Originally posted by Marvin49:
Originally posted by thl408:
Nice take, Marvin. Good points about drafting for the future. I like how you listed the expected departures and who was drafted. I agree with many of the assessments listed above. I was about to post this into the "are you happy" thread, but I'll put it here because I like the discussion in your threads.
I voted a weak 'no', but I'll defer to the 49ers scouting department. They have done a fine job at drafting defensive players and they went defense for the first three rounds, which I do like. I wanted a DLman in the 1st and was happy Baalke stayed true to his team building philosophy. I hate hearing reports that AArmstead is raw and has a questionable motor. I see this pick as having Tomsula's blessing and if there's one thing he knows, it's DLmen.
The Tartt pick was a head scratcher. I'm sure he's a good prospect, but why draft a third safety with Reid and Ward expected to man the positions in the near future? I know there is some convo about him being a nickel LB in the Tartt thread, but that's asking a lot out of him to do that. He's big for a DB, but he's still a DB. He isn't going make a living by taking on OL when they move to the second level as a nickel run defender. That's a lofty expectation. "He's our Kam Chancellor" - the 49ers do not run a defense like SEA so that doesn't mean much unless the 49ers will be overhauling their defensive coverage scheme. The 49ers, if Mangini continues to run a similar scheme to Fangio, require safeties that can man cover. This is why the Ward pick made so much sense last season. This is why the Tartt pick raises questions as to how they plan to use him. We can speculate all we want, but I won't believe that they want to run a Big Nickel (2CBs/3 safeties) look until I see it. The only way this pick fully pays off is if Reid retires early, or Ward stays at slot CB, or the 49ers start using a Big Nickel as their base personnel which is pretty mad scientist-ish (ask Mike Nolan).
The Harold pick was a BPA luxury pick. Highly rated player so the value is there, but OLB was pretty deep already. What does this mean for Lemon? Lemon was a 3rd rounder that the 49ers moved up to draft, which shows they really liked him. Are they giving up on him already? I like this pick, but he isn't getting playing time over Aldon/Brooks/Lynch unless he comes to ball. At 20 years old (not fully physically mature), I don't see him unseating any of those three guys. Even once he matures his body, say at 22-23 years old, he has to contend with Lynch and Aldon who look to have the edge rusher positions on lock. If Aldon goes off the deep end, then this pick suddenly becomes full of foresight.
The Bell pick should mean this is VD's last season as a 49er. Seems like a good athlete that Sparano can mold to his liking. Him and Vance can make a nice duo and the fact that the 49ers addressed the 2nd TE position leads me to believe that the 2TE set is alive and well in Geep's playbook. Either that or they are giving up on Vance, which I doubt.
So I gave it a 'No' vote because there were no picks that made me say "hell yeah", but I know that's what it's about. A bit disappointed that neither OL or ILB was addressed in the mid rounds. I would have liked to see a mid rounder push Pears for playing time, and Looney for a roster spot. Also would have liked an ILB to push any of the journeymen vet ILBs. I was fine with not taking a CB. As the theme of the offseason goes for me - keep an open mind. We'll see how it all translates, but I feel we won't know about these picks until 2016. Time to put the teacher hats on and get to work, coaches.
Just a note on something you touched on with Tartt...I recall reading somewhere that they planned to stick with the same defense in terms of the front 7 but that they wanted to revamp the way the secondary played.
For what it's worth...
Yeah the Tartt pick was a big WTF moment for me as well. Thinking back on it, this pick seems to give the team options at S/nickel corner now and in the future. It possible they could be altering their back end systems a bit and considering moving Ward out to CB. Another alternative could be a play to matchups. Perhaps you can swap Ward/Tartt around to play matchups such that Ward isn't having to cover big receivers like Marshall near as often. Perhaps on running downs Tartt goes in and on passing downs Ward does. Who knows, but it does provide some flexibility.
Does Tartt's playing style not also resemble that of one Dashon Goldson? I'm an avid football fan but not a football guy (if that makes sense), but I seem to recall Goldosn as a guy who flies around laying people out at the price of occasional lapses in coverage. Everything I've read about Tartt says the exact same thing.
As far as Armstread, I see him as a rotation 3-4 end immediately and a DT inside on passing downs. Could you not have a nickel defense featuring Dockett-Armstead-A.Smith-A.Lynch?
[ Edited by bzborow1 on May 4, 2015 at 1:48 PM ]
