Best DL for the Niners' defense

Lots of talk of Kareem Martin playing DE for the Niners. Don't you think he's a little small for that?

Originally posted by VPofCarnage:
Lots of talk of Kareem Martin playing DE for the Niners. Don't you think he's a little small for that?

Since when is 6057, 272 with 35" arms, small?

- Tank Carridine was 6'4", 272 when he was drafted and is now close to 290
- Justin Smith was 6'4", 267 when he was drafted (now 285)
- Ray McDonald was 6'4", 276 (now 290)
- Demarcus Dobbs is still listed as 6'2", 275

Y'know what? I was actually looking at the wrong weight. You're right; 6'6 272 isn't too small.

I wonder if he's priced himself out of the Niners' range after the combine though.

Originally posted by VPofCarnage:
Y'know what? I was actually looking at the wrong weight. You're right; 6'6 272 isn't too small.

I wonder if he's priced himself out of the Niners' range after the combine though.

Depends on how badly the team wants to add another DL. They actually added 6 new d-lineman last year alone (Tank, Dial, Dorsey, Purcell, Tupou and Okoye) to go with Justin, McDonald, Williams, TJE and that's not counting restricted free agent Demarcus Dobbs). It's always a good idea to keep draft big bois on your d-line, but I'm not sure they'll do it early in the draft.

For my money, it's Tuitt. Guys 6-6, 320 who have his quickness are pretty rare. He can play DE and NT. Can you imagine trying to throw over him...think he'd bring another dimension to the DL.

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:

Originally posted by pwillis52beasty:
I'm hoping for Tuitt to fall to us in the second round

Not going to happen - he may fall into the 2nd round, but not to 56. He had very long arms (34 3/4") and came into the combine in better shape (6'5 304 down from 320 early in the season). He did 31 reps with his long arms and he carries his weight very well for someone his size. He would have crushed Hageman in the 40 if he was able to run - he was projected to run in the 4.75-4.8 range. He was also productive playing DE in a 3-4 facing a lot of double teams (Nix helped take some pressure off, but Tuitt still got double teamed almost all the time).

Tuitt is the best DE for anyone's 3-4 defense in my opinion (unless a team chooses to convert Clowney to a 3-4 DE which would seem like a waste). He was more productive and is physically more impressive than Hageman. I think Donald and Clowney are better DL, but not in a 3-4 (Clowney would be a good fit in a 3-4 but as an OLB)

It probably won't happen, but you have no idea how the draft will turn out. It's possible his foot injury is serious (see Michael Crabtree), which could cause him to slip in the draft. Other teams may have more pressing needs and there could be a serious run on receivers in the first two rounds that cause some other talented guys at other positions to fall. Now I think Tuitt does go in the 30-50 range, but like I said I'm hoping he falls due to injury and there is a slight possibility it could happen. I wouldn't mind trading up 5-10 slots for him as well.

In light of our conversations regarding Joyner being a fit for the Niners backfield what would happen to our DL if we picked Aaron Donald as our DT? Would we lose anything by picking him? He is clearly the cream of the Dline at the senior bowl and the combine. Would his size nullify his energy and quickness on the line, or would his quality play overcome his size issues in our defense?

I would go with Jay Bromley from Syracuse in rd 3.

He is what RayMac turned out to be for us. Since I am an optimist, I will believe that Carradine is the heir apparent to Justin in a couple of years... so SF needs to find the heir to RayMac.

Jadeveon Clowney