Drafting a TE This Year: Why it Would Possibly Be a GREAT Move

Originally posted by FredFlintstone:
pettigrew was a 1st rd pick

Yes he was and so was Gresham......playing like a 3rd

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:
Juvenile? Wow! I don't think that I went anywhere close to that, but thats OK, I'm a big boy. You won't get a private msg. from me I can make my points without going there. And I don't think I ever minimized, much less degraded, anyones points or ideas in any of my statements. I will come point-for-point, but never minimize or degrade. Now, you don't have to agree with them, nor do I expect you to. But you shouldn't go to those corners when someone disagrees with you. This is an arena of written debate, so expect to be debated by those who sit on the other side of the stadium and thus see things from a different angle than you.

Now, true, we have run a lot of 2TE sets the past 3 seasons. But thats because our options at the WR position have been lack-luster at best, including 2011. And yes, these are my perceptions, and so are yours. I have never doubted what another top-flight TE could bring to this offense (though he would still have to prove himself to be top-flight in the NFL). But what I've always, and will continue to maintain, is the lack of a need for this team to draft a TE - regardless how good he's projected to be - in the first in the face of other more important needs. I'm sorry, but from what I've seen of my beloved 49ers is that we have a need - and big need - at WR, not TE. And in fact picking a TE in the first just could cause some problems for the 49ers. Thats the nature of the NFL, yes, from my perspective.

Now you know why the 49ers call specific personnel groups? Pretty impressive. Of course, Raye went on record ad nauseum stating that he loved the mismatches he got in the 2 TE set, and that he would continue to FEATURE it because he could call a run play and a pass play in the huddle and run whichever play the defense was out of position for. Not that the play-calling was any good, but the premise was good enough that other teams started doing it in the next couple years. I guess I also imagined reading the Matts going on about how Vernon and Walker gave great outside leverage to the run game that had to be respected, and that they (togeether) were enough of a threat in the passing game that they could burn defenses when they set up for power against the 2 TE sets. I suppose I was still in dreamland when Baalke and Harbaugh both stated on multiple occasssions that they are constantly looking to upgrade every position on the team. OTC stated that Delanie only has a year left on his contract (he was extended by this point when his last contract was running down), and I believe his lack of height and reliable hands are areas that could stand for a dramatic upgrade. As other poster have stated (and as I have stated, bith here and in other threads), I think the 49ers are going to go BPA, regardless of need, and I think Fleener would be good value at that spot. I don't KNOW if the 49ers agree, but we'll see. I don't love the WRs that project to be there at that point, but if the team does and they pick one, I'll support it because I finally trust the direction of the team.

I can see that we aren't gonna change each other's minds, so I'm ready to move on from this. I probably won't comment on the thread again, but who knows? February is boring.

GO Niners!

Originally posted by 49ersalldaway126:
i am not a BPA guy im a position of need

right now we need a WR RG and CB in that order (assuming we resign FA)

everrything else is a luxury pick
we are currently weakest in those 3 positions if we want to improve fix those 3 positions

It's not a matter of personal preference, but rather NFL practice. BPA is simply the more common strategy, and when guessing at team's behavior on draft day, your best best is always to go with BPA.

Also, in my personal opinion, BPA is not only the better strategy, but also the ONLY strategy. A few examples:

-niners biggest area of need was not ILB when they selected Willis. I think that turned out OK.

-The Card's biggest need one year was an OT and they passed on Willis, Peterson and Revis to get Levi Brown. Now they have the worst tackle in football, instead of an elite LB,RB or CB.

-The NYG are of strength is DE's, yet they seem to draft one every year. Again, I don't see them struggling with the strategy.

The draft is littered with worthless players who will do nothing to help their teams, regardless of position. The true difference makers are, in reality, few and far between, and if one is available you take him, and he WILL help your team. Imagine there's a pass rusher with the ability of JPP, would he not help us? Or a safety of Palamalu caliber? What about a RB who runs like Gore did in his early days? A legitimate franchise QB? A second Vernon Davis... I mean, would we really not benefit from another player like that? Now, if you believe that the player at the position of need is the same caliber as a player at a position of lesser need, then sure, go with the bigger need, otherwise I think the choice is simple.

Yea I'm not really concerned at all about drafting a tight end. Fans just want to be copy cats of the Patriots. They need wide receivers that can make plays And extra tight end is just a luxury at this point. But I do see the value in BPA available so if that's what ends up happening and a tight end is the pick then I wouldn't be upset.

Originally posted by lamontb:
Yea I'm not really concerned at all about drafting a tight end. Fans just want to be copy cats of the Patriots. They need wide receivers that can make plays And extra tight end is just a luxury at this point. But I do see the value in BPA available so if that's what ends up happening and a tight end is the pick then I wouldn't be upset.

I hear you. Wouldn't it make sense just to resign Morgan and Ginn. Then in FA get maybe Eddie Royal or Meachem or Garcon. You wouldn't have to over pay for any of those guys and then you could still draft a guy like Fleener. even a later round wr if you wanted. Who knows, it always turns out different than we think. I don't se Baalke making a big splash in FA though. He can go for mid range guys again to make a difference. And in the draft he has shown that he likes a particular player and he goes and gets them. He traded up for A. Davis, Kaep and an O-lineman from this year. We could go OLB or Corner with the first pick and then trade up in the 2nd to grab Fleener.

