Why does Baalke seem get a free pass from serious criticism?

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

OK, well I am not sure why we did not move up to get any of the 4 first round corners that went ahead of Ward. Maybe there was difference in perception of value, or the other teams wanted the moon for a trade, or we were too stingy. The point is we have a need at CB, a significant one, and it wasn't met to the degree required.

This was a chance to throw some measurables at the problem. We didn't do it as much as we needed to, IMO. Hyde was a nice to have, not a need, same with ILB. We could have taken Ealy, I think that might have met our needs for a DE sub to complement Tank more than depth in the offensive backfield.

We were taking nice to haves, but not meeting our needs.

The reason we did not move up to get the four CBs you thought were good in the first round is because the Niners did not agree with your opinion. They did not feel the first corners were not as good as you thought they were and they felt that the backfield picks that they chose were better than yours. It is that simple. So with Ward, as their first CB, not their first SS, they felt they had good value and good talent, better than any other first round pick. They could have gotten Gilbert, Dennard, Fuller, Verret if they had wanted to but they didn't. They got the players they wanted, not the players you wanted.

I think it's clear now that the FO is operating at an extremely high level.

It's also obvious that the philosophy is to never reach but to pick developmental guys in later rounds and coach them up to replace veteran starters. This will be a continual cycle. If you listen to the Baalke interview he uses the phrase "the more darts you got the more balloons you can pop" - essentially we work to get a large number of picks to apply that coach up philosophy above.

Better than reaching for someone who may just not pan out, game is littered with examples of costly draft picks who do nothing or are out classed by a lower round guy who learns over a few seasons.

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
The reason we did not move up to get the four CBs you thought were good in the first round is because the Niners did not agree with your opinion. They did not feel the first corners were not as good as you thought they were and they felt that the backfield picks that they chose were better than yours. It is that simple. So with Ward, as their first CB, not their first SS, they felt they had good value and good talent, better than any other first round pick. They could have gotten Gilbert, Dennard, Fuller, Verret if they had wanted to but they didn't. They got the players they wanted, not the players you wanted.

This in a nutshell is ultimately the reasoning why 90-95% of those who don't like this draft feel that way.

They sold themselves completely on certain players or media hype, forgetting that they aren't professional talent evaluators by any stretch of the imagination and are now defending those picks to the bitter end.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
Then draft replacements next year. You are WAY talking up Wright,Cox,Cully.

Cully was never a 3 down go to player. A project with talent, that was/is Cully. With a refurbished ACL.

And that's why the worry. I'm saying there's too many question marks there not to invest in a couple of corners with real measurables.

Plus forget the catastrophe scenarios. Think sunshine. Think "What would our defense look like with a real shutdown out there to keep the Jerome Kearse's and Torrie SMiths in check?"

What would it look like? I'll tell you what it would look like:

Trading up for a top flight corner was just simply too expensive, when I look at it. I think you are looking at giving up a 2nd, 3rd, 4rth this year and a 1st next year too -- to go to the mid first round position. To go to the top 10, you are looking at RGIII kinds of trades that just simply mortgages your future for multiple years. That's too steep a price. Look at what happened to Shannahan, he's no longer coaching. That's what's going to happen to both Harbaugh and Baalke - they will be out on the street in a year or two. Those number 1 picks are priceless, because they can be used to replenish your depth if you need to, if you win the big one - or if you suffer a substantial amount of permanent injuries to star players.

I think he wanted to trade everything we have to draft BOTH Gilbert and Fuller which would require two top fifteen picks.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

Originally posted by LoneWolf:
None of our corners last year were shut down corners or the year before for that matter but none of that came between us and a championship, we lost the super bowl and last years nfccg on faulty play calling on offense. And what does me talking about needing to draft replacements for positions we use alot a year before the need is dire have to do with my opinion on cox cook or wright?

Of course it was important, all through the year. Think Atlanta. Think Tennessee. Think Arizona. All those guys came back in games because they started working soft underneath routes and crepy crawled their way back in games they never should have been in.

Do you think a blue chip CB might have made a difference on a couple of those drives? Ya.

And, this was on a backfield with three starters we don't have anymore.

Ok, so I'm thinking Atlanta, Tennessee, and Arizona. WE BEAT THEM ALL.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

Originally posted by LoneWolf:
If your going to try to make a point against our secondary at least use games we lost. Because when you come with the what ifs about our games and they are games we won they dont make alot of sense cuz there is no reason to complain about games we won. Hell the cornerback play from a corner still on this team is why we beat Atl.

No, totally disagree. Everything is right because we won? No sorry I lost that perspective many many years ago.

And, Brock made a good play, but it was the aggressive playcalling blitz from Reid that really saved the day. The prior two drives from Atlanta showed awhat a good qb can do to our backfield when there is no pressure.

We just went 19-0, what's your worry? No sorry I lost that perspective many many years ago.

Why does baalke get a pass from press criticism? Well, look at this draft and there is your answer.

To try to answer it seriously, it's the combination of drafting, trading and free agency work. Obviously, when you are dealing with humans nothing is guaranteed but the man just keeps on producing.

Peter King has become a parody of himself at this point, but every once in a while he still writes a good sentence. This summary of the 49ers draft was perfectly on point:

"It's Trent Baalke's drafting world, and we're only visiting it."

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Why does baalke get a pass from press criticism? Well, look at this draft and there is your answer.

This.

Baalke's good far far out weighs his bad.

s**t i'll be first in line to give him a hall pass. One bad draft does not at all weigh in against all the positives he has done. He's a darn good GM

Right now, the entire question of this thread looks a little silly. A better question would be why does Baalke get so MUCH criticism from some Niner fans.

Why does McCloughan see get a free pass from serious criticism for being a drunk?

Originally posted by ayetee:

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Why does baalke get a pass from press criticism? Well, look at this draft and there is your answer.

This.

Baalke's good far far out weighs his bad.

The Grinch that stole the draft.

I think he did a very good job with this draft.