2021 Draft Thread

[JIllg]

So, I was playing with the PFF simulator and Lance was on the board. I traded back with Teamy, the Team Monster for a delightful package (all of my mocks lately have the entire defensive back and offensive line depth group gone and Williams staying as the preface):

SF gets: 19, WFT 2022 1st round pick, 51, 74

WFT gets: 12

19: Caleb Farley, CB Virginia Tech

43: Tyson Campbell, CB Georgia

51: Ronnie Perkins, EDGE Oklahoma

74: Shakur Brown, CB Mich. St.

102: Cameron Sample: base EDGE, pass DI Tulane

117: Davis Mills, QB Stanford

156: Amari Rodgers, WR Clemson

173: Adetokunbo Ogundeji, EDGE ND

182: Marco Wilson, CB Florida

196: Alaric Jackson, G/T Iowa

228: O'Brien Goodson, DI Memphis

238: Tristen Hodge, G BYU

 

[Chrissooner49er]

46 minutes ago, JIllg said:

So, I was playing with the PFF simulator and Lance was on the board. I traded back with Teamy, the Team Monster for a delightful package (all of my mocks lately have the entire defensive back and offensive line depth group gone and Williams staying as the preface):

SF gets: 19, WFT 2022 1st round pick, 51, 74

WFT gets: 12

19: Caleb Farley, CB Virginia Tech

43: Tyson Campbell, CB Georgia

51: Ronnie Perkins, EDGE Oklahoma

74: Shakur Brown, CB Mich. St.

102: Cameron Sample: base EDGE, pass DI Tulane

117: Davis Mills, QB Stanford

156: Amari Rodgers, WR Clemson

173: Adetokunbo Ogundeji, EDGE ND

182: Marco Wilson, CB Florida

196: Alaric Jackson, G/T Iowa

228: O'Brien Goodson, DI Memphis

238: Tristen Hodge, G BYU

 

Farley, Perkins, Ogundeji, Mills AND Rodgers?! Where do I sign up for this draft?!?!?!? 

I thought Perkins could use another year at OU, myself. I was rather surprised he declared. I like him a lot but thought he might have a chance at going higher next year. 

[Chrissooner49er]

On 2/18/2021 at 1:39 AM, N4L said:

I had not scouted mills until tonight. 

I like his release, it's very easy and compact and it looks like it jumps out of his hands when he is throwing down field. Uses a lot of touch underneath. Has a good feel for defenders and throwing into windows. He is a timing QB and does a good job executing playcalls.

I know a lot of people want us to get an athlete at QB. I understand the reasoning and agree on a lot of levels (one of which is that our OL cant pass block worth a damn). With that being said, I am not sure kyle will make it a priority to get an athlete. He has only ever wanted pocket passers, so I think its safe to say whomever we draft will also be able to throw from the pocket efficiently.

So far, Kyle has only wanted a guy to run his offense. Maybe that mindset has changed, maybe he realizes it's also great to have a QB who can make plays on his own (ie with his legs) but maybe not. We really don't know what Kyle is thinking. What I do know is that Davis Mills looks exactly like the QBs that Kyle has liked in the past. 

I read something recently about why he liked cousins coming out of the draft, and it was partly due to the fact Michigan state played a pro style offense that used a lot of play action and kyle could easily see how cousins fit within his offense. I feel like the same thing will happen here. Stanford is a 'pro style' offense, its easy to see how a lot of this stuff translates. 

We very well may be on the market for 2 QBs this year. I would not be thrilled if this was the only QB we added in the draft, but in the 6th round? I am way in on Davis Mills. In the event we go a different direction at 12 and do not make a trade for watson, let him compete against rosen and cj for QB3 along with another rookie.

I dont know much about him other than the two full games I watched. only 9 more to see his whole college career! lol that plus the injuries will push him way down teams draft boards. He seems like that part of the 6th and 7th round where you just take a guy because you like him, not because he is the best player remaining, or because he fits your scheme, but mainly just because you think he has a chance to actually stay on a roster for more than 2 seasons. I feel like thats the sweet spot for him, because I do think this guy can play QB in the league if developed properly.  

I would take him with our 3rd round pick--which is basically an earlier 4th. Mills just seems to have so much potential to me. 