I do think that Baalke targets guys that he thinks can impact right away. Trading up or down or whatever. He moved up to grab A. Davis when singltery was here. Last year he moved up and grabbed Kaep and an O-linemen, Kilgore??? That shows they had a specific guy in mind and they were willing to trade other picks to get that one guy. They also wanted the fullback from Stanford but didn't get him. Either they didn't have enough ammo left to trade or they felt that a guy like Bruce Miller could still get the job down.

Either way, Iupati and Davis were immediate impacts. Culiver, Aldon and Bruce were as well. Even Hunter and some others were impacts in year one. A lot of us said that certain picks were a reach or wouldn't be ready for a couple of years. We did the same in FA. The only guy that didn't seem to work was Braylon. I don't know if we will go Fleener (Ihope we do), but if they did, it would make sense how he fits their mold of unconvential offense, mismatch guy, and immediate impact player in year one. If we go wr, it might be like the Aldon pick where we talked about a lot of guys and they picked a guy we didn't see coming.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

uhh... they've done it for the past three years, how's that for reality? As for the message it sends to Vernon, it tells him that he is too valuable to be doubled constantly, and we want to force teams to play him more honestly, especially down the middle of the field. You tell Vernon that, and I bet he won't be mad. Once again, it is interesting that you base your opinion on "realities", which are still your perceptions, and now you degrade the ideas of others (which are probably too logical and open for your myopic argument) as rationalizations of the imagination. Nice straw man argument, dude.

Listen, the 49ers might not draft a TE, but for you to deny the possibilities that another top-flight TE would open up for the offense is juvenile and completely close-minded. You might PREFER another route, which is fine, but the NFL has demonstrated THIS YEAR how effective a base 2 TE offense is (think: NE and Carolina making MAJOR advances on offense this year, including ressurecting Steve Smith in Carolina because he had a big arm QB and offenses couldn't afford to double him all game). The 49ers have been doing it since Jimmy Raye, and Jimmy's offense would have worked with less-predictable playcalling (always run on 1st, always pass on 3rd)

You're trying to argue with someone who has their head up their nether region, its not worth it. There could be a choice between Rashaun Woods and Gronowski and you'd get the predictably same argument "derp, derp, derp, we needs a wide receiver, derp, derp, derp, because football never changes and its illegal to have 2 tight-ends play major roles on a team because tight-ends are big and slow, and they're just icky and dumb and i like receivers better, derp, derp, derp. You can have more than 1 good WR on team but you can't more than 1 good TE on a team because they'll hate each other and try to shank the other guy in the showers..."


It doesn't matter WHAT the options are at the various positions, the guy wants a WR because EVERYONE knows that a WR is better than a TE and if the 49ers drafted a TE, Vernon would have a soggy vagina because he would never see the field again and it would destroy the locker room and Candlestick Park would fall into the ocean before the 49ers ever have a chance to build their new stadium. Its also COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE that the talent at tight-end might be somewhat better than the talent available at WR, talent levels stay tactic through every draft year and thus its IMPOSSIBLE that there will ever be a tight-end that is an all-around better player than a given WR, it just doesn't happen. So in other words, damn who is available, 49ers need to pick a wide receiver, even if that wide receiver happens to be a mediocre prospect. Because its better to have a wide-receiver who gets locked down by a single cornerback than a big TE that might God forbid force the defense to adjust their playcalling, all so Vernon Davis, who is apparently super-emo, doesn't have his feelings hurt.



I think I've covered all his arguments pretty well.

Well, there is one you missed. The one where he has the right to his opinion without being told that he has his head stuck up his fundament.

like i said in the fleener thread

i dont mind drafting fleener but the smartest and best thing for our offense is to draft a guy like sanu or wright (both have potential to be #1 WRs ) and then get an athlethic TE in round 3-5

we dont need a blocking TE we have VD and walker both are great blocking TE we need a pass caching athlethic (more fast than big) freak

for example egnew green etc

I'm with ya...Fleener would give Alex a nice big target in the RZ. He's got excellent hands...I'm sure they'd want him to put on @ 10 lbs to @ 260. In addition, he's one of Harbaugh's Stanford boys...recruited him and am sure he'd love to have him on the Niners.

Originally posted by jacklegniner:

I do think that Baalke targets guys that he thinks can impact right away. Trading up or down or whatever. He moved up to grab A. Davis when singltery was here. Last year he moved up and grabbed Kaep and an O-linemen, Kilgore??? That shows they had a specific guy in mind and they were willing to trade other picks to get that one guy. They also wanted the fullback from Stanford but didn't get him. Either they didn't have enough ammo left to trade or they felt that a guy like Bruce Miller could still get the job down.

Either way, Iupati and Davis were immediate impacts. Culiver, Aldon and Bruce were as well. Even Hunter and some others were impacts in year one. A lot of us said that certain picks were a reach or wouldn't be ready for a couple of years. We did the same in FA. The only guy that didn't seem to work was Braylon. I don't know if we will go Fleener (Ihope we do), but if they did, it would make sense how he fits their mold of unconvential offense, mismatch guy, and immediate impact player in year one. If we go wr, it might be like the Aldon pick where we talked about a lot of guys and they picked a guy we didn't see coming.

EXACTLY. Baalke will narrow down and list specific players they want for this team.

None of us expected them to select Aldon Smith, but all of us recognized OLB was a position we could upgrade, just probably not that early. Most of us expected it to be Amukamara (myself included), because we perceived it as the most pressing need. Niners went with their BPA, who turned out to be Aldon.

I don't think we can really count out any position this year aside from a few obvious ones: QB, K, P, FB, OT.

The ones with very low probability but not impossible I'd say are: ILB or RB

Then moderate to high are all the rest: WR, DB, OG, C, TE, OLB, NT, DE