How bad is that 2008 draft looking?

A short time ago I was bored at work done a redux of every 49ers draft since 2005. Obviously its easy to do this in hindsight, seeing how players turn out and the performances they have achieved.

Basically the way I do it is to pick a player, from the players which were still available to the 49ers in the slot when they picked in the draft, generally trying to cater for team needs or pick the same position as original picks.

For 2008 it looks like this;-

Round 1
Pick 29 Original Kentwan Balmer
Pick 29 Redux DeSean Jackson
Notes
Balmer was always going to be a project and although it might be too early to write him off completely his performance and attitude displayed this week doesn't bode well for him.
Jackson has been a phenomenon for the Eagles and would have immediately upgraded the 49ers WR corps (pre Crabtree 2009) and helped the return game long term.

Round 2
Pick 39 Original Chilo Rachal
Pick 39 Redux Chio Rachal
Notes
Although Rachal struggled at times in 2009, his improved performance towards the backend of the year give me enough hope to not select anyone else at this point.

Round 3
Pick 75 Original Reggie Smith
Pick 75 Redux Reggie Smith
Notes
This wasn't easy choice given that Smith hasn't shown much in his first two seasons in the league. However, on the proviso that the 49ers wanted to add a defensive back, from this point on there simply wasn't anyone else who has demonstrated of being worthy of this pick. Smith has changed positions since being drafted and I havent given all hope with him yet. Maybe this year he can get a chance to add value to the team and prove a useful pickup.

Round 4
Pick 107 Original Cody Wallace
Pick 75 Redux Carl Nicks OT
Notes
The pick of Wallace was at the time generally thought of as a reach and the fact that now with Heitmann injured he isnt even being considered to replace him as Centre underline that this wasnt a very good pick. A better pick here would have been OT Carl Nicks. OT was an area of need at this time, as it was until the Davis pick in 2010, and Nicks who has started 29/32 games for the Saints would have been a considerable upgrade with Jennings injured for most of the 2008 season and Sims/Snyder underperforming.

Round 6
Pick 174 Original Josh Morgan
Pick 174 Redux John Sullivan C
Notes
The pick of Morgan is actually looking like the best move the 49ers made during this draft, however, the selection of Jackson in Round 1 mean that it wouldnt be such a pressing need to add a WR at this spot. With this in mind the 49ers could have opted for John Sullivan C (Vikings). This pick would have given the 49ers the Centre they wanted from the draft and Sullivan would prove to be a much better backup to Heitmann than Wallace. Sullivan started all 16 games for the Vikings in 2009.

Round 7
Pick 214 Original Larry Grant
Pick 214 Redux Eric Foster DT
Notes
Larry Grant was a popular pick on the Webzone at the time because of his local roots. However, ultimately his performance was not deemed to be good enough and after being waived made his way to a weak Rams roster. Given that the 49ers didnt select Balmer in R1 they would have still been able to add D-Line depth this late in the draft by selecting the undrafted Eric Foster (Colts) here. Foster has contributed to the Colts with 72 Tackles and 2.5 Sacks in his two years in the league playing in 29 games. Not by any means stats that jump of the page but I think you would agree that if Balmer had those the majority of us wouldnt be considering him a potential bust.

[ Edited by Stuuk on Aug 12, 2010 at 05:59:32 ]

So far doesnt look to be a good draft.

if Morgan gets the long awaited production as the starter this year and Chilo does well at starting this year it could be a decent draft

Nearly a complete whiff.

McCloughan's waterloo..

Originally posted by Stuuk:
A short time ago I was bored at work done a redux of every 49ers draft since 2005. Obviously its easy to do this in hindsight, seeing how players turn out and the performances they have achieved.

Basically the way I do it is to pick a player, from the players which were still available to the 49ers in the slot when they picked in the draft, generally trying to cater for team needs or pick the same position as original picks.

For 2008 it looks like this;-

Round 1
Pick 29 Original Kentwan Balmer
Pick 29 Redux DeSean Jackson
Notes
Balmer was always going to be a project and although it might be too early to write him off completely his performance and attitude displayed this week doesn't bode well for him.
Jackson has been a phenomenon for the Eagles and would have immediately upgraded the 49ers WR corps (pre Crabtree 2009) and helped the return game long term.

