropped on their boards because he would be a distraction. One or two scouts said their teams would not have drafted him before the news came out, but I don't believe for a second that all 32 teams would have passed on him. The guy plays hard and was way more productive than some other late round picks that aren't great athletes.

The Rams are looking to leverage drafting Sam as a positive PR move. They would be foolish not to. At the end of the day, I think most teams (maybe including the Rams) were looking at this situation and saying that they could get some positive PR out of this, but that would be outweighed by the distraction brought by the media and possible team chemistry issues that came from this. If Sam was straight, his play on the field and pro day results get him drafted. Every team evaluated the pros and cons of drafting Sam differently, so he may not have gone to the Rams, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he went in the 5th or 6th. Borland should not have gone in the 3rd even if instincts count more at ILB.

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:

Maybe the Niners can find someone to do an exorcism on Lynch. Just sayin.......

Maybe they can hire Mike Singletary to come back to the team and take his pants down

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:

Interesting to me that Borland gets a B grade from you being picked 77th but Sam should not have been drafted at all. Both have athletic limitations (Sam has more), but Sam has reasonable length and size for a 4-3 DE and Borland has horrible size and length for any position. Both were productive college players who may not translate to the NFL. Borland had a 31" vertical and 4.83 40 at the combine. Sam had a 25.5" vertical and 4.91 40 at the combine, but improved on those numbers with a 30.5" vertical and 4.69 unofficial 40 at his pro day which converted would likely be faster than Borland's combine 40. Borland also jumped 35" but ran a 4.84 and 4.87 40 at his pro day (not sure how these guys are adding 5" from jumping on their own field).

If a team is willing to draft Borland in the 3rd, it doesn't surprise me at all that another team was willing to draft Sam in the 7th even with the media attention that will bring. I don't agree with your statement that he was drafted because he was gay at all. A ton of teams admitted he dropped on their boards because he would be a distraction. One or two scouts said their teams would not have drafted him before the news came out, but I don't believe for a second that all 32 teams would have passed on him. The guy plays hard and was way more productive than some other late round picks that aren't great athletes.

The Rams are looking to leverage drafting Sam as a positive PR move. They would be foolish not to. At the end of the day, I think most teams (maybe including the Rams) were looking at this situation and saying that they could get some positive PR out of this, but that would be outweighed by the distraction brought by the media and possible team chemistry issues that came from this. If Sam was straight, his play on the field and pro day results get him drafted. Every team evaluated the pros and cons of drafting Sam differently, so he may not have gone to the Rams, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he went in the 5th or 6th. Borland should not have gone in the 3rd even if instincts count more at ILB.

Borland does not have the best measurables, and for many, that raised some red flags. At the same time, he came out and was terrific during Senior Bowl week, which alleviated these fears. Meanwhile, Sam was a mess all offseason. I think that is where you see the difference.

Originally posted by AmpLee:

And before that I was critiquing your analysis on Lynch which was an absurd character assassination from a guy sitting behind a computer screen. Our brass has put in effort to get to know the player and have determined that there's hope that his flaws can be worked through. The point with Brooks was that regardless of how many teams or people on their computers counted the guy out, someone (for our team) saw some hope in the guy and it worked out beautifully. You give this kid no hope. That's your prerogative, but don't expect your opinion on the character of a person to hold much weight when A) you don't know him and B) you've made horrible character predictions in the past.

If you want me to respond, you have to show the slightest bit of civility. Otherwise, I will simply ignore.

And, with that happy finish, I now go to bed at 1:14 AM. See you tomorrow, everyone.

Great work this year. It was crazy how closely your board mirrored Baalke's at the top of the draft, nailing the first 3 picks. Like you said, probably won't happen again in a million years, so I'll expect the usual C- grades going forward.

I understand the low grade on Lynch. To me, it's worth a shot given his unlimited potential, but it is a long shot. Not a very dependable person, he has issues. Really talented kid and I hope he pans out. He could be a scary 3rd down pass rusher for us if he commits. Couple years from now this pick will probably be either an A or F, no in-between.

Kaleb Ramsey is interesting to me. Did not know anything about him before the draft, and I had to chuckle when we selected him. Yet another injury prone player chosen by the 49ers. But from what I've read he's a talented, versatile lineman. Reading his scouting report reminded me a little of Ray McDonald. Will be interesting if he can push for a spot on the d-line.

Jimmie Ward: A
We've been complaining for years about needing a ballhawk in the secondary to put our defense over the top. We finally got one, and he has a clear role to step into before taking over for Bethea in a couple years. ER Ward, don't even need a nickname for our future safeties. Only reason I don't give this pick an A+ is because he won't be a full time player right away.

Carlos Hyde: A-
Emotionally I hated this pick because I'm a huge fan of Gore and Lattimore. I'm sure Baalke is too, but with Gore's age and Lattimore's uncertain health, there's no question this was the right pick to ensure that our offense retains its power first mentality for years to come. Knocking this grade down a few notches because for a 2nd round pick, you'd like to have a guy step into a larger role right away. That being said, even if he only handles 5 carries per game as a rookie, those carries are likely to occur in crucial high leverage short yardage situations.

Marcus Martin: A+++++++++++
In my opinion the most crucial pick of the draft because if he beats out Kilgore, he will step into 1000+ starter snaps right away, meaning he could end up having the biggest impact right away in this rookie class, not to mention his potential going forward since he is only 20 yrs old!! Goodwin was a solid center but more of a technician than a road grader. Since Roman's go-to short yardage play is cramming every single lineman we have into a 10 yard box and then trying to ram Gore up the middle, having Martin lead the way is a godsend. I'm not gonna lie, I think we are screwed if he can't beat out Kilgore...do you really think we can run on Seattle at their place with Kilgore manning the middle?

