In hindsight, was Vernon Davis worth the 6th Overall in 2006?

Originally posted by BYisGod:

Originally posted by krizay:
He was never worth the #6 pick. He was supposed to revolutionize the position. Too big too fast. People saw his physical attributes and thought he'd learn to be a complete TE. Completely dismissing his short comings.

Now here we are 15 years later

And just like that I turned it into a QB thread. My bad!

Lol yeah, we clearly should have drafted Michael Huff instead.

(I promise, one day, I'll let this go, kriz )

I remember that debate. No TE is worth #6?

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
Yes. Looking at the 2006 draft, who else should we have taken? Some would argue Ngata but the team wanted to get Alex Smith some offense. And to compare Eric Johnson to Davis is offensive. Putting up yards on a league doormat where no one is game planning for you is not the same as being the no. 2 focus (after Gore) on a team that played in some big games.

Haha I forgot about Johnson... didnt he actually look good as a receiving TE? Not elite or anything but good for a season or two then just disappeared.

Of course.

Not a lot of value in that first-round class. VD was a good player. Not the greatest receiving TE of all time or anything, but he did plenty of things out there in a pretty dire era of Niner football.

Why is this in Niner Talk?

At his best he was definitely worth it. I feel he didn't have the passion to maximize his natural talent. Plus, he obviously had some attitude issues (see Mike Singletary). Pitts seems to have a lot of passion, and wants to be the best ever. It would be crazy to have him and Kittle, but Jimmy G is often hurt so a QB is the need. QB's are so important, and such a gamble. At least 3 of the big 5 QBs will probably not pan out. Frankly, Trevor Lawrence doesn't seem much better than he did as a freshman (which was amazing for a freshman).

a very under rated catch he made was in the playoff game vs the panthers . the last great win that group had,,,, remember when he drug his foot inbounds for the catch. at first they ruled it no catch. then reversed it. big touchdown going into half and then we dominated the second half. great catch and drag

Originally posted by TheRickestRick:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
Yes. Looking at the 2006 draft, who else should we have taken? Some would argue Ngata but the team wanted to get Alex Smith some offense. And to compare Eric Johnson to Davis is offensive. Putting up yards on a league doormat where no one is game planning for you is not the same as being the no. 2 focus (after Gore) on a team that played in some big games.

Haha I forgot about Johnson... didnt he actually look good as a receiving TE? Not elite or anything but good for a season or two then just disappeared.

He had a good season where he had 80+ catches. But none of those catches come close to the greatest catch of his life....

Originally posted by BroMontana:

Originally posted by TheRickestRick:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
Yes. Looking at the 2006 draft, who else should we have taken? Some would argue Ngata but the team wanted to get Alex Smith some offense. And to compare Eric Johnson to Davis is offensive. Putting up yards on a league doormat where no one is game planning for you is not the same as being the no. 2 focus (after Gore) on a team that played in some big games.

Haha I forgot about Johnson... didnt he actually look good as a receiving TE? Not elite or anything but good for a season or two then just disappeared.

He had a good season where he had 80+ catches. But none of those catches come close to the greatest catch of his life....

Haha, I had to google his wife to figure out what you meant.... yep! Hopefully they have enough buffaloes for all those wings she likes.

People seem to forget that VD was our entire offense in the 2011 - 12 playoffs. In two games he had nearly 300 Yards receiving and 4 TDs. He had two long TDs vs the Giants and we would have gotten to the Superbowl that year if it wasn't for Kyle Williams and his two fumbled punts (seriously how do you do that twice in one game).

VD was a good TE but just not a HOFer as everyone projected him to be. He was well worth the #6 pick especially looking at that draft.

For the impact he had with the 49ers, I'd say so. He was really the only receiving threat on that team for a while and Alex really leaned on him. Had a nice long career, led the team in receiving for a time, and had some memorable moments (Catch III). Not quite the generational talent but did help usher in a new generation of pass catching TEs.

He was good but probably not worth that high of a pick. Delanie Walker was better. We should have kept him and let Davis walk.

Originally posted by krizay:

Originally posted by Wubbie:
It's a long off-season, but since it's Draft season and Kyle Pitts just tore it up at his Pro Day, and we now have one of the top Tight Ends in the league now, I figured this'd be an interesting discussion piece.

In 2006, we were in Year 2 of the Nolan Regime with Alex Smith and Frank Gore also in Year 2. 2006 ended up being a promising year for our rebuild, with Norv Turner as Offensive Coordinator. Frank Gore emerged that year and ended up rushing for near 1700 yards. In the next few years, we would draft pretty well under Scott McCloughan, but I think the lack of offensive continuity every year really doomed Nolan and then Singletary. Plus, Alex Smith injured his shoulder and we could never put