Falling in love with their own draft picks

Biggest problem with the niners and mainly this has been the biggest problem under McClueless's watch. Im not sure if this was because ownership did not want to spend money or free agents or because McClueless was over valuing his draft picks. I

This is a good article that discusses this problem, hopefully Baalke does not do this he does get the GM job full time.


The collection of drafted players on the 49ers and their reluctance to find free agents, brings up the question of their talent evaluation abilities once training camp begins. In other words, the 49ers might fall in love with their own drafted players too often. That charge could stick on the offensive line. When the new Mike Nolan-McCloughan regime swept in in 2005, they eventually released or failed to re-sign Justin Smiley, Kyle Kosier and Harvey Dahl. All were players they didn't draft and have become solid starters at guard for other teams.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ninerinsider/detail?blogid=45&entry_id=61141#ixzz0kwKkd8Qc

I think the Dolphins were considering cutting Smiley, but yeah we definitely f**ked up with Dahl.

Gotta put this on the now "fired" OL coaches.. yeah we would of loved to see the GM be awesome and identify the best players that stay and go... in reality they probly go off of what their coaches tell them

Scot overestimated the talent on this team for too many years and bypassed many UFA's and low cost FA's that could have helped fill out the starting lineup and created quality depth. We have lots of starters from the draft but still the team is far from complete.

Originally posted by 5280High:
Gotta put this on the now "fired" OL coaches.. yeah we would of loved to see the GM be awesome and identify the best players that stay and go... in reality they probly go off of what their coaches tell them

This seems to be true!

Good read. Definitely an interesting perspective. The draft is the most important aspect of building a team... this kind of stuff just makes me appreciate Walsh and the old crew even more.

The fact that so few undrafted free agents make the club and contribute is really pretty telling, especially when you consider that the "successful' clubs seem to do so much better in this area. Part of the problem might be that undrafted players might not consider this an exciting place to come - after all, unlike draftees, they have a choice where they go. But it seems at least on the surface that Kevin's reading of this part of the situation is correct.

But about the o-line, I think our problem has been one of philosophy. Kevin Lynch himself posted an article a few months back pointing out how the largest lines tended to be the least successful. And when you look at our line draftees, only Staley was a "quickness and athleticism" guy. The rest (Baas, Snyder, and Rachal are all maulers. And yet... we can't seem to dominate anyone!!

Smaller, more athletic linemen working zone schemes, tend to be more successful in this league. This is why I wouldn't be opposed to drafting two o-linemen in this year's draft. We have a chance, all at once, to right the ship!

Let's hope Baalke and Solari get it!

Originally posted by Ronnie49Lott:
Scot overestimated the talent on this team for too many years and bypassed many UFA's and low cost FA's that could have helped fill out the starting lineup and created quality depth. We have lots of starters from the draft but still the team is far from complete.

The thing is, we have a lot of starters from the draft that would be backups on any good team in the league. Just because they're starters for us doesn't mean they weren't poor picks or a bad decision wasn't made when the previous starter was let go. Take Chilo Rachal for example. He is a starter for us, but how many playoff teams would he start for? Probably none. Justin Smiley > Chilo Rachal. A bad decision was made when Smiley was allowed to walk (I know Rachal wasn't brought in as a "successor" to Smiley, but the point is it was a bad move to let go of Smiley and the fact that Rachal was drafted and starts really doesn't mean all that much because he isn't a quality starter).

if we make the playoffs this year and win at least one game this article is null and void

Originally posted by NinerGM:

Originally posted by GoldenIowa49er:
if we make the playoffs this year and win at least one game this article is null and void

Not necessarily. The defense is good and we were just a few sustained drives from making the playoffs. I think the post previous to this one hits the nail on the head - how does the talent on this team relate to other teams in the NFL. I think that's the answer to the question here IMHO and where do they start for other teams?

exactly, i think we are on the verge of a playoff team. i just feel like he's saying like we have below average talent from the draft. we aren't the friggin' bills here. i think we certainly have the opportunity at least to sustain a playoffs spot for the next three of four years without overwhelming additions to the roster. i'm just saying keep your eyes open for writers like this to quickly change their tune about some of the current niners roster if we start to turn it around in the near future.

I think the biggest area of concern is not constantly monitoring the waiver wire, and replacing the bottom half of the team to try and improve. The team has pretty much very little FA activity, and very few moves during the season. If you look at other teams, they have tracked players then signed them off practice squads. When is the last time the niners got a player off another teams practice squad??

This is a sign they are not looking, or their ego is too big that their present roster is adequate to win a super bowl.

Jonas Jennings, Nate Clements, and Justin Smith disagree that ownership is too cheap to bring in high-priced free agents.

blah blah blah

complain if we are too aggressive in FA , complain if we aren't (this year)

complain if we dont draft enough starters....complaining if we use too many drafted players as starters

The entire premise of the article is flawed. In support of the premise, they point to Smiley, Kosier and Dahl. Its not a question of falling in love with their draft picks as to those 3, its a question of the position they play, Guard, which, for better or worse, the 49ers have not valued highly. Certainly in Smiley's case, it wasn't that the 49ers did not want to keep him, they just did not want to pay what he could get on the open market, which as I recall was pretty much the sentiment of the majority of the fan base as well. I also don't recall too many people shedding any tears about Kosier or Dahl leaving. Both have become good solid NFL players but their loss is hardly why the 49ers have struggled. Moreover, the 49ers have spent money and gone into free agency -- Clements, Lewis, J. Smith, L. Allen, Bruce, etc. They also made a run at A. Thomas when he was a free agent but he decided to go to NE for what was reported as less money.

The teams in this league that are good year in and year out do it through the draft and then supplement with free agency and/or the occasional trade. How often to the Colts sign a big name free agent? Its pretty rare. They develop and keep their own players and if/when one goes into free agency, they usually replace from within if the price is going to be too high.

The real reason the 49ers have struggled in recent years is because of (1) having to build from the worst roster in the league when Nolan took over; and (2) poor or inconsistent play at QB. The roster is in better shape now and seems to be heading in the right direction because of the past 49er drafts and FA signings. QB remains a question but some answers will come in 2010 with Alex Smith's last (and best) chance to show whether he can be "the man" or whether the 49ers need to look elsewhere, whether that's Nate Davis, Carr, possibly Clausen if he falls into their laps or a FA or drafted QB in 2011.

We sure have our fair share of b***hy whiny fans that are in love with their own limited understanding of football and the mechanics of it. Some of you guys should stick to the kind of football you understand...Madden.