San Francisco 49ers Forever

And the speculation continues. . . . So far our 1st pick in the 1st round will be: Mitch Biscuit, DeShone (Walking Dead) Kizer, DeShaun Watson, Salomon Thomas, Myles Garrett (dream), Jonathan Allen, Jamal Adams, Malik Hooker, Mike Williams, Marshon Lattimore, Corey Davis, and even Leonard Fournette. Stop me if you’ve heard others.

The only guy who hasn’t been slotted to us (that I’ve seen anyway) is Marlon Humphrey.  Seeing as we lost the likely-to-be-looking-for-work-anyway-till-he-got-arrested-and sealed-the-deal CB Tremaine Brock, and are looking to move Jimmie Ward to FS, this just might be the call.

Then again, we’ve drafted a bunch of CBs in these past few years. ACL guys and non-ACL guys. 4th rounder Rashard Robinson, showed a lot of moxie his rookie season, and looks to be in the mix as a starter. 3rd rounder Will Redmond, the last of Trent Baalke’s ACL guys (“I guarantee he’ll be ready for the 2016 season!”) is healed up but it’s hard to know what they have with him. He’s got tape out there on him moving very well on his repaired knee. K’Waun Williams, this new front office’s first move, is an intriguing candidate as well. He seemed to know his injury better than the doctors at the Factory of Sadness, sat himself down, got his injury confirmed, and sued Cleveland for incompetence or some shit.

Then there’s Prince Charles Iworah . . . He played a little last year after being cut, signed to the practice squad, and promoted to the team late in the season.

So, shit. We probably don’t go CB. We’d go safety before CB I’d think. Tartt is a solid starter. But after that it gets thin. Bethea is gone, Reid is a question mark after all his concussions, and  Ball & Sunseri  are backups at best. Ward should be a solid addition to the mix, but depth is a concern at this point. Hooker has had a stellar college career, but two surgeries. One on a torn labrum and one on a hernia. He played through the injuries, and played well, so this likely doesn’t hurt Makik the Freak.

I’d love to trade out of the 2nd pick, but I don’t hear enough clamor for anyone to want to jump to the 2. I mean, if there was a top-tier QB among the chaff someone might make the jump.  Cleveland could even trade up to try and get Garrett AND Trubisky with the one and 2. Maybe they’ll settle for waiting at 12 because he could still be there, but that’s a risk. For them.

The 49ers signed a special teams LB, Jayson DeManche, aka the Man of LaMancha. Bounced around the league with the Bengals, Chiefs and Browns, and 10 minutes with Detroit. Mainly a warm body at this point, but there’s nothing gong on around the league.

Only other news is Richard Sherman asking for a trade from the Seahawks . . .

Methinks their window has slammed shut.

BREAKING NEWS – Tremaine Brock has been arrested on suspiscion of domestic abuse. From David Fucillo:

Robert Salonga is reporting that police were called to Brock’s home Thursday evening and found a woman he is dating with visible injuries. KRON 4 is reporting he was arrested for felony domestic violence.

I think Brock was on his way to the bench anyway, but this just shoves him out the door.

Shit, i got nothin. No one has anything. The draft is 23 days away, and the free agent spigot has been shut off. Reading the blogosphere, we are getting a QB, getting a WR, getting a DE, getting a safety or trading down.

Got it. Even the Browns are supposedly thinking about taking Mitch Trubisky (PLEEEEASE!!!!) and thus cementing their standing as the dumbest franchise on the face of the Earth yet again. Hello Tim Couch.

Yeah, I’ve been all over the place as well. It’s hard to nail down a thought when there are so many needs and so many variables. The biggest being what the Browns do. If they somehow pass on Myles Garrett, I’d think our decision would be to take him. Pass rush is a huge need, and I’ve said all along that the defensive line is decent enough, but lacks a disruptor. If the Browns do what’s expected and take Garrett, the pool becomes instantly muddy.

As noted, we could do any one of those things above (ie, pick: WR Corey Davis or Mike Williams; QB Falsebisky or Watson; DE Thomas or Allen; S Hooker or Adams; trade down for more picks)  or do something different.

