Draft Month
Well our
Super Bowl is on the way. When you go 2-14, that Super Bowl is played
in NY and it is called the NFL Draft. Yes, all the questions shall be
answered soon. Will the Niners return to greatness or will they
continue mired in the sludge. No quick answers their, but the result
may very well be determined by this draft. So here it goes:
The 49ers are on the clock. And with the
first pick, the Niners take......who cares! Let's face it, the Niners
picked a horrible year to be 1st. There is no clear cut #1 pick. There
are no sure things. Nobody is good enough to warrant trading up with so
the Niners are stuck taking the first pick. In some ways York and his
minions are off the hook here. If you look at the history of #1 picks
it is not a solid list of players. Sure there are a few great ones, but
there are a lot more busts. So here the Niners are looking to draft a
QB, but they are stuck with two underclassmen that may be good but each
carry big question marks. Make no mistake about it, the Niners will
take a QB at #1. Any questions in my mind were answered when the Niners
did not attend the private workout of Akron QB Charlie Frye, a logical
QB in the 2nd round. So that leaves Smith and Rodgers. And the pick?
York's dream answer. Whichever one is cheaper. Yes. We don't know if
Rodgers or Smith will be better. So how do you make the pick? Which
ever one can be signed easier. That is why the Niners are parading
Braylon Edwards and Antwain Rolle through Santa Clara, as backup plans
in case they can not easily sign one of the QBs. Again, this is the
correct strategy. Statistically speaking there is a real good chance
that no matter who we select, especially a QB, it will turn into a
bust. So the most important thing is to make a pick that the Niners can
have signed before the draft. This takes the whole camp holdout thing
off the table. Nothing would be worse for this franchise than to draft
a player #1, then have him pull a Phil Rivers and sit out midway
through preseason. No, whoever the Niners go with they need him in camp
immediately. So the Niners can favor Rodgers if they want, or Smith, or
anyone else. They just need to make sure that person is signed by draft
day. And if not, move on to the next guy.
So that takes care of the #1 pick. Now the draft can officially begin.
What will bring us back or keep us down is what happens in the next 6
rounds. Will they find more TOs, Terrell Davis', and other stars in the
later rounds or will they just sign a bunch of guys who play special
teams on 5 different teams in their careers. All the focus is always on
the first round, but a truly great draft finds that greatness in later
rounds. Ask Bill Walsh. He was nothing special in the first round. He
found his magic in the later rounds. That is what the Niners need. They
need more than just a few of those picks to hit and hit big.
The offseason has
been a good one so far. The coaching staff looks good. Now it is time
for the scouting department to step forward. This really is their Super
Bowl and it is the first step in the Niners getting back to the Super
Bowl. They must hit a home run this time around.
And then finally, there is the ultimate question: Who is calling the
shots. Will Dork be in the war room on draft day? Will Nolan and
McCoughan recommend different players with York trying to make the
final decision? Or will this draft be left to the football people? York
is allowed to be cheap on the number one pick, but after that he needs
to be way away from anything important that happens on draft weekend.
Let's hope the Niners dont screw this one up. This is the first step
for York to show us he really does want to be a winner. He better not
screw this up!
April 10, 2005
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