AgustusM
04-26-2004, 01:30 PM
My wife was out of town and I literally watched about 10 hours of the draft Sat-Sun and have read hundreds of pages of analysis leading up to and after the draft – needless to say I am a big draft nut.
I also know a fair bit about football having played in HS and college and having coached off and on at the high school and JC level for the past 15 years. I have also followed the Niners since the early 70's having grown up in San Francisco.
1-31 WR Rashaun Woods - I like Woods, he should be a good player but I am disappointed the Niners traded down in the first round when they had a chance to draft Wilfork. The 49ers were unbelievable fortunate to have a player like DT Vince Wilfork fall all the way to 16th – This guy is the next Bryant Young. Woods should be a good solid pro but Wilfork is going to make 5 Pro Bowls. They should have kept the pick and got their Bryant Young replacement. Now I have to watch him go to the pro bowl and win superbowls with New England.
Entirely possible Woods would have still been there at #46 since many teams considered him too slow and they could have had Wilfork and Woods and no other receiver was taken 32-45. The problem is they are now the cheapest team in the league and don't want to pay anyone "first round money"
2-46 G Justin Smiley – Could be the best pick they made. Most scouts had him as a first rounder. He is a Niner style lineman with good mobility. He should start this year at RG. Still would have preferred Wilfork in the first and Woods here though.
2-58 CB Shawntae Spencer – I am always weary of guys whose stock move up because of their “work-outs” I want football players who make plays on the football field, not guys who look good in the gym. Having said that the Niners do desperately need help at corner and this was a very weak draft for corner after Hall and Robinson, not sure who else would have been any better.
3-77 WR/KR Derrick Hamilton – This team needs playmakers and Hamilton is a playmaker so that is good. My only concern is most scouts consider him more of a return guy then a receiver. And the third round is awful high to draft a return guy.
4-104 DT Isaac Sopoaga – His name sounds like a tribe name on Survivor. In all seriousness I think this is a solid pick. We need help at DL and this guy is strong and athletic. My hope is this is their big steal of the draft.
4-127 MLB from Oregon St. Richard Seigler - Linebacker might be the only position on the team they DON"T need - this looks like a Steve Spurier pick to me (I coached him in college, I know him, so I am going to draft him) With so many other holes to fill – he better be a future pro bowler
6-188 P Andy Lee – No doubt the niners desperately need help at Punter, but of the top 10 punters in the NFL last year half of them were not drafted at all, simply signed as rookie FA’s. If you are a team like the Patriots with talent throughout the roster, or you see a Punter with the ability of Shane Lechler sure go ahead and draft a punter. But when you are a team that is as talent thin as the niners are, I don’t believe you can afford the luxury of drafting a punter. Should have got more help on the O and D line here and picked up a punter as a rookie FA.
6-198 FS Keith Lewis – Good gamble here, but I am a little concerned about reputation as a disturbance in the locker room. Niners do need safety help and good safeties can often come in the late rounds.
7-217 QB Cody Pickett – Hey it’s the 7th round so expectations are pretty low, but I am not sure why they would go QB here. They already have 3 young QB’s that need to be developed, not sure how much attention he is going to get as the 4th QB. I would hate to be Rich Olson (Niners QB coach) he has his work cut out for him this year. Would have preferred taking a shot at another corner here. Pickett looks like a training camp cut and/or practice squad player.
7-226 DT Christian Ferrera – I like this pick this late. Team desperately needs help on the D-Line and he is a good gamble here.
Some non-niner thoughts:
Chargers – Absolutely raped the Giants in the Eli Manning deal. They got the QB they preferred and a 1, 3 and a 5! Unbelievable! Giants fans will look back on this day as the day that killed the franchise. I like Eli Manning, but he made a real stupid move, he has set himself up for more pressure then maybe any QB ever drafted and why on earth he thinks the Giants are better then the chargers I do not know. Attention Archie and Eli – the Giants had the same awful record (4-12) as the chargers last year! He would have benefited greatly by one of the top 5 skill players in the league in LaDainian Tomlinson AND the Giants allowed the 2nd most sacks in the league last year. The Giants made a Hershel Walker trade to get him and now he gets the scrutiny of the NY media. And with Eli as the starting QB – that #1 they traded could very well be a top 5 pick next year. Manning = dumb, Giants = dumber, Chargers = looked dumb, ended up with a brilliant move.
Raiders – After their coaching fiasco, they had one hell of an off-season. Gallery is a flat out Stud – great pick. And getting Washington and Sapp has improved their DL tremendously. Best OL and DL off-season of any team in football and you know what they say about the line.
