OL Laken Tomlinson, signs with NYJ

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Only time will tell.

Still, KS?JL have been pretty solid in player selection so far.

We hope they have been. The reality is that we won't know for certain until these guys have played at least a season, if not longer.

Completely agree.

That also goes for the guys that people are raving about.

IMO, Solomon and Foster are almost guaranteed stars.

In Tomlinson's case, many coaches think they can turn a guy's performance into something better than before.

We'll have to see.

Also, Garnett's injury may be worse than talked about.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Completely agree.

That also goes for the guys that people are raving about.

IMO, Solomon and Foster are almost guaranteed stars.

In Tomlinson's case, many coaches think they can turn a guy's performance into something better than before.

We'll have to see.

Also, Garnett's injury may be worse than talked about.

Garrett just went under the knife on Aug. 10. Give the guy time to recover. He'll be fine.

My take on this scenario:

Shannahan and Lynch think our OL, especially our run blocking, sucks.

Mayhew says "hey there's this guy I drafted who's supposed to be good at that and the Lions don't care for him"

So Lynch gets him on the cheap. To me this is more a reflection on the state of our line and running game than anything. They're willing to part with a high-end lottery ticket (5th rounder) to get a guy with a decent role starter ceiling at best realistically to give us depth with Garnett out. So our OL hopefully now won't be 2015 bad, but take this move with a grain of salt. Probably an exaggeration to call this low-risk/high reward. I don't see the realistic high-reward here outside of him being possibly startable in whatever role we find for him.

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:
My take on this scenario:

Shannahan and Lynch think our OL, especially our run blocking, sucks.

Mayhew says "hey there's this guy I drafted who's supposed to be good at that and the Lions don't care for him"

So Lynch gets him on the cheap. To me this is more a reflection on the state of our line and running game than anything. They're willing to part with a high-end lottery ticket (5th rounder) to get a guy with a decent role starter ceiling at best realistically to give us depth with Garnett out. So our OL hopefully now won't be 2015 bad, but take this move with a grain of salt. Probably an exaggeration to call this low-risk/high reward. I don't see the realistic high-reward here outside of him being possibly startable in whatever role we find for him.

He's terrible at run-blocking though. Lions run a ZBS, and everyone says he might be better suited for power. Sounds a lot like Garnett.

Originally posted by Ensatsu:

He's terrible at run-blocking though. Lions run a ZBS, and everyone says he might be better suited for power. Sounds a lot like Garnett.

Right, hence why I said "supposed." To me it's a real bad sign when guys like Garnett and Tomlinson who are supposed to be run-blocking guys are actually worse at that than pass-blocking in the pros

We'll see. I wasn't big on him out of the draft. He was quick to engage on blocks, but doesn't do anything when he gets there. Defensive players get off his blocks too easy. He look like an eager Freshmen trying to block a Senior. Lol

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Ensatsu:
He's terrible at run-blocking though. Lions run a ZBS, and everyone says he might be better suited for power. Sounds a lot like Garnett.

Right, hence why I said "supposed." To me it's a real bad sign when guys like Garnett and Tomlinson who are supposed to be run-blocking guys are actually worse at that than pass-blocking in the pros

I don't think talent is the sole issue here. Just do a quick search on Linemen coming out of college unprepared and you will find stories going back a few years to as recent as this offseason covering the issues these guys are having transitioning to the pros because the colleges they are playing for don't emphasis technique and it makes it so they are incredibly raw by the time they get drafted and that pro teams are being forced to not only break them of bad habits developed in school but develop them in some cases from the ground up. We are heading into a new reality where you may need to have a small farm team of Olinemen on your roster to develop to play down the road.

Originally posted by jcs:

I don't think talent is the sole issue here. Just do a quick search on Linemen coming out of college unprepared and you will find stories going back a few years to as recent as this offseason covering the issues these guys are having transitioning to the pros because the colleges they are playing for don't emphasis technique and it makes it so they are incredibly raw by the time they get drafted and that pro teams are being forced to not only break them of bad habits developed in school but develop them in some cases from the ground up. We are heading into a new reality where you may need to have a small farm team of Olinemen on your roster to develop to play down the road.

This, all of this.

Originally posted by jcs:
Started 24 games in the NFL. Smart player with two degrees. Signed through 2018 making around 2.3 million over the next two seasons.

plus 5th year option as a first round pick. Not bad if he pans out, if he does not, it was worth the risk

Originally posted by Ensatsu:

He's terrible at run-blocking though. Lions run a ZBS, and everyone says he might be better suited for power. Sounds a lot like Garnett.

But they don't. Where did this falsehood start? They run a hybrid scheme that is more oriented towards gap blocking.


They ran a true ZBS for much of his rookie season under Lombardi.

Originally posted by DickNasty:
After everything I've read here's my lame duck assessment. I'm thinking with his smarts a for now a back-up gaurd and our future center. Smart enough to make all the calls and fast enough as well. Just athletic enough to make a block in reasonable space. Again, low risk/high reward move

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Future center. Here is an interesting quote from a Detroit Article.

https://sidelionreport.com/2016/09/20/laken-tomlinson-struggles-no-easy-fix/

He's at his best when the defender is lined up right over him, where the Jamaica native doesn't have to move laterally or control multiple angles. It's on those plays where you can see why the Lions selected him in the first round. Against Tennessee, Tomlinson scored well in these circumstances. It's something to work with, but you'd better believe NFL coaches will pick up on this.

One of the things I remember about him is he's pretty athletic...that could translate into some success with the zone scheme the Niners are running. Change of scenery, chance to redeem himself, all for a 5th rd pick in the 2019 draft. Lynch definitely rocks...what a breath of fresh air.

Haven't seen this guy play, but apparently he was really bad in Detroit and would not have made their roster anyways. I have no expectations for him but it's worth a flier on a former 1st rd pick. Viewing him as strictly a backup.

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Haven't seen this guy play, but apparently he was really bad in Detroit and would not have made their roster anyways. I have no expectations for him but it's worth a flier on a former 1st rd pick. Viewing him as strictly a backup.

I agree. I was dissapointed we didn't try to trade for Cameron Erving, but this Tomlinson trade makes me feel better.

Let this guy play on THIS team before we give up on him. Worst case scenario he's great depth.

Originally posted by CorvaNinerFan:

One of the things I remember about him is he's pretty athletic...that could translate into some success with the zone scheme the Niners are running. Change of scenery, chance to redeem himself, all for a 5th rd pick in the 2019 draft. Lynch definitely rocks...what a breath of fresh air.

I think we'll recoup this pick when we trade Dial or Blair after today's game. They are both worth that comp if not more.