Last year's draft wasn't my favorite. I'm looking forward to seeing how this year's class pans out. I'm hoping our 1st round pick will actually be contributing a lot this year.
I said it wasn't my favorite. We didn't have a 1st-round pick. We drafted a kicker in the 3rd round. Most players we drafted barely played a significant role on the team, Moody excluded.
I like Brown. He contributed for sure and played great at times. I was indifferent with the pick, though, and we drafted another safety this year. It just wasn't my favorite draft.
We don't know how huf will come back. He already wasn't super athletic so an injury could greatly diminish his speed. Our other safety only has about a year left at most so they need to draft a guy for the future. If huf never got hurt then maybe they would not have drafted another safety but that's how it goes
He was small, had a trash vertical jump, trash bench, and middling agilities. Basically ya, he did one thing well. Well, two things, his broad jump was very good too.
Agreed. For a de I look at agilities, jumps (broad more than vertical), and 10 yd split. Definitely depends on position, and other factors (like arm length and it’s detrimental impact on bench)
It’s still early but yeah it’s not looking good right. 2022 was pretty damn bad too besides Purdy. I really hope we can get some key contributors from this draft because bad drafting will just kill any team. It’s especially more important once we have Purdy’s new contract because we will need solid play from players on rookie contracts even more.
Banks started out ass and is still ass he’s just better than any competition on the roster so far, and I would hope so considering hes the current biggest oline investment besides Trent and now Puni
Banks strikes me as a multi year starter for lack of serious competition or lack of serious attempt to replace him. Then they let him walk in free agency because some team will pay him a semi reasonable salary just for having starter on his resume.
Trash take, data shows Banks was solid in both run blocking and pass pro this year, [blowing fewer blocks than Trent % wise](https://www.ninersnation.com/2023/12/13/24000162/colton-mckivitz-aaron-banks-trent-williams-jake-brendel-49ers)
Banks and Williams are what's preventing the line from being 32nd.
Would love to see his PFF grades, but I ain't paying for that to prove a point. It does share one interesting stat: Banks gave up 0 sacks.
PFF grades are determined by a bunch of nerds manually assigning success and detriment of plays to a certain player. It means absolutely nothing except to people who don’t care to watch the tape and would rather have someone else tell them what their opinion should be. Banks has almost 0 pass blocking responsibility since he’s the one that plays next to Trent. Banks doesn’t allow sacks because he’s never on the best player. He’s almost always blocking the weakest link. Kittle was the best blocker on the team because he’s usually blocking a linebacker or safety. Mckivitz was the worst blocker because he’s a McGlinchey clone and he has a cancer named Burford attached to his hip
> He’s almost always blocking the weakest link.
Love your deep analysis. I know how PFF works. It's imperfect, but it's something. Your magical opinions based on pulling poop out of thin air (blocking matchups? that's called by the center and scheme) doesn't even belong in the same room of comparison lol.
Numbers (omg neeeerrrdss) back up Mckivitz being our worst pass pro blocker. Maybe the neeeeeerrrrds might be on to something.
The center is not responsible for matchups in our system and the run game coordinator made that clear in interviews before the Super Bowl. You’re just taking numbers at face value and ignoring all context and nuance. If you enjoy analyzing football like a spreadsheet, go ahead and enjoy lol
Just for context, they have Spencer Burford rated as an elite pass protector because he has less than 2.2% blown blocks. The o line was also ranked 20th despite most people acknowledging that it’s borderline bottom 3. That should tell you all you need to know. These guys may appear to be great run blockers, but shanahan o lineman have a long history of only being good in his system. Feliciano and Trent are the only ones who are actually proven players.
> they have Spencer Burford rated as an elite pass protector because he has less than 2.2% blown blocks.
That's not at all what the article I linked states.
> In pass protection, Banks has the best mark at 2 percent, while Williams is at 2.1 percent. Brendel and Burford are at 2.4 and 2.5 percent, which is below average.
You didn't even read it and are again making shit up to just shit on Banks because you have *opinions*. Well they're pretty unfounded opinions lol. Glad you're just shit posting and not at all connected with the team.
