If it came down to it, which would you choose and why...............

With the draft rapidly approaching, it appears that the Niners may have the choice of a future franchise LT in Andrew Thomas and potentially OBJ 2.0 in Jerry Jeudy. We all know the Niners could use a WR to replace Sanders NOW, but they will need to replace Staley sometime in the next two years. Which would you choose and why?

My choice would be Thomas based on the fact that there aren't many opportunities to get a premium prospect at LT. Once the top 4 OT are gone this year (Wirfs, Becton, Wills or Thomas), the talent dropoff is huge. There will be plenty of WRs available on day two that could work well in the Niners offense.

Your thoughts...............

Jeudy and here are my reasons:

1. I'm trying to win the SB now
2. Staley can possibly play this and next year
3. There's been talk in the past that McG is our next LT and RT is what we would replace (easier)
4. While there is a "drop off" from the top 4 OT's in this draft, the second tier is considered very good and 1st round talents in any other draft.
5. WR's drop off after 3 is big. While nothing is for sure, you are looking at the top 3 as #1's. The rest, not necessarily.
6. It's easier to pay a proven tackle than it is to pay or find a proven WR

Jerry Jeudy was considered a top 5 prospect this time last year. The strength and depth at WR has him potentially available at 13. Jeudy is a pro bowl WR as early as year 1. He's that good. He's an elite route runner at the nfl level already. He makes Jimmy Better. He makes Kittles matchups more favorable and he lets all the questions at WR be answered. Deebo makes for a great combo on rookie contracts and makes spending big money on WR moot for 3-5 years. Bourne can come back to his optimal #3 position and now a healthy Hurd and Taylor compete for 3 WR sets. Goodwin can stay and remain a gadget player if needed. Or we can comfortably trade or cut him for savings. The thing about replacing Staley is his contract comes off the books when he's done. So free agency is an option. Also in my opinion Lucas Niang is a fine prospect at 31 if that is deemed our next priority. I'm not convinced he won't end up one of the top 4 OT from this class.

It's time to have a scary offensive arsenal. Jeudy completes that. It's the only starting position with a huge question mark right now for this season.

Thomas

Both excellent prospects. T has more value than WR they are harder to find. Especially in this years Draft.
Honestly I wouldn't be mad either way.

Thomas as we could get a WR a little later, this is a deep WR draft.
Staley will be 36 at the start of the season. Very few tackles have ever played at top level at that age.
He only played 7 games last year and injuries are starting to take its toll.
I know about all the intangibles he brings but in no way is he playing up to his contract.
I know the Faithful don't want to hear that. You have to make these decisions with your head not your heart.
Just like everyone was saying no way they part from Defo sometimes you have to make tuff decisions.

Originally posted by davidboutte:
Jerry Jeudy was considered a top 5 prospect this time last year. The strength and depth at WR has him potentially available at 13. Jeudy is a pro bowl WR as early as year 1. He's that good. He's an elite route runner at the nfl level already. He makes Jimmy Better. He makes Kittles matchups more favorable and he lets all the questions at WR be answered. Deebo makes for a great combo on rookie contracts and makes spending big money on WR moot for 3-5 years. Bourne can come back to his optimal #3 position and now a healthy Hurd and Taylor compete for 3 WR sets. Goodwin can stay and remain a gadget player if needed. Or we can comfortably trade or cut him for savings. The thing about replacing Staley is his contract comes off the books when he's done. So free agency is an option. Also in my opinion Lucas Niang is a fine prospect at 31 if that is deemed our next priority. I'm not convinced he won't end up one of the top 4 OT from this class.

It's time to have a scary offensive arsenal. Jeudy completes that. It's the only starting position with a huge question mark right now for this season.

Jeudy "fell" because he has no elite athletic traits, but he would never have been picked top 5. He got a lot of hype last season because he put up volume stats on 104 targets from the best QB in college football that year in Tua Tagovailoa, but 6'1 190 pound receivers don't get drafted that high without having exceptional athleticism (Amari Cooper was 6'1 211, ran a 4.42, and put up amazing 3 cone and shuttle times). Jeudy was the least efficient of the top WRs in the class this year putting up 1163 receiving yards in 13 games on 110 targets and he put up those numbers against a soft schedule (49th by Sagarin ratings). His route running gives him a high floor, but his ceiling is too low to be considered a top 10 prospect.

I love Jeudy, but Andrew Thomas is an easy answer here. Tackles are infinitely more valuable than a WR.

Originally posted by Heroism:
I love Jeudy, but Andrew Thomas is an easy answer here. Tackles are infinitely more valuable than a WR.

This. Its mind boggling that Thomas was considered a top prospect for so much of the season and then some other guys blew up at the Combine and suddenly he's an afterthought. If he's sitting there for some reason at #13, you can snag your left tackle for years to come. No reason why they couldn't plug him in at guard for a year so you're not drafting a backup with your first pick.