Round 2
Pick 39 Original Chilo Rachal
Pick 39 Redux Chio Rachal
Notes
Although Rachal struggled at times in 2009, his improved performance towards the backend of the year give me enough hope to not select anyone else at this point.

Round 3
Pick 75 Original Reggie Smith
Pick 75 Redux Reggie Smith
Notes
This wasn't easy choice given that Smith hasn't shown much in his first two seasons in the league. However, on the proviso that the 49ers wanted to add a defensive back, from this point on there simply wasn't anyone else who has demonstrated of being worthy of this pick. Smith has changed positions since being drafted and I havent given all hope with him yet. Maybe this year he can get a chance to add value to the team and prove a useful pickup.

Round 4
Pick 107 Original Cody Wallace
Pick 75 Redux Carl Nicks OT
Notes
The pick of Wallace was at the time generally thought of as a reach and the fact that now with Heitmann injured he isnt even being considered to replace him as Centre underline that this wasnt a very good pick. A better pick here would have been OT Carl Nicks. OT was an area of need at this time, as it was until the Davis pick in 2010, and Nicks who has started 29/32 games for the Saints would have been a considerable upgrade with Jennings injured for most of the 2008 season and Sims/Snyder underperforming.

Round 6
Pick 174 Original Josh Morgan
Pick 174 Redux John Sullivan C
Notes
The pick of Morgan is actually looking like the best move the 49ers made during this draft, however, the selection of Jackson in Round 1 mean that it wouldnt be such a pressing need to add a WR at this spot. With this in mind the 49ers could have opted for John Sullivan C (Vikings). This pick would have given the 49ers the Centre they wanted from the draft and Sullivan would prove to be a much better backup to Heitmann than Wallace. Sullivan started all 16 games for the Vikings in 2009.

Round 7
Pick 214 Original Larry Grant
Pick 214 Redux Eric Foster DT
Notes
Larry Grant was a popular pick on the Webzone at the time because of his local roots. However, ultimately his performance was not deemed to be good enough and after being waived made his way to a weak Rams roster. Given that the 49ers didnt select Balmer in R1 they would have still been able to add D-Line depth this late in the draft by selecting the undrafted Eric Foster (Colts) here. Foster has contributed to the Colts with 72 Tackles and 2.5 Sacks in his two years in the league playing in 29 games. Not by any means stats that jump of the page but I think you would agree that if Balmer had those the majority of us wouldnt be considering him a potential bust.

Looking back with 20-20 I'd go . . .

29- Curtis Lofton
39- DeSean Jackson

The rest looks good to me.

'08 doesnt look good but we have salvaged some things out of a bad draft...then again it's only 2 years out of that draft alot could still happen. I for one love Morgan not for his receiving skills(which are pretty decent anyways) but for his blocking and effort on the field he's a great all around receiver but he was never going to be our top guy, enter Crabtree! Reggie Smith is a good 2nd safety to come out in case of injury and a great special teams guy. Not too bad but alot more to come in the coming years!

Originally posted by sincalfaithful:

Originally posted by A-R-S:
With just the picks by themselves, its like a 1 out of 10.

When you add in that we passed on jackson twice, its a -4.

how many other teams passed on jackson? or was it just the 49ers

How many other teams had WRs as crappy as the 49ers did? Not many.

Did those other teams who also had sh*tty receivers have more pressing needs?

WR was one of our biggest concerns and we instead drafted a nobody in the first round and again passed on the best WR available in the 2nd round, though the Rachal pick was understandable. Everyone knew the Balmer pick was bad from the jump.

Morgan is better blocking flanker than Dejackson. In our system open running lanes are the keyto our success. Hill/Smith didn't have the game last year to keep 8-9 out of the box. Now that Smith has developed they have options on offense now, speedy Ginn has been brought in to open up space on the field. At the time a hog NT was the missing piece of our Defense, now that AFranklin has developed into that monster that DT pick looks really silly. And Jackson has been hurt both years in the league, We don't draft small fragile players anymore, no matter the talent.

