Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Originally posted by IdahoNiner:
Originally posted by Broseph6:
Again..... This is why people make fun of 49er fans
QB is a huge need, regardless if we resign Kap long term or not.
Love ya Idaho, but QB isn't a HUGE need. Will we need a backup QB? Absolutely, but with Kap about to sign a huge deal, he's the undisputed QB of this team and the face of the franchise. Signing another Colt McCoy type (veteran with no realistic chance to start over Kap, but good enough to game-manage if need be) would solve the issue in a heartbeat.
I simply disagree. With an athletic mobile QB a solid backup is a must. No matter how good the QB is. Look at the history of athletic QB's and they are riddled with injurys and shortened careers. Not only that, but spending a draft pick on a QB, with a QB coach like harbaugh, always has the potential to net a big trade return down the line.
Where would philly have been this season without Foles? Now im not comparing Kap to Vick, but i am saying we would be smart to hedge our bets like philly did.
Personally i would rather have a hand picked backup QB, than some cast off. And yes i would spend a second or third for the right backup QB in a heart beat.
And i love you too.
The history of QBs, mobile or not, is riddled with injuries, so yes a backup is always critical. But they dynamics of the backup situation are always important. If you have an older, oft-injured QB like Michael Vick, it's absolutely critical to have a young guy waiting in the wings to either fill in when needed or take over permanently. In the case of Ryan Mallett (which wasn't terribly different from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers), Brady is hardly oft-injured, but he is getting older and when a young talent drops in your lap, you go ahead and draft him with an eye towards the future.
In this case, we have a young QB who not only is starting his 2nd full season (meaning there's so much more upside and growth potential here), but he's about to sign a fairly large, multi-year extension. That means unless a bus hits him or a sniper takes him out, he's our QB for the next 3-5 years (and likely longer than that).
Given this dynamic, it honestly doesn't make a lot of sense to invest a relatively high pick on a QB. The odds are relatively low that this backup will actually take over for Kap anytime soon even...and even in the event of an injury, given the huge investment in Kap, unless that injury was catastrophic (which is rare), the backup would go back to being a backup.
I'm not saying it's completely without merit, because the potential to turn this person into a pick later certainly does exist. But teams have also drafted guys with late round picks and turned them into viable chips as well (Cassell and Flynn come to mind)...to me, that's a much bigger ROI than risking a high pick in this capacity.
So one has to consider, given they dynamic in play here, how much do we invest in the backup? Do we pick someone relatively high, likely have him sit for 4 years (not unlike Mallett) and hope to get something from him in trade? Or do we acknowledge that Kap is the face of the franchise, bring in a veteran to clean up here or maybe pick someone late in the draft (like a Cassell, Flynn, etc.)?
Btw, I took a look at some of the players that New England could've had in the 3rd, as opposed to their backup QB who stands on the sidelines and holds a clipboard.
#74 - New England, Ryan Mallett, QB
#76 - Jacksonville - Will Rackley, OL (starting LG)
#77 - Tennessee - Jurrell Casey, DT (10.5 sacks in 2013, 2nd team All-Pro)
#78 - St. Louis, WR - Austin Pettis (team's 3rd leading WR)
#80 - San Francisco - Chris Culliver, CB (need I say more?)
My only point in bringing that last part up is that high picks should be (and usually are) the foundation of your team...but when you already have a young foundational guy at a certain spot, I personally don't think it makes a lot of sense to use a foundational-level pick on his backup. Seems like that pick could be used elsewhere to much greater effect on guys that will more likely contribute sooner rather than later. That's my take.
