Looperbear;842314319 said:

---

Baalke did very well in 2011 but 2012 was a disaster and last year Reid was a great pick the rest not so much so the jury's out on his draft acumen imo.

---

He's been with the team since 2005, and is very highly thought of by the owner. He deserves a great deal of credit for building the team as it currently stands.

Drafting is very hard, and nobody is going to hit every year, but Baalke is pretty darn good at his job.

heartofthebear;842314721 said:

---

I'm still disappointed that, with all the WR and CB talent in this draft, that the 49ers have not taken any, even with all the picks they had. I get it, many of their round #1 targets were gone by pick 30. But their was plenty of round 2 and 3 talent available. Sean Jean-Batiste (CB) and Allen Robinson (WR) were there for the taking.

Clearly they are not drafting for need but for best available. But I don't think they got the best available either. Louis Nix (DT) and Marquis Lee (WR) were best available for almost a full round.

---

It's definitely a hard draft to understand, even in retrospect. I thought the Niners would spend a high pick on a WR as well, and I'm not really sure about how much I like Carlos Hyde. But I like all of their third round picks, and I think many of their later picks are interesting--those guys will have to fight for PT, but the one's that earn it should be pretty good.

Jimmie Ward is someone I'm coming around on. He does many things well that are staples of the Niners' defense. He hits hard, but generally tackles really well, and is very quick to diagnose a play and make the right decision about defending it. He'll play nickel right away, and might be able to move to safety eventually. He'll likely be the 12th man on the defense from the first game, and could be quite the playmaker eventually. And he wouldn't have been available at the end of the second round.

Is he a reach? Yeah, I guess. But different skill sets play differently on different teams. What he is good at fits the Niners nicely and will give them plenty of value at that spot in the draft.

CalBearRJ;842315440 said:

---

It's definitely a hard draft to understand, even in retrospect. I thought the Niners would spend a high pick on a WR as well, and I'm not really sure about how much I like Carlos Hyde. But I like all of their third round picks, and I think many of their later picks are interesting--those guys will have to fight for PT, but the one's that earn it should be pretty good.

Jimmie Ward is someone I'm coming around on. He does many things well that are staples of the Niners' defense. He hits hard, but generally tackles really well, and is very quick to diagnose a play and make the right decision about defending it. He'll play nickel right away, and might be able to move to safety eventually. He'll likely be the 12th man on the defense from the first game, and could be quite the playmaker eventually. And he wouldn't have been available at the end of the second round.

Is he a reach? Yeah, I guess. But different skill sets play differently on different teams. What he is good at fits the Niners nicely and will give them plenty of value at that spot in the draft.

---

I'm actually not sure why people were assuming the Niners would take a WR in the first round. I thought they would go with a DB, and they did.

Though they could use help, the WR isn't actually that bad for the 49ers right now. With a healthy Crabtree as the #1 and Boldin back as the #2, that's not a bad combo. They could use a spread-the-field DeSean Jackson type, but on the other hand this team also has Vernon Davis to do that at TE so not having a "burner" WR is not as much of a disadvantage to this team.

The secondary was looking thin, though, with Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers, and Tarell Brown all departing. It seemed the obvious position of need. That explains why they didn't take Marquise Lee -- they weren't going to go WR early. Then the trade for Stevie Johnson made it even less a position of need.

I think what Seattle showed us last year is that you don't need stud WRs to win. Defense wins championships.

I'm OK with the Ward pick and not picking a WR in rounds 3 and 4. But I would have liked to see them pick more impact players that were available when they were on the clock. And the DB position wasn't addressed again until the end of the draft. What it means is that they are dependent on Chris Culliver and I disagree with that approach.

sycasey;842315447 said:

---

I'm actually not sure why people were assuming the Niners would take a WR in the first round. I thought they would go with a DB, and they did.

Though they could use help, the WR isn't actually that bad for the 49ers right now. With a healthy Crabtree as the #1 and Boldin back as the #2, that's not a bad combo. They could use a spread-the-field DeSean Jackson type, but on the other hand this team also has Vernon Davis to do that at TE so not having a "burner" WR is not as much of a disadvantage to this team.

The secondary was looking thin, though, with Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers, and Tarell Brown all departing. It seemed the obvious position of need. That explains why they didn't take Marquise Lee -- they weren't going to go WR early. Then the trade for Stevie Johnson made it even less a position of need.

---

I didn't think they'd go WR in the first, though I thought that was possible. They made 5 picks in the first 3 rounds, though, and I figured they'd use at least one on a WR.

heartofthebear;842315481 said:

---

I'm OK with the Ward pick and not picking a WR in rounds 3 and 4. But I would have liked to see them pick more impact players that were available when they were on the clock. And the DB position wasn't addressed again until the end of the draft. What it means is that they are dependent on Chris Culliver and I disagree with that approach.

---

what i dont like about it is that they are depending on culliver to stay out of trouble. culliver can play but his problems seem to be off the field. that seems like a roll of the dice at best.

im ok with them not picking a WR. theyre 3 deep with stevie and vernon is a stretch TE. theyve basically made their decision that their not going to try to stretch the field except up the seam with vernon. honestly thats ok, the old niners with rice, taylor didnt have a speed burner. i actually havent seen too much of Kaep throwing the deep ball, perhaps he doesnt throw a great one? regardless though, it seems like the idea of the niners offense is going to continue to be move the chains and wear you out

gobears725;842315829 said:

---

im ok with them not picking a WR. theyre 3 deep with stevie and vernon is a stretch TE. theyve basically made their decision that their not going to try to stretch the field except up the seam with vernon. honestly thats ok, the old niners with rice, taylor didnt have a speed burner. i actually havent seen too much of Kaep throwing the deep ball, perhaps he doesnt throw a great one? regardless though, it seems like the idea of the niners offense is going to continue to be move the chains and wear you out

---

Trading for Stevie Johnson basically meant they didn't need to draft a WR. I also though Quinton Patton looked good in limited duty last year and could improve. They're not in bad shape at WR. Crabtree and Johnson are not considered "burners," but they CAN get open deep.

As for CB, they took Ward in the first round (clearly with the intent of making him the slot/nickel corner) and then drafted three more in the late rounds. The idea here seems to be to draft a bunch and hope that some of them work out.