Forty Niners Forever

Paint it black, stupid girl. I’m high and dry. You are under my thumb, so doncha bother me. Well, the flurry of craziness around the draft is over, and the wait for the meaning of football life once again goes into hibernation mode. So, the only thing to do is debate the selections. Here’s the list of players the Niners took.

1 (1st round) Reid, Eric FS
2 (2nd) Carradine, Tank DE
3 (2nd) McDonald, Vance TE
4 (3rd) Lemonier, Corey DE
5 (4th) Patton, General WR
6 (4th) Lattimore, Marcus RB
7 (5th) Dial, Quinton DE
8 (6th) Moody, Nick OLB
9 (7th) Daniels, BJ QB
10 (7th) Bykowski, Carter OT
11 (7th) Cooper, Marcus CB

UDFAs include last place finisher in the Olympic discus toss, Lawrence Okoye; and Luke Marquart, a converted TE-to-lineman who is raw. Both these guys got aome amount of coverage as being anywhere from 3 to 7th rounders in the draft, and both are seen as projects with strong upsides.

So, the practice squad at the least looks to be replaced entirely. I really didn’t think they’d draft 13 guys, But I didn’t think they’d draft 11 either. As NJ pointed out (I think) though, the Niners already have 10 selections slated for next year. They can’t very well pack next year’s draft too heavily without missing out on some players this year. Plus, the last three guys are fringe at best anyway. And Marcus Lattimore will not see the field this season, and the jury is out on Tank Carradine as well. The team has told him to ease off on his intense rehab. In essence saying he has time to recover, don’t push it too hard. So that means there’s a little flexibility in teh decisions these guys make regarding who goes and stays.

All in all, I think they did about as good as they could have. Quibble about the players as you will, they addressed their needs with players they feel fit their system (Reid, Tank, Patton), can be coached up (Vance, Lenomier), or were added for depth (Lattimore, Dial, Okoye, Marquart). The casualties in all this appear to be Cam Johnson, Darius Fleming, Dan Skula, Michael Whlhoite, among a few others. Scott Tolzein will be in a fight with BJ Daniels for the 3-spot in the QB depth chart. BJ is more in line with the new direction of the 49ers QB situation, so the more Smithlike Tolzein may be eased out/traded. The thought being that these guys don’t pass up Colt McCoy as the 2 guy.

The Niners, and Trant Baalke, are pretty much kicking ass in this draft so far. Reid isn’t Vaccaro, but he’s what the Niners wanted at 18, a strong hitter in the defensive backfield. Plus Jerry Jerkoff got schooled. The Niners then drafted down in the 2nd to get the guy they wanted anyway in Tank Carradine, which netted a 3rd round pick next year. Carradine is a strong DE which gives the Niners another fast edge rusher to bookend Aldon Smith.

The Niners then traded their 61st and and 173rd pick to GB to get a TE in Vance McDonald of Rice. He’s 6’4″, 265 so he’s a load, and other than that I got nothing on the guy. Reports are he’s big, strong and raw. Excellent blocker. Trouble with the drops. Would have liked to seen Ertz, but they were looking for size and blocking I guess.

The 3rd round brought another trade with GB to trade up and get yet another fast edge rushing defensive player in OLB Corey Lemonier from Auburn. The 49ers sent GB their 93 and 217th pick to get to 88 and snag him.

It’s fairly obvious that the Niners are leaning toward getting faster on defense. Because of one guy. Russell Wilson. Harbaugh and Baalke have determined that the biggest threat to the Niners supremacy lies within their division in the Seahawks. They haven’t bulked up their interior line, they have drafted for edge speed.

Going forward tomorrow? I’m sure they draft a WR, an interior lineman, and maybe an ST/DB type. And maybe two or three more trades.

Eric Reid, come on down! The 49ers traded up to get a safety. It wasn’t the one I expected, but there you have it. They obviously have seen more and know more than the average fan, but still people will bitch.

The Niners still have 3 picks today. I’m still of a mind hey go DL with their 2nd round CB with their next 2nd rounder, and maybe TE?WR with the 3rd round. Meetings all morning. See ya later.