Originally posted by wailers15:

Originally posted by A-R-S:
With just the picks by themselves, its like a 1 out of 10.

When you add in that we passed on jackson twice, its a -4.

I agree but i'd put it at at least a -8.

Could you imagine a Crabtree & jackson combo?????? But then again if we had jackson would we have gotten crab?

Don't forget we also passed on the stud DE now in Arizona Cambpell out of Miami. FOCK!!!!!!!! It was a part of Scot's plan to f**k us to go pack up to seattle lol

this

Originally posted by SonocoNinerFan:


Looking back with 20-20 I'd go . . .

29- Curtis Lofton
39- DeSean Jackson

The rest looks good to me.

Good choices, but perhaps Calias Cambell over Lofton?

If we didn't take Balmer, Matt M had said we would have taken Phillip Merling DE who turned out to be a turd also. In the 2nd rnd, we almost took Limas Sweed WR who is another turd. At least we were interested in Lofton.

Scotty must have been hammered during this draft.

Anytime you get s starting receiver in the 6th round its a good pick. Morgan is a solid player. Rachel has a lot of promise and I think the jury is still out. The rest of the picks were an absolute joke. Other than Crabtree, 09's draft doesn't look so hot either. McCloughan, imo, did a horrible job. Balmer was a bad pick on so many levels. Not to mention the amount of lineman (Staley excluded) he and Nolan whiffed on in the draft.

Originally posted by WillistheWall:
Well? The only productive players we got from it were Morgan and Chilo. Reggie Smith(3rd) hasn't done anything, Balmer's close to getting cut, Wallace most likely will be cut, and our 7th rounder already did get cut. Chilo's a starter but he's inconsistent and Morgan is good but he's not great. We passed up players like DeSean Jackson and Eddie Royal for Balmer. I know we passed on some other nice players. So how bad do you guys think that draft looks right now? On a scale of 1-10?

You guys are trippen. You can't go back and rewrite history. You can't judge a draft based on who you didn't pick, even if you would have picked him yourself. Jackson didn't even fit the profile of a draftable player (big and physical). Jackson is a very good player, but last time I looked McNabb wasn't throwing the ball for the 49ers and Jimmy Raye isn't one of the most gifted gifted disciples of Bill Walsh's WCO.

With that said, Morgan was a steel based on where he was picked! He has shown good potential and the Niner Staff loves him. If we did the draft over he would probably go in the second. Chilo has been up and down, but he came in raw and young. Remeber he declared early because his mom was very ill and they needed money. On top of that he had Chris "f**k the fundamentals" Foerester as a mentor. This season should tell us a lot. And as far as Reggie Smith goes, he has started to show real promise in camp being that it's his second year as a saftey. Hopefully we sign Goldson, Mays developes and he serves as a solid back up. If he really starts to make plays he may even be trade bait.

No question, Balmer is a bust. But just because guys are coming out of the draft and not starting like in years past doesn't mean it's a bad draft. In fact, I think in some cases it just shows that our team has got a lot better.

[ Edited by Oakland-Niner on Aug 13, 2010 at 08:19:32 ]

On a 1-10 scale a 3.5. Morgan = a little better than average although with more time for Alex to throw that could change. Rachel = a little better than average, he needs to really step up tis season - maybe having someone better than Snyder next to him will help.

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

Originally posted by WillistheWall:
Well? The only productive players we got from it were Morgan and Chilo. Reggie Smith(3rd) hasn't done anything, Balmer's close to getting cut, Wallace most likely will be cut, and our 7th rounder already did get cut. Chilo's a starter but he's inconsistent and Morgan is good but he's not great. We passed up players like DeSean Jackson and Eddie Royal for Balmer. I know we passed on some other nice players. So how bad do you guys think that draft looks right now? On a scale of 1-10?

You guys are trippen. You can't go back and rewrite history. You can't judge a draft based on who you didn't pick, even if you would have picked him yourself. Jackson didn't even fit the profile of a draftable player (big and physical). Jackson is a very good player, but last time I looked McNabb wasn't throwing the ball for the 49ers and Jimmy Raye isn't one of the most gifted gifted disciples of Bill Walsh's WCO.