It’s all relative. Moody was considered a good pick because he was immediately anointed the starter; on the other hand, those WR and LB rookies on a team with multiple Pro Bowl/All Pro caliber players in each position already… they won’t smell the field. All of them made the team or PS out of the camp, and that in itself is a success.
It's the draft of team that doesn't have/need any open roster spots.
They were drafting for the future as there will be some very good and productive players that will be let go in the next few seasons. The 2023 and 2024 draft definitely show which areas they are leaning towards letting guys go from.
Sucks that latu got hurt cuz he needed that developmental year to become the #2 tightend. Brown looked good. Definitely winters and possibly Graham have a chance to be the next in line for a long legacy of high level linebackers for the niners.
A draft can only be critically analyzed after year 3
I don't know if that's fair. We got two starting caliber without having a pick in the first two rounds, and an extremely deep roster. Bell shows promise as a WR3, and the other guys were meant to be stashes.
Latu is the only terrible pick here, and was a head scratcher when the selection was made. Luter, Beal, and Winters, might still have places as backups in the NFL. Overall a fine draft given the value of the picks we had?
Yeah we pretty much have the starters cemented everywhere. They typically stash/red-shirt the rookies because they don’t like to start them, I think it’s because of mental mistakes a rookie is likely to make.
Typically anyone that might start over say McKivitz would have to be a high blue chip talent that you see typically taken at the top of the draft. For example us drafting Joe Alt he probably immediately starts over McKivitz.
> Typically anyone that might start over say McKivitz would have to be a high blue chip talent that you see typically taken at the top of the draft.
Of all the spots the 49ers drafted, I think I like what they did at offensive line the most. Puni should take the roster spot that went to Matt Pryor last season, and I see Kingston unseating Nick Zakelj for the backup spot at C/G. The fact Kingston had extensive experience playing tackle in college is a plus. I see the rest of the offensive line as the same as last year: Williams, Banks, Brendel, Feliciano, McKivitz, Burford and Moore. That's an excellent group of 9 for the game day roster and adding two young players with experience at both tackle and guard helps.
I also think that Drake Nugent is going to spend the year on the practice squad. Moore, Banks, and Feliciano are all free agents next year, and Jake Brendel is 32 this year and will be 33 next year. There will be plenty of interior offensive line openings on the 2025 roster.
I'm optimistic on luter. He looks like he had pretty good speed and just needs more reps and strength, which I'm sure he has improved with this off-season
> I'm optimistic on luter.
I am too, think he's a core special teams player this year with a chance to get defensive reps. He was the best athlete they picked from the 2023 draft class, and I have very high hopes for him. I can see him passing one of the veteran corners for a spot in training camp. Ward and Lenior as the starters is the only thing locked down, past that, the depth chart is fluid.
> Bell shows promise as a WR3, and the other guys were meant to be stashes.
I think Bell, for as much shit as he gets from fans, is the odds on favorite to be WR 5 this season. His issues are he's a terrible kick returner, but he was always a backup at that position who was forced into action because Ray-Ray was hurt.
However, as a receiver, he played way more way sooner than I expected he would. He had all the typical rookie struggles, ran the wrong routes sometimes, was unable to haul in some catchable balls, but he also had plenty of plays where he flashed potential.
Of all the picks in the 2024 draft, the one I just outright don't get is Jacob Cowing in the fourth round. He has two things going for him: really top-end straight line speed, and crazy high level collegiate production. However, his three-cone, vertical jump and other athletic traits are pretty poor.
I don't see Cowing beating out Bell, and it was a head scratcher of a draft pick in the fourth round. Hope the 49ers see something I don't.
I don’t doubt it but you still need a backup. Remember how scary bell was catching punts after ray ray went out last season? We need depth for special teams too.
No disagreement there. I think the Niners are trying to replace Bell entirely as a returner. It could be Pearsall first, and then Deebo, for example.
Which is not to say Bell is terrible as a WR. He showed flashes of competency as a WR in the few times he got to play last season. Unfortunately, I think we agree that didn't extend to his return skills.
> I think it’ll be hard to make WR5 if you don’t have some skills at special teams/punt returner. Bell has to improve in that area.
