We're done! Grade the new regime's first draft.

Originally posted by Andra:
I was about to give this draft a F+,( the + being for CJ Beathard) then we got Adrian Culbert. A+!!!

Funny.

Great draft!
I liked that the front office selected a lot of statistically productive players. Production is the best starting point for evaluation because there's more uncertainty when focusing on measurables. A player's raw physical talent should translate into college production, otherwise there's probably something seriously wrong with his football skills that coaching won't fix. Athletic talent and measurables should be used as the next filter to evaluate how much of a player's production will be effected against the elite speed and talent of the NFL.

Grades are based on when they were taken:

#3 Solomon Thomas - potential pro-bowler: A (solid disrupter and run-stopper)
#32 Rueben Foster - potential pro-bowler/all-pro: A+ (some risk, but great value at spot, leader w/ high football IQ)
#66 Akhello Witherspoon - day one starter: A (needs to improve tackling, but a top cover corner w/ 22 passes defended, had growth spurt in college, limited experience/great upside)
#104 CJ Breathard - developmental qb/backup: B+ (great footwork, rhythm passer, WCO system fit)
#121 Joe Williams - may share carries with Hyde: A (explosive, near top in per game production, needs to take care of ball)
#146 George Kittle - rotation as starting 2nd tight end: A (great blocker, good hands, fast, should replace McDonald)
#177 Trent Taylor - backup slot/could share some snaps with Kerley: A (small, but extremely productive, needs to improve ball security)
#198 DJ Jones - backup NT: B+ (athletic, but inconsistent, great upside with coaching & conditioning)
#202 Pita Taumoepenu - should make the 53 roster as backup LEO: A (productive pass rush specialist, limited experience/great upside)
#229 Adrian Colbert - has some chance to make 53 as special teamer & backup FS: B+ (very fast, good measurables, was injured/upside)

3 solid starters / 2-4 more may make immediate contributions / 8 or even 9 out of 10 may make the 53 man roster.

Draft Grade: A

UDFAs: A
(S) Lorenzo Jerome - small school stud, 18 career ints
(WR) KD Cannon - very productive/fast wr
(C) John Toth - 48 game starter, all SEC
(OG) Erik Magnuson - first team all big10

I gave it an A-

I felt they could've used an impact receiver with size like a Josh Reynolds, Mack Hollins or Chad Hansen. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love the Trent Taylor pick, but the group of receivers is stacked with 5'9" to 5'10" guys.

I think that's my only criticism of this draft I have. Other than that excellent freaking job!!!

Originally posted by kronik:

Originally posted by danarez49:
Some Guys in here are some serious cry babies... someone put a pacifier to shut them up... good job ks and john.. A+

Some guys in here are some serious ks & lynch ball lickers. someone should cut off their tongues and tape their mouths... bad job ks and john.. C-

Would love to see an explanation for a C-? Other than....they didn't draft the player you wanted.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by kronik:

Originally posted by danarez49:
Some Guys in here are some serious cry babies... someone put a pacifier to shut them up... good job ks and john.. A+

Some guys in here are some serious ks & lynch ball lickers. someone should cut off their tongues and tape their mouths... bad job ks and john.. C-

Would love to see an explanation for a C-? Other than....they didn't draft the player you wanted.

OK

Solomon Thomas - Good player but did not fit any of our needs. The DL has tons of young talent to develop already. Does our WR have any? Nope...
Rueben Foster - Loved the pick, a little worried about his character but he never got into any trouble at Alabama so I'll say the pick is worth the gamble
Ahkello Witherspoon - To me, the worst attribute a defensive player can have is POOR tackling and a lack of WILLINGNESS to tackle. You either have it or you don't
CJ Beathard - Oh God. The zone has been b***hing about Kap's 'inaccurate' passes... Take a look at this guy. Not only does he make poor decisions and is highly inaccurate, this guy can barely throw spirals. I have never seen so many knuckleballs thrown by a non-baseball player. He also has zero pocket awareness. And we fricking used a 3rd rounder on this dud???
Joe Williams - actually felt this player has talent except this guy may be another quitter. How many quitters has this organization endured in the past 5 years?
George Kittle - Liked this pick, especially here in the 5th round
Trent Taylor - Because NE Patriots have a couple successful slow white midgets WR's, now everyone thinks slow white midget receivers are GREAT prospects. What a joke... Worst physcial prospect at WR I have ever seen. This player should be an undrafted addition and should not warrant wasting a draft pick on
DJ Jones - Another DLmen??? Really?
Pita Taumoepenu - one trick pony but it's a latte 6th round pick so no big deal...
Adrian Colbert - 7th round pick, no need for me to judge this longshot

We ended up with 8 players i listed as wanting (3 in draft and 5 UDFA). this is by far the happiest ive been with our draft. If only we got Harris instead of Thomas but i'll still take the haul we got. Here's to hoping we can still add

Darrell Daniels
Phazahn Odom
JoJo Mathis
Javancy Jones
SoJourn Shelton

Taylor is the only pick I would change, I would have rather gone for a bigger outside threat more like a Josh Reynolds. Speed and size.

Originally posted by kronik:

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by kronik:

Originally posted by danarez49:
Some Guys in here are some serious cry babies... someone put a pacifier to shut them up... good job ks and john.. A+

Some guys in here are some serious ks & lynch ball lickers. someone should cut off their tongues and tape their mouths... bad job ks and john.. C-

Would love to see an explanation for a C-? Other than....they didn't draft the player you wanted.

