Draft summary

Originally posted by Boldjames:
I think in this offseason we have given Kyle all the pieces he needs to dial up whatever he can imagine.

Started with resigning Jimmy G, then the additions of Richburg and McKinnon. A competent center that can reach block effectively and get to the second level, and an RB that fits the scheme, runs 4.38 and can catch the ball. The addition of Johnathan Cooper and the Return of JG means three former first round picks starting for guard spots. Replacing Trent Brown with McG instantly improves our run blocking and will now force defenses to play both sides of the field on running plays. With Dante Pettis our screen game just got a whole lot deadlier, call him Mr.Yac.

I think this offense will be a very exciting one to watch.

Agreed and Jimmy G will have a full off season to get used to these new weapons and fully learn the offense. We do have a lot of exciting pieces on offense to work with. The offense (run game and passing game) will ultimately come down to the G-play. If they hold, it could be a special offense this year.

Our 3 biggest weaknesses last year were secondary, OL, and pass rush. Yeah yeah, I know, upgrading the pass rush can help the secondary but if you have crap in the secondary, even a great pass rush won't do a whole lot.

We made a big upgrade on the OL with McGlinchey over Brown. We upgraded the interior OL in FA with Richburg and Cooper. Garnett will also be an upgrade at guard.

We added a lot of DBs this offseason since the only CBs worthy of keeping from last season are Witherspoon and Williams. Added a lot of talent there and there will be a lot of competition.

No, we didn't add an edge rusher. But this draft didn't have a lot of great ones. Lots of the ones we predicted to go high slid way down. Obo went in the 6th right? People wanted him in the 2nd but it turned out no GM wanted him until the Rams took him.

If the o-line is significantly improved and the pass rush is better than last year I will be happy with the draft.
If the line is a mess on the inside (and/or RT) and the pass rush is not improved I will be disappointed.

Originally posted by genus49:

Solomon Thomas played one year. Calling him a bust is just dumb. Not sure why some of you guys think you know better than the coaches. The only people calling Thomas a bust at this point know nothing about football.

Makes them feel better, it's a compensation mechanism.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by Rice-a-Ronnie:
I think we learned a lot about Shanahan and Lynch and their draft philosophy. That third day press conference revealed a lot. If you haven't seen it, I recommend watching it. Some of my thoughts from the draft.

Reaching
The scouts put together their lists and Shanahan and Lynch separately place their favorites and slot them in rounds they think they will go in. By doing this, essentially they gather all the intel and pick their 'favorites'. Once they love their favorites, they will do whatever it takes to grab them. Hence, my feeling and opinion is that they will tend to reach. I don't think this is a one-time thing. I think you will always see this from them. We saw it last year with Beathard. Lynch admitted that Shanahan wanted him and moved up into Day 2 so Shanahan didn't have to sleep that night worrying if they would land him the next day. I think we saw that a few times in this draft as well. Pettis was surprised to go in Round 2. And you could say we reached on several picks.

Impulsive Trading
Not sure if this is Lynch or Shanahan or both, but this team tends to make impulsive trades. We could garner better value in some of these deals. I think we could have gotten more in the Trent Brown deal. And there are other examples... Kilgore's trade value, even MacDonald to the Steelers could have been worth more IMO. The trading also bleeds into the 'Reaching Philosophy' above. Their targetting strategy gets them in a hot mess; and they impulsively trade up to reach for guys who are likely on the board. Or for that matter, deny possible trade-downs for fear of losing 'their guy'.

Shanahan as a Talent Evaluator
First off, love Shanahan as a coach. He has exceeded my expectations and I think we are seeing the early stages of an innovative, offensive guru who will dominate the game for the next two decades. That said, I am slightly concerned (not sure if that is the right word) of his opinion in the draft room. We know that the scouts, spending months putting together a board, didn't have Joe Williams on their board, and Shanahan wanted him put back on. I think Shanahan sees things he likes and zones in on it. He probably would make a good wing-man at a bar but I don't know if he can accurately weigh the value of a strong trade proposal versus his guy. I may be completely off-base here but it will be something to look for in future drafts.

2018 Draft
My view of this draft. I believe in their ability to find talent and despite the reaches I think it will be a good draft. One interesting point that was made in that press conference... they admitted that they looked at guys on their roster and asked the question if the potential draftee could make the team. They believe it will be harder for some of these guys to make the team. I think the issue with this draft is related to the 2017 draft. Similar to College recruiting, we now have a HUGE sophomore class because we had to reload a depleted roster in 2017. Our leadership wants to give them an opportunity to succeed and doesn't want to impede their progress. Don't draft an Edge if you think others on the team has the 'potential' to do it. I say it is similar to College, because if you over-recruit one year, you tend to under recruit the following year. In hindsight, perhaps we should have traded up or picked up 2019 picks.

