Grade Trent Baalke's performance so far. Also a Trent Baalke appreciation thread

Originally posted by pete98146:
Hard to grade Baalke's performance because I think it's been more Singletary's effort so far. Sounds like Baalke was waiting with open arms for Clausen at pick #49. When Jimmy was taken at pick #48, Baalke reverted back to Sing's player which ended up being Mays. Whether it's good or bad, seems like Iron Mike has made most of the calls so far. Grade for Baalke = incomplete

Yeah I'd give Baalke an A, because he drafted for needs instead of wants. & as a matter of fact, they strayed away from what they actually wanted to do in last years draft, because of M.Crabtree falling unto our laps. When we could've gotten M.Oher. Well, whether Baalke wanted Clausen or not, others in here wanted Clausen, I wanted Terrence Cody after Taylor Mays, but it's ok. I believe that getting Taylor Mays was a good move. Ronnie Lott's actually excited & pleased that we've gotten him. He's a Safety, not a CB. So, forget about what others say about his man x man coverage skills; flaws could be worked on & with great coaching & advice from D.Manusky & Ronnie Lott. He could be on his way as one of the top Safeties in the league. Same goes for M.Iupati & A.Davis working with M.Solari. Also, to include what about our UDFA pick-ups?..Great moves, huh...Damn straight!!!

Baalke is doing a great job, it started with allowing himself to be motivated by Singletary. Once he accepted Singletary has his savior, he was almost unstoppable. The ownership and the senior management couldn't be more pleased.

A -

This is a fantastic draft. Better than anything that Scot M. ever put together.

He has done a very solid job so far, i guess we will see how the picks pan out.

Originally posted by SnakePlissken:

Originally posted by KALI-KING:

Originally posted by Hawaii49erfan:
B- good players but didnt like giving up our 4th rounder for davis who would have been there at 13 and probably at 17.

I guess were no longer a BPA team anymore.

would he have been there, I heard the cowboys were thinking of moving up.

Lots of teams were moving up for Davis, Denver was getting offers left and right (and were determined to trade out of that spot) but we had the sweetest offer, a 4th + 2 slots back.

And even if there weren't teams trading up Miami would have taken Davis on the spot (notice how they immediately traded out to SD nearly a minute after Miami took wind of that).

Trent took the initiative and I give him even more high fives for it!

I think Trent did a great job in the draft & with the Ted Ginn trade

Originally posted by SnakePlissken:

Originally posted by KRS-1:
So Baalke gets all the credit ? Who helped shaped the draft board in itself ?

Scot made the board, but Baalke made the picks. -Most of the picks in the first 2 rounds were no-brainers, but it was Baalke's balls that made this one of the best in ages by picking 2 o-linemen. (And much love still goes to Baalke cause in essence he helped Scot amongst other personnel scouts assemble that board of talent).

Yes but how much did he change from Scot's original board, and how many picks were outside of the BPA on our actual board. There is no way to tell if Scot wouldn't have made the same 1st rounds picks or not, we will never know albeit many here will speculate that he wouldn't.

Round 1 - Good solid picks.

Round 2 - If you play him at SS, then it's an OK pick, if the idea is to play him at FS then it's not a good pick.

Round 3 - Not a fan of this pick. Not sure he fits as a TED and we shouldn't be spending 3rd rounders on a backup MIKE. This pick IMO should have been Donald Butler.

Round 6 - First 2 picks are solid here, the 3rd isn't terrible but there is a strong chance that Williams spends his 1st year on the PS. Still not a terrible pick.

Round 7 - Mr.Adams meet the PS. Not a bad pick, just a developmental one. Fne with this pick.

On paper this draft is a B minus, mainly due to the 2nd and 3rd rounds here, one could even argue a C+.

