Geek's Mock Plan: Dec/Jan Edition

Staff Changes - Saleh leaves for DET w. Oden, Holland, and LaFleur; Hightower and Day are fired.

• DeMeco Ryans is hired as the new DC; he brings Frank Bush (via NYJ) and Cory Undlin (via DET) onboard - direct ties to Ryans.
• Andre Carter joins as a pass rush coach (similar to Kiffin last year). Ties to the 49ers and our DL coach.
• Brant Boyer joins as our new ST coordinator - Shanahan likes former Gase coaches like it or not.
• Shane Steichen joins as our QB coach / passing game coordinator. He's done a good job w. Herbert.

Roster Moves - ~$55M in cap space after Ford and Richburg's massive pay cuts ala McKinnon in the offseason.

• Resign: T. Williams, Hyder, Juice, Verrett, Jones, Willis, Walker, Mullens (vet min - IR)
• Restructure: Armstead, Ward, Garoppolo, Gould
• RFA Tag: Moseley, Dwelley, Wilson, Rosen, Webster, Givens, Brunskill, Harris, Pepper, Hasty
• Cut: Nzeocha, Benjamin, Brendel
• Extend: Warner
• Other: Saleh poaches Solly, Blair, Tartt, K. Williams, T. Coleman, and Beathard

Free Agency - We can splurge a bit as we should have ample cap room with all of our restructures

• Key Signings: Mack (C, ATL), Smoot (DE, JAX), C. Samuel (WR/RB, CAR)
• Depth Signings: Feeney (G/C, LAC), Maulet (CB/S, NYJ), Bush (S, CHI)

NFL Draft - 49ers pick #14 overall and receive 3rd round comp pick for Saleh's hiring as HC. 4th comp pick for Sanders.

49ers trade #14 to the Jaguars for their later 1st (via LAR), 3rd, and 5th (via CLE) picks. JAX trades up for an OT to protect their new QB.

R1: Jayson Oweh - EDGE - Penn St. (via JAX thru LAR)
*Tremendous upside that will start out as a rotational pass rusher. Allows Hyder to flex to DT on certain packages. Replaces Dee Ford.

R2: Kyle Trask - QB - Florida
*Trask should be available here and fits the bill for Shanahan's ideal QB. Allows to develop behind Garoppolo for a few years. Raw but has upside.

R3: Paulson Adebo - CB - Stanford (via JAX)
*Adebo did opt out of the 2020 season, but his 2019 tape and workouts should be enough. Strictly an outside corner, but strong upside in our scheme.

R3: Marlon Williams - WR - UCF (comp)
*Physical receiver that is crafty to get yards after the catch and contact. I really like him as a slot receiver - replacing Taylor and Bourne.

R4: Tyler Linderbaum - C/G - Iowa
*Developmental prospect that learns behind Mack for 1-2 years. Can flex to RG if needed.

R4: Tariq Thompson - S - San Diego St. (comp)
*Similar to Ward, he can play CB, FS, or SS. Competes with Moore for the starting strong safety spot in our scheme.

R5: Marco Wilson - CB/NB - Florida
*If available here, he'd be a fantastic value selection for us. Experienced at outside or covering the slot, Wilson will be a future starter for us.

R5: Demetric Felton - RB - UCLA (via JAX thru CLE)
*With Mostert's injury history, we need to find another solution at RB. A trio of Wilson-Mostert-Felton will give us a 3 headed monster on Sundays.

R5: Kolby Harvell-Peel - S/LB - Oklahoma St. (via NO)
*Converts to LB full time in our scheme. He's got the basic intangibles to be a quality LB in this league.

R6: Osa Odighizuwa - DT/DE - UCLA
*Not overly productive in college, but he's an ideal scheme fit as a DE or DT in our scheme. Developmental prospect to compete with Street.

R7: Shawn Beyer - TE - Iowa (via NYJ)
*We dip into the golden pot of TE university. Beyer didn't have a ton of production, but offers more upside than Woerner.

R7: Reggie Robinson - WR - SMU
*Developmental prospect as Hurd is still a huge question mark to ever return to the NFL field.