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:

With the draft rapidly approaching, it appears that the Niners may have the choice of a future franchise LT in Andrew Thomas and potentially OBJ 2.0 in Jerry Jeudy. We all know the Niners could use a WR to replace Sanders NOW, but they will need to replace Staley sometime in the next two years. Which would you choose and why?

My choice would be Thomas based on the fact that there aren't many opportunities to get a premium prospect at LT. Once the top 4 OT are gone this year (Wirfs, Becton, Wills or Thomas), the talent dropoff is huge. There will be plenty of WRs available on day two that could work well in the Niners offense.

Your thoughts...............

FWIW we have seen you do not have to draft an OT inside the top 15 to find a franchise LT.

Joe Staley
Jason Peters
Anthony Castonzo
Nate Solder
Andrew Whitworth

What we need at WR IMO, is someone who can contribute opposite Deebo from day 1. Jeudy is the only guy who looks like he is closest to that.

That spot opposite Deebo seems to be our biggest weakness right now.

Originally posted by evil:
FWIW we have seen you do not have to draft an OT inside the top 15 to find a franchise LT.

Joe Staley
Jason Peters
Anthony Castonzo
Nate Solder
Andrew Whitworth

What we need at WR IMO, is someone who can contribute opposite Deebo from day 1. Jeudy is the only guy who looks like he is closest to that.

That spot opposite Deebo seems to be our biggest weakness right now.

By that same token:

Michael Thomas
Desean Jackson
Alshon Jeffery
Antonio Brown
DeAndre Hopkins
Davante Adams

This draft is absolutely loaded at WR. You could walk out with someone like Thomas at #13 and then still be able to pick up a Justin Jefferson, Denzel Mims, Brandon Aiyuk, KJ Hamler, Michael Pittman later on.'

Its all about positional value. Unless they are sold on one of the WRs being a Top 10 player at their position in the NFL, I think you go for the premier tackle prospect when you can get them. There's no guarantee that they'll be in a position to do a year from now.

Here's the problem with drafting a tackle at #13. If that player doesn't beat out Tomlinson or Brunskill, then he's sitting on the bench for the entire season unless there is an injury, and if Staley doesn't choose to hang it up after 2020, then there is a chance you drafted a guy in the first round who has no real clear path to a starting position for multiple seasons. Not to mention I'm not a fan of making a player bounce around at multiple positions early in their careers. You can easily end up screwing up that players development like we did when trying to get Solomon Thomas onto the field because we used a first round pick on a position that was currently occupied by good players.

Give me Jeudy, unless Lynch and KS know for sure that Staley plans on retiring after 2020.

Jeudy and it's not even close

win now, get an OT next year

Originally posted by Nastastical:

Here's the problem with drafting a tackle at #13. If that player doesn't beat out Tomlinson or Brunskill, then he's sitting on the bench for the entire season unless there is an injury, and if Staley doesn't choose to hang it up after 2020, then there is a chance you drafted a guy in the first round who has no real clear path to a starting position for multiple seasons. Not to mention I'm not a fan of making a player bounce around at multiple positions early in their careers. You can easily end up screwing up that players development like we did when trying to get Solomon Thomas onto the field because we used a first round pick on a position that was currently occupied by good players.

Give me Jeudy, unless Lynch and KS know for sure that Staley plans on retiring after 2020.

Yeah. I feel the same way. If we only know Staley is done after this year, sure I'll take Thomas without a doubt. But looking who can contribute right away with our Super Bowl window opened, I'll take Jeudy.

I'm not all about taking a top 13 pick and projecting him at another position and plugging him there for a couple yrs, hoping it works, then pushing him back out to LT in two yrs.

I know what I'm getting with Jeudy day 1 and we don't have to change up much there. Throw in there won't be rookie mini camps/OTAs most likely this yr.

If Thomas is chilling there at 13, I'm looking to see if Miami/TB/Jags want to move up (if all three top WRs are gone).

Will be interesting to see what SF does. I also think there's a better chance Jeudy is there at 13 vs Thomas.

Per DJ's newest big board

11th overall: Judy is an elite route runner with outstanding burst, body control and awareness. He explodes off the line and uses his quickness to avoid press coverage. His snap at the top of the route is as good as any prospect in the last decade. He has the ability to make plays outside of his frame, but he will have some concentration lapses, which lead to drops. After the catch, he is very slippery and elusive, although he isn't going to break a lot of tackles. Overall, Jeudy is a loose athlete with elite route skills and he should emerge as a high-volume production guy very early in his career.

17th overall: Thomas is a thick, powerful offensive tackle. In pass protection, he has average foot quickness in his set, but he possesses a powerful punch and strong anchor. He gets in trouble at times because his base is too wide; he lunges and loses balance. He plays with good overall awareness. He is a dominant run blocker. He can uncoil and uproot defenders over his nose and has the strength to wash defenders down the line of scrimmage on down blocks. He is effective working up a level when he can stay on one track, but he struggles to redirect in space. Overall, some teams view Thomas as a guard, but I believe he can hold up at tackle if he improves his balance issues.