The team still need some help is some areas but he can't do it all in one year. how anyone could give him an F. I don't know. he fixed some of the major problem in the OL and the return game now it's up to the couches. good job

Trent is the MAN! He has balls made out of steel!... where as Scott was a little soft.

this was a tremendous draft. My input here is from Mayock, Singletary, and Baalke comments including a few that Mayock quoted

Round 1
Davis he can be a 10-12 year OT, potential for probowl with Solari coaching
Iupati Best Guard in Draft, This is a high potiential for future probowler

Round 2
Mays Slated to be replacement for Lewis, in the box SS, great upside if coached

Round 3
Navarro The Steal of the Draft. This guy is much more than you think. He was rated just outside of the first round, He can play side to sideline, can scrap and penetrate.
He is more skilled than McKollip and is the likely replacement for T. Spikes

Round 4
Gave up for Davis. Also collected a 2011 round four for moving down in 6th round

Round 5
Traded for Ginn. Slated for Kickoff Return and X Reciever to use speed to take top off
of defense and open things up for the other playmakers.

Round 6
Anothny Dixon.....This could be the replacement for Norris. The Blount pickup as
UDFA could be the replacement for Brett Miller

Beyhman..Don't think of him as a better Bajema. He is the 2nd best blocking TE in draft and can be used per Baalke as an H Back or Fullback.

Kyle Williams....Fast, Quick Punter Returner (Ginn wasn't good at punts at Miami)
and can be used as slot receiver as he works inside well with the quickness. His versatility could spell the end for Brent Jones. Ziegler is gone as well since Ginn will play at WR Also

Round 7
Practice Squad CB....

UDFA
Jarraet QB Practice Squad
Van...Makes the team, primary Kickoff/Punt and might be versatile as a DB
Blount Another big back...bye bye coffee or bret miller

I like how Baalke was aggressive enough to move up two slots and select Davis. Many may argue that he could have stayed packed and kept the 4th rounder but he outsmarted any team that was willing to trade up ahead of us. We may never know but things could have been much worse had Dallas came in and stole Davis away.

A-

I like Baalke so far. He is more verbal than Scot. He knows what he wants and he is not afraid to go get the player he really wants. We got Ginn for nothing. We signed La Boy so we didn't need a pass rusher in the draft and he seems to work well with eveveryone. All of the writers were bashing him before without even interviewing the guy because the Niners were limiting him media access, but Trent Dilfer praised the gyuy on the NFL network saying that he really liked him.

1 11 11 Anthony Davis T Rutgers - People need to quit crying about losing a 4th round pick which they got back in the 3rd and got a 6th rounder. They traded up to get their guy. A lot of teams didn't get oline help like Dallas. We got an upper tier mauler who may turn out to be the best tackle in the draft a few years from now. We do know that both teams traded out of their spot at 11, 12 so most likely the pick was going to be dealt. There was a severe drop off in talent at the tackle position and we were not interested in bulaga.

1 17 17 Mike Iupati G Idaho - We got the best guard in the draft by far. He's not immobile either, the guy can move and hit a moving target and he's nasty. Our line is starting to shape up into the old cowboys line which dominated. I think we have some verastility now too because Davis can make multiple spots. The line has been our weaknesses for so long, I hope we have finally addressed our needs. The only question I have is.....who plays and who goes. Baas may have second life at center. I think Wallace, Wragge are out. Synder might stay as a back up and Boone will still develop on the practice squad.

2 49 Taylor Mays SS - USC - I really like this pick. If Ronnie is sold on the guy....I'm sold. I think he can be coached up. He gives us a real weapon to use if he is used correctly. The guy is a monster waiting to be unleashed. Another poster made a good point that Goldson doesn't have to be the hammer in the defense as much with Mays which I think will extend his career. He will be the strong safety even though the safeties are interchangable in our scheme. No reciever will be fully confident over the middle.

3 27 91 Navorro Bowman OLB Penn State - Not as big as I would have liked, but the guy is super productive and would have been a much higher pick and we dropped back and got some more picks. The niners really must have thought the talent in the corner class dropped off dramatically after the 1st and early second. I thought they were going corner, but linebacker is always a good pick in a 3-4 defense. Yes they hyave McKillop, but Spikes was hurt a lot last year and they picked up Wilhelm on the fly.

6 4 173 Anthony Dixon RB Mississippi State - Nice pick by the Niners.....good value pick here. I thought he would have gone much higher than this. There is nothing wrong with adding a bigger power back. I don't care if coffee is bigger we have been lacking a thumper back. I like the move. Did anyone notice he runs a 4.45....that's pretty sick for a 235 pound back. So the guy can move.