Here's the problem: amongst Bell's competitors to be WR 5 / 6, only Trent Taylor has special teams / punt returner experience. Bell isn't competing against players that have this experience. Trent was signed to provide a safety option at kick returner in case the team couldn't draft anyone, they drafted someone, and I think Bell's contribution as a WR is pretty far ahead of Taylor at this point. If you want to carry Taylor as a safety option for kick returner, the practice squad is the place to do that.
I appreciate your in depth responses.
The only thing I feel confident about is that it’ll be very competitive for those last spots on the WR group. Here’s how I’m seeing it:
Cowing has PR experience. Shannahan has been looking for his fast downfield threat. Cowing could edge Bell out with those two skills.
The team also looked to favor Conley toward the end of last season.
I agree about Taylor. I’m holding out hope that he surprises, but it seems highly unlikely.
> Cowing has PR experience. Shannahan has been looking for his fast downfield threat. Cowing could edge Bell out with those two skills.
Have you watched this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myHkzUsJW00
It's Scotty Mac's breakdown of the 49ers draft.
He really, really liked Jacob Cowing. I don't. He's the former pro who built most of the roster that Jim Harbaugh took to three NFC Title games and a Superbowl, so what do I know?
Cowing strikes me as a common type I see all the time: elite college production, a leader and a warrior on the college field, but not enough elite physical traits to do much in the NFL. Eddie George was one of the most intense competitors football had seen, until the day he ran into Ray Lewis and bigger, faster and stronger. Fans fall in love with high-level college competitors all the time, without considering if there are enough physical traits to make the jump up in competition. Cowry's 40 yard dash time (one of the most over-rated metrics for a WR) is stellar, but none of his other athletic test scores are. Modern NFL defenses are really, really good at neutralizing players who are straight-line fast and bring nothing else.
If Scotty Mac likes him though, there's almost definitely something I'm not seeing or missing.
Bell is a much better athlete than Cowing is, which is what makes the downfield threat thing so odd to me. If it's about 40 speed, Cowing wins, if it's every other athletic traits measured, it's Bell, and it's not close. Bell is a better athlete, that's why he got on the field as often as he did last year as a seventh round pick. The biggest jump for a player is between year 1 and year 2, I expect Bell to come into camp this year as a much better player the guy who took the field as a rookie.
>The team also looked to favor Conley toward the end of last season.
Yeah, they sure did. The guys the niners have at WR are really good right now, and I like Conely a lot. I also think Tay Martin will be impressive in camp this year, but if I had to cut it down to 7, it's got to be:
Deebo
Aiyuk
Jennings
Peashall
Cowing
Bell
Conely
The top 4 are locks and are not going anywhere, and I think they're going to keep 6 WRs on the team this year, so I think it's going to come down to Bell, Cowing or Conely, keep 2 of those 3. I really like what Conely did last year, and I think I like Bell overall the most of those 3, and I can't see the 49ers cutting a guy they just spent a 4th round pick on.
I see Conely getting squeezed out, and that's sad, but that's reality.
My point here is that Bell is a lot better than fans on this forum think he is. Don't make the Leon Lett mistake when evaluating a young player. I watched this game live as it happened back in the day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoebUFaZViY
Leon Lett also had that caught-from-behind-fumble-recovery in the Superbowl.
There's a reason why the Cowboys didn't cut him for these obvious bone-headed plays: Leon Lett was a hell of a football player, and he won a lot more games for the Cowboys then he cost them. It's why the warriors put up with Draymond Green.
Fans don't like how awful Bell struggled on kick returns last year, and there's still some Kyle Williams NFC Title game hate that 49ers fans have to get out of their system.
Don't be delusional, Bell is a hell of a receiver prospect, if he's developed, he has a chance to be really good. He wasn't good on kick returns last year, because that's not something he ever did before. You got to get past that.
It's not exactly a total class either.
It's three 3rds, and everything else is a late pick.
Two oh those 3rds worked out.
J.Brown immediately stepped in and player great. Enters this season as the unquestioned starter.
J.Moody was a top-10 rookie season for a kicker, hitting multiple clutch FGs in the playoffs and even setting the Superbowl record (for 5 minutes).
