49ERS 2014 DRAFT WITH EXTENSIVE RESEARCH

Not bad. We do need an bigger receiver with good body control. Neither Crabtree or Baldwin have good body control and can get out of routes quickly. The two most recent examples the NFC championship and Our last Super Bowl. Both plays went to Crabs and he was not in a good position to even get close to a catch.

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
It's rare in the nfl when a player out jumps somebody for the ball in the end zone. Most fade pattern td's have nothing to do with height and evreything to do with placement of the ball. The pass Kap threw was underthrown by 3 feet and shouldn't have been thrown anyway. A fade pattern from about the 18 yard line to a receiver covered step for step - not a good idea. We had a wide open receiver on the other side of the field.

Stalling in the red zone is about offensive philosophy not the lack of leapers in the receiving core.

QB's have more room to place the ball on fades with bigger receivers. It's a joke to me that people think Kaepernick would've placed the ball in the same place to a bigger receiver. Yes, it was a poor throw, but the ball would have been placed differently to a receiver 4 inches taller than Crabtree with longer arms. I'll agree that vertical jump is overrated on fades because receivers generally don't get close to their standing vertical especially if they need to land in bounds, but height and arm length are definitely factors. Jimmy Graham caught 16 TD's largely because of his size and ability to box out defenders. Benjamin isn't quite that big, but he's not far off and would be a nightmare for most DB's to guard in the redzone. Huge, physical receivers like Calvin Johnson (who has much shorter arms than Benjamin) take up double teams a lot near the end zone which can open up teammates or the running game as well and doesn't show up in stats.

I don't think we should take Benjamin at 30, but he would give our offense something we don't really have. Baldwin has size and jumping but he's been a bust and he was not even a red zone threat in college (16 TD's in 3 seasons with only 5 as a junior compared to 19 TD's in 2 seasons with 15 as a sophomore for Benjamin). It's unfair to knock Benjamin because another tall receiver who can jump has not done well in the NFL.

It doesn't matter what Kap would have done if his receiver was 4" taller when you miss by 3 feet to a receiver covered step for step.

Jimmy Graham is a TE that splits out. How many TD's does Vernon Davis have the past few seasons? Few TE's have more. Who throws passes to Jimmy Graham? Drew Brees, one of the most accurate passers in the NFL.

It never hurts to be a little bit taller or a little bit faster but the best red zone WR in history wasn't that tall and wasn't a speed burner either. His name was Jerry Rice.

Our red zone problems are the result of conservative offensive philosophy. We led the league in the fewest pass attempts. Dead last.

A young QB still learning how to go through progressions, find the open man and complete touch passes or passes that need to arc over defenders.

We don't have a megatron but how many teams do? There are plenty of teams that are better than us in the red zone and don't have a fade pass leaping specialist. Our 2 starting Wr's and our Starting TE make up a great red zone receiving core. We simply are poor at taking advantage of it.

Kelvin Benjamin may or may not develop into a great receiver but it has nothing to do with us becoming a good red zone team.

You drafted the whole Florida St. football team.

Originally posted by captain_planet:

Something I've seen in almost every mock draft in this forum has been pestering me.


We WILL NOT take two CBs with our first two picks.
We WILL NOT take two WRs with our first two picks.
We WILL NOT take two CBs within our first three picks.
We WILL NOT take two WRs within our first three picks.

We have other needs (interior line, middle linebacker, safety) that also must be addressed.
But what about 2010? You say. We took two offensive linemen with our first two picks!
Shush. That was an exception based on an extreme need, and tackle and guard are two different positions.
Baalke will spread our first 3-5 picks to cover our various needs before he repeats a position.
I guarantee it.

Too much time on your hands. Research what can't be predicted. Fools gold Piorite. Bruno Santuoche.

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

It doesn't matter what Kap would have done if his receiver was 4" taller when you miss by 3 feet to a receiver covered step for step.

It was a terrible throw, but if the throw is 4" higher to a much bigger receiver, it may be a catch. QB's have more room for error on fades to bigger receivers. I can't say for sure whether we would have completed that pass or not if Benjamin replaced Crabtree there, but I do think he would upgrade our red zone offense.

Our conservative offensive strategies in the red zone are partly based off our not having great red zone receivers. We have two possession guys who can make contested catches if you put the ball on them and a deep threat at TE who doesn't have the best hands. It's risky trying to throw it into tight windows to Crabtree and Boldin at the goal line. I do think we could use more creative play calling there, but I also think this is one area we could improve at through the draft (along with adding another WR with speed outside or in the slot so teams can't crowd the box). I wouldn't be shocked if we traded up for Mike Evans because he can do both for us, but I don't think we will want to give up that much if he's going to be a top 10 pick.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
The 4th??!?!?!?!??! And Landry?! The guy is a Boldin clone on tape. Benjamin is so physically unique. If he's there in the second, we'll trade up to get him. We'll probably consider him very seriously in the 1st. So f'n physically dominant

Totally agree on Landry. You watch him on tape, you swear you're watching Boldin out there, albeit not quite as big. I could care less about his 40. Somebody is going to get a really good player in the 3rd-4th round.