[P_locniners]

3 hours ago, JIllg said:

So, I was playing with the PFF simulator and Lance was on the board. I traded back with Teamy, the Team Monster for a delightful package (all of my mocks lately have the entire defensive back and offensive line depth group gone and Williams staying as the preface):

SF gets: 19, WFT 2022 1st round pick, 51, 74

WFT gets: 12

19: Caleb Farley, CB Virginia Tech

43: Tyson Campbell, CB Georgia

51: Ronnie Perkins, EDGE Oklahoma

74: Shakur Brown, CB Mich. St.

102: Cameron Sample: base EDGE, pass DI Tulane

117: Davis Mills, QB Stanford

156: Amari Rodgers, WR Clemson

173: Adetokunbo Ogundeji, EDGE ND

182: Marco Wilson, CB Florida

196: Alaric Jackson, G/T Iowa

228: O'Brien Goodson, DI Memphis

238: Tristen Hodge, G BYU

 

If we went a different direction at #43, maybe IOL....I would be 100% on the draft. I mean, even as is, I am still 99.9%

[J-ALL-DAY]

Crocky shares my love for Horn!!! Once again, a DOG! Jaire 2.0. 

[49ersfan]

2 questions for yall. Not necessarily for the Niners but in general

1 - How would you rank the 2021 QB class? 

2 - How many long-term franchise calibre guys are there? Is this a strong QB class after Lawrence?

[Justone2]

56 minutes ago, 49ersfan said:

2 questions for yall. Not necessarily for the Niners but in general

1 - How would you rank the 2021 QB class? 

2 - How many long-term franchise calibre guys are there? Is this a strong QB class after Lawrence?

I think its a pretty good class in terms of the top of the draft. Lawrence is the clear top dog but after that there are 4 guys that depending on the situation they get into can all be a franchise QB. Offcourse all have their flaws and potential downfalls. Guys like Wilson, Fields and Lance have the physical tools to be great in this league but with Field you have to wonder about how fast he prosesses things(part is the offense but he is a bit of a first read or run type at this moment). Wilson you have to wonder about the level of competition and his injury past. Lance has played only a handfull of games and only one this year. Then you have a guy like Mac Jones who i feel would succeed if he goes to say the Saints but lacks athleticism and mostly has to rely on his smarts and arm which is harder to evaluate when you are in the situation like he was in Alabama.

[Forge]

Let him fall, baby. Let him fall. I'll happily scoop him up

[rudyZ]

12 minutes ago, Forge said:

Let him fall, baby. Let him fall. I'll happily scoop him up

Well, it's the most obvious concern I can think of. I watched 3 games of his, and that was my only question about him.

Arm strength : Check.

Accuracy : Check.

Athleticism : Check.

Toughness : Double check.

Passion for the game : the double toughness check does seem to indicate he wants to be on the field a lot.

Intelligence, real-time understanding of the game, work ethics, leaderships : no freakin' idea, but I'm not a scout.

[N4L]

10 hours ago, Forge said:

Let him fall, baby. Let him fall. I'll happily scoop him up

Fields falling to a range where we can snag him is actually the outcome I am hoping for the most from this draft. I see huge upside potential and think its worth taking a big swing at the fences. We probably wont get another legit shot at Desean Watson, but fields can be our watson mea culpa / redemption without trading away the farm

Kyle has traditionally targeted a specific type of QB. Obviously the league has changed but more importantly, I am hoping that Kyle's mindset on QB has changed. Its not just mobile vs not mobile as much as its the fact he was very confident that he could win with inferior QBs in the past, as long as they fit his system. Given how nick mullens, cj beathard and even garoppolo played this year, and given how some elite QB talent helps elevate other (inferior) systems/coaches, Kyle may finally realize how important it is to have an elite level QB and decide its time to swing for the fences. 

Fields very well could fall over concerns in his ability to read defenses etc. He has not shown the ability to go through progressions quickly and see the whole field (outside of the clemson game this year tbh) but Kyle should be able to mask some of those deficiencies early on, while actually developing him and teaching him how to do these things.