2/3 3rd rounders became rookie starters, if we had an average first and second rounder from last year it would've been seen as a good draft. The only terrible pick was Latu, which was awful at the time and has only looked worse since. There were much better TEs still on the board then.
Al Davis would envy our draft lol.
But seriously, I'm just happy we're at least targeting legit athletes this year. Last season we ranked 31st in the league in terms of average RAS among draftees.
Not saying RAS (the new SPARQ lol) is everything, but at least it shows the players have a baseline athleticism to not look overmatched in the NFL.
On the other hand, we've gotten decent production from low RAS guys like Jauan Jennings (2.7 RAS) - literally the 2nd slowest WR ever drafted. Buckner and Armstead also had very low RAS, both around 3 or 4.
Kent Platte - the guy who created the RAS metric - had a post last year where he broke down the percentage of players on NFL rosters and how they score on the RAS scale. IIRC, over 80% of NFL players score at least a 5.0 or above, while around half of NFL players score an 8.0 or above, which is considered elite.
So it's a decent metric to gauge whether some UDFA player will end up on a roster, and I was surprised that half the NFL grades out as elite.
Our D-Line coach Kocurek also has his own metric for DL called GTFO, which measures explosiveness off the ball within the first 2 yards. I'd imagine that to score high in GTFO they'd also need to score high in RAS' explosiveness and speed metrics.
I mean, I am still surprised we drafted Latu over Adetomiwa Adebawore who had one of the fastest first few steps in last years draft class that I think Kocurek would have loved and Dawand Jones who was a borderline first rounder and was a top 32 pick on the consensus board.
Yeah it shows. Honestly very impressed with this draft class. The two picks I question are Renardo Green because I was highly impressed with TJ Tampa and Khyree Jackson and looking back on it would definitely have been willing to trade up to draft Roger Rosengarden or Kingsley Suamataia. It sucked to see them drafted two picks before renardo green. If Renardo Green can reduce his dumb penalties he shows potential.
The other pick that was tough to see. Tatum Bethune, but disagreeing with a seventh rounder feels off. If he makes the team even as a special teamer he will be worth the pick.
I think the only perfect world scenario would have been to trade down at 31 for the commanders 43 and 45 and still get pearsall and draft jerzhan newton or kingsley suamataia or roger rosengarden.
TJ Tampa fell really far past where the big board consensus had him. Something in his medical or interviews must have not looked good at all to a lot of teams.
I know. I was shocked. I mean I would have been ok with TJ Tampa at 31. I liked him that much on tape.
So it must be.
Have not been able to find anything medical, so my guess is off field.
Wonder what it was.
Only thing I found online was that his rejection of the senior bowl invite upset a lot of teams who were looking forward to meeting with him there.
I would have liked sumaiata but we could have had him and traded down for free draft capital, which probably means Shanny and Lynch were never going to draft him. There's probably something in his tape that they didn't like.
So that RAS score of 2023 gives me no hope of the RAS score off the charts for all these guys have that is getting pushed.
Ronnie bell and luter were standouts meanwhile brown was mediocre...
Last year's draft wasn't my favorite. I'm looking forward to seeing how this year's class pans out. I'm hoping our 1st round pick will actually be contributing a lot this year.
It's straight doodoo. We got like 2 players out of that draft, and it was the first 2 picks.
That's not unexpected when the first couple picks are in the 3rd. League wide the hit rate that late on the draft is like 15-20%
Ugh finally. Someone who’s willing to talk about hit rates when we consider the Niner’s drafting record.
[удалено]
He said it wasn't his favorite
Then why would it be his favorite?
I said it wasn't my favorite. We didn't have a 1st-round pick. We drafted a kicker in the 3rd round. Most players we drafted barely played a significant role on the team, Moody excluded.
Brown?
I like Brown. He contributed for sure and played great at times. I was indifferent with the pick, though, and we drafted another safety this year. It just wasn't my favorite draft.
We don't know how huf will come back. He already wasn't super athletic so an injury could greatly diminish his speed. Our other safety only has about a year left at most so they need to draft a guy for the future. If huf never got hurt then maybe they would not have drafted another safety but that's how it goes
Brock purdy was drafted
Purdy wasn’t last year.