I like it; not a fan of Joyner S/CB but solid in all our needs

I'm with you on Benjamin. I think he's the guy we should target at 30.

Everything I'm hearing about him not being worth the high pick is the same crap people said about Corderrel Patterson, Alshon Jeffery, and even Julio Jones. Sure, being big, strong and fast doesn't AUTOMATICALLY make you a good WRs. However, if you ARE those things AND you turn out to be a good WR then you will be a dominant WR.

That's why teams pick those players early. Because they'd rather gamble on the chance of getting a top tier player than go for a guy that is still a gamble, but won't pay off as big.

Benjamin is the guy that I think has the potential to be an elite WR. Might not happen, but I'd like to see them go for it.

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
It doesn't matter what Kap would have done if his receiver was 4" taller when you miss by 3 feet to a receiver covered step for step.

It was a terrible throw, but if the throw is 4" higher to a much bigger receiver, it may be a catch. QB's have more room for error on fades to bigger receivers. I can't say for sure whether we would have completed that pass or not if Benjamin replaced Crabtree there, but I do think he would upgrade our red zone offense.

Our conservative offensive strategies in the red zone are partly based off our not having great red zone receivers. We have two possession guys who can make contested catches if you put the ball on them and a deep threat at TE who doesn't have the best hands. It's risky trying to throw it into tight windows to Crabtree and Boldin at the goal line. I do think we could use more creative play calling there, but I also think this is one area we could improve at through the draft (along with adding another WR with speed outside or in the slot so teams can't crowd the box). I wouldn't be shocked if we traded up for Mike Evans because he can do both for us, but I don't think we will want to give up that much if he's going to be a top 10 pick.

If you throw a pass 4" higher that is 3' short you don't get a completion.

Vernon Davis isn't a good red zone reciever? He is one of the leaders in TD's for TE's the last few years on a team that throws the fewest passes in the NFL. If he played for Denver or New England he might lead the league. Crabtree had double digit TD's the last season he was healthy and they were mostly red zone td's and Boldin has been great his whole career and will probably be in the Hall of Fame.

All of our backs are great receiving targets. Is the reason they have the fewest catches in the league based on their height? How about the fewest catches in the red zone. Is that height based as well? We don't throw to our backs in the red zone because we don't have a tall receiver to catch fades? We don't throw a lot of passes in the red zone because that is the team philosophy.

Having a tall red zone threat would be great. Having a big deep threat receiver would be great. Even that won't change the philosophy. Maybe if Kap develops and becomes better at finding the open man and reading progressions the philosophy will adjust over time. I would like to see a receiver like Moncreif and another like Coleman who we could get in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Coleman I believe is taller than Benjamin. It still won't change our offense overnite but they would be good young receivers to develop.

Who tries to complete an 18 yard fade pattern over a 6' 2" Pro Bowl CB on 1st down with the game on the line in step for step coverage? I wouldn't throw that pass if we had Megatron. It's stupid. 4th down ok but 1st down - no way. We had 4 shots to score or pick up a 1st down and get more plays. That's the best we could come up with? We had a wide open receiver on the other side. Why not throw him the pass? Bad decision followed by a bad throw.

As for Benjamin if he falls to us in the 2nd round I have no problem with the 49ers drafting him but it won't fix our red zone problems.

Originally posted by TheFunkyChicken:
I'm with you on Benjamin. I think he's the guy we should target at 30.

Everything I'm hearing about him not being worth the high pick is the same crap people said about Corderrel Patterson, Alshon Jeffery, and even Julio Jones. Sure, being big, strong and fast doesn't AUTOMATICALLY make you a good WRs. However, if you ARE those things AND you turn out to be a good WR then you will be a dominant WR.

That's why teams pick those players early. Because they'd rather gamble on the chance of getting a top tier player than go for a guy that is still a gamble, but won't pay off as big.

Benjamin is the guy that I think has the potential to be an elite WR. Might not happen, but I'd like to see them go for it.

I think the most important attribute to look for when watching these guys is explosive movements. Cordarelle Patterson and Julio Jones looked explosive as hell during the games.

IMO, the two guys in this draft who really demonstrate similar explosiveness and good/decent size are Sammy Watkins and Marqise Lee. Benjamin and Evans come nowhere close to these dudes when I recall watching them in the games. That's just my opinion.

Watkins is the complete package, but he will be out of reach for us. Lee is slightly undersized at 6'0" 194, but he has elite football skills, and might be available late in round 1. I'll puke if we go Benjamin over Lee.