Grade the 2007 draft

Originally posted by Shorteous:

Originally posted by SunDevilNiner79:
My grades based on what they did and where they were picked

Willis - Future HOF A+
Staley - Legit Tackle in the League A+
Hill - Career 4th or 5th string WR C-
McDonald - Solid player, will be in our rotation for years to come. B+
Moore - Waste of a pick F
Goldson - Breakout year last season, Starter A+
Cohen - Waste of a pick F
Brown - Solid depth DB A
Clayton - Waste of a pick C

I heard Hill was starting for the Jags

That isn't saying much.

I'd downgrade my picks for Goldson down to a B, dissapointed he didn't do more last year
Brown down to a B as well.

Hill/Moore/Cohen really killed us in the draft. Didn't get anything from 3 mid-rounders. We seem to have a tendency to get nothing from mid rounders....

Willis is the only meaningful player from this draft. STaley is hurt often, an average pass blocker, and we gave up the 7th pick in a very good draft for a C graded left tackle. Over all C+ draft that is a save for Willis. Basically, the STaley move cost us an entire draft in 2008.

Originally posted by LBSI9ers:
Willis is the only meaningful player from this draft. STaley is hurt often, an average pass blocker, and we gave up the 7th pick in a very good draft for a C graded left tackle. Over all C+ draft that is a save for Willis. Basically, the STaley move cost us an entire draft in 2008.

A future HOFer, a starting LT, 4 (maybe 5) starters from this draft. C+?

Yep, Willis is outstanding not in the HOF yet. He needs at least 5 more seasons to get in, see Harry Carson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Carson). Harry has some other things in his favor LIKE SUPERBOWL RINGS. Those starters have yielded how many winning seasons? Would any of them other than Staley and Willis start on say the Steelers, Saints, Patriots, Jets, Bears? This draft COST US THE ENTIRE 2008 draft for STaley. Really? An often injured average left tackle for an entire draft. Goldson resigned with us for 1 year because he is was so awsome right A+ huh. Mconald part time rusher not starter material. Brown A give me a break. Things draft is a C+ because of WIllis no WIllis we get an F.

Originally posted by redmanc07:
They say you shouldn't grade a draft until it has been 3 seasons so we are looking at the 07 class here.

Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 11 Patrick Willis ILB Mississippi
1 28 Joe Staley OT Central Michigan
3 76 Jason Hill WR Washington State
3 97 Ray McDonald DE Florida
4 104 Jay Moore LB Nebraska
4 126 Dashon Goldson SAF Washington
4 135 Joe Cohen DT Florida
5 147 Tarell Brown CB Texas
6 186 Thomas Clayton RB Kansas State

I give it an A. We drafted a future HOF player in Willis. Not to mention a lot of people thought or wanted Carriker at the 11 spot. We have our starting LT or RT for over a decade. Hill has been productive at times but seems to not get on the field too often. Big Mac has an explosive first step and helps make our front 7 one of the best in the biz. Goldson really shined last season in his starting role. And no one could forget the Zone favorite Thomas Clayton!

We basically got 4 or 5 guys that can start for this time for years to come barring injury. What do you guys think

Patrick Willis a Future HOF would give us an A- to begin with then add a starting LT a starting DE, a Nickel Corner and a starting FS it was a good draft!

This will always be an A for Willis alone. Staley is showing signs of getting it back together though. Ray MacDonald has turned into a goddamn monster all of a sudden, and T. Brown is suddenly a starter.

2011 may be the year that makes 2007 legendary. Or not, lol.

Originally posted by LBSI9ers:
Yep, Willis is outstanding not in the HOF yet. He needs at least 5 more seasons to get in, see Harry Carson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Carson). Harry has some other things in his favor LIKE SUPERBOWL RINGS. Those starters have yielded how many winning seasons? Would any of them other than Staley and Willis start on say the Steelers, Saints, Patriots, Jets, Bears? This draft COST US THE ENTIRE 2008 draft for STaley. Really? An often injured average left tackle for an entire draft. Goldson resigned with us for 1 year because he is was so awsome right A+ huh. Mconald part time rusher not starter material. Brown A give me a break. Things draft is a C+ because of WIllis no WIllis we get an F.

Originally posted by 23zack80:

Originally posted by LBSI9ers:
Yep, Willis is outstanding not in the HOF yet. He needs at least 5 more seasons to get in, see Harry Carson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Carson). Harry has some other things in his favor LIKE SUPERBOWL RINGS. Those starters have yielded how many winning seasons? Would any of them other than Staley and Willis start on say the Steelers, Saints, Patriots, Jets, Bears? This draft COST US THE ENTIRE 2008 draft for STaley. Really? An often injured average left tackle for an entire draft. Goldson resigned with us for 1 year because he is was so awsome right A+ huh. Mconald part time rusher not starter material. Brown A give me a break. Things draft is a C+ because of WIllis no WIllis we get an F.

Failed really hard. You get an All-Pro LB, a starting LT, a starting DE (who is a beast right now), a starting S, and good depth at corner from a single draft and still give it a C? C'mon dude, do you even watch football?

No doubt one of the 49ers best drafts. Obviously Willis skews things. But with the entire draft, when you hit on half your picks, you're doing extremely well.

The only thing I'll say about the class though, they gave up a lot to trade up and get Staley. They gave the Patriots a top 10 pick in exchange for him. He's been good at times but not great. He's not the franchise LT you would have expected for what they gave up to get him. I don't consider him a top level tackle in this league. But he still is a quality starter.

Overall though this draft was easily an A for the 49ers. One of their few over the last decade.

Originally posted by Druckenmiller14:
No doubt one of the 49ers best drafts. Obviously Willis skews things. But with the entire draft, when you hit on half your picks, you're doing extremely well.

The only thing I'll say about the class though, they gave up a lot to trade up and get Staley. They gave the Patriots a top 10 pick in exchange for him. He's been good at times but not great. He's not the franchise LT you would have expected for what they gave up to get him. I don't consider him a top level tackle in this league. But he still is a quality starter.

Overall though this draft was easily an A for the 49ers. One of their few over the last decade.

"We don't suck"

I think most GMs would consider that draft a huge success, an A. Any time you can get a franchise player (Willis), you've succeeded. McDonald is looking like he's emerging as one of the top 3-4 DEs in the leage also. Goldson is also a bonus. Like him or not, Goldson is one of the better young FS playing.

Staley doesn't help or hurt the class, IMO. We gave up a lot for him considering what the 2008 pick would've been. Still, he's a capable LT. I think he's a little overrated on this board, but he's a starting-quality LT and those guys aren't easy to find.

If we had a draft this strong every couple years, we'd be an elite team. These type of draft don't come around that often.

Originally posted by strickac:
I think most GMs would consider that draft a huge success, an A. Any time you can get a franchise player (Willis), you've succeeded. McDonald is looking like he's emerging as one of the top 3-4 DEs in the leage also. Goldson is also a bonus. Like him or not, Goldson is one of the better young FS playing.

Staley doesn't help or hurt the class, IMO. We gave up a lot for him considering what the 2008 pick would've been. Still, he's a capable LT. I think he's a little overrated on this board, but he's a starting-quality LT and those guys aren't easy to find.

If we had a draft this strong every couple years, we'd be an elite team. These type of draft don't come around that often.

It's amazing how one month of play can change a draft grade. Hindsight is 20-20. I wonder how you feel about Staley now?

It's amazing how Harbaugh has changed the culture of this team in the space of less than a month and has them playing at a level that nobody really quite imagined.

I certainly didn't.