Lions – Great draft for them, filling two holes with two players as great as Williams and Jones. Their offense should be pretty darn good in the next few years.
Dallas Cowboys – Um, Hello? Anyone home? I have more respect for Bill Parcells then any other coach in football, but I simply don’t get this. They are lucky as hell to have Stephen Jackson fall into their lap and they trade down! I was more surprised by this then the Niners trading down. I usually see 4-5 Notre Dame games a year, and Jones always impressed me more as a returner then a RB. Even Kevin Jones or Chris Perry made more sense then J.Jones. Very, very odd. Now if Buffalo stumbles this year and that pick becomes a top 5 and Julius IS the next Emmit Smith then we have something, but I just don’t see it.
Denver Broncos – Tatum Bell – next 1,000 yard low round pick(relatively) running back for Mike Shanahan.
Cleveland Browns – Kellen Winslow is the next, well Kellen Winslow. I would have loved to see the Niners trade up to get him. I guess I will have to settle for squinting my eyes and pretending Garica is still on the Niners as he completed pass after pass to this stud. Personally the only player in the draft I would have selected ahead of Winslow is Gallery, and that is more because of the relative importance of a LT to a TE then the players themselves.
Buffalo Bills – Bills had an odd draft. Evans was a reach at 13 and I think they could have got Losman in the 2nd round. You should get a lot more talent drafting 13 and 22 then they did.
New England – Rich get richer. As fore mentioned, Wilfork is a stud and will replace Ted Washington quite nicely. Won’t be as big a run stopper, but is more athletic and obviously a lot younger.
Funniest Moment of the Telecast: The look backs over the past 25 years. Especially the Jets fans – no matter who they drafted the reaction was always the same “ohhhhhh, are you frickin kiddin me that guy is a bum!” Especially funny when some of the picks such as Hugh Douglas, Kyle Brady, Aaron Glenn turned out to be pretty good players. But considering they also drafted these busts in the first round; Jeff Lageman,Blair Thomas,Browning Nagle, you can understand why they always react that way
Oddest:
The NFL cap ads would have been funny, if Manning hadn’t made such an ass of himself – “what happened to the chargers” he asks in the ads. If he would have shut up about the whole thing the ads would have been very funny as it was they just came off as odd and of course if you watched the draft as long as I did, you saw it 200 times.
Final thought RIP Pat Tillman – a hell of a football player, and a much better man.
I also know a fair bit about football having played in HS and college and having coached off and on at the high school and JC level for the past 15 years. I have also followed the Niners since the early 70's having grown up in San Francisco.
1-31 WR Rashaun Woods - I like Woods, he should be a good player but I am disappointed the Niners traded down in the first round when they had a chance to draft Wilfork. The 49ers were unbelievable fortunate to have a player like DT Vince Wilfork fall all the way to 16th – This guy is the next Bryant Young. Woods should be a good solid pro but Wilfork is going to make 5 Pro Bowls. They should have kept the pick and got their Bryant Young replacement. Now I have to watch him go to the pro bowl and win superbowls with New England.
Entirely possible Woods would have still been there at #46 since many teams considered him too slow and they could have had Wilfork and Woods and no other receiver was taken 32-45. The problem is they are now the cheapest team in the league and don't want to pay anyone "first round money"
2-46 G Justin Smiley – Could be the best pick they made. Most scouts had him as a first rounder. He is a Niner style lineman with good mobility. He should start this year at RG. Still would have preferred Wilfork in the first and Woods here though.
2-58 CB Shawntae Spencer – I am always weary of guys whose stock move up because of their “work-outs” I want football players who make plays on the football field, not guys who look good in the gym. Having said that the Niners do desperately need help at corner and this was a very weak draft for corner after Hall and Robinson, not sure who else would have been any better.
3-77 WR/KR Derrick Hamilton – This team needs playmakers and Hamilton is a playmaker so that is good. My only concern is most scouts consider him more of a return guy then a receiver. And the third round is awful high to draft a return guy.
4-104 DT Isaac Sopoaga – His name sounds like a tribe name on Survivor. In all seriousness I think this is a solid pick. We need help at DL and this guy is strong and athletic. My hope is this is their big steal of the draft.
