Post Draft..thoughts?

[John232]

I think this place just died after Lance and immediately chilled out.

 

what’s everyones immediate  thought on the draft?

[Fureys49ers]

A lot of energy went into that 1st round pick haha, both before it was made and probably immediately after in celebrating. With that said, some general notes from myself include; Lance makes or breaks this class, obviously, Sermon and Mitchell should be the RBs of the future as a nice 1, 2 combo, love seeing the investment made to the IOL as I’ve been wanting that for years, Ambry Thomas and Lenoir have a legit chance at not only making this roster but seeing playing time relatively quickly with most of our secondary again on one year deals and I think at their respective positions (outside CB for Thomas and NB for Lenoir) they can both be successful, very intrigued with how Hufanga is used/deployed because his instincts, ball skills and hitting power are fun to watch.
 

Added note, Watkins, Hilliard and Pederson I think might find a way to make the final cuts decision harder than our teams talent would lead one to believe even being UDFAs. 

[Forge]

Obviously success or failure really will be placed almost squarely on the shoulders of Lance, fair or not. 

As for the rest...I said it before, I liked a lot of them but nobody I was head over heels for. I really liked Aaron Banks as a prospect, didn't think he'd be on our radar, though he was a third round prospect. I liked Thomas, that was the closest thing to a draft crush of mine we drafted, but I had him as a third rounder. I was lukewarm on Sermon, but it was about the right spot for him. Didn't like the trade up, obviously as I'm like Justone in that at a certain point, I do think that you just want more darts to throw. The margins are so thin and the likelihood that you're going to smash the middle to late round picks are pretty slim, so give yourself more chances. CB 14 shouldn't be that big of a difference from CB15. 

All of the day three picks I basically felt were day 3 prospects. I wouldn't have double dipped running back, but I don't mind the offensive line double dip at all. 

So in some ways we were a little early on some of my evals (full disclosure...they do not appear to have been very good this year...we may be very fortunate we didn't draft Fields) and I hate the trade up so maybe a little inefficient of a draft for me personally, but nothing I straight up hated at all, which is good. Everything was pretty level for me. No real complaints, but nothing (besides Lance) I'm head over heels about. 

[Forge]

3 minutes ago, Fureys49ers said:

Added note, Watkins, Hilliard and Pederson I think might find a way to make the final cuts decision harder than our teams talent would lead one to believe even being UDFAs. 

Watkins is super interesting. Great gameday player...terrible testing. Hilliard has similar as more of a rotational backer (assume he's going to make the roster actually as a special teams player) where he could look good in the games, but his testing was bad. I like taking chances on guys like those as UDFAs 

[J-ALL-DAY]

20 minutes ago, John232 said:

I think this place just died after Lance and immediately chilled out.

what’s everyones immediate  thought on the draft?

We spent fighting and debating and stressing for over a month of our pick at #3, people just needed time to regroup lol.

Love the fact they finally addressed the interior OL. Don't know much of them but like what I heard about Banks.

Thomas wasn't someone who I watched leading up to the draft but after watching some clips of him, I really like that pick. He should be able to beat out Dontae Johnson and be our primary back up on one of the outside spots. Plays physical which I love and plays the ball well. This defense likely runs more man coverage and he ran a bunch of that in college.

Hufanga is going to be able to step in and play the hybrid safety/LB role on nickel downs and dude seems like a straight play maker. Another pick I like.

Sermon wasn't someone I would have picked but he fits what they are doing and adds the power element that Lance/Banks do. Clear philosophical switch right there and should help us be a much better RZ team.

Overall, if Lance balls then the draft will be a huge success. Because Banks is going to start for a while and Sermon will contribute. Hufanga is a baller so he will have some sort of role. That alone will make the draft look good down the line but again it just comes down to Lance. No pressure kid! 

[Fureys49ers]

Forgot to mention earlier, it’s seems a lot of the picks after Lance were “Adam Peter’s” guys, I believe Banks and Thomas were both quickly referenced back to Peters as such, and strangely enough, I feel even better about them knowing that.

[757-NINER]

Didn't draft a WR for the first time in the Lynch/Shanny era. Pretty shocked by that, as this was a deep class for WRs. Drafted not one but TWO OGs....never saw that coming in a million years. Just when you think you've got them pegged. But it wouldn't be Lynch/Shanny draft w/o the prequisite needless trade up. Some things never change...