OK

Solomon Thomas - Good player but did not fit any of our needs. The DL has tons of young talent to develop already. Does our WR have any? Nope...
Rueben Foster - Loved the pick, a little worried about his character but he never got into any trouble at Alabama so I'll say the pick is worth the gamble
Ahkello Witherspoon - To me, the worst attribute a defensive player can have is POOR tackling and a lack of WILLINGNESS to tackle. You either have it or you don't
CJ Beathard - Oh God. The zone has been b***hing about Kap's 'inaccurate' passes... Take a look at this guy. Not only does he make poor decisions and is highly inaccurate, this guy can barely throw spirals. I have never seen so many knuckleballs thrown by a non-baseball player. He also has zero pocket awareness. And we fricking used a 3rd rounder on this dud???
Joe Williams - actually felt this player has talent except this guy may be another quitter. How many quitters has this organization endured in the past 5 years?
George Kittle - Liked this pick, especially here in the 5th round
Trent Taylor - Because NE Patriots have a couple successful slow white midgets WR's, now everyone thinks slow white midget receivers are GREAT prospects. What a joke... Worst physcial prospect at WR I have ever seen. This player should be an undrafted addition and should not warrant wasting a draft pick on
DJ Jones - Another DLmen??? Really?
Pita Taumoepenu - one trick pony but it's a latte 6th round pick so no big deal...
Adrian Colbert - 7th round pick, no need for me to judge this longshot

The most objective analysis I have seen to date.

Based on this draft, my biggest concern is the way Kyle evaluates players. This is his first draft being a HC and I think looking at the draft choices it may be indicative of the type of players he likes.

As stated, Kyle already raised a number of questions from people. Well, the QB pick for starters, I guess I won't have to go into it since enough has already been said.

The WR, what happened to good ole 6'2"+ outside receivers who can win jump balls and kill it in the red zone?

The RB, what can I tell you? The guy retired! LOL.

Also, in the draft recap press conference when John said both he and Kyle recognized the importance of being strong up front to get after the QB and stopping the run, also concerns me whether they may indeed have a bias on defense. I think it would have made perfect sense if this team was the Atlanta Falcons when the offense is already loaded with an elite QB as well as an elite WR, but for the 9ers, not so much. It almost felt like when John said we have already filled certain holes during FA, it seemed like he was referring to the offense. But, yet as we all know, most of those signings were just 2nd rated material. Other than that, there were no mentioning as to how they plan to make the 49ers' offense lethal or elite or anything along those lines.

I don't have a problem with building a top defense, but I do have a problem when there is a bias.

Again, I like Kyle and John a lot since I pounded the table for Kyle myself, I just hope this seemingly defense-biased tendency is only limited to this draft.

What's done is done now, is no use crying over spilled milk so to speak, sure we should have placed more focus on offensive skilled positions, at least at the top of the draft, but we can't turn back the clock. Let's just hope this is not a trend.

There is no draft pick in this draft that would've made the 9ers offense elite. Adrian Peterson never made the Vikes an elite offense even in his prime. None of the wide receivers are in the AJ Green Julio Jones class. Team did right thing by getting the best defenders to add to an awful defense.

Originally posted by 9ers4eva:
There is no draft pick in this draft that would've made the 9ers offense elite. Adrian Peterson never made the Vikes an elite offense even in his prime. None of the wide receivers are in the AJ Green Julio Jones class. Team did right thing by getting the best defenders to add to an awful defense.

Of course, you can't make an offense elite just with 1 player. Heck, you can't even make our defense elite after you have made such a major haul. LOL.

But, you have to start somewhere. Again, I said I don't have a problem with building a top D as long as there isn't a bias.

Originally posted by Rascal:

Of course, you can't make an offense elite just with 1 player. Heck, you can't even make our defense elite after you have made such a major haul. LOL.

But, you have to start somewhere. Again, I said I don't have a problem with building a top D as long as there isn't a bias.

A one year sample isn't big enough to assume any sort of bias.

Originally posted by 9ers4eva:
A one year sample isn't big enough to assume any sort of bias.

I didn't say there was a definite bias, I said I hope this isn't a trend.

We've spent 3 years picking d lineman and even that's not elite. No edge rushers = average pass rush. It's going to take time anyway you build.

Originally posted by tjd808185:
We've spent 3 years picking d lineman and even that's not elite. No edge rushers = average pass rush. It's going to take time anyway you build.

Doesn't that make you wonder why we picked Thomas? If you are going to go defense that high, at least get an edge pass rusher. Or if there is no EDGE worth a 3 pick after Garrett, may be get one later instead of blowing it on Thomas.

Also, if you are saying our defense is not elite (which is true) even after taking a D-lineman in 3 consecutive years and going defense 5 years in a row, can you imagine how much worse the offense is? LOL.

Originally posted by Rascal:

Originally posted by tjd808185:
We've spent 3 years picking d lineman and even that's not elite. No edge rushers = average pass rush. It's going to take time anyway you build.

Doesn't that make you wonder why we picked Thomas? If you are going to go defense that high, at least get an edge pass rusher. Or if there is no EDGE worth a 3 pick after Garrett, may be get one later instead of blowing it on Thomas.

Also, if you are saying our defense is not elite (which is true) even after taking a D-lineman in 3 consecutive years and going defense 5 years in a row, can you imagine how much worse the offense is? LOL.

Very well said, lol. Next year's draft can't come fast enough. We're gonna need alot to get the QB we want. Gonna be tough to provide him weapons as well. That's why I wanted at least one bonafide weapon in this year's draft because I know it may take all of our ammunition (draft picks) to get our QB of the future.