With that said, Morgan was a steel based on where he was picked! He has shown good potential and the Niner Staff loves him. If we did the draft over he would probably go in the second. Chilo has been up and down, but he came in raw and young. Remeber he declared early because his mom was very ill and they needed money. On top of that he had Chris "f**k the fundamentals" Foerester as a mentor. This season should tell us a lot. And as far as Reggie Smith goes, he has started to show real promise in camp being that it's his second year as a saftey. Hopefully we sign Goldson, Mays developes and he serves as a solid back up. If he really starts to make plays he may even be trade bait.

No question, Balmer is a bust. But just because guys are coming out of the draft and not starting like in years past doesn't mean it's a bad draft. In fact, I think in some cases it just shows that our team has got a lot better.

Eh I know what you're saying but there were people on this friggin board who would've done a much better job than McCloughan did in that draft. I wanted DeSean or Merling in the first, and when we passed up Nicks(who is now starting for a superbowl team) for Cody Wallace half this board said "wtf Scotty!?". Morgan and Chilo were good picks but aside from that he blew it. And to be honest 08 doesn't look good either except for Crabtree and trading our 2nd(which is good because when there wasn't an obvious best player available you could count on Scot to mess it up). Coffee wasn't so great last year and now retired, McKillop is an injured back up(although he might've been pretty good and a possible replacement for Takeo), luckily RJF looks pretty good and Taylor looks like a solid special teams player. The only really good draft Scotty was a part of was probably 07 and Nolan had his hands on that as well.

Originally posted by WillistheWall:

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

Originally posted by WillistheWall:
Well? The only productive players we got from it were Morgan and Chilo. Reggie Smith(3rd) hasn't done anything, Balmer's close to getting cut, Wallace most likely will be cut, and our 7th rounder already did get cut. Chilo's a starter but he's inconsistent and Morgan is good but he's not great. We passed up players like DeSean Jackson and Eddie Royal for Balmer. I know we passed on some other nice players. So how bad do you guys think that draft looks right now? On a scale of 1-10?

You guys are trippen. You can't go back and rewrite history. You can't judge a draft based on who you didn't pick, even if you would have picked him yourself. Jackson didn't even fit the profile of a draftable player (big and physical). Jackson is a very good player, but last time I looked McNabb wasn't throwing the ball for the 49ers and Jimmy Raye isn't one of the most gifted gifted disciples of Bill Walsh's WCO.

With that said, Morgan was a steel based on where he was picked! He has shown good potential and the Niner Staff loves him. If we did the draft over he would probably go in the second. Chilo has been up and down, but he came in raw and young. Remeber he declared early because his mom was very ill and they needed money. On top of that he had Chris "f**k the fundamentals" Foerester as a mentor. This season should tell us a lot. And as far as Reggie Smith goes, he has started to show real promise in camp being that it's his second year as a saftey. Hopefully we sign Goldson, Mays developes and he serves as a solid back up. If he really starts to make plays he may even be trade bait.

No question, Balmer is a bust. But just because guys are coming out of the draft and not starting like in years past doesn't mean it's a bad draft. In fact, I think in some cases it just shows that our team has got a lot better.

Eh I know what you're saying but there were people on this friggin board who would've done a much better job than McCloughan did in that draft. I wanted DeSean or Merling in the first, and when we passed up Nicks(who is now starting for a superbowl team) for Cody Wallace half this board said "wtf Scotty!?". Morgan and Chilo were good picks but aside from that he blew it. And to be honest 08 doesn't look good either except for Crabtree and trading our 2nd(which is good because when there wasn't an obvious best player available you could count on Scot to mess it up). Coffee wasn't so great last year and now retired, McKillop is an injured back up(although he might've been pretty good and a possible replacement for Takeo), luckily RJF looks pretty good and Taylor looks like a solid special teams player. The only really good draft Scotty was a part of was probably 07 and Nolan had his hands on that as well.

Every time I look at this draft it makes me sick. I am so happy MCCluless is gone. I hope we get a new GM soon though. We need the personnell.