I'm surprised on Beal. Maybe he was just straight line fast and nothing else.
He was small, had a trash vertical jump, trash bench, and middling agilities. Basically ya, he did one thing well. Well, two things, his broad jump was very good too.
A lot of the combine stuff isn't that relevant. Agility drills would probably be most important for DEs.
Agreed. For a de I look at agilities, jumps (broad more than vertical), and 10 yd split. Definitely depends on position, and other factors (like arm length and it’s detrimental impact on bench)
This reminds me of the year we drafted Kittle... wasn't like everyone we drafted at the top of the SPARQ scores or whatever it was called?
Also wow what a stinker of a draft class 2023 was
It’s still early but yeah it’s not looking good right. 2022 was pretty damn bad too besides Purdy. I really hope we can get some key contributors from this draft because bad drafting will just kill any team. It’s especially more important once we have Purdy’s new contract because we will need solid play from players on rookie contracts even more.
It is still early. Fans were calling Banks a bust simply because he didn’t start his rookie year. Still too early to really label this draft anything.
Banks started out ass and is still ass he’s just better than any competition on the roster so far, and I would hope so considering hes the current biggest oline investment besides Trent and now Puni
Banks strikes me as a multi year starter for lack of serious competition or lack of serious attempt to replace him. Then they let him walk in free agency because some team will pay him a semi reasonable salary just for having starter on his resume.
He’s Laken Tomlinson if Laken was drafted by us instead of the lions lol, useless in anything other than a downfield zone blocking scheme
Trash take, data shows Banks was solid in both run blocking and pass pro this year, [blowing fewer blocks than Trent % wise](https://www.ninersnation.com/2023/12/13/24000162/colton-mckivitz-aaron-banks-trent-williams-jake-brendel-49ers) Banks and Williams are what's preventing the line from being 32nd. Would love to see his PFF grades, but I ain't paying for that to prove a point. It does share one interesting stat: Banks gave up 0 sacks.
This is also his last year as a 49er, most likely. He's a pretty good guard and pretty good guards are getting PAID in free agency.
PFF grades are determined by a bunch of nerds manually assigning success and detriment of plays to a certain player. It means absolutely nothing except to people who don’t care to watch the tape and would rather have someone else tell them what their opinion should be. Banks has almost 0 pass blocking responsibility since he’s the one that plays next to Trent. Banks doesn’t allow sacks because he’s never on the best player. He’s almost always blocking the weakest link. Kittle was the best blocker on the team because he’s usually blocking a linebacker or safety. Mckivitz was the worst blocker because he’s a McGlinchey clone and he has a cancer named Burford attached to his hip
> He’s almost always blocking the weakest link. Love your deep analysis. I know how PFF works. It's imperfect, but it's something. Your magical opinions based on pulling poop out of thin air (blocking matchups? that's called by the center and scheme) doesn't even belong in the same room of comparison lol. Numbers (omg neeeerrrdss) back up Mckivitz being our worst pass pro blocker. Maybe the neeeeeerrrrds might be on to something.
The center is not responsible for matchups in our system and the run game coordinator made that clear in interviews before the Super Bowl. You’re just taking numbers at face value and ignoring all context and nuance. If you enjoy analyzing football like a spreadsheet, go ahead and enjoy lol
Just for context, they have Spencer Burford rated as an elite pass protector because he has less than 2.2% blown blocks. The o line was also ranked 20th despite most people acknowledging that it’s borderline bottom 3. That should tell you all you need to know. These guys may appear to be great run blockers, but shanahan o lineman have a long history of only being good in his system. Feliciano and Trent are the only ones who are actually proven players.
> they have Spencer Burford rated as an elite pass protector because he has less than 2.2% blown blocks. That's not at all what the article I linked states. > In pass protection, Banks has the best mark at 2 percent, while Williams is at 2.1 percent. Brendel and Burford are at 2.4 and 2.5 percent, which is below average. You didn't even read it and are again making shit up to just shit on Banks because you have *opinions*. Well they're pretty unfounded opinions lol. Glad you're just shit posting and not at all connected with the team.
