Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread This, and pass rush is something you can do as a rookie. It is the other aspects that he has to work on. I don't mind a reach for a high ceiling guy, it is not like we will be superbowl ready next year with any of the first rounders. Even Von Miller.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Right, that's why I said could have instead of would have.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Just a note on Quinn, Baalke & Patten went to to see him in early April. Possible they didn't see something they liked over Smith, who they saw on his pro day. Which was very impressive for 3/4 guys.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread In the process of cutting up 3 games of his from this past year, warming up to the pick pretty quickly. Plan on trying to get 2009 games as well.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Great selection for the 49ers. Kaepernick looked GREAT against Boise State's tough defense.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread hopefully they'll give this one time to develop. It's good that we have Harbaugh for this though, last bunch of qb's we've drafted have been terrible, and Smith never had a chance
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread woooot wooooooot!!!! Now what CB we gonna grab in the 3rd?
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Think this says Smith plays for 2 years, I think this is a great pick, but he does need time.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread that would be the best shit ever!!!! i cant watch another year of clements, the worst starting defensive player in the league........how many times did that cunt bite on a double move
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread If you like players who bite on double moves...then you're going to fucking love our third rounder, Chris "5 star WR" Culliver. What the fuck was that shit?
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread On Kaepernick: Just finished re-watching the Boise game and downloading the Cal and BC games as well. Throwing motion a bit awkward as many note but didn't cause many issues from what I could tell. Ball flew off his hand even in the freezing cold at that game. The one interception he had was pretty iffy and not really on him. Rolling out to the right and over threw his receiver a touch but on a normal day probably not a pick. Cold looked to cause issues for the receiver. Throwing high was the biggest thing I had issues with. Did it a few times but hard to know how much the weather was the influence there. Worst ball he threw was a ball that could have been picked off but thrown behind the receiver pretty badly. Out routes were definitely the strong suit of his game. He made those throws with relative ease and had more than enough arm strength to get the ball out there and accurately as well. Best throw he had all game was probably one that drew a key PI penalty. Nice touch and the receiver had his hands on it but wound up getting the penalty call. Right on the mark and with the proper amount of touch as well. Deep ball was a pretty big concern in terms of accuracy. Overshot his receivers pretty bad and on the one 49 yard completion, which was his longest of the night, it was an under thrown ball that the receiver made a nice adjustment to. Does a really nice job selling screens as well. Athleticism is definitely there and more than comfortable rolling both to his left and to his right which is a nice trait coming in. He didn't run a ton in the BSU game and almost all but one run was able to make sure he didn't take a big shot. Have to imagine he isn't running a ton either in the NFL, so that isn't what I would worry on. Can definitely see the potential in the WCO but certainly not a guy that starts next year I would figure.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread The Smith pick I am fine with, especially with Wade Phillips pretty much saying he wasn't making it past #11 today. You move off of #7 and trade with Jacksonville and where do you go? Amukamara but then you would still be without a potential impact OLB if we were going QB all the way in the 2nd. The Kaepernick pick I am indifferent on and give Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt although if you believe La Canfora, Dalton was the guy they wanted at QB. He isn't taken high enough where Harbaugh is tied to him long term but no doubt we needed a QB. The third round pick was just terrible although him as a safety makes it a bit better in the long run but still don't understand that pick at all outside of him being a DB. I would give it a B- as of now. You finally address the area you have been lacking for years and get arguably the best 3-4 OLB in the draft outside of Miller. You have to take a QB and I will defer to Harbaugh on that, 3rd round thought we reached pretty badly. Still have a lot of picks tomorrow and some solid guys out there as well.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread man idk bout our draft...but our offensive line should be alright this year you would think...we have decent weapons on offensive that any qb no matter who it is should be able to use.. and a running game to help the passing game...smith def. has no fucking excuse this year...only thing im bummed about is our secondary..sick of getting burned but aldon should be a decent addition..i just want to get to the fucking qb this year then maybe our secondary wouldnt be piss pore
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread chris culliver was an awful pick in the 3rd round.......could have gotten him in the 4th or 5th.......another project, 3 picks this year and not a single one will be a huge factor in 2011 IMO.....as if we dont need immediate help?
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread As a Cardinals fan I really like the 49ers draft because it's all about the future, not like last year where it was all about win right now. Harbaugh and Baalke have some job security so they know that they can afford developmental players early in the draft. Kaepernick isn't going to help them this year, neither will Culliver, and Aldon Smith will likely be a situational player for a good portion of the year. However, I really think the Smith pick will pay off huge in the next 2-3 years. His frame, initial burst, and overall athleticism simply cannot be taught. He's got time, only 21 years old, to develop and could become a dominant edge player. I'm not a Kaepernick believer but Harbaugh knows what he is doing and he will have the time to mold him into a NFL QB because there won't be too much pressure on him to play right away.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread RoJo may have spurned the in-state schools, but he's still #1 in one mod's heart, ya?