Depth Chart -

QB: Garoppolo/Rosen/Trask* (IR - Mullens)
RB: Wilson/Mostert/M. Wilson*
FB: Juice
TE: Kittle/Dwelley/Beyer*/Hurd (converts to TE)

WR: Aiyuk/James
WR: D. Samuel/Williams*
WR: C. Samuel*

LT: Williams/Coleman
LG: Tomlinson
C: Mack*/Linderbaum*
RG: Brunskill/Feeney*
RT: McGlinchey/McKivitz

DE: Hyder/Oweh*/Willis
DT: Armstead/Jones/Street (PS - Osa)
DT: Kinlaw/Givens
DE: Bosa/Smoot*

LB: Warner/Al-Shaair/Walker
LB: Greenlaw/Harvell-Peel*

CB: Verrett/Adebo*
CB: Moseley/Maulet*
NB: Wilson*
FS: Ward/Thompson*
SS: Moore/Bush*

ST: Gould, Wishnowsky, Pepper, Agnew*

Always look forward to your takes. Couple questions to start:

Free agency/Roster moves

In free agency, you talk about massive pay cuts for Ford and Richburg. Does that mean they are cut, or signed for the vet minimum like they did with McKinnon this year?

Can they restructure Jimmy G's contract? Don't know the details of his agreement, but read somewhere that wasn't an option.

What would happen to Jordan Reed in your offseason? My thought would be they would keep him to pair with Kittle to create some serious mismatches.

Draft

Why Trask instead of Mac Jones? I think they will both be available in round two in the mid 40's.

If they keep Reed, what position would you draft instead of another TE?

Overall, strong offseason decisions on re-signings and key free agents. Great idea on the trade down in the first if Wilson is out of reach. Love the Oweh, Linderbaum, and Thompson picks. Interesting move to get another S to LB conversion in Harvell-Peel. Nice work.

I like the trash pick I don't think he's going to be available in the second round. I'm over picking defensive line in the first round. And we don't need one that is obviously the biggest strength of our team

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:

Always look forward to your takes. Couple questions to start:

Free agency/Roster moves

In free agency, you talk about massive pay cuts for Ford and Richburg. Does that mean they are cut, or signed for the vet minimum like they did with McKinnon this year?

Can they restructure Jimmy G's contract? Don't know the details of his agreement, but read somewhere that wasn't an option.

What would happen to Jordan Reed in your offseason? My thought would be they would keep him to pair with Kittle to create some serious mismatches.

Draft

Why Trask instead of Mac Jones? I think they will both be available in round two in the mid 40's.

If they keep Reed, what position would you draft instead of another TE?

Overall, strong offseason decisions on re-signings and key free agents. Great idea on the trade down in the first if Wilson is out of reach. Love the Oweh, Linderbaum, and Thompson picks. Interesting move to get another S to LB conversion in Harvell-Peel. Nice work.

Appreciate the thoughtful questions.

RE: Ford and Richburg - either they retire, get cut, or start on PUP. I could see the latter happening - save them as "depth" on our reserved bench until other injuries necessitate their activation on the 53.

RE: Garoppolo - yes they can restructure his contract. Garoppolo has a no trade clause which would require his approval for a trade.

RE: Jordan Reed - I could see him being signed after the draft for training camp depth / mentorship. However, we need our TEs to play ST, and Reed offers limited upside at this stage in his career.

RE: Jones vs. Trask - I don't think Jones makes it out of the early 2nd round. With a lower salary cap, I see more teams reaching for QBs early to get them on a rookie wage. I think we are comfortable with both, and let the board play itself out. Jones > Trask, but my assumption is Jones is already selected.

RE: Reed resign; draft strategy change - In my mock, TE is addressed late. So I don't think it warrants a significant change. However, I think you can justify nearly any position at that point. OL, IDL, ST, CB/S.

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:

Why Trask instead of Mac Jones? I think they will both be available in round two in the mid 40's.

I think when it's all said and done, Mac Jones is going to be a top 20 pick in the draft. He isn't mobile, but he's cerebral with the football. His huge year for Bama and a potential National Championship will bump him up to a top 20 selection.

Couple of questions/comments. If Rousseau is there at 14 are you staying put? Rousseau/Bosa would instantly be the best tandem in the league.

Thoughts on swapping RB to third and WR to 4th or 5th? As our WRs are pretty solid, but our RBs tend to get nicked up. Felton is tiny at 185lb, was thinking Kylin Hill or Javonte Williams (admitted draft crushes) and 210lb and 220lb respectively.

I think you could still get your WR in 4th.

Like the positions you drafted, just not a Trask fan at all.

Originally posted by Rathof44:

Couple of questions/comments. If Rousseau is there at 14 are you staying put? Rousseau/Bosa would instantly be the best tandem in the league.