I mean, ALL these mock drafts are varying shades of crocks-of-shit because once you get past the first 6 picks and EVERYONE is wrong about EVERYTHING. Not a knock on anyone (well, except for Mel Kiper, the helmet-headed douchebag), it’s just that there are too many variables involved, and nothing goes as planned.

That being said, every one of those picks noted above make sense in some way, shape or form. The team has many many needs. Seeing as there ARE so many needs, I’d like to see us trade down. A ballsy move for a rookie GM/HC pair, but I think Lynch and Shanahan both get that the team needs a lot of high picks to rebuild the roster.

Well, it ain’t much but word on the (Matt Barrows) street is that the Carolina Panthers are interested in our #2 pick in the draft. They have the 8th pick and there’s no word what else we would get but last year in the same trade last year between The Eagles and the Browns, the Eagles got  the second overall pick, and the Browns fourth round pick, and the Browns got the eighth overall pick, plus the Eagles third and fourth round picks, as well as the Eagles first and second round picks in 2017.

The Eagles really wanted that 2nd pick to get Carson Wentz, and got him. The Browns? Well, they are loaded for bear in this draft. But we’ve said that before. But they look to get Myles Garrett, so unless they trip over their dicks yet again they look to get a very good edge rusher.

What that means for us, if it even happens, is a mystery. But more than anything we need high draft picks this year. High draft picks that turn in to starters. They appear to be doing things right, and I like the players we have gotten so far, but there’s nothing to write home about. Hoyer and Hot Tub aren’t going to remind anyone of the Montana/Young days but I certainly feel better about things than I did a year ago.

And no, I’m not playing Rumors by Fleetwood Mac.

. . . is giving me the blues. I think I’m going stone cold crazy.

When the still seas conspire in armor . . .
And her sullen and aborted currents . . .
Breed tiny monsters, true sailing is dead!

Say what you will about Jim Morrison, the dude could write a song. Mute nostril agony indeed. Here we are stuck in the doldrums. The Sargasso Sea. The Horse Latitudes of the sporting landscape. Sure, basketball and hockey are grinding inexorably to the playoffs, but this is the time of resting key players and healthying up for the playoff grind. The dog days of both those sports are in full swing, and teams are actively playing it safe and trying to avoid injuries.

Baseball is nearly here, but watching spring training games is like eating tofu at a steakhouse. Not very fulfilling and you will leave severely disappointed. Football? Well, that might as well be a mission to Pluto, the misbegotten planetoid. It is so far off in the distance that we can barely see it.

Even the draft is a month away. And we can talk about it but once you get past the first 5 picks, no one gets anything right. Look at ANY prognosticator (and yeah, I’m sure they’ll dig up Mel Kiper’s head and put it on some unsuspecting brain-dead accident victim, and crank up the hyperbole machine.

Do you guys have any favorite draft moments? Mel Tobin calling out the helmet-headed one springs to mind.

Also this draft. I think you all know which one this is:

1  Ronnie Lott 8 DB USC
2  John Harty 36 NT  Iowa
2  Eric Wright 40 DB  Missouri
3  Carlton Williamson 65 DB  Pittsburgh
5  Lynn Thomas 121 DB  Pittsburgh
5  Arrington Jones 122 RB  Winston-Salem St.
6  Pete Kugler 147 NT  Penn St.
8  Garry White 203 RB Minnesota
11  Ronnie DeBose 286 TE UCLA
12  Major Ogilvie 313 RB Alabama
12  Joe Adams 322 QB Tennessee St

I mean, who can forget Joe Adams? 3/4 of your defensive backfield in one draft is quite the mean feat. That and getting Hacksaw Reynolds and Fred Dean paved the way for Bill Walsh’s offense, which was already doing pretty well under Steve DeBerg, became the well-oiled machine that was the envy of the league, and still is.