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread To add on to this why would you give a playbook to a guy not even under contract. If I am the Seahawks or Cardinals, I overpay just for that fact.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread QB Colin Kaepernick NFL Draft Analysis Took a look at the 3 most credible games that Kaepernick had in California, Boise and BC. Certainly not going to be starting next year or we are in trouble. Coming from the pistol that is going to have some transition time with getting footwork right coming from under center. His delivery is certainly quirky but there was an article done a month back about how teams weren't anxious to change it. Will be interesting to watch and see how that plays out as he has the arm strength and the ball does come off his hand pretty quick even with the windup type throwing motion. One or two of the out type throws are iffy in the NFL as those might have been picks, hard to judge though. But I can see why Harbaugh wanted him and if La Canfora was correct we probably had Dalton and Kaepernick 1A and 1B so to speak. Or at least those were the two QBs we were really set on. La Canfora said we were trying to move up for Dalton at the end of the first round but couldn't. Baalke had always said he would do whatever he needed to in order to get Harbaugh his guy. If Dalton was the only one he wanted, I would imagine he would have jumped up into the first round. After Dalton was gone, pretty quick in trading up for Kaepernick. But arm strength is certainly there for the WCO. Everyone is saying he isn't used to timing routes but there were a few 3 step drops and deliver the ball in the games I watched. The Cal game he used his legs a lot more than the other games and didn't utilize his arm as much. I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me was how good he was at wanting to be a pass first QB. Comparing him to Newton, Newton certainly has higher upside but a longer learning curve as well as Kaepernick was tremendous at keeping his eyes down the field and extending the play in order to give his receivers more time. That is possibly the best thing he did in the entire clips and will be underrated but you don't see that often with athletic guys like him. I would imagine with bringing Alex back or at least it being almost a formality, Kaepernick is a developmental 2-3 year project which is what it should be. If Alex sinks next year and we are one of the worst teams in the league again, have to imagine Luck is in play even with Kaepernick on board. But even though Luck would be tremendous, hopefully it doesn't come to that. In all I would give the pick in the B/B+ range. There are certainly a lot of positives (Arm strength, athleticism, goes through progressions and leadership) with him given Harbaugh's wants from his QB but there are certainly negatives (Coming from the pistol, forces balls into areas when he shouldn't and sometimes taking too long and taking bad sacks) associated with him as well that will take time to work on. Trading up and giving up a 4th and a 5th puts me more on the B side of things but overall a pretty good pick given the QBs that were out there.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread You're right 9ers, Kaepernick made an effort to stay behind the line of scrimmage, to wait for his receivers to get open. And when he did, defenses had to respect his ability to scramble, helping create space for receivers. Very very impressed by his arm strength and speed.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread First, 9ers, thanks for putting that together Second, his arm strength and scrambling ability really set him apart. Would be nice to see them clean up his throwing motion bit, but as 9ers said, the ball does come out of his hand fairly quickly. He's not exactly Cam Newton, but he seems to be in that mold. There will obviously be a learning curve with him going under center, but I would not put it past Harbaugh to use him early in certain situations just because of his size ability to run. Question: Why is that most athletic, dual threat QBs seem to have that looping throwing motion? Is it maybe because they're not drilled enough on fundamentals because they're so athletic?
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread The coach(es) probably has a a large part. How keen is the coach? How intelligent? The QB's development is probably equal to the coaches capacity to perceive weaknesses and encourage good habits. I think most coaches - especially early in development - are content with riding the QBs athletic abilities, where the athletic gap is pathetically obvious.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread For Kaepernick he was/is a tremendous baseball player, was drafted by the Cubs coming out. So it is similar to baseball players playing golf and your motion gets screwed up because of it. Would imagine that is where the root of the problem with Kaepernick is. Newton has pretty good overall mechanics for an athletic guy, so obviously not all of them. With Tebow and a lot of the guys, they just use their legs for the most part and other times they keep it relatively simple for them.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Aldon Smith Just finished up the first pick and what hopes to be the best pick of the group. I will admit I was a bit down on the pick when it was made and thought it was pretty bad value but the more I watched, I will admit I was being way too reactionary. Haven't watched him in a while so wasn't really sure what to expect in terms of how big of a project he would be. That said even though he is really young, but I don't expect as big of growing pains that Anthony Davis had coming in so young. Aldon is much more advanced technique wise then I remembered as well being very strong at the point of attack. Some of the moves he made with his hand were down right silly. The one against Nebraska where he just takes out the opposing lineman and then against Oklahoma where he just shakes off Millard who is a pretty good blocker in his own right. The biggest question I had about him was the looming liability in coverage that I thought he might be. However I think those concerns are pretty exaggerated in all. The Oklahoma and Nebraska games should be included with an asterisk because he was coming off the injury that sidelined him for three games. It was pretty noticeable he was still favoring it and didn't look as good as he did in the Illinois game when he was in space. He isn't going to be the cover linebacker that Lawson is but the reason Lawson hasn't panned out is due to the lack of pass rush. Obviously Aldon isn't going to be asked