For all the criticism he receives, OSU's system seems to be more about presnap reads than post snap reads. So, I am not going to fault a guy too much for executing a system on a super talented team while winning a lot of games. I don't know how much they were trying to teach him to do things like look off defenders etc. Keep in mind he originally went to georgia for a year so he had 2 offseasons at OSU, one where he was an incoming transfer, and one during covid where the season was in jeopardy and their season started late. They only played 8 games or whatever, and he played the last 2 with hurt ribs lol thats half a season in the NFL, I am confident that he will improve upon those things as he gets a better feel for the game with more experience and the best coaching in the world 

So for me, his "issues" arent that he cant or is unable to do the little things that make NFL QBs the best, its that he hasnt been taught to properly. 

I am enamored with him because of his arm, accuracy, and fluidity. The guy throws a good ball. Repeatable throwing motion, tied in well with his feet, good at throwing on the run. He has good balance and obviously he is a phenomenal athlete. Great arm. I mean, the deep ball is legit and is something we have sorely missed. I am putting a lot of value in our next QB having a great deep ball. I know @J-ALL-DAY and I are always calling for deep shots on gamedays because it will open up so much space for us on the ground. Aiyuk needs someone to get him the ball in the deep part of the field. Its going to open up the middle for kittle etc etc etc

There are guys where you look at their struggles with the mental side of QB and think it is not worth developing them. Fields falls into a different category for me. Kyle needs to pull the trigger on trying to coach a young QB up and have him grow within the system. Jim Harbaugh called Cam Newton raw, nuclear grade plutonium. That's how I feel about fields. He is a mechanically polished player, but needs refinement, experience, and a system that suits his skillset.

He is a great fit for the offense when you really think about it. The first read gets open here, a lot. His athletic ability would be great for the boot game, which honestly we need to do more of considering how poorly our OL is constructed atm. All the presnap stuff fields does is great for us here as well. 

We have to figure out QB, LT, and CB this offseason. It all has to fit together. I dont think we have the money for Garoppolo, Trent williams, and to have good starting corners (be it williams, JV22, witherspoon, sherm or some other FA). Warner needs to get paid obviously. We can only really bank on one or two starters out of this draft class. You cant find a starting LT in the outside round for example, at least not in year 1.

It seems like there will be a legit blue chip talent at LT and CB at #12 for us this year, so I could easily see us choosing to go one of those directions, but QB is simultaneously the position that will save us the most value on our money while also being the most important position in football. When I say value on our money I mean that Trent williams will get 20m for being one of the best T in the NFL while garoppolo will get paid 25m for being in the top 15-20ish at his position. So while the actual dollar figure is in the ballpark, one guy is elite while the other is not. So saving that money while also having a legit shot to get an elite QB, for me, is the best way to go. 

 

And if Fields never improves and we completely strike out with the pick?? Thats the NFL, and you fire away again. You keep doing this until you land "the guy". You dont get gun-shy and just repeatedly punt on QB like we did in 2017. We took solomon thomas because we were worried about committing to a QB like watson. If watson would have failed, we would have literally been in the same position we are now, looking for the next QB. So Kyle needs to go ahead and take that shot knowing that he has job security and that he isnt going anywhere for a long time, whereas some other teams may not be willing to take that risk with fields at the top of the draft because it would probably cause them to lose their jobs. So this really could be the perfect storm for us to get a QB with an incredibly high ceiling (storm that started with the fires this past summer and playing week 1 last year in the smoke, week 2 with bosa injury.... weird scouting season where fields will get less of a chance than normal to prove he can handle the mental side of the game)

Edited February 21, 2021 by N4L

[rudyZ]

3 hours ago, N4L said:

Trent williams will get 20m for being one of the best T in the NFL while garoppolo will get paid 25m for being in the top 15-20ish at his position.

The problem is that we're not going to move on from Jimmy without having his replacement. If we were to luck out and get fields in the draft, sure, we could get rid of Jimmy easily, but it would already be too late for Trent Williams. That's why I've always wanted to have the draft before free agency. But unless we make a trade up into the top 3 of the draft as free agency begins, get something for Jimmy then sign Trent right away, it's unlikely we get to keep everyone. 

Well, maybe it's still feasible. We could sign Trent to a low enough cap hit for 2021. Every year, there's a team making magic moves, might as well be us. 