6 13 182 Nate Byham TE Pittsburgh - Okay I will admit here, I was a little thrown off.....why not go corner here, but if he can play H-back and you can move him around and mash people, I like it. Moran Norris is getting old and just moving a guard to the outside isn't the same as a mobile Fullback / TE / Hback.

6 37 206 Kyle Williams WR Arizona State - I like this pick. I didn't know anything about him, but he's got speed and he can return punts. I like the competition at reciever, it gives us more speed and he can battle Ginn for PR duty. And he's going to put heat on the other recievers. There must be a reason that Hill and Jones can't brreak out of the doghouse. Some poster said this guy ran a 4.3 on his pro day.

7 17 224 Phillip Adams CB South Carolina State - FINALLY A CORNERBACK.....I don't know this guy at all, but he fits the mode of CB they like 6-1 190. I doubt he makes the team, but stick him on the practice squad.

UDFA - Leroy Vann - GREAT PICK UP. You get an explosive returner without a draft pick, I was hoping for him to be picked up in the late rounds, but here its a perfect pick.

Biggest problem as a team last year was the line......we couldn't pound the rock and it was really inconsistent. The draft solved that and then some. We should be set for a long time. I think you can also add here that we didn't have POWER....Dixon adds a nice addition to the team, coffee should be a better back this year.

Second biggest problem was the team speed. Mays, Ginn, Williams....add a lot of speed to the team.

Third biggest problem was the return game......BINGO....Ginn, Williams and Vann....I think we solved that problem BIG TIME. It goes from a weakness to a strength.

Fourth problem was attitude......we got some players with attitude and will got out and punch people in the mouth. I like the nasty, you need some of that. Lupati, Davis, Dixon, Mays, Bowmann......it's a nice mix of smashmouth in your FACE!

The only area we didn't address was the corner position, but I think we are okay for next year. We did pick up Paymuh in the offseason so maybe that's why they didn't think it was a big of a need.

I give Baalke an A- for the draft......we made decisive moves and didn't give up much and picked up a 4th for next year. I like the head office without Scot, I'm sorry Scot, you did your time as GM and rebuilt the team but it seemed like you were too inflexible for the team and too in love with the HUGE player. Baalke picks up Ginn, Vann, Williams.....not the prototype niner players but adds the speed and quickness we lack.

IM SUPER GEEKED FOR THE SEASON-------CANT WAIT!!!!!!

Should we be grading Baalke or Singletary on this draft? I am hearing that these picks represent the Singletary vision for this team. Was Sing telling Baalkke what he wanted?

Sing has been wrong before - I hope he is not wrong in this blueprint.

If this was an audition for GM, i would say baalke passed with flying colors. There is a huge difference in assessing talent and actually building a team. Scot knew talent...but he couldn't build a team. Why? Because he forgot the basic tenet of build lines first. Our OL was such an eyesore with 4 backup OLs starting that it was the joke of the league and the heartache of diehard 9er fans. Snatching AD from the Fins was gutsy, tho most folks don't believe it. Keeping with conviction and drafting iupati 6 slots later was even more gutsy(some fans really didn't like it, but it was unquestionably the right thing to do). Look at Iupati and think what LA and JJ glass did for their last good yr. We will do that again. Also, we don't have to worry about multiple qBs being injured frequently because our OL can't block. That is now fixed( i hope).

Picking Mays was another huge hole filled, and then we got a couple RBs later to compete for time spelling Frank whiich altho he doesn't like it, will just prolong his career. Another return man now gives us Ginn plus one. One of those guys is going to become a great returner, and greatly improve this team. OLB i know nothing about, but we did draft one. NT or DL we needed depth, and didn't get it, but that was our least needed slot. Overall, how can anyone grade this draft out as less than an A. Adding Blount post draft wasn't gutsy, but it was terrific. I can see him starting down the road.

So: fixing OL A+
Safety/CB A
RBs B
OLB ? maybe C-
TE B-
WR unknown, but with his speed, a good risk/reward pick.
pre draft Ginn A (for a 5th rounder)
pre draft Carr B+
post draft Blount A

Look at that and if you don't come up with A grade, then you want egg in your beer with foam in the middle.