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Pattersonca65 wrote:

CrimsonCrew wrote:Read an article on the Niners' 2022 draft class. What a disaster that draft is looking like, outside of Purdy (who, to be fair, single-handedly makes it). Drake Jackson, Ty Davis-Price, Danny Gray, Spencer Burford, Samuel Womack, Nick Zakelj, Kalia Davis, and Tariq Castro-Fields. There's a legit chance none of these guys are on the roster to start the 2025 season, and a slew of them may not make the roster this year.

Reminds me of the 2012 draft class. A big fail

Similar, but in that draft we blew a first-round pick on one of the least impactful first rounders (the least?) in franchise history. And again, we got Purdy in 2022, which effectively offsets any other bad picks. No one in 2012 made any real impact, though Joe Looney went on to have a solid career elsewhere.

CrimsonCrew wrote:

Pattersonca65 wrote:

CrimsonCrew wrote:Read an article on the Niners' 2022 draft class. What a disaster that draft is looking like, outside of Purdy (who, to be fair, single-handedly makes it). Drake Jackson, Ty Davis-Price, Danny Gray, Spencer Burford, Samuel Womack, Nick Zakelj, Kalia Davis, and Tariq Castro-Fields. There's a legit chance none of these guys are on the roster to start the 2025 season, and a slew of them may not make the roster this year.

Reminds me of the 2012 draft class. A big fail

Similar, but in that draft we blew a first-round pick on one of the least impactful first rounders (the least?) in franchise history. And again, we got Purdy in 2022, which effectively offsets any other bad picks. No one in 2012 made any real impact, though Joe Looney went on to have a solid career elsewhere.

we're just not a great drafting team, institutional knowledge doesn't exist here like it does in Baltimore or even Dallas, we're lucky we got a couple of great coaches (Harbaugh/Kyle) to make the best out of it, otherwise the last 20 years or so we've had some pretty damn bad classes, probably dating back to Alex Smith > Aaron Rodgers

Yeah, McCloughan crushed a couple drafts, especially 2007, but since he left it's been more bad than good, seemingly. This FO has been pretty awful in the first three rounds. Only Aiyuk and Warner have been really good picks across the board (factoring in value, production, etc.). Obviously Bosa has been great, but you don't get extra points for a layup.

The saving grace is that they have been amazing in the later rounds. It's pretty remarkable that this FO has drafted Kittle, Trent Taylor (not great, but he's still in the league seven years later), DJ Reed (though he never did it for us), Dre Greenlaw, Colton McKivitz, Deommodore Lenoir, and Talanoa Hufanga in the 5th round. That is just incredible. You're talking a likely HOF TE, all pro safety (granted that felt a little premature), a pro bowl-level LB (Greenlaw will never make a pro bowl because they consider pass-rushing 3-4 LBs in the OLB category), two very solid CBs, and a passable starting RT. But Warner is the only third-round pick they've hit on. Even second round is only Deebo as a good value (Banks has been okay, but not even close to the best IOL taken in that round), though they've only made four picks in that round.

2012 may have been the worst draft in team history, though. The first rounder barely saw the field. The second-rounder's biggest impact was a fumble in the super bowl. No one else did a darn thing for this team, and Looney is the only guy who did anything at all in the league, and that was mostly as a depth OL.

CrimsonCrew wrote:Yeah, McCloughan crushed a couple drafts, especially 2007, but since he left it's been more bad than good, seemingly. This FO has been pretty awful in the first three rounds. Only Aiyuk and Warner have been really good picks across the board (factoring in value, production, etc.). Obviously Bosa has been great, but you don't get extra points for a layup.

The saving grace is that they have been amazing in the later rounds. It's pretty remarkable that this FO has drafted Kittle, Trent Taylor (not great, but he's still in the league seven years later), DJ Reed (though he never did it for us), Dre Greenlaw, Colton McKivitz, Deommodore Lenoir, and Talanoa Hufanga in the 5th round. That is just incredible. You're talking a likely HOF TE, all pro safety (granted that felt a little premature), a pro bowl-level LB (Greenlaw will never make a pro bowl because they consider pass-rushing 3-4 LBs in the OLB category), two very solid CBs, and a passable starting RT. But Warner is the only third-round pick they've hit on. Even second round is only Deebo as a good value (Banks has been okay, but not even close to the best IOL taken in that round), though they've only made four picks in that round.

2012 may have been the worst draft in team history, though. The first rounder barely saw the field. The second-rounder's biggest impact was a fumble in the super bowl. No one else did a darn thing for this team, and Looney is the only guy who did anything at all in the league, and that was mostly as a depth OL.

From an outsiders perspective, I thought they did fairly well.

Pearsall is plug & play in that offense. Was it a bit of a reach (1st)? Sure. But he'll flourish in that scheme.

Puni should be a solid starting G for them. Pretty good value in the 3rd round.

Mustapha was one of my favorite S prospects. That was a steal in the 4th imo.

Cowing kind of flew under the radar. But he should be a solid contributor for them.

Overall, they did well.

There's still a gap between the Niners & everyone else in the division. Which isn't easy for me to admit.

One of the interesting things about this draft, that I will admit I like, is that they've added skill guys who are complementary in somewhat less obvious ways. In Pearsall, they added a consistent chain-mover. Despite his elite athleticism, he has not really blossomed as a big-play guy to date. He's more the solid guy who will get open quickly and be where you want him to be. Cowing has some of that, but he also has more big-play ability.

The same goes for Guerendo. I was and am lukewarm on the pick, as I think Guerendo lacks some of the fundamentals to be an every-down back. But if you can get him 10 carries a game, he has a decent chance of breaking one or two of them. We will need that as Kittle and Deebo age, as they have been the big play guys on our roster. McCaffrey, too, of course, but RBs with that workload just don't break those big ones as often. And our young players haven't shown too much of that explosiveness to date (Mitchell to a degree but he's always hurt, and I think Gray could do it but hasn't and may not).

I like the idea of using the big play guys more on early downs, seeing if we can steal some chunk plays, but falling back on Purdy and the consistency of a Pearsall (and maybe a Willis or Pline at TE at some point) to keep the drive alive if the other guys get stopped.