4-127 MLB from Oregon St. Richard Seigler - Linebacker might be the only position on the team they DON"T need - this looks like a Steve Spurier pick to me (I coached him in college, I know him, so I am going to draft him) With so many other holes to fill – he better be a future pro bowler
6-188 P Andy Lee – No doubt the niners desperately need help at Punter, but of the top 10 punters in the NFL last year half of them were not drafted at all, simply signed as rookie FA’s. If you are a team like the Patriots with talent throughout the roster, or you see a Punter with the ability of Shane Lechler sure go ahead and draft a punter. But when you are a team that is as talent thin as the niners are, I don’t believe you can afford the luxury of drafting a punter. Should have got more help on the O and D line here and picked up a punter as a rookie FA.
6-198 FS Keith Lewis – Good gamble here, but I am a little concerned about reputation as a disturbance in the locker room. Niners do need safety help and good safeties can often come in the late rounds.
7-217 QB Cody Pickett – Hey it’s the 7th round so expectations are pretty low, but I am not sure why they would go QB here. They already have 3 young QB’s that need to be developed, not sure how much attention he is going to get as the 4th QB. I would hate to be Rich Olson (Niners QB coach) he has his work cut out for him this year. Would have preferred taking a shot at another corner here. Pickett looks like a training camp cut and/or practice squad player.
7-226 DT Christian Ferrera – I like this pick this late. Team desperately needs help on the D-Line and he is a good gamble here.
Some non-niner thoughts:
Chargers – Absolutely raped the Giants in the Eli Manning deal. They got the QB they preferred and a 1, 3 and a 5! Unbelievable! Giants fans will look back on this day as the day that killed the franchise. I like Eli Manning, but he made a real stupid move, he has set himself up for more pressure then maybe any QB ever drafted and why on earth he thinks the Giants are better then the chargers I do not know. Attention Archie and Eli – the Giants had the same awful record (4-12) as the chargers last year! He would have benefited greatly by one of the top 5 skill players in the league in LaDainian Tomlinson AND the Giants allowed the 2nd most sacks in the league last year. The Giants made a Hershel Walker trade to get him and now he gets the scrutiny of the NY media. And with Eli as the starting QB – that #1 they traded could very well be a top 5 pick next year. Manning = dumb, Giants = dumber, Chargers = looked dumb, ended up with a brilliant move.
Raiders – After their coaching fiasco, they had one hell of an off-season. Gallery is a flat out Stud – great pick. And getting Washington and Sapp has improved their DL tremendously. Best OL and DL off-season of any team in football and you know what they say about the line.
Lions – Great draft for them, filling two holes with two players as great as Williams and Jones. Their offense should be pretty darn good in the next few years.
Dallas Cowboys – Um, Hello? Anyone home? I have more respect for Bill Parcells then any other coach in football, but I simply don’t get this. They are lucky as hell to have Stephen Jackson fall into their lap and they trade down! I was more surprised by this then the Niners trading down. I usually see 4-5 Notre Dame games a year, and Jones always impressed me more as a returner then a RB. Even Kevin Jones or Chris Perry made more sense then J.Jones. Very, very odd. Now if Buffalo stumbles this year and that pick becomes a top 5 and Julius IS the next Emmit Smith then we have something, but I just don’t see it.
Denver Broncos – Tatum Bell – next 1,000 yard low round pick(relatively) running back for Mike Shanahan.
Cleveland Browns – Kellen Winslow is the next, well Kellen Winslow. I would have loved to see the Niners trade up to get him. I guess I will have to settle for squinting my eyes and pretending Garica is still on the Niners as he completed pass after pass to this stud. Personally the only player in the draft I would have selected ahead of Winslow is Gallery, and that is more because of the relative importance of a LT to a TE then the players themselves.
Buffalo Bills – Bills had an odd draft. Evans was a reach at 13 and I think they could have got Losman in the 2nd round. You should get a lot more talent drafting 13 and 22 then they did.
New England – Rich get richer. As fore mentioned, Wilfork is a stud and will replace Ted Washington quite nicely. Won’t be as big a run stopper, but is more athletic and obviously a lot younger.
Funniest Moment of the Telecast: The look backs over the past 25 years. Especially the Jets fans – no matter who they drafted the reaction was always the same “ohhhhhh, are you frickin kiddin me that guy is a bum!” Especially funny when some of the picks such as Hugh Douglas, Kyle Brady, Aaron Glenn turned out to be pretty good players. But considering they also drafted these busts in the first round; Jeff Lageman,Blair Thomas,Browning Nagle, you can understand why they always react that way
Oddest:
The NFL cap ads would have been funny, if Manning hadn’t made such an ass of himself – “what happened to the chargers” he asks in the ads. If he would have shut up about the whole thing the ads would have been very funny as it was they just came off as odd and of course if you watched the draft as long as I did, you saw it 200 times.
Final thought RIP Pat Tillman – a hell of a football player, and a much better man.