But really, move up the draft to the end of February. Have free agency in March. Have a spring NFL league for rookies, practice squad level players and undrafted free agents, and make money off of it while killing the XFLs, AAFs of this world (but you will never kill the Japanese American football league!!!). More money for the league. Better team building process, in my opinion. I don't care about pro days. Have pro days after the draft for undrafted players. That's it. I fixed the NFL. 

[Forge]

3 hours ago, rudyZ said:

The problem is that we're not going to move on from Jimmy without having his replacement. If we were to luck out and get fields in the draft, sure, we could get rid of Jimmy easily, but it would already be too late for Trent Williams. That's why I've always wanted to have the draft before free agency. But unless we make a trade up into the top 3 of the draft as free agency begins, get something for Jimmy then sign Trent right away, it's unlikely we get to keep everyone. 

Well, maybe it's still feasible. We could sign Trent to a low enough cap hit for 2021. Every year, there's a team making magic moves, might as well be us. 

But really, move up the draft to the end of February. Have free agency in March. Have a spring NFL league for rookies, practice squad level players and undrafted free agents, and make money off of it while killing the XFLs, AAFs of this world (but you will never kill the Japanese American football league!!!). More money for the league. Better team building process, in my opinion. I don't care about pro days. Have pro days after the draft for undrafted players. That's it. I fixed the NFL. 

Thats why I've been a proponent on moving on to someone I'd be comfortable with starting worst case scenario, but also leaves your options for drafting a guy open. I've mentioned Gardner MInshew in the past and I suppose that Sam Darnold also fits into this to a certain degree (though the price to acquire him appears to be higher). They are both guys that can probably start, worst case scenario, frees up money for free agency, and doesn't take you out of the running for a QB in the first but doesn't leave you in a lurch if you can't draft one. 

[49ersfan]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/22/deshaun-watson-trade-texans-nfl-fmia-peter-king/

Quote

 

4. I think there were these interesting nuggets from Mel Kiper and Todd McShay on their Field Yates-hosted ESPN draft podcast the other day:

a. McShay has a counterintuitive order of quarterbacks at the top of the draft: Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields. “It’s Lawrence one, gap, Wilson two, gap, then the next quarterbacks, Lance and Fields,” he said.

b. When I told one NFL personnel man who is scouting quarterbacks heavily the McShay 1 through 4, he said: “Three of those four will be taken in the first four picks. The Eagles [at six] will be lucky to have a good one fall to them.”

c. Lance over Fields is the big surprise there, obviously, particularly after Fields ravaged Clemson and Lawrence in the playoffs in January.

d. McShay likes a fifth quarterback, Mac Jones of Alabama, to land in round one.

 

Looks like at least one personnel executive believes 4 QB's could be taken in the top 5. 

[Melbourne 9er]

16 hours ago, Forge said:

Thats why I've been a proponent on moving on to someone I'd be comfortable with starting worst case scenario, but also leaves your options for drafting a guy open. I've mentioned Gardner MInshew in the past and I suppose that Sam Darnold also fits into this to a certain degree (though the price to acquire him appears to be higher). They are both guys that can probably start, worst case scenario, frees up money for free agency, and doesn't take you out of the running for a QB in the first but doesn't leave you in a lurch if you can't draft one. 

I know it's a blast from the past but how about Alex Smith for a short term bridge/game manager/mentoring role. Can't see him being with the Washington Reds next season and can make all the throws that Jimmy can without turning it over. It's hard to believe but he's probably healthier than JG too.

[NinerNation21]

6 hours ago, 49ersfan said:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/02/22/deshaun-watson-trade-texans-nfl-fmia-peter-king/

Looks like at least one personnel executive believes 4 QB's could be taken in the top 5. 

If it's true that the Jags, Jets, Falcons, Eagles, and Panthers are looking to take a QB in the first, along with the possible Texans trade, it seems pretty reasonable that there will be a high-stakes shoot out for any of the top 4 QBs within the top 7-8 picks of the draft. It's also reasonable to expect that Mac Jones will be the best available QB at #12, and I think we're almost all in agreeance that he's not worth the #12 pick. 

I'd like to hold out hope that the 49ers land one of the 4 top QBs, but it just seems less likely as each day passes.