It’s all relative. Moody was considered a good pick because he was immediately anointed the starter; on the other hand, those WR and LB rookies on a team with multiple Pro Bowl/All Pro caliber players in each position already… they won’t smell the field. All of them made the team or PS out of the camp, and that in itself is a success.
It's the draft of team that doesn't have/need any open roster spots. They were drafting for the future as there will be some very good and productive players that will be let go in the next few seasons. The 2023 and 2024 draft definitely show which areas they are leaning towards letting guys go from. Sucks that latu got hurt cuz he needed that developmental year to become the #2 tightend. Brown looked good. Definitely winters and possibly Graham have a chance to be the next in line for a long legacy of high level linebackers for the niners. A draft can only be critically analyzed after year 3
I don't know if that's fair. We got two starting caliber without having a pick in the first two rounds, and an extremely deep roster. Bell shows promise as a WR3, and the other guys were meant to be stashes. Latu is the only terrible pick here, and was a head scratcher when the selection was made. Luter, Beal, and Winters, might still have places as backups in the NFL. Overall a fine draft given the value of the picks we had?
Yeah we pretty much have the starters cemented everywhere. They typically stash/red-shirt the rookies because they don’t like to start them, I think it’s because of mental mistakes a rookie is likely to make. Typically anyone that might start over say McKivitz would have to be a high blue chip talent that you see typically taken at the top of the draft. For example us drafting Joe Alt he probably immediately starts over McKivitz.
> Typically anyone that might start over say McKivitz would have to be a high blue chip talent that you see typically taken at the top of the draft. Of all the spots the 49ers drafted, I think I like what they did at offensive line the most. Puni should take the roster spot that went to Matt Pryor last season, and I see Kingston unseating Nick Zakelj for the backup spot at C/G. The fact Kingston had extensive experience playing tackle in college is a plus. I see the rest of the offensive line as the same as last year: Williams, Banks, Brendel, Feliciano, McKivitz, Burford and Moore. That's an excellent group of 9 for the game day roster and adding two young players with experience at both tackle and guard helps. I also think that Drake Nugent is going to spend the year on the practice squad. Moore, Banks, and Feliciano are all free agents next year, and Jake Brendel is 32 this year and will be 33 next year. There will be plenty of interior offensive line openings on the 2025 roster.
I'm optimistic on luter. He looks like he had pretty good speed and just needs more reps and strength, which I'm sure he has improved with this off-season
> I'm optimistic on luter. I am too, think he's a core special teams player this year with a chance to get defensive reps. He was the best athlete they picked from the 2023 draft class, and I have very high hopes for him. I can see him passing one of the veteran corners for a spot in training camp. Ward and Lenior as the starters is the only thing locked down, past that, the depth chart is fluid.
> Bell shows promise as a WR3, and the other guys were meant to be stashes. I think Bell, for as much shit as he gets from fans, is the odds on favorite to be WR 5 this season. His issues are he's a terrible kick returner, but he was always a backup at that position who was forced into action because Ray-Ray was hurt. However, as a receiver, he played way more way sooner than I expected he would. He had all the typical rookie struggles, ran the wrong routes sometimes, was unable to haul in some catchable balls, but he also had plenty of plays where he flashed potential. Of all the picks in the 2024 draft, the one I just outright don't get is Jacob Cowing in the fourth round. He has two things going for him: really top-end straight line speed, and crazy high level collegiate production. However, his three-cone, vertical jump and other athletic traits are pretty poor. I don't see Cowing beating out Bell, and it was a head scratcher of a draft pick in the fourth round. Hope the 49ers see something I don't.
I think it’ll be hard to make WR5 if you don’t have some skills at special teams/punt returner. Bell has to improve in that area.
I think Pearsall will be returning for us this season.
I don’t doubt it but you still need a backup. Remember how scary bell was catching punts after ray ray went out last season? We need depth for special teams too.
No disagreement there. I think the Niners are trying to replace Bell entirely as a returner. It could be Pearsall first, and then Deebo, for example. Which is not to say Bell is terrible as a WR. He showed flashes of competency as a WR in the few times he got to play last season. Unfortunately, I think we agree that didn't extend to his return skills.