Despite the ridiculous clamor for the 49ers to draft a quarterback (Trubisky? Uh, no. In a logical world, he falls to the mid 2nd round, and DeShaun Watson is a mid 1st rounder), there is also a lot of traction behind a guy who I really like in Salomon Thomas, the DE coming out of Stanford. He had a great senior season, a great Fiesta Peach Bowl (whatever), and an even better combine to raise his stock. Granted, they’d likely reshuffle the D line should they get him, but that is not a concern when getting as sure fire a guy as he is.

Other than that, what do you guys think? What do our first 3 picks look like?

My thought is something like:

1. S Thomas – DE Stanford
2. Dan Feeney – G Indiana
3. Jarrad Davis – LB Florida

I know we need offensive help, but I like the FAs we’ve gotten so far, and I’m sure there will be more WRs out there once the draft is over.

Pass rush is my biggest concern overall, and when we did get some pressure, we played better. Therefore, Salomon Thomas. Local kid. Great guy. He’s our dude.

Not much to report on now as the FA feeding frenzy slows down. The Niners got quantity without spending too much, so I’d give them a solid B in free agency so far.

–Quarterback Brian Hoyer
–Quarterback Matt (Hot Tub) Barkley
–Fullback Kyle Juszczyk
–Wide receiver Pierre Garçon
–Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin
–Tight end Logan Paulsen
–Linebacker Malcolm Smith

People may question the money thrown around, especially for Garcon and Jusryzuyky, but even with all these signings, and a trade for a center, the 49ers still have the most available cap money for the rest of the free agency period.

Got to wonder if they go after a couple more O and D linemen.

Beyond the obvious thought that Kurt Cousins is head and shoulders above the free agent crow of QBs in the market, up to and including (The Life of) Brian Hoyer and Matt (Hot Tub) Barkley, does anybody think he will end up on the 49ers this year? As long-shotty as that sounds, and the fact that we could get him next year as a free agent, there are some factors that say yes, and some that say hell to the no.

One big thing about Cousins is he is on the Washington Redskins, and Dan Snyder is the owner of the Redskins. Dan Snyder had a major falling out with Mike Shanahan a few years back and does not really want to help any of the Shanahans, including Kyle. Trading Cousins to us would do just that. But, Cousins has publicly expressed his desire to return to Washington. Washington on the other hand has NO leverage at this point. I fully expect a lowball offer for Cousins from John Lynch at some point in the immediate future. Wash stands to lose him entirely next year as:

a) He wants out
b) He wants to be with Shanahan
c) He’s a free agent

So, Washington is forced to make a hugely outlandish offer to Cousins that still may not get him to stay in DC, or they let him walk next year without any compensation short a comp pick in 2019. He doesn’t even want to be there , and losing DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon isn’t helping things. Although they did pick up the semi-disgruntled, semi-sad Terelle Pryor from the Factory of Sadness.

Also, Washington just lost their GM Scotty McLoughan, a guy we know and love, to a power struggle with Bruce Allen. Sound familiar? Right. This isn’t a GM and a coach fighting, it is an EVP and a GM. Either way, a sure sign that the clowns in the front office are too busty stabbing each other to pay attention to the team on the field. Scotty got the ‘Skins some good players, and they had a mini-playoff run, something they hadn’t seen in a while, but they are in a downward spiral, and they have a lame-duck QB who actively wants out.

Don’t be too surprised to see a 3, a 4 and next year’s 2 get him.  Hey, it could happen.

The 49ers just signed Pierre Garcon to a 3 year deal that I hear is $16 mill per? Shanny really likes him some Garcon. He of course was Shanny’s big signing when he came to Washington a few years ago.

Not quite sure if that is the real number, but holy shit, what this says to me is that we are going to go after Kurt Cousins in a big way. Shanahan appears to be in the process of creating the Resdskins West.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly ratchets up the pressure on everyone in the building. A team that has been a laughingstock and one that would have been given rope to build slowly is now looking like they want to forego any gradual process and burn through the cap money in a big fat hurry. Again, not necessarily bad, but this team is all of a sudden looking at a 9 win season being a failure should Cousins show up amid the spending frenzy.