Finally. And I’m a $&#%ing year older. Yippee . . . Anyhow, the speculation gabfest is still in frenzy mode as everybody knows the Niners are not going to draft 13 players. I’d say somewhere in the 6-8 range is likely. 7 being the number I’d go with. I think we will trade up in the 1st, and trade back to next year. And I still think the Niners are targeting a safety. Either Brenda Vaccaro or Su-Su Cyprien. There are plenty of big bodies in the mid to later rounds that should be able to fill our needs. Magnus von Magnusson could very well be available with the 31st pick (63rd overall) in the 2nd round. People are likely scared off by his age. So, concievably the Niners could get their safety and their big body guy without too much damage.

How far they’ll need to trade up to get Vaccaro remains to be seen. It’s looking like they’ll need to get to Miami. They want him. We could trade Rogers to Miami and give them our 34 and our 3rd round (93rd overall) pick. Vaccaro had a shitty 40 time, but his shuttle times were among the best. He was able to keep guys like Ryan Swope and Tavon Austin in check. He also was able to track down and tackle Austin from behind in a game last year. Football speed is different than track speed, and he proves it.

All the talk about DL is important, but we do have players on the line at this time. Yes, we are thin and need depth, but the more pressing need is FS. Goldson is gone. Justin Smith isn’t. Ergo, Vaccaro. And yeah, I know Soap and RJF are gone. But we did get Tommy Dorsey and Ian Williams was bumped up the depth chart. Ergo Vaccaro or Cyprien.

Jason Cole must be reading my stuff. He’s reporting that the Niners may look to trade up to the middle of the first round. I’d think the one and only reason to trade up would be to get Kenny Vaccaro, the outstanding safety from Texas. I had the Niners tradibng with Miami or some shit for a good spot in Round 1, but with the Jets suddenly trading their shit for Darrelle Revis, they may look to trade down for more selections as well.

At least we’re getting closer to draft day . . .

Among all the other free agent 49ers out there, there sure doesn’t seem to be a rush to sign them. Tavares Gooden, special teams LB, Leonard Davis, the solid O lineman who served as the back up and FB at times, and Larry Grant are all still unsigned. Tramaine Brock just signed his RFA tender.

Grant is the most curious as he had an outstanding few games filling in for Patrick Willis in 2011, but had very little playing time last year. he provides depth, if anything, and he shouldn’t be too expensive, and no one is jumping anyway, so sign him. You have to wonder about Davis as well. He performed well when asked to, and a few false starts notwithstanding, provided needed depth.

Somethings wrong with the timestamps, and Spitty has vowed to leave. THere was much rejoicing. TT has been banned for obvious reasons, and meanwhile, the stomach turns. Didn’t think this place would be reminiscent of Fernwood. I suppose this is what happens when there’s nothing happening in Ninerland.

Sooooooo, what’s new? Got to start something different, if only to keep my sanity in check. How bout them Giants? Another come-from-behind win.

Aaaaaaaand Faith Hill left Sunday Night Football. Not a big country fan, but here’s who she is:

As in 13 draft picks. We are down to 2 weeks til I turn 52, and the NFL draft commences. Seeing as we’ve all weighed in on things numerous times, let’s weigh in again. Shit, I don’t know. I have my picks carefully loaded on that last thread, so they are safe.

How about you guys give me your best shot a predicting this stuff? I went through the first 5 rounds, or their top 8 picks. After that, it’s a wash. I can’t even begin to fathom how many of these get traded, but I’m sure we’ll end up with somewhere around 8 picks in the draft after all is said and done.

What say youse?

31 – S (Cyprien) – Big guy, hybrid like Baalke digs
34 – DL (Magnus Von Magnus) – Big, fast, physical, 26 tho
63 – CB (Blidi Wreh-Wilson) – Tall tough corner. Fast.
74 – WR (Da’Rick Rogers) – Big, strong, hard to tackle
93 – DE (Cornelius Washington) – Long lanky under-the-radar guy. Sound familiar?
128 – C (Brian Schwenke) – Schwing! Cal guy. Center.
131 – S (Honey Badger) – If he’s here, he’s worth the risk.
157 – RB (Lattimore) – Why not? Much like Frank Gore, a health risk that paid off greatly

Well, this is down time. Unless you enjoyed A) the Giants getting their World Series Championship rings, raise the chamipnship banner, and see Buster get his hardware (NL MVP and Silver Sluggger awards (yay!)), and then B) watching St Louis crush them 14-3 on their way to taking 2 of 3 in the Giants home-opening series (ha ha, StL still blew the NLCS. Giants are the defending champs!).