Anyway, my thoughts. will be interesting to see this team, and I am optimistic we will have a great year.

I hear what you're saying and I agree to a point with the reaching for players they value.

I will say it's tough to gauge if players are reaches because we simply don't know other teams boards. If the guys they reached for (or over paid to draft) turn into quality starters I'm cool with it.

My real issue is drafting ACL and injured players at this stage in the game...SF isn't at a pt where they can use picks on players like that.

We will see looks like they should have 3 possibly 4 starters which is pretty solid

What constitutes a reach? Drafting Jerry Rice? Or drafting AJ Jenkins? Way too early to be judging a draft!

I see this draft as a bit of a conservative draft bringing in players who are productive in the first three rounds and then taking some fliers in lower rounds.

OT McG: good replacement for Brown who could potentially replace Staley. They will have a couple of years to figure out if he can do that before Staley retires...a very good move. Will likely start this year and won't get stuffed on runs to the right side.
WR Pettis: wasn't on my radar at all but his ability to return punts certainly helps the team. Two comments I liked--quick off the line to get open and top punt returner. He will help this year. Very quick. Says he is a sub 4.4 guy. Hope so.
LB Warner: quick, fast, smart LB who can play pass or run. Will be a starter soon, if not to start the year.
DB Moore: whether he plays FS or CB he adds speed and depth to the team and should help this year. Many rated him as a 2/3 rounder so this is not a reach. Al Davis pick...can't teach speed!
DE Street: a flier who may or may not pay dividends. My least favorite pick...by far!
DB Reed: short but productive HS through several colleges. Quick and tenacious. "Hard worker on field and off." Love that comment!
DB Harris: good talent but recovering from achilles. Risk in the 6th round? OK...not going to worry about it. Depth for SS.
DT Taylor: definitely a flier. But...7th round?
WR James: will likely be a fan favorite. Quick, fast, tough and MVP of the H'waii Bowl his soph year with 200+ yards in the game. "Electric" is a nice thing to read about your 7th round WR pick!

I would say they know who they think will be good scheme fits and/or looking down the road at replacement pieces. They also value different capabilities that other teams do not. Not after a big RB that wouldn't get a lot of carries or a big target in the RZ.

They knew they weren't going to resign Brown, so a OT was important early and this year wasn't loaded. They were going to re-up Tartt and didn't want to invest in some of the S's early on. They seem to be happy with the G's and RB's for now. But went after immediate need at LB and CB, and a RAC guy that can open up the field like Pettis.

I think they are also signaling that AA is going to be gone soon and they need some bodies that are going to be affordable to fill that spot.

I have kept very quite the past few days not wanting to to jump on certain picks bandwagon right away or over reacting to guys first selected I may not have loved the pick of. I wanted to learn more about certain plays picked before I commented positively or negatively. Now that is done and I could process through it I have come away quite happy with our draft even though at times I was saying out loud WHY? to certain picks, when someone else is right there still on the board.
I really stayed away from people posting their personal dislikes or likes for our draft so I could form my own opinion without being swayed by others.
There are a number of guys in this forum who are very informative and do a very good job of breaking down players positively and negatively. And I respect the time they put in and what they come up with a lot of time agreeing with them. Some of them are not necessarily happy with this draft. Some people are unhappy because they were not that draft Crush picks or did not see the players in the same light as our front office did. We also need to remember that none of us go into interviews, meetings, or talk to coaches like they do. We honestly don't see the same film as they get to see broken down the way they get to see it all the time.
I didn't always think Trent necessarily picked bad players but he didn't pick the players that fit well with what Harbaugh or Fangio were wanting. Square pegs in round holes so to speak. It definitely seems like Lynch and Shanahan are on the same page with the players they want in our system offensively and defensively.
After letting things settle and learning more about certain players I have Come Away with this draft being a good one for us overall. With players who will impact this year as starters or as quality depth and players next year who will do the same.

The only way to determine if a pick is a 'reach' is for all the NFL GMs to compare notes (big boards) with one another.

Originally posted by 9ers4eva:

Originally posted by GMniner805:

It's not that huge after drafting 3 DB's
Pettis was a huge reach with better wrs on the board, it's very possible Street never plays a significant role for the 49ers.

I guess some people can make the best out of anything, god bless.

Sounds a lot like "How can we take CJ Beathard. There were better qbs on board like Nathan Peterman"

The ironic thing is his name is "GMniner805". Lol. He'd be like the GM for the Browns the last 10 years.