to cover a DeSean Jackson or someone like that but the bit I saw, I am encouraged about him being able to hold his own. Not to mention when we go to a nickel set in obvious passing situations, he can shift down to the line with ease. Like all linemen coming out of college when he is too high coming off the snap he is driven off the ball and a couple of times he lost his footing coming out of a pass rushing move. Finally the last negative I had was I would like to see him be more of a sure tackler and finish tackles off better but that will come with better coaching. That is the one area where I think the youth and inexperience really shows. Some may point to the lack of a burst but I don't think that is a huge deal as although he isn't as quick as Von Miller he is more physical and plenty quick enough to get to the QB in the NFL. However the biggest weakness that I saw of him was in the running game. The first positive play that I labeled against Missouri is a pretty good example. He made a very nice move (The positive part of the play to me) to the inside to get off of the blocker but then was content on sitting back and not attacking the ball carrier to stop the play right at the line of scrimmage. Also this is seen when he drops into zone coverage and is content sitting back rather than attacking the line of scrimmage when it is clear it is a running play. Examining who was on the board at the time, I really can't fault Harbaugh and company for taking him in what looked to be a bit of a reach. Bowers health concerns were obviously a huge red flag, Fairley isn't the greatest of fits in the 3-4 even though he was the BPA on my board and Quinn I think is much better suited for the 4-3 than the 3-4. The biggest argument you could make is corner with Prince but in today's NFL where teams can turn it around so quickly, I think the staff as a whole looked long term rather than short term like vander pointed out. Prince would have been the safer pick and might have had a more immediate impact for the team. However a stud pass rusher is arguably the most important thing in a 3-4, so if you have the two guys rated close to each other you have to go with the OLB. In all I think when looking at everything, it was a really sound pick for what this team needs both short term and long term. He was able to draw double teams at a decent clip which helped pave the way for some of his teammates. If he can draw that type of attention over time, it is a huge benefit to not only the linebackers but the secondary as well. So when combining all the factors that were associated with the pick, I would probably give it a grade of an A-/A. Obviously it would have been nice to trade out and accumulated more picks and that is where the A- might fall but I don't think he makes it past the Texans at #11 and looking at our other 3-4 OLB options, I would go more towards an A overall.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Kaepernick altered his pitching mechanics a couple times in HS, so he does have some experience with changing muscle memory even if it was a different sport. Him being a pitcher and having gone through that kind of work before I think was essential in Harbaugh having confidence they'll be able to work with his throwing motion.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread We don't really need any big contributions from rookies imo, I think if the O linemen step it up, and we can get a little better on pass D that will be good enough for 9 wins and the division. A lot of problems can be remedied with some coaching, and we're in the weakest division
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread yeah but we havent upgraded the DB's at all, as long as nate clements mans on of the corners there is only going to be worst play in the secondary.....and with the possibility of no free agency this year it will be hard to really upgrade the seconday...........and if Aldon doesnt make a solid contribution in the pass rushm then we are left with pretty much what we had last year.........we will stop the run, teams just will go 4 WR sets sit in the shotgun and shred us apart, and our constant shit play at QB will also be the usual 3 and out machine it has been the last 7 years (especially with the lockout) keeping the defense on the field all the time......but we are in the NFC west where 8 or 9 wins will win it all,so who knows
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread You gotta figure the law of averages will effect us positively this year. I think the db's won't be so monumentally bad again, pass rush should improve a little, and I think smith will have a really solid year. I could be wrong on all accounts but all the breaks have gone against us the last few years I think they'll have some good stuff happen
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Barrows saying that Herzlich is eyeing the 9ers as a UDFA.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread kaepernick is on KNBR right now, i think he will do good things in the next couple of years for Niners
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread i agree, dont know why we didnt wait a few more rounds to get him
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Agreed. Horrible pick in the third. Wouldn't have minded a late round stab at someone like him, but the third was just ridiculous.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread It was said shortly after the draft that teams were eyeing him in the third round and he wouldn't make it to the fourth round if we waited.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread there cant be that many stupid coaches and gms can there?
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread His size and speed combination is unfortunately too enticing for teams to pass up on. Realistically the 3rd/4th round is hoping to get a steal, although I wouldn't have taken Culliver.
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread Excited to see this thread back in play. Looks like there may be some football this year after all, right?
Re: Harballin': The official 2011 San Francisco 49ers thread How does everyone feel about Lawson? It seems to be a foregone conclusion that he won't be back due to the Smith pick, but I would definitely make an effort to resign him. He may not be a sack artist, but he's easily our best OLB. Ideally, nobody throws insane money at him, and we could start him opposite Smith (once Smith earns starter's minutes). There's also the Fangio angle, as he seems to be a lot more aggressive than Manusky and probably could utilize Lawson a little differently. I'd resign Manny as long as he doesn't want to break the bank.