MadDog49er 2020 NFL Draft Review

Originally posted by SanFranFanfrmVa:
I thought the 49ers played it well. Big dropoff from Kinlaw to the next group of DT's. I just don't see a big difference between Lamb and Aiyuk. Other then height Akyuk beats Lamb in all of the measurables. A guy that runs a 4.5 with a core muscle injury. It's my personal opinion that if Aiyuk was at Oklahoma and Lamb was at Arizona St the rankings would be different. Maddog tell me what Lamb does better then Aiyuk? Lambs forte is run after catch and he had less yards then Aiyuk on Yac.

Yeah, Lamb isn't a burner - Aiyuk might even be faster than him. No big difference for me.

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by SanFranFanfrmVa:
I thought the 49ers played it well. Big dropoff from Kinlaw to the next group of DT's. I just don't see a big difference between Lamb and Aiyuk. Other then height Akyuk beats Lamb in all of the measurables. A guy that runs a 4.5 with a core muscle injury. It's my personal opinion that if Aiyuk was at Oklahoma and Lamb was at Arizona St the rankings would be different. Maddog tell me what Lamb does better then Aiyuk? Lambs forte is run after catch and he had less yards then Aiyuk on Yac.

Yeah, Lamb isn't a burner - Aiyuk might even be faster than him. No big difference for me.

Aiyuk is the man

Keep in mind. They did not pick up Sollys option. You always have to think a few years down the road. Kinlaw suprised me , but because We will lose Solly he was the correct pick.

Originally posted by maxsmart:
I like Kinlaw and Aiyuk ... and Jennings (for a 7th) ... I think they will get a lot from those players. But they gave up a lot for Aiyuk so he better be good.

but the 49ers do have a history of over-valuing and over-drafting players rather than waiting to pick them where they are a good value. KS fell in love with Brandon Aiyuk and traded up and I hope it turns out better than his past love affairs (see below).
Also seems like they over-drafted McKivitz and Woerner about one round too high for each.

Shanahan/Lynch have a history of falling in love and over-valuing players. For example they admitted that they would have over-drafted Reuben Foster at pick #3 overall, would have taken Aiyuk with pick #13, and McKivitz in rd 4 despite all of them being projected as later picks ....

Rather than taking players where they are a good value,
KS fell in love with Reuben Foster so he traded up => bust
KS fell in love with CJ Beathard and traded up => bust
KS loved Joe Williams so he traded up => bust
KS loved QB Kirk Cousins so he passed on QB Pat Mahomes and took Solomon Thomas instead = bust
KS fell in love with Dainty Petite so he traded up to #44 => bust
Loved Kentavius Street (with torn ACL) so traded up to 4th = bust
And several others over-drafted like Tarv Moore, Jalen Hurd, Mitch Wishnowsky, etc

This is my biggest concern with KS/Lynch trading up for players. They have been wrong more than they have been right. They need to just sit where they are and pick the best player on their board...or trade back for more picks.

C grade seems harsh.

Kinlaw, Aiyuk, Ford, Trent Williams is an impressive haul.

I think Kinlaw was the best option at replacing Buckner and Williams was the best option at replacing Staley.

Gives us the best shot at another superbowl run this year and Sets us up nicely to really kick on next year with the cap room and draft capital we will have.

Aiyuk will ultimately determine if this draft is an A or B for now I think it's a solid B. I think Kinlaw is gonna surprise you all.

With all due respect, this is only Maddog's opinion. He admittedly didn't pay as much attention to the draft this year because of family. Whether he is right or wrong can only be determined in about 3 years. I doubt 2020 will be a normal year so I'm barely going to count it when evaluating this draft. I still say Lynch did an excellent job considering what they had going into it. Remember we were looking at #31 and no more picks until the 5th round. After all the trading we ended up with 2 firsts and a pro bowl tackle to replace Staley. We got some decent prospects and cleared a lot of cap space for the future. Now the prospects need to become starters or contributors.

Originally posted by Ninerlakerdodger:

C grade seems harsh.

Kinlaw, Aiyuk, Ford, Trent Williams is an impressive haul.

I think Kinlaw was the best option at replacing Buckner and Williams was the best option at replacing Staley.

Gives us the best shot at another superbowl run this year and Sets us up nicely to really kick on next year with the cap room and draft capital we will have.

Aiyuk will ultimately determine if this draft is an A or B for now I think it's a solid B. I think Kinlaw is gonna surprise you all.