[49ersfan]

2 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

Didn't draft a WR for the first time in the Lynch/Shanny era. Pretty shocked by that, as this was a deep class for WRs. Drafted not one but TWO OGs....never saw that coming in a million years. Just when you think you've got them pegged. But it wouldn't be Lynch/Shanny draft w/o the prequisite needless trade up. Some things never change...

First time we didn't draft a WR since 2002...

[Forge]

13 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

Didn't draft a WR for the first time in the Lynch/Shanny era. Pretty shocked by that, as this was a deep class for WRs. Drafted not one but TWO OGs....never saw that coming in a million years. Just when you think you've got them pegged. But it wouldn't be Lynch/Shanny draft w/o the prequisite needless trade up. Some things never change...

Lance is going to start and we are going to go back to the single wing. He threw 18 times per game in college, we are trying for even less in the NFL. 

I'm only partially joking...the league has gone so pass slanted that your linebackers are often 220 pound arrows that fly around everywhere but aren't always that great if they aren't kept clean. Zag when everyone else is zigging. This offense has the ability to be very nasty and mean in it's mentality lol. There could be something of a market inefficiency to exploit 

[757-NINER]

As far as the NFCW goes, I thought the Cards killed it. Eskridge going to the Hawks absolutely sucks because I really liked him. 

[Forge]

Just now, 757-NINER said:

As far as the NFCW goes, I thought the Cards killed it. Eskridge going to the Hawks absolutely sucks because I really liked him. 

I didn't like Eskridge. Thought he was a 6th round guy. Just a niche player to me. 

I liked the back of the cardinals draft more so than the top, same for the Rams (though obviously they didn't have a first). The Rams seem to really want to get creative with their picks in the way that they are transitioning them at the next level, so could be very interesting. 

[Fureys49ers]

6 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

As far as the NFCW goes, I thought the Cards killed it. Eskridge going to the Hawks absolutely sucks because I really liked him. 

I liked both those players as prospects as well.
 

Outside of the Cardinals I think the Rams and Seahawks just face planted this class. I mean the Rams took 3 WRs and another RB. Seahawks used their most valuable pick on a WR who is quite similar to the 30 year old Lockett who they just locked up for decent money. Confusing pick considering they’d like to “get back” to running the football and have a defense with more question marks then answers. They obviously weren’t going to address them all but to add to one of your few strengths when there’s clear needs in multiple areas is an odd way to go about things. 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Fureys49ers

[NinerNation21]

I’m going to dig deeper into our class over the next couple of days and give more detailed thoughts on everything, but my snap reaction to this class is it’s a tad underwhelming but I see the potential for a lot of solid contributors.

 

[Chrissooner49er]

Yes, this draft had several deviations from the norm, at least from what we have observed in previous ShanaLynch Drafts. I like the acknowledgement of Peters' influence by both of them. Loved the approach they had and resultant smokescreen regarding Lance. Made for great pre-Draft drama as our 9ers were the focus of so many Sports talk shows because of it. Our FO can keep secrets! "No leaks, just a drip!"  

The OL picks were a very pleasant surprise and hearing McG was lobbying for Banks is awesome. They'll likely be side-by-side and the run game will be that much better for it. 

The CBs are intriguing and I especially like the Thomas pick. Hope he gets some playing time sooner rather than later (and pushes Dontae off, like @J-ALL-DAY said). Hufanga instantly intrigued me. Really hope he makes the kind of impression that keeps him a 9er.

Double-dipping in RB really surprised me. I am sure I will like Mitchell, but you all know how I feel about Sermon! Or should by now. He left OU due to losing time to Kennedy Brooks and Stevenson, partly due to being dinged up (and a major knee injury, IIRC). Was great to see him do so well and stay healthy at tOSU. 

Excited about it all but I really don't expect any changing of the guard yet. Jimmy G will likely keep his starting spot if healthy. I really don't want to see any Greg Roman offense anywhere near our 9ers. Had enough of his ilk and it's not as if the Ravens have gotten far in the playoffs... Let Lance sit and learn Shanahan's complete offense (along with whatever he throws in for Lance in particular, just chill on the called QB runs, please? I flinched when Steve would run even though it was fun. Don't need that stress!).

Basically, no one I was stumping for was picked and yet I really enjoyed it!

[J-ALL-DAY]