Round 6 Pick 176 San Francisco 49ers Select TE Kaden Smith, Stanford

[N4L]

1 minute ago, Forge said:

It's unfortunate that Shanny doesn't know how to utilize them and be successful in the red zone. 

He should just hand the playcalling duties over to someone else in the red zone. 

Nah, he just needs to tweak what he does a little bit and make it work.

Jimmy is super accurate and has a fast release, that should be a great combination in the redzone because you have to hit tight windows. 

I think part of the issue with our redzone offense is that the ZBS isn't necessarily designed for short yardage because you value guys who can move well rather than guys who move defenders. I think that's part of the reason we can't punch it in. 

As I'm typing that I see @J-ALL-DAY say the same thing I am trying to say. Great post. Winning 1v1 matchups will go a long way 

[y2lamanaki]

2 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Or he can change his entire philosophy in the RZ and adjust to what works for other teams. All these outside runs and HB pitches is straight crap. More inside runs and less outside runs and maybe trying to isolate certain receivers will do the trick. But what I like is both our WRs now can win one on one in that area. Both can run fade routes and run killer out routes. No excuses not to be at least average in that area next season. 

Plus, he hasn't had anyone like Hurd or Smith who excel at jump balls. Not only that - Hurd might even be a de facto goal line/short yardage back. That could greatly help. 

[Forge]

5 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Or he can change his entire philosophy in the RZ and adjust to what works for other teams. All these outside runs and HB pitches is straight crap. More inside runs and less outside runs and maybe trying to isolate certain receivers will do the trick. But what I like is both our WRs now can win one on one in that area. Both can run fade routes and run killer out routes. No excuses not to be at least average in that area next season. 

It amuses me that the one time he's really been successful in the red zone was the year that he went against his own offensive philosophy. 

[Chrissooner49er]

Okay, okay, I admit that I'm disliking the Hurd pick a little less with your talk of being a good RZ threat/back. But this guy? Oh wow do I like him. In my viewing of Stanford games, Smith stuck out often while I was watching JJAW and I thought to myself "I wouldn't mind the 9ers getting this guy". And now we have him.  He is a good blocker and a decent receiver. Jump ball might be his best attribute.

[48 1/2ers]

Great hands and ball skills. yes. yes. yes. Give me that all day out of a TE, the blocking aspect I cant judge but by all accounts he's considered advanced so I wouldn't be surprised is he sees the field often and early. 

[rudyZ]

3 hours ago, 48 1/2ers said:

Great hands and ball skills. yes. yes. yes. Give me that all day out of a TE, the blocking aspect I cant judge but by all accounts he's considered advanced so I wouldn't be surprised is he sees the field often and early. 

With Juice Check's and now Hurd's versatility, it might spell the end of Celek's tenure with the team sooner rather than later.

[J-ALL-DAY]

26 minutes ago, rudyZ said:

With Juice Check's and now Hurd's versatility, it might spell the end of Celek's tenure with the team sooner rather than later.

No more Celek time?????

[Forge]

3 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

No more Celek time?????

[oldman9er]

Another pick that I was completely unimpressed with. Just don't see him doing anything to beat out the scrub TEs we already had. College DBs had zero trouble making up ground against him, and that was in the short range. Pros are going to completely neutralize him, imo. 

Hope I am wrong though. Have been before, and have nothing personal against dude. 

[straighthate]

If it ends Celek time I’m happy. I think a cheaper option from the junk we have in the position with at least a chance to have an impact is a win for us. 

We know what we have in Celek. And that ceiling isn’t even high enough to really call it a ceiling. It’s like a limbo bar or something, I don’t know. 

[Chrissooner49er]

If he can beat out Celek or Dwelley, then this will be a win of a pick. I know I liked what I saw of him in Stanford games. 6th round pick? Hell yeah!

[y2lamanaki]

15 minutes ago, Chrissooner49er said:

If he can beat out Celek or Dwelley, then this will be a win of a pick. I know I liked what I saw of him in Stanford games. 6th round pick? Hell yeah!

Exactly this. It's a really low bar for him to clear. If he beats Dwelley and that's it? Cool. Slight roster improvement in 2019, and nobody should really care that a 2019 6th round pick didn't make the 2020 roster if we choose to bring in competition next year. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

16 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

Exactly this. It's a really low bar for him to clear. If he beats Dwelley and that's it? Cool. Slight roster improvement in 2019, and nobody should really care that a 2019 6th round pick didn't make the 2020 roster if we choose to bring in competition next year. 

Just watching some clips of his, he seems to have very good hands and makes tough catches in traffic. Could this be another addition to improve our RZ woes? I mean Samuel is a monster in the RZ and Hurd is a threat in that area of the field as well. Could this be the main reason we took Smith?

[y2lamanaki]

14 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Just watching some clips of his, he seems to have very good hands and makes tough catches in traffic. Could this be another addition to improve our RZ woes? I mean Samuel is a monster in the RZ and Hurd is a threat in that area of the field as well. Could this be the main reason we took Smith?

I think so. And if your 3rd TE is merely a red zone/special teams specialist, then you are probably getting more out of him than most. 

I personally think he can develop into TE2, but if all he becomes is TE3 over Dwelley - cool. That still improved one of the 53 roster spots.