Grade The Draft

Considering that the bulk of the Niners picks were on day 3, it wasn't awful. However, this draft seems to epitomize the Baalke draft philosophy, "over reach for potential sleepers" and ignore obvious positions of need.This suggests that Baalke strictly follows his board.

After years of wasting inordinate hours conducting amateur research on college players, I have come to one conclusion...:

BAALKES DRAFT BOARD SUCKS!!!!

I give it a C+

I'm leaning towards a high C low B. Pretty happy with it except drafting 3 corners and not a single ILB. We definitely needed to fix the oline and he splurged their so that should help hopefully.

We will really be able to see our receivers in action this year and will be able to make a better determination of who is good and who isn't.

Originally posted by Tman:
I'm leaning towards a high C low B. Pretty happy with it except drafting 3 corners and not a single ILB. We definitely needed to fix the oline and he splurged their so that should help hopefully.

We will really be able to see our receivers in action this year and will be able to make a better determination of who is good and who isn't.

This.

I dont really see how anyone could say this was a negative draft outside of the 3 wasted corner picks. We got 2 starters that will vastly improve our team in round 1. That alone makes this draft at least a C. We also grabbed more oline help which is the biggest weakness on this team followed by more guys to take the pressure off lynch when hes rushing the passer.

Our wrs are impossible to evaluate because of the piss poor oline play, the piss poor qb play, the lack on any running game after hyde was hurt and the inability of our coaches to force feed anyone other than boldin the ball. Not to knock boldin who was a great player but he needed significantly less targets and we needed to force the ball to faster shiftier playmakers and ditch the veteran first philosophy we have always embraced.

We will improve the oline with these picks. The dline should be better. The slot corner should also be better. The only glaring need on this team now is a partner in crime for bowman and maybe another pass rusher depending on how our guys develop. The qb play should improve just as a factor of chips scheme and improve even more if kap is gone and not limiting the playbook.

Solid B. Would have been an A if we found another diamond like borland who would actually stick it out.

Originally posted by jrg:
ESPN:

San Francisco 49ers

Thumbs down. A curious draft for a rebuilding team, to be sure. The Niners drafted three cornerbacks but no inside linebackers. They traded up to select a player at a position that was already addressed in free agency. And they fortified the right side of the offensive line with late picks and Anthony Davismaking noise about returning from retirement. Oh, and they drafted a QB in the sixth round. Curious? More like strange. -- Paul Gutierrez

What is curious is this assessment.

Yes, the OL was addressed in FA but there were still all kinds of question marks. If Beadles can play back to his former form and Barnett plays like everyone expects him to do, the center of the line, with Kilgore coming back, will set up nicely for Kelly's inside power game. Having Tiller available as a backup is a plus. I don't believe Anthony Davis can be trusted and that is reflected in the way Baalke drafted. The rest of the group are unproven/untested and may or may not prove to be starter grade. So...

As to the cornerbacks, none of the 49er cornerbacks graded very well last season:
Ward #35 overall in the league but may wind up at safety

Brock #36 starter grade but not special

Johnson #55 - showed promise in the late games but, again, not special

Acker #70 - not starter grade

Reaser and Cromartie in limited time graded at the same level as Acker.

So tell me again why it was not wise to try to improve the cornerback situation?

ILB would be nice but it would have been a reach to take anybody much better than what we have and then pass on a better player somewhere else.

Driskell has a great upside and makes sense as a project behind Gabbert/Kaepernick.

Most of these national talking heads don't do near enough research.

D

A-

DeForrest Buckner
Loved Buckner, but would have loved Tunsil more than drafted a DE in the second. There were tons of good DEs in this draft that fit our scheme prefctly. But we got the best of them. Last time we took a DL at pick 7 he was an all time great 49er in Bryant Young. It was great to see him in round 3.

A+

Joshua Garnett
Traded back into the 1st for the best run blocking G. He can play both guard spots and center too. He was a mauler in the run game and he showed the 49ers he can be a great fit in ZB in the local proday. The fact that Seattle and Arizona were rumored to want him too makes it an A+ instead of an A. I just wish the 6th we traded was the later one.

A++

Will Redmon
Will Redmon is going to be a star. His ball skills are amazing. He is a true shutdown corner in the making. His knee will be ready to go for training camp and will compete right away for the starting spot. I can see him supplanting Brock. Johnson and Redmon will be the starting corners. And Redmon kicked into the slot when needed. Brock can come out when Redmon is covering the slot. Or Brock can be traded away. Redmon needs to work on wrapping up and getting the guy down instead of always going for the big hit. Has Deion Sanders tackling ability.