Originally posted by TheWooLick:
If the o-line is significantly improved and the pass rush is better than last year I will be happy with the draft.
If the line is a mess on the inside (and/or RT) and the pass rush is not improved I will be disappointed.

Pretty much this. The coaches are banking on what they came into the draft with in these areas. Let's hope they are right!

I was disappointed that I didn't recognize more names when we announced our picks, but what do I know? The one thing I do know is that it is ridiculously sophomoric to argue about it. As a fan, I am looking for reasons to be optimistic. That's what fans do. If your brand of fandom means that you look for reasons to be pessimistic and get indignant about decisions you don't understand, then have at it. But that can't be very enjoyable. I am a fan because I want something to distract and entertain me, not something else in my life to whine and moan about.

Reading about these draft picks, there is reason for hope and I think we can make some assumptions:

* Shanahan went into this off season focused on getting the offense he wants. They spent big money on a Center, RB, QB. They spent big draft Capitol on OT and WR/PR. Shanahan wants to put points up first and I am ok with that.

* They obviously thought Special Teams was a bigger concern than we did. Taylor is a fine PR, but he just doesn't have the speed to be dangerous. Same goes for him as a slot receiver. He is a great third down target when the team needs 5-10 yards, but that is about all he gives you. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a place on the team, but Pettis is going to bite into his snaps because he can break one as well. Add to that all of the DBs like Moore, Reed, and Harris who all figure to improve these units and you see how much Shanahan and Lynch were focused on field position.

* While we were freaking out about the EDGE, they saw a huge mess in the secondary. I can't say I blame them. At the beginning of the off season we had one CB, one slot CB, and three young, oft injured, or positionless safeties. So they spent tons of draft Capitol on speed, size, and length back there. They also brought in the prototypical CB for this defense to play and mentor. It is a move not just for this year, but the next 4-5 years.

* In the second year of six year deals, this regime does not feel the need to sell out to be contenders immediately. Everyone is looking enviously at the Rams, but if they flop this year they are screwed. They have pushed all of their chips into the middle for a shot this year. It might work out, but I like our approach. The slower built house often lasts longer.

* Remember how Harbaugh has a reputation for not playing younger guys? His draft picks would sit for years and we would say, "they are just learning and waiting." Maybe it was because Baalke was terrible, or maybe he didn't have enough faith in younger players. Either way, young players are being given a chance to play and grow. That is what gives me the most hope for this draft class and this year. The coaches are being counted on to prepare their players and the players are responding. Colbert was forced into playing FS and exceeded expectations. Kittle, Taylor, Breida, Witherspoon, and even Magnuson showed growth in their first years. They weren't perfect but the got better. That's why I am not as worried about Moore's transition to CB or Harris' year off. Our coaches seem to get the players ready.

^ Really nice post Karma!

Originally posted by genus49:

They added talented players or guys who can be developed. The results will speak for themselves. It's too early to say it was great or it was awful.

On paper we've revamped our special teams which can be huge and added a lot of competition in the secondary. I have concerns at guard and edge rushers but we'll see if they're valid or not.

Pretending I know more than the coaches would be super arrogant.

Youre pretending to know as much as the coaches when you agree with them. Its a cop out to say "wait and see". Every draft is wait and see. Everyone knows that. But in regards to talent selection and meeting team needs i think possibly the first is a c due to all the late round medical jobs an the secobd is a d due to not adressing all the probs everyone identified very clearly after the season.

One last point I forgot:

* This regime puts an emphasis on character, leadership, intelligence, and personality. McGlinchey's interview sealed the deal for him. Every other guy, if I am not mistaken, has received overt praise off the files for leadership, integrity, or at least work ethic. And I don't think that was a reaction to Foster either. I think it is a big deciding factor. Solomon Thomas is an outstanding human being, Taylor, Kittle, Beathard, Colbert, and D.J. all came with the label of first one in/ last one out. Pita was known for his motor and Witherspoon is going to be a freaking doctor. Williams was off the board until Shanahan stood on the table for him. Foster is the outlier that seemed to win them over in his interview.

Now, I know that many of you get angry at the character over talent idea, but I don't think that's what they are doing. I think they know that character is the thing that brings talent out.

I am Rascal, this is my work account.

I've been spamming the 49ers FO for a week trying to get them do this and it looks like they will make it official soon:

49ers trade CJ Beathard, their next 4 2nd round picks and Joe Williams to the Rams for Jared Goff

The 49ers plan to use Jared Goff as a Edge Rusher which makes me get tingly. Goff is so godly as a QB so he knows how to get to the QB too. Goff will get at least 15 sacks for us in 2018, book it bros

So 49ers are about to get Jared Goff, who will be the next Jason Taylor and Bruce Smith. Rams like CJ and have been eyeing him.