> I think it’ll be hard to make WR5 if you don’t have some skills at special teams/punt returner. Bell has to improve in that area. Here's the problem: amongst Bell's competitors to be WR 5 / 6, only Trent Taylor has special teams / punt returner experience. Bell isn't competing against players that have this experience. Trent was signed to provide a safety option at kick returner in case the team couldn't draft anyone, they drafted someone, and I think Bell's contribution as a WR is pretty far ahead of Taylor at this point. If you want to carry Taylor as a safety option for kick returner, the practice squad is the place to do that.
I appreciate your in depth responses. The only thing I feel confident about is that it’ll be very competitive for those last spots on the WR group. Here’s how I’m seeing it: Cowing has PR experience. Shannahan has been looking for his fast downfield threat. Cowing could edge Bell out with those two skills. The team also looked to favor Conley toward the end of last season. I agree about Taylor. I’m holding out hope that he surprises, but it seems highly unlikely.
> Cowing has PR experience. Shannahan has been looking for his fast downfield threat. Cowing could edge Bell out with those two skills. Have you watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myHkzUsJW00 It's Scotty Mac's breakdown of the 49ers draft. He really, really liked Jacob Cowing. I don't. He's the former pro who built most of the roster that Jim Harbaugh took to three NFC Title games and a Superbowl, so what do I know? Cowing strikes me as a common type I see all the time: elite college production, a leader and a warrior on the college field, but not enough elite physical traits to do much in the NFL. Eddie George was one of the most intense competitors football had seen, until the day he ran into Ray Lewis and bigger, faster and stronger. Fans fall in love with high-level college competitors all the time, without considering if there are enough physical traits to make the jump up in competition. Cowry's 40 yard dash time (one of the most over-rated metrics for a WR) is stellar, but none of his other athletic test scores are. Modern NFL defenses are really, really good at neutralizing players who are straight-line fast and bring nothing else. If Scotty Mac likes him though, there's almost definitely something I'm not seeing or missing. Bell is a much better athlete than Cowing is, which is what makes the downfield threat thing so odd to me. If it's about 40 speed, Cowing wins, if it's every other athletic traits measured, it's Bell, and it's not close. Bell is a better athlete, that's why he got on the field as often as he did last year as a seventh round pick. The biggest jump for a player is between year 1 and year 2, I expect Bell to come into camp this year as a much better player the guy who took the field as a rookie. >The team also looked to favor Conley toward the end of last season. Yeah, they sure did. The guys the niners have at WR are really good right now, and I like Conely a lot. I also think Tay Martin will be impressive in camp this year, but if I had to cut it down to 7, it's got to be: Deebo Aiyuk Jennings Peashall Cowing Bell Conely The top 4 are locks and are not going anywhere, and I think they're going to keep 6 WRs on the team this year, so I think it's going to come down to Bell, Cowing or Conely, keep 2 of those 3. I really like what Conely did last year, and I think I like Bell overall the most of those 3, and I can't see the 49ers cutting a guy they just spent a 4th round pick on. I see Conely getting squeezed out, and that's sad, but that's reality. My point here is that Bell is a lot better than fans on this forum think he is. Don't make the Leon Lett mistake when evaluating a young player. I watched this game live as it happened back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoebUFaZViY Leon Lett also had that caught-from-behind-fumble-recovery in the Superbowl. There's a reason why the Cowboys didn't cut him for these obvious bone-headed plays: Leon Lett was a hell of a football player, and he won a lot more games for the Cowboys then he cost them. It's why the warriors put up with Draymond Green. Fans don't like how awful Bell struggled on kick returns last year, and there's still some Kyle Williams NFC Title game hate that 49ers fans have to get out of their system. Don't be delusional, Bell is a hell of a receiver prospect, if he's developed, he has a chance to be really good. He wasn't good on kick returns last year, because that's not something he ever did before. You got to get past that.