B

Rashard Robinson
Great speed, Great Coverage ability. Did not test as well as expected at the combine and is rail thin. Only reason I knock him down to a B from an A is character and lack of experience. I mocked him to us a few different times because he is exactly the type of Corner Chip likes on his defense. He could be our Chris Culliver of this draft and surprise people and become the starter by year end. If not he will be a good back up until he develops.

A++

Ronald Blair
He is a man possessed when on the field. He has the look to be a power house getting to the QB. His ability against the run is superb. If we played 4-3 He would be a good solid DE at his current size. His only problem is speed. He is slow to be an OLB and too short to be a 3-4 DE. But, he is such a good player that no matter what where he is asked to play he will dominate. He will be a back up this year and be in the rotation. I think this pick spells doom for TJE.

B

John Theus
A swing Tackle that makes sure Pears never plays RT again for us. Before the combine he was rated as a high second round pick and in some cases a first. But he was shown to have a need to hit the weight room when he was tested. In fact he did not even test at all in the bench press. If he hits the weight room he will be a solid backup at bot RT and RG. I think I would rather have had them draft Kyle Murphy.

B+

Fahn Cooper
A Tackle/Guard who has power in the run game but not so good in the pass game. He focuses way too much on his assignment and has a hard time picking up the blitz. He also must have gotten yelled at sometime in the past for false starting because he is always a tick slow from the snap. If he was an inch taller he would be a solid backup swing tackle. He might still be better than Theus right away due to having the strength needed to play against NFL competition. If he is kicked into G that means Devey can start practicing his tuba again.

A

Jeff Driskel
A clone of Kaepernick. Runs the same time, has the same measurables, and a better throwing motion. His problem is he is inaccurate on long throws, lacks touch on short throws, and has a hard time reading through a lot of progressions. Almost the same scouting report as Kaepernick. In a Chip Kelly scheme 3 QBs are needed and Driskel is a perfect fit for it. He will be the number 2 QB next year after Gabbert is gone.

D+

Kelvin Taylor
Small and often injured RB who is maxed out in size. He also has poor vision at times and runs past holes or tries to squeeze through when there is no hole. Think Kevin Barlow part 2. He also sucks at picking up the blitz. When his vision is on and he is healthy he can run really small making him hard to tackle. There were other RBs out there better. Our worst pick of the draft

A++

Arron Burbridge
He is a ball hawk. He will catch any and everything. Best hands I have seen in a WR since Carter even though they are tiny. He is everything you want in a WR except fast. Runs routes perfectly. Gets out of coverage at the last second to get to the ball and while it looks like he is covered he is not. If he was a Seahawk he would be perfect for Wilson. Many compared him to Kearse or Boldin predraft. Just throw it up near him and he will go get it. I can see him being a big slot possession receiver who gets first downs on 3rd downs at will. Teams will wonder for years how they passed him up.

A
Prince Charles Iworah
4.32 corner in the 7th round. He will compete for special teams right away. But with a name like that it deserves its an automatic A.


All in all they got 3 players who will start day one and got players that will kick the worst players on the team to the curb.

Great in depth analysis. Well done

eez nuts?

no

Liked Buckner. Ok about Garnett. 3 corners was a head scratcher. Unsure about drafting 2 tackles. I'm ok about the other picks. Hate not drafting a mlb. That's a huge hole that needed to be filled. Our trenches should be better but now there's a glut of dbs. That's too many wasted picks. I'm giving it a C.

I believe the lack of another ILB will be offset by a very strong DL rotation that may often include 4 down linemen. If Ian comes back close to form, we will have a very good, very deep front 4. In that case, Bowman can roam.

Originally posted by dj43:

I believe the lack of another ILB will be offset by a very strong DL rotation that may often include 4 down linemen. If Ian comes back close to form, we will have a very good, very deep front 4. In that case, Bowman can roam.

Would be great. Whilhoite can't cover at all and Hodges has potential but I'm not sure he's good enough.

solid B

Originally posted by niners94:

Originally posted by dj43:
I believe the lack of another ILB will be offset by a very strong DL rotation that may often include 4 down linemen. If Ian comes back close to form, we will have a very good, very deep front 4. In that case, Bowman can roam.

Would be great. Whilhoite can't cover at all and Hodges has potential but I'm not sure he's good enough.

It's possible all we need at LB next to Bowman is someone who can handle 1st and 2nd down. Then on 3rd down bring in Tartt in a hybrid LB/S role.

Originally posted by ChazBoner:

D

DEEZ NUTS