Maddog says in the beginning of his second paragraph that he is only grading the selections, meaning aquired veteran talent through draft capital does not factor into his grading scale.

For me I give it a B. Aiyuk was the number 5 wr for me. I was a big fan of his months ago as I began watching him and started to think of how much a natural fit he was with Kyle.

Kinlaw was a guy that started growing on me the last couple of weeks heading into the draft. His selection shouldn't have surprised anybody. Lynch and Kyle have both maintained that one of their primary goals when getting here was to build a championship caliber line. They just traded one of it's main assets for salary cap purposes and after they just watched their vison help fuel a super bowl run...there was no doubt they valued adding back into that new found hole.

In Jennings I think Kyle sees a guy that could grow into another potential Sanu.

Charlie Woerner wasn't a guy I knew much about. Great blocking specialist with some athletic ability. With Toilolo leaving there was a need to fill at tight end with another capable blocker.

McKivitz was a guy that I thought would move inside but being as Kyle mentioned him as a plan B for replacing Staley in the event they didn't get Williams, they may give him a shot to compete for the swing tackle spot first.

All in all I look at it like this. The niners have built very quickly one of the better rosters in football so roster spots should be tougher for the incoming class than it was previous years. The fact that everyone of our choices has a realistic chance to make the team gives another layer for me towards the overall grade of it.

On Eno Benjamin - Almost every reputable projection had him as a mid-rounder....at the latest a 5th.

He is undersized with a play weight probably at 195. Last year he had a horrible OL leading to some sub-par stats, and as a result of sub-par line he developed a case of happy feet. Still, he routinely turned 5 yard losses (he was hit as soon as he touched the ball in the backfield) into 2-3 yard gains. Stuff on a stat sheet that doesn't look good but in reality were fantastic plays.

Also last year he fumbled quite a few times. Almost every fumble was because he was trying to pick up extra yards. To me, those are frustration fumbles and are correctable.

Lot of tread on his tires for not a big back. Lacks breakaway speed.

Still...his balance and quick feet are NFL-level and he has a great mind for the game, runs tough as hell. I think he fell because NFL GMs really seek either breakaway speed or great size at RB. Eno falls into the "tweener" of those categories and GMs tend to hate tweeners. The irony of Ballage going 4th round and Eno falling to the 7th is unbelievable, they are a universe apart in performance.

Originally posted by maxsmart:

I like Kinlaw and Aiyuk ... and Jennings (for a 7th) ... I think they will get a lot from those players. But they gave up a lot for Aiyuk so he better be good.

but the 49ers do have a history of over-valuing and over-drafting players rather than waiting to pick them where they are a good value. KS fell in love with Brandon Aiyuk and traded up and I hope it turns out better than his past love affairs (see below).
Also seems like they over-drafted McKivitz and Woerner about one round too high for each.

Shanahan/Lynch have a history of falling in love and over-valuing players. For example they admitted that they would have over-drafted Reuben Foster at pick #3 overall, would have taken Aiyuk with pick #13, and McKivitz in rd 4 despite all of them being projected as later picks ....

Rather than taking players where they are a good value,
KS fell in love with Reuben Foster so he traded up => bust
KS fell in love with CJ Beathard and traded up => bust
KS loved Joe Williams so he traded up => bust
KS loved QB Kirk Cousins so he passed on QB Pat Mahomes and took Solomon Thomas instead = bust
KS fell in love with Dainty Petite so he traded up to #44 => bust
Loved Kentavius Street (with torn ACL) so traded up to 4th = bust
And several others over-drafted like Tarv Moore, Jalen Hurd, Mitch Wishnowsky, etc

Fact check: Only partially accurate. Neither Williams nor Street were traded up for.

Thanks for the honest assessment MD. Sobering read. I was hoping for Ceedee as well

Great insight MD. Of course, I hope your wrong.

I especially thought this was insightful: Shanahan picks guys that fit his scheme. That is something to be admired. However, if defensive coordinators adjust to his schemes, the talent he has acquired is simply below average for NFL play.

I think it's the very reason we lost the Super Bowl. We have great players for our scheme, but average to below average as to pure talent. Our guards got bullied, Jimmy flopped and PM and WR core shined.

Think about this we are complaining about a head coach and GM who have returned the 49ers to glory. How quickly he forget the turnstile of head coaches that made the 49ers laughable and easy to plan against. With Shannahan the team now scores with multiple players, (see bill Bellicheck). The defense finally has the pieces and it is no dominant.