Chris Borland aka T-Rex: A-
Totally overlooked pick. As we found out last year, every single regular season game is crucial in the battle for home field and we can't afford to drop any games by having a converted safety playing ILB (Wilhoite) while Bo is hurt. We don't even know if Bo will be back this year. Borland won't compete for DPOY, but we shouldn't miss a beat with him stepping in alongside Willis. Make no mistake, he will start over Wilhoite...it won't even be a competition, you can't teach the instincts this guy has. Can't give him a higher grade though because he may not have anything more than a ST role once Bo is back full time.

Brandon Thomas: A+
Iupati's successor. Sorry Mike, you are my favorite lineman but you never developed into more than just a road grader. Thomas has the potential to be that and even more.

Bruce Ellington: A+
The battle is on between him and Patton to step up as our long term 3rd WR and possible starter. With such a deep WR draft, Baalke played it perfectly to land him at 106.

Stevie Johnson: A+++++
If I understand correctly, we essentially got him for a 7th rounder. His cap numbers are very reasonable going forward. I don't see us keeping Crab with what he's going to cost, especially since Stevie probably matches up better against Seattle with his ability to get separation.

As for the rest:

Johnson/Reaser/Acker: A
Bit of a shotgun approach here and trusting in our coaching staff to develop these guys. No complaints about the strategy here late in the draft. Would not surprise me if one of these guys turns into a regular a few years down the line.

Lynch: D
His postdraft interview hints at a lot of his problems (referring to himself as a first-round talent pretty much tells you that he still doesn't get it) but in such a weak OLB draft, might as well take the risk later rather than earlier. Wouldn't be surprised if the UDFA Breslin makes it over him, not that I know anything about him but at least he seems to have his head on straight.

Ramsey: F
I don't see how this guy has any future in the league. He's old and injury prone. Unless Tomsula personally requested this pick, it was wasted, even for a 7th rounder lol.

Millard: A+
We saw what happened after Bruce Miller got hurt last year. It was a travesty watching Boobie try to play FB, should've just had Tukuafu in there to mash people. Given his versatility, maybe he pushes our 3rd TE off the roster. The team will probably take it slow with his recovery, but I think he's real threat to make the roster and get some snaps as a rookie if he is healthy.


Overall: A-
Two major issues keeping this from a perfect grade:
1. Cully is still penciled in as a starter. Coming off the ACL, can't stay out of the news and not sure if anyone remembers since it was so long ago. but last time he was on the field he was getting toasted repeatedly in the SB.
2. Who the is our punt returner, and don't tell me LMJ. This franchise just DGAF about punt return position. Meanwhile it seems like in half of our excruciating postseason losses, the other team got a huge punt return against us, including last yr.

Otherwise by my count, we got two guys who can be full-time starters as rookies (Martin, Borland), two more guys who will play over half the snaps (Ward, Stevie), and two others who could have regular roles (Hyde short yardage and apparently Ellington is a candidate for punt returns despite only having 3 for 16 yds in his college career).

Long term, Ward, Martin, Stevie, Hyde, and Thomas, could all be full-time starters. Millard and Ellington could be regular rotational players, and there's a good chance one of the late DB picks will emerge as a regular too. This draft could easily wipe away the 2012 disaster and keep us as contenders for the foreseeable future even after the old guard is gone. Now let's just hope that these guys make enough of an immediate impact to send out Gore and Cowboy with a ring.

Since I am not giving a grade to the draft, I will not speak to the grade being giving.

In my estimation, the pick of Lynch in the fifth round was a risky pick. But, it seems that the team did the required due diligence and if we consider the fact that the team had sources with direct knowledge of Lynch that they knew and trusted, I would say that the team went beyond the required due diligence.

They took a risk on a fifth round pick. There is no need to rush to judgment. We will see, sooner or later, if they made a good call--and that pertains to the entire draft.

For me the picking of Sam by the Rams has no particular importance.

I have absolutely no insight as to their motives for picked Sam, but barring some evidence to the contrary, and speculation does not constitute evidence, I have no choice but to think that drafting Sam was a legitimate football decision.

Originally posted by znk916:
2. Who the is our punt returner, and don't tell me LMJ. This franchise just DGAF about punt return position. Meanwhile it seems like in half of our excruciating postseason losses, the other team got a huge punt return against us, including last yr.

This is puzzling to me too. We clearly value special teams (Vetrone, Osgood, Akers, etc...), but for some reason they don't seem to put a big emphasis on finding an elite return guy. Or, more likely, I'm sure they try but simply haven't found a match. I would've loved Dri Archer, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Really curious where he was on the draft board had he lasted to the end of the 3rd round.

James was okay as a punt returner. He was certainly an upgrade over Kyle Williams, but he looked very shaky at times back there. Held my breath every time he fielded a punt. James is adequate I guess, but he just doesn't seem like a true home run threat back there. Besides, with how crowded the RB situation is, I think he's gone anyway.

My guess is Ellington enters the season as the KR/PR. You mentioned that he had only limited experience on PR in college -- I bet he'll see tons of reps back there on punts during preseason and training camp.

Originally posted by znk916:
Millard: A+
We saw what happened after Bruce Miller got hurt last year. It was a travesty watching Boobie try to play FB, should've just had Tukuafu in there to mash people. Given his versatility, maybe he pushes our 3rd TE off the roster. The team will probably take it slow with his recovery, but I think he's real threat to make the roster and get some snaps as a rookie if he is healthy.

It literally only occurred to me just now that we have a combo of fullbacks named Miller and Millard. lol.