Anyhow, most of the free agants have ben unfreed, moves have been moved, the player shuffles have been shuffled, and new coaching staffs have conveniently installed their scapegoats for the upcoming season. The draft is the next big event on the horizon. As usual, the consensus is that there’s no consensus regarding the 49ers. People have the Niners trading up for a bona fide safety lock in Brenda Vaccaro, trading up for a stud DT in say, Sheldon Richardson or Sylvester Williams; trading out of the 1st round (not sure why unless we get players); or merely waiting to see who’s left as the draft progresses, and still pick up guys like DT Margus Hunt and S Jonathan Cyprien. Dark horses like WR Keenan Allen from Cal get bandied about, as well as TEs like Zach Ertz and Tyler Eifert. The Niners ertainly have flexibility with these 2 picks so close to eachother, and teams despeate for someone could easily give the Niners an additional pick close to their spot anyway, and get their guy plus a pick. Curiouser and curiouser.

Frankly, I have no clue. I’ve been fairly good at figuring out needs at least, but I sure didn’t pick the last 2 first rounders in Aldon Smith and AJ Jenkins. 2010 was easy as the Niners NEEDED O line help at all costs, and drafted 2 guys (almost) back to back in Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati. I think trading back is out (5% chance), trading up is about a 20% chance, and standing pat to wait and see what is available is likely (75%) their strategy. Who they get at 31 and 34 is a mystery as well, but those 2 I mention above are likely. If not those guys, then guys that are in those positions. The farther down we go, the harder it gets to even guess as to what they do.

That all being said, I think the Niners go:

31 – S (Cyprien) – Big guy, hybrid like Baalke digs
34 – DL (Magnus Von Magnus) – Big, fast, physical, 26 tho
63 – CB (Blidi Wreh-Wilson) – Tall tough corner. Fast.
74 – WR (Da’Rick Rogers) – Big, strong, hard to tackle
93 – DE (Cornelius Washington) – Long lanky under-the-radar guy. Sound familiar?
128 – C (Brian Schwenke) – Schwing! Cal guy. Center.
131 – S (Honey Badger) – If he’s here, he’s worth the risk.
157 – RB (Lattimore) – Why not? Much like Frank Gore, a health risk that paid off greatly. He can wait on the bench a season.

Well, not really. This played out pretty much like some of us thought it would. They would target depth at the defensive line (Glenn Dorsey), wide receiver (traded for Antuan Bouldin), defensive backfield (the much-maligned Craig Dahl and Nnamdhi Asumouaga), and quaerterback (traded for Colt McCoy). Splashy? No. Well, the trade was a pretty big deal. Needed? Most definitely.

I’ve gone over how Seattle has done well this offseason. AZ? Well, hitching their cart to one Casron Palmer looks to be a disaster in the making. He’s as mobile as a tree, and looks to fall down like one about 60 times this year. Timberrrrrrrrrr! So far they’ve cut Kevin Kolb, Adrian Wilson, Beanie Wells, William Gay, Early Doucet and Kerry Rhodes. They’v signed Rashard Mendenhall, QB Drew Stanton, CBs Jerraud Powers and Antoine Cason, LB Lorenzo Alexander, and DE Matt Shaughnessy. In other words, no line hellp for a line that has been aten in recent years like a red-headed, uh, Cardinal. I guess they will draft help up front and pray it works.

The Rams? The team with the best divisional record last year? Well, they’ve lost perennial thorns in the Niners side in Stephen Jackson and Danny Amendola. Jackson was hurt too much, and was going to be ($7 mill) costly. Amendola got a deal and split for NE. Craig Dahl, Mr. Super Safety, came west to SF. They did sign OT Jake Long, TE Jared Cook, CB Courtland Finnegan, and a few others, but they look to improve in the draft as well. I think overall they hurt themselves, butr they had little choice with Jackson and Amendola.

As it stands, the Niners still have 13 picks in the draft, so to even try to guess how the draft goes would be next to impossible. I seriously don’t think the Niners draft more than 8 guys, so there looks to be a boatload of wheeling and dealing on Trent’s part.