Pick 87: 49ers select Ji'Ayir Brown, S, Penn state

[Forge]

24 minutes ago, NinerNation21 said:

You can add Greenlaw to this list as well. He was hurt while testing, which caused him to drop. But he's a top-tier athlete when healthy. He fell to us because of a bad 40 time. Same thing happened with Huf and now with Brown. 

 

Greenlaw was one where I remember them openly talking about the gps data and how the 40 was slower due to injury, which definitely makes sense. Of course the report was that he was running 22 mph on gps, and again, I doubt it was that fast. Some of these numbers sound like made up 40 times that OSU offers up lol 

They can tell me Huf ran over  21 mph, but dude still plays slow with long speed. Thats been a concern since day and still is a concern, to be honest. 

[N4L]

2 hours ago, Forge said:

They can tell me Huf ran over  21 mph, but dude still plays slow with long speed. Thats been a concern since day and still is a concern, to be honest.

Huf actually reached over 21mph with the ball in his hands on his pick 6 earlier in the year, according to next gen stats. He looks really fast coming downhill, and other times he looks like he has cement shoes while trying to cover in space. I am really interested to see how he does next year. I was not as high on him as a lot of other people were going into last season, but he made a believer out of me very quickly. 

 

Apparently, the packers were trying to trade up for Brown before we did. 

[Forge]

4 minutes ago, N4L said:

Huf actually reached over 21mph with the ball in his hands on his pick 6 earlier in the year, according to next gen stats. He looks really fast coming downhill, and other times he looks like he has cement shoes while trying to cover in space. I am really interested to see how he does next year. I was not as high on him as a lot of other people were going into last season, but he made a believer out of me very quickly. 

 

Apparently, the packers were trying to trade up for Brown before we did. 

Thats the 21 mph I was referring to

[Chrissooner49er]

16 hours ago, N4L said:

Huf actually reached over 21mph with the ball in his hands on his pick 6 earlier in the year, according to next gen stats. He looks really fast coming downhill, and other times he looks like he has cement shoes while trying to cover in space. I am really interested to see how he does next year. I was not as high on him as a lot of other people were going into last season, but he made a believer out of me very quickly. 

 

Apparently, the packers were trying to trade up for Brown before we did. 

He'd look terrible in that yellow and green...actually, all of them do. Ugh. 

Ji'Ayir is in the running for me as favorite pick of this draft...but I like SOOOOO many! Brown, Winters, Beal, Willis, Luter, too. I really like our draft class of '23. Even Moody! 

[Forge]

Brown was a gold helmet guy, as was Willis 

[adamq]

13 hours ago, Forge said:

as was Willis 

That Latu pick...... 🙄

 

Hopefully he proves us all wrong, but it would have been nice to get an OT there

[Steve_DeBerg_Fan_420]

1 hour ago, adamq said:

That Latu pick...... 🙄

 

Hopefully he proves us all wrong, but it would have been nice to get an OT there

My operating theory is Kyle Shanahan was sitting at home thinking, "What if I replaced Dwelly and Woerner with two Jordan Reeds?"  Can we do that?" 

Hopefully Latu is a willing blocker, and he picks up on it quickly.  

[NinerNation21]

1 hour ago, Steve_DeBerg_Fan_420 said:

My operating theory is Kyle Shanahan was sitting at home thinking, "What if I replaced Dwelly and Woerner with two Jordan Reeds?"  Can we do that?" 

Hopefully Latu is a willing blocker, and he picks up on it quickly.  

According to Adam Peters, Latu is a pretty good blocker and with some added technique, could be even better. 

I don't see Latu as a Jordan Reed type guy, he's not as explosive as Reed or as dynamic with the ball in his hands. But, from what I've watched and read on Latu, he looks like he can a solid blocking TE and a reliable target in the short to intermediate range as a possession receiver. I don't get the sense that Latu will be a flashy or explosive player, but he definitely looks like he can be a solid and reliable backup TE, which is pretty valuable. 

Brayden Willis, on the other hand, looks more like Jordan Reed. Willis looks very natural catching the ball and seems to have a mean streak to him when blocking. 

[757-NINER]

On 5/10/2023 at 1:03 PM, Steve_DeBerg_Fan_420 said:

My operating theory is Kyle Shanahan was sitting at home thinking, "What if I replaced Dwelly and Woerner with two Jordan Reeds?"  Can we do that?" 

Hopefully Latu is a willing blocker, and he picks up on it quickly.  

Latu isn't a comparable comp to Reed though.

It's just an oddball pick to go along with this regime's track record of oddball picks.

Par for the course.

I actually would have been happy if we'd had we picked Willis there.

His tape suggests he's more of what we need in that room and is just a better, all-around TE than Latu but we shall see.

But I mean, we took a kicker in the 3rd round.

Our brain trust has made it clear that conventional wisdom is not how they go about things.

I'm willing to stomach it as long as the ship stays afloat.

 

[JIllg]

12 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

Latu isn't a comparable comp to Reed though.

It's just an oddball pick to go along with this regime's track record of oddball picks.

Par for the course.

I actually would have been happy if we'd had we picked Willis there.

His tape suggests he's more of what we need in that room and is just a better, all-around TE than Latu but we shall see.

But I mean, we took a kicker in the 3rd round.

Our brain trust has made it clear that conventional wisdom is not how they go about things.

I'm willing to stomach it as long as the ship stays afloat.

 

I mean, it sounded as though Adam Peters was more excited about Brayden Willis too, lol. I know that in his Athletic discussion, Willis had far more words devoted to him, including why they liked him above Brenton Strange among TEs that break tackles. Latu just really seems like a guy where a member of the coaching staff fell in love above and beyond most reason in part because they overvalued some of their intimate knowledge of his history a la TDP, Dante Pettis, Joe Williams, etc. I know there's been speculation that they reached because other TEs were flying off of the board, but outside of Schoonmaker, those guys weren't the ones that the team had brought in for an official visit. Latu was. I just think that the coaching staff really had a shine to him. The reasoning that they've shared about the pick at least makes it less out of nowhere for me. But I do think that they are missing the forest for the trees in terms of selectively valuing information on Latu. Definitely would love to be proved wrong though.

[49erscap]

On 5/10/2023 at 11:07 AM, adamq said:

That Latu pick...... 🙄

 

Hopefully he proves us all wrong, but it would have been nice to get an OT there

Here's something a friend of mine who's been scouting the draft for a while, like a long time, said about some of our picks(Latu is bolded).

I love Ji'Ayir Brown. He plays a lot faster than his 40 time and has everything else you want in a safety (or any player really). Intangibles through the roof.

Latu will fit in well with us. He's a very good blocker, high football IQ, and finds pockets of space. A reliable receiver. Not a vertical threat but that's not an issue in our offense. He will be a good TE2 for us.

I actually loved the Moody pick. He's an elite kicker who solves the position cheaply for 4 years. He's extremely reliable (perfect on XP's in his career and >90% inside 40 yards). He's gotten better every year from distance too.

Brayden Willis I believe will be a ST star for us and could develop into a weapon in the passing game. Could even play FB down the road. Really versatile athlete.

Dee Winters fits our mould of undersized and quick LBs. Compares favorably to Al-Shaair. I think he will be a steal for us. I didn't see much of Luter but he's a 5th round pick so he'll probably be a pro bowler lmao.

Ronnie Ball is one people are sleeping on. He's a very good athlete and is good after the catch. His basketball skills show up on tape. Good hands, explodes out of breaks. The suddenness is a big plus in our offense. He's a good return guy as well. I think he's an NFL WR3 with WR2 upside. Should never have fallen that far.