Mitch Wishnowsky - Punter (Utah) is a 49er

Originally posted by okdkid:

Imagine being upset we took a Pro Bowl caliber punter instead of a 3rd string DB.

This. With some people's reactions, you'd think we pulled a Raiders and spent a 1st round pick on a kicker.

He needs to be a top 3 punter to justify this selection. Solid top 10 punter is not good enough to warrant a mid 4th. There were a couple of safeties and a bunch of guards selected soon after Wish was picked. If any of those guy become solid players, I'd rather have those guys.

A couple successful fake punts with him using his run ability and that would help me understand why he was valued so highly. I don't know if Kyle goes there (punt fakes), don't think he has in the past. Still, mid 4th I'd rather take a shot in the dark at a possible offensive/defensive starter.

Originally posted by thl408:

He needs to be a top 3 punter to justify this selection. Solid top 10 punter is not good enough to warrant a mid 4th. There were a couple of safeties and a bunch of guards selected soon after Wish was picked. If any of those guy become solid players, I'd rather have those guys.

A couple successful fake punts with him using his run ability and that would help me understand why he was valued so highly. I don't know if Kyle goes there (punt fakes), don't think he has in the past. Still, mid 4th I'd rather take a shot in the dark at a possible offensive/defensive starter.

If we were a Jim Harbaugh team in 2012 where running the ball, ball control, clock control and coupled with a top 5 defense to boot, a punter of this caliber would be a massive weapon (Andy Lee). A team like Seattle? Good move for their philosophy.

But for an offensive philosophy like ours? You just need a solid guy there.

Hightower hasn't run a trick ST play his entire career.

If he ends up as a top 3 punter, it probably means offensively, we fell on our face.

Another huge concern is his style of punting. Running to punt like you're about to run an RPO isn't going to work in the NFL. You'll be running right into the rush. 

One of the issues with the Seattle kicker IIRC was that his delivery was long and he started getting kicks blocked and returned for TD's later in the year (twice against the Cards). Then he struggled because he had to speed up. Otherwise he was really really good up to that point. 

Originally posted by BleedsRedNGold:

Originally posted by VaBeachNiner:

n***a looks like Kirk Cousins' redneck cousin Ricky.

Or he's about to sing the shallows song with Lady Gaga.

Saw some of his highlights. He's a good runner from his rugby days. I can see trick plays in our future.

Originally posted by thl408:
He needs to be a top 3 punter to justify this selection. Solid top 10 punter is not good enough to warrant a mid 4th. There were a couple of safeties and a bunch of guards selected soon after Wish was picked. If any of those guy become solid players, I'd rather have those guys.

A couple successful fake punts with him using his run ability and that would help me understand why he was valued so highly. I don't know if Kyle goes there (punt fakes), don't think he has in the past. Still, mid 4th I'd rather take a shot in the dark at a possible offensive/defensive starter.

Don't agree with this at all. He is a day one starter, how many fourth round picks can you say that about. If Lynch is right and he can hold that position for the next 10 years then he is well worth the investment of a fourth round pick. I think I read somewhere that he is the only punter to have won the Ray Guy award three times. His last 106 punts have netted 100 TOTAL return yards. Plus he can be used for kickoffs and as a holder. It was a position of need and they decided to use the pick to get a guy that they thought would be good rather than use a later round pick to get a guy who would just be a guy. .

Originally posted by Willisfn4life:

Originally posted by okdkid:

Imagine being upset we took a Pro Bowl caliber punter instead of a 3rd string DB.

This. With some people's reactions, you'd think we pulled a Raiders and spent a 1st round pick on a kicker.

Lol agreed! This guy fills 3 positions for us too!!!!

So, if he's 3rd best it's good. If he's 6th best it's bad.

lol wut

It looks like NE was going to take him if we didn't.

Originally posted by okdkid:

So, if he's 3rd best it's good. If he's 6th best it's bad.

lol wut

You got me man. People don't appreciate special teams. We figure to be a .500 team which means we will be in a lot of close games. Gould and Wishy can be the difference in a lot of those games.

Originally posted by 49ers81:

Originally posted by thl408:
He needs to be a top 3 punter to justify this selection. Solid top 10 punter is not good enough to warrant a mid 4th. There were a couple of safeties and a bunch of guards selected soon after Wish was picked. If any of those guy become solid players, I'd rather have those guys.

A couple successful fake punts with him using his run ability and that would help me understand why he was valued so highly. I don't know if Kyle goes there (punt fakes), don't think he has in the past. Still, mid 4th I'd rather take a shot in the dark at a possible offensive/defensive starter.