Thoughts on swapping RB to third and WR to 4th or 5th? As our WRs are pretty solid, but our RBs tend to get nicked up. Felton is tiny at 185lb, was thinking Kylin Hill or Javonte Williams (admitted draft crushes) and 210lb and 220lb respectively.

I think you could still get your WR in 4th.

Like the positions you drafted, just not a Trask fan at all.

That would be an interesting scenario. Right now, I have Rousseau as a top 10 pick. If he somehow makes it to us, I would field offers for an aggressive trade up (EDGE is almost as expensive as QBs now, teams may be willing to pay a premium in a reduced salary cap year). If nothing materializes, I would go BPA and select Rousseau. A trio of him, Bosa, and Hyder should be able to produce 20+ sacks.

In regards to the RB vs. WR selections, let's look at the facts. When Kittle / Samuel / Aiyuk was out, our offense stalled quite a bit. Even with poor OL play, they are able to move the chains consistently when on the field. Samuel's hammy is a cause of concern. Kittle takes on brutal punishment, and we need to keep him fresh for deep playoff runs. In comparison, Kyle has been able to keep the running game going w. Coleman, Mostert, McKinnon, and Wilson. I'll throw Hasty in the mix as he showed some flashes on the field.

Also, I mock Curtis Samuel to the 49ers in free agency. He has an added benefit of providing quality snaps as a receiving RB - an ideal replacement for McKinnon's role. However, we are about to have an exodus at WR. Trent Taylor and Kendrick Bourne are projected to depart in free agency. Richie James hasn't stood out outside of the GB game. Hurd and Jennings are big question marks - neither have played a regular season down in the NFL. We need talent and depth at the position.

Yeah Trask is polarizing. I'm not the biggest fan of him. But he fits the specs of a Shanahan QB.

But, and I like the Samuel signing, you have added another WR to the mix lessening the need to dradt another WR. Hasty showed very little when given the feature roll this season. Our RBs, although not necessarily injure prone, did miss some games which stagnated our offense.

Originally posted by Rathof44:

But, and I like the Samuel signing, you have added another WR to the mix lessening the need to dradt another WR. Hasty showed very little when given the feature roll this season. Our RBs, although not necessarily injure prone, did miss some games which stagnated our offense.

Very true. I'd still probably not go RB unless someone really drops. However, in lieu of a WR pick, I could see the 49ers drafting OL at the spot instead while still drafting Linderbaum for C. Skule has struggled immensely at every position. Brunskill is a utility lineman that should start only due to injury. S. Coleman opted out and may not be in NFL shape when he returns. A developmental OT that can replace Williams or McGlinchey in 2 years but have the upside to start at RG in his rookie year would be amazing.

Great off season plan. Upgraded at all areas of need. Have very similar mock. Niners gonna end up with 10-12th pick. Trade with dolphins for 24 and 36. Take Carlos basham 24th alijah vera-tucker 36 and Eric Stokes 45th. Vera-Tucker will start at guard and switch to tackle in 2 yes. Free agents would like Justin Houston on a team friendly incentive based contract. Everything else makes for great off season

Okay so I love the free agent signings I love the resignings. I'm just not a big fan of another edge pick. Other than that for me that would be a dream offseason. I just hope Trask can take over sooner than later

I don't understand why would bring back Mullens in this scenerio.

AA contract is heavily backloaded. Really isn't anything to restructure

I don't get Curtis Samuel. We already got Deebo and BA. Moving Hurd to TE makes no sense. Is he planning on adding 30lbs?

No complaints at all about the draft

Originally posted by AsianJeff:

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:

Why Trask instead of Mac Jones? I think they will both be available in round two in the mid 40's.

I think when it's all said and done, Mac Jones is going to be a top 20 pick in the draft. He isn't mobile, but he's cerebral with the football. His huge year for Bama and a potential National Championship will bump him up to a top 20 selection.

That is definitely a possibility. I don't think his skills warrant that pick, but QB's are a different animal in the draft. He's a second round pick IMO and so is Trask at his best. My question would be, who would the Niners take if all 6 of the top QB's are gone. Keep an eye out for Carson Strong from Nevada-Reno. He's a dark horse in this draft with some size and skills. Just a thought.

Nice work here GEEK I definitely agree with a number of things here. If we get rid of Richburg then I certainly hope bring in Alex Mack on a 2 year deal and develop a rookie behind him.

Not crazy about the Kyle Trask pick though, as I believe he may end up being a Jimmy G or Kirk Cousins at best. I would maybe look to draft a CB there but that's just me

This team if it stays relatively healthy would be very very competitive