So who are we, arm chair head coaches and GM's. One thing I agree with MadDog, is you have to do your mock from on the clock, picking the draft after it is over is like playing texas hold em and knowing everyones cards.

Additionally moving on from Buckner in a cap strategy is very Belliechek like, and I am at peace with it. Rarely when you pay a player an uber premium does it work out. Sadly I think this will also happen with Kittle, as he will want more than McCaffrey and the bean counters know they have him for 3 years 28 million, 2020 salary, 2021 tag 2022 tag-- so I do not see a happy ending.

Just a couple of questions?
1) Why do you think the NFL guys who do this for a living differed so completely on some of your picks

• Cee Dee was your #6 prospect...yet the 3rd WR off the board and not picked until 16
• Josh Jones was your #8 prospect... yet passed over by every team in league and not taken until 72
• Denzel Mims was your #13 prospect... not taken until the 59th pick
• Michael Pittman was your #14 prospect - yet not taken until pick 34

Just so many of your picks WAY off from where you ranked them and where they were actually picked. Any reason?

2) You say Aiyuk isnt on same level as Lamb. Yet, a guy who seems to know WRs pretty damn well put them on an equal level. If he does believe this then wasnt it a brilliant move to take a dominant DL at 14 and then get that the WR at 25? And since you nor any of us have a clue as to whether GB or Miami would have taken Aiyuk or not it seems pretty smart to simply give back the pick you just got from TB to get a guy they say was in play at 13.

Giving them a C grade is laughable. This draft got them Kinlaw, Aiyuk, Emmanuel Sanders, Dee Ford, and Trent Williams. Its an A all the way. I do think you have to consider the established players we got and that 2 of them were responsible for getting us to the SB when putting a grade out. Dont you? And by the way, Lamb was my draft crush and I really wanted him. But I totally get it why they made the moves they did.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by maxsmart:

I like Kinlaw and Aiyuk ... and Jennings (for a 7th) ... I think they will get a lot from those players. But they gave up a lot for Aiyuk so he better be good.

but the 49ers do have a history of over-valuing and over-drafting players rather than waiting to pick them where they are a good value. KS fell in love with Brandon Aiyuk and traded up and I hope it turns out better than his past love affairs (see below).
Also seems like they over-drafted McKivitz and Woerner about one round too high for each.

Shanahan/Lynch have a history of falling in love and over-valuing players. For example they admitted that they would have over-drafted Reuben Foster at pick #3 overall, would have taken Aiyuk with pick #13, and McKivitz in rd 4 despite all of them being projected as later picks ....

Rather than taking players where they are a good value,
KS fell in love with Reuben Foster so he traded up => bust
KS fell in love with CJ Beathard and traded up => bust
KS loved Joe Williams so he traded up => bust
KS loved QB Kirk Cousins so he passed on QB Pat Mahomes and took Solomon Thomas instead = bust
KS fell in love with Dainty Petite so he traded up to #44 => bust
Loved Kentavius Street (with torn ACL) so traded up to 4th = bust
And several others over-drafted like Tarv Moore, Jalen Hurd, Mitch Wishnowsky, etc

Fact check: Only partially accurate. Neither Williams nor Street were traded up for.

Also, Lynch and Shanahan did something different than Baalke...they learned from their mistakes.

Foster (bust) -> Warner (steal), Greenlaw (steal)
Beathard (bust) -> Mullens (steal), Garoppolo (justified)
J. Williams (bust) -> FA additions (Coleman, Breida, Mostert) steal
Pettis (bust-ish) -> Deebo (steal)
Street/Thomas (bust) -> Bosa/Ford (steal/justified)

As much as you can rip apart their drafts, you also have to credit them for finding solutions for their bust players. If they didn't, we wouldn't have made the playoffs let alone the SB.

Agree. Kinlaw is a good pick, most likely a safe pick. But, we needed WR help big time. It's what cost us in the playoffs. You can only go so far when all you do is run the ball. Lamb or Jeudy would've been great.

I feel the same way about a Aiyuk, good player, but he's not the same type of game changer as someone like CD or Jeudy could've been. And we had to trade up for him. Could've used that extra pick on OL or DB, which is also a need.

But if Kinlaw and Aiyuk turn out great, it won't matter. Hopefully that is the case.