Originally posted by 49ers81:
That's not what I am saying at all. No harm in making a case for a player you would like the team to make a play for, but if they decide not to go after that player or end up going in a different direction then it seems to me that there is a point where that argument ceases to become either interesting or germane to the team that is actually in the clubhouse and is, theoretically the team that this forum is designed to support. I personally don't see much upside in endlessly harping on players that the team "should" have gotten. They didn't. End of story.
Now do these situations reflect on a broader argument on how well Lynch may or may not be doing his job? Absolutely, but I think that argument has to be held in the context of what the team's plan was going in and how they have chosen to address it. In that context there are two things that stand out from the two years of this front office's tenure. First, the team had one of the worst rosters in the league when Lynch took over, there wasn't going to be one or two players that the team could bring in via trade or FA acquisition that was suddenly going to make them competitive. They had a plan in place in which they would bring in Hoyer as a placeholder until they could get Cousins, who is the QB they wanted. Beathard was drafted to be a developmental player and was chosen apparently because Shanahan liked his toughness and the fact that he had played in a Pro style set in college as opposed to the spread offense that a lot of QB's play in. A lot of those spread QBs never end up being able to make the transition to the NFL so he took a player who had traits he liked and thought he could develop to be a back-up to Cousins. That was the plan. Unfortunately Hoyer stunk it up and Beathard was forced to play before he was ready. Luckily JG fell into their laps which looked like it might speed up the rebuild a bit though they still had a long way to go to improve their roster. This argument that you see in other threads that Shanahan is supposed to be a "QB guru" who missed on seeing Mahomes potential is a bit silly because his thing is more about scheme. How do I find a QB who fits the scheme I am trying to run and can execute it the way I want. Clearly that isn't what he saw in Mahomes who, based on the college highlights I have seen, looked like a bit of a gunslinger. So, again, how long are people going to keep arguing that they should have gotten Mahomes. who almost no one considered to be the top QB in that draft.
What the 49ers did know was that they had one of the worst run defenses in the league the year before that draft and chose to address that by getting two of the most highly rated defensive players in the draft. Foster was clearly a red flag but they chose to take a chance on his talent and their desire to create a culture in the locker room that would give him the support he needed to grow up a bit. Which is where Thomas probably comes in. He was a highly regarded player and Lynch knew him personally and knew he was the kind of guy that he wanted on the team in terms of his character and work ethic. Might that have blinded him a bit to other players who might have been better, sure, but the business world is largely built on personal relationships, why should the business of football be any different? Thomas could still turnout to be a solid professional that plays in the league for 7 or 8 more years. Is that exactly what you want out of a number 3 pick, no, but the team had to start rebuilding somewhere, might as well start with a guy you liked and believed could contribute to the team and the culture you wee trying to build. Lynch has also gone on record saying that Thomas needs to step up his game and that at the end of the day everyone will be judged on how they play, not on their draft position.
The second part of the argument is that Lynch has said that he believes in building the team through the draft and the acquisition of selected FA's who won't put the team in the position of having to make decisions based on how hamstrung they may or may not be in terms of cap space. They have a lot of space now but we don't know how they are looking at that space in regard to the players they may want to extend or make new deals with. Another aspect of Lynch's philosophy is, take care of your own, which means, identify the players on your roster that can contribute and reward them rather than someone from another team. So, here it is in a nutshell. Put a plan in place, which they did, find players that fit your need and scheme and can contribute to the culture of the locker room in a positive way, which they have tried to do, put a premium on finding players through the draft and FA's who can contribute but not break the bank at the expense of your own players that you would like to reward. They tried to get Mack, but the Raiders chose to trade him to the Bears. It takes two to make a deal and given his preference for building through the draft Lynch wasn't going to completely mortgage the team's future for a player who wasn't going to be the final piece of their puzzle, no matter how good he was. If this year has proven anything it is that the team is still lacking talent in too many areas to be truly competitive on a consistent basis, which again, is part of Lynch's stated goal. Jimmy G would have gotten them a few more wins but that may have very well hidden the fact that they still have a way to go on the rest of the roster. It sucks that he got hurt and that the season ended up the way it did but I think they might be better for it in the long run. In the meantime I will continue to support the team that we have rather than the team we "should" have and not complain constantly about this move or that move that didn't work out or didn't go the way I thought it should have. 2019 has always been the year that I thought would begin to tell the story of the Lynch/ Shanahan team-up. Nothing I have yet seen has made me change my mind on that. Go Niners!
This sums it up for me. I am willing to be patient because I see reasonable progress in the roster. Business is business and sometimes good businessmen can't do business with one another because their personalities clash. A lot of the NFL is networked with one another some way somehow and a lot of these guys have history, good or bad. I think fans who complain about the FA not signed or the player not traded for forget that life is life and it's not played out in a vacuum. Some teams are more friendly with specific other teams than they are with the rest of the league. Players have lives and location, market size, weather, coaching preferences etc. can all play a part in a FA's decision to sign with a team. That's just life and obstacles that most fans ignore when they whine and complain about this FA not signed or that player not traded for and lay the blame at the feet of one person.
[ Edited by WINiner on Jan 7, 2019 at 7:41 AM ]