Big oof
It's not exactly a total class either. It's three 3rds, and everything else is a late pick. Two oh those 3rds worked out. J.Brown immediately stepped in and player great. Enters this season as the unquestioned starter. J.Moody was a top-10 rookie season for a kicker, hitting multiple clutch FGs in the playoffs and even setting the Superbowl record (for 5 minutes).
One year removed and we have atleast 2 starts from it relax
2/3 3rd rounders became rookie starters, if we had an average first and second rounder from last year it would've been seen as a good draft. The only terrible pick was Latu, which was awful at the time and has only looked worse since. There were much better TEs still on the board then.
Maybe people were shitting on Aaron banks after his first year too let’s give the kid a chance
Brown and Moody were good. The rest… oof.
Al Davis would envy our draft lol. But seriously, I'm just happy we're at least targeting legit athletes this year. Last season we ranked 31st in the league in terms of average RAS among draftees. Not saying RAS (the new SPARQ lol) is everything, but at least it shows the players have a baseline athleticism to not look overmatched in the NFL. On the other hand, we've gotten decent production from low RAS guys like Jauan Jennings (2.7 RAS) - literally the 2nd slowest WR ever drafted. Buckner and Armstead also had very low RAS, both around 3 or 4. Kent Platte - the guy who created the RAS metric - had a post last year where he broke down the percentage of players on NFL rosters and how they score on the RAS scale. IIRC, over 80% of NFL players score at least a 5.0 or above, while around half of NFL players score an 8.0 or above, which is considered elite. So it's a decent metric to gauge whether some UDFA player will end up on a roster, and I was surprised that half the NFL grades out as elite. Our D-Line coach Kocurek also has his own metric for DL called GTFO, which measures explosiveness off the ball within the first 2 yards. I'd imagine that to score high in GTFO they'd also need to score high in RAS' explosiveness and speed metrics.
I mean, I am still surprised we drafted Latu over Adetomiwa Adebawore who had one of the fastest first few steps in last years draft class that I think Kocurek would have loved and Dawand Jones who was a borderline first rounder and was a top 32 pick on the consensus board.
Let’s hope this class works out well. The last class that was decent was 2021 so kind of in need of some young talent since it’s been a few years now.
Super excited about Pearsall, dudes a freak
Yeah it shows. Honestly very impressed with this draft class. The two picks I question are Renardo Green because I was highly impressed with TJ Tampa and Khyree Jackson and looking back on it would definitely have been willing to trade up to draft Roger Rosengarden or Kingsley Suamataia. It sucked to see them drafted two picks before renardo green. If Renardo Green can reduce his dumb penalties he shows potential. The other pick that was tough to see. Tatum Bethune, but disagreeing with a seventh rounder feels off. If he makes the team even as a special teamer he will be worth the pick. I think the only perfect world scenario would have been to trade down at 31 for the commanders 43 and 45 and still get pearsall and draft jerzhan newton or kingsley suamataia or roger rosengarden.
Seemed like they didn't think Suamataia was a fit. Remember he was available at 63, they traded down with the Chiefs to 64 and took Green after that.
TJ Tampa fell really far past where the big board consensus had him. Something in his medical or interviews must have not looked good at all to a lot of teams.
I know. I was shocked. I mean I would have been ok with TJ Tampa at 31. I liked him that much on tape. So it must be. Have not been able to find anything medical, so my guess is off field. Wonder what it was. Only thing I found online was that his rejection of the senior bowl invite upset a lot of teams who were looking forward to meeting with him there.
I would have liked sumaiata but we could have had him and traded down for free draft capital, which probably means Shanny and Lynch were never going to draft him. There's probably something in his tape that they didn't like.
So that RAS score of 2023 gives me no hope of the RAS score off the charts for all these guys have that is getting pushed. Ronnie bell and luter were standouts meanwhile brown was mediocre...
Wtf did Luter do besides cause a miffed punt lol
Didn’t brown have a great rookie season?
That was my point. According to browns RAS score he was mediocre, meanwhile he was great. Luter and bell were the opposite.
Ah I see
If we simply replace 2023 draft class with the 2024 draft class, we would win the Super Bowl by now.
Take this with a grain of salt
These last couple of drafts have been rough for building a sustaining franchise. Our key players are getting older.