Don't agree with this at all. He is a day one starter, how many fourth round picks can you say that about. If Lynch is right and he can hold that position for the next 10 years then he is well worth the investment of a fourth round pick. I think I read somewhere that he is the only punter to have won the Ray Guy award three times. His last 106 punts have netted 100 TOTAL return yards. Plus he can be used for kickoffs and as a holder. It was a position of need and they decided to use the pick to get a guy that they thought would be good rather than use a later round pick to get a guy who would just be a guy. .

A top 20 punter is a starter too. But is that worth a mid 4th rounder? If not, then where do you draw the line where a mid 4th rounder is not worthy of going punter? Honest question because I don't believe you'd be happy with top 20 ability. Maybe you are, I don't know. What type of ability do you want to see to say, "he was worth a mid 4th", because just being a starting punter isn't good enough imo. I'm not discrediting a punter's ability to affect the game. A booming 55 harder with no return can help a team slip the field in a defensive battle. That would be top 3 ability and worth it.

Originally posted by Cisco0623:

Originally posted by okdkid:
So, if he's 3rd best it's good. If he's 6th best it's bad.

lol wut

You got me man. People don't appreciate special teams. We figure to be a .500 team which means we will be in a lot of close games. Gould and Wishy can be the difference in a lot of those games.

Some don't like the pick. That's fine. But literally making up justifications as a means of therapy seems to be a little haphazard. They'll move the goalposts on this guy until the season starts.

That said -- the wound is still fresh for these dudes. They'll get over it even if he's just an NFL average punter. Just takes time.

Originally posted by thl408:

He needs to be a top 3 punter to justify this selection. Solid top 10 punter is not good enough to warrant a mid 4th. There were a couple of safeties and a bunch of guards selected soon after Wish was picked. If any of those guy become solid players, I'd rather have those guys.

A couple successful fake punts with him using his run ability and that would help me understand why he was valued so highly. I don't know if Kyle goes there (punt fakes), don't think he has in the past. Still, mid 4th I'd rather take a shot in the dark at a possible offensive/defensive starter.

I've felt for months that the team would poor it's money and draft capital into the linebackers, pass rush, and receivers this season. I also stated that I think they'll look to add more to the above position groups you stated next year.

Lynch has been transparent about only wanting players that they really feel can make the team. We needed a punter and they took the best in the draft. Otherwise in your day 3 picks your looking for special teams players and developmental prospects. I understand wanting more depth at the oline, but they've added oline players every year after the draft since Lynch/Shanny got here in fa. They may not be done. For now as far as the oline and defensive backfield, the team chose continuity on the line, a revamped medical/strength and conditioning team and upgraded the coaching for the defensive backfield. Let's see what a fresh coach can do for our some of our younger defensive backfield players and see if all these medical team changes can do a better job keeping the oline healthy.

Originally posted by mayo49:

It looks like NE was going to take him if we didn't.

Not in the 4th. Belichick isn't dumb.

MAYBE he jumps up 21 spots ahead of us in the 5th like the Colts did thinking we'd take a S but I doubt it. And if so, trade a 6th to move up a few more spots to secure him.

The other issue is the PK Gray is going to give you far more value and we lost out on him. Gray will give you actual points. And Lynch was mad as hell losing out on him.

The spin to justify this move is just nuts.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by thl408:
He needs to be a top 3 punter to justify this selection. Solid top 10 punter is not good enough to warrant a mid 4th. There were a couple of safeties and a bunch of guards selected soon after Wish was picked. If any of those guy become solid players, I'd rather have those guys.

A couple successful fake punts with him using his run ability and that would help me understand why he was valued so highly. I don't know if Kyle goes there (punt fakes), don't think he has in the past. Still, mid 4th I'd rather take a shot in the dark at a possible offensive/defensive starter.

If we were a Jim Harbaugh team in 2012 where running the ball, ball control, clock control and coupled with a top 5 defense to boot, a punter of this caliber would be a massive weapon (Andy Lee). A team like Seattle? Good move for their philosophy.

But for an offensive philosophy like ours? You just need a solid guy there.

Hightower hasn't run a trick ST play his entire career.

If he ends up as a top 3 punter, it probably means offensively, we fell on our face.

Another huge concern is his style of punting. Running to punt like you're about to run an RPO isn't going to work in the NFL. You'll be running right into the rush.

One of the issues with the Seattle kicker IIRC was that his delivery was long and he started getting kicks blocked and returned for TD's later in the year (twice against the Cards). Then he struggled because he had to speed up. Otherwise he was really really good up to that point.

We're still a ball control team, it's just based on passing. On top of that, it's an explosive ball control team. On top of that, maybe this team will have a top defense along the lines that Jim Harbaugh had, now that we have the Smith Brothers 2.0

Originally posted by mayo49:
It looks like NE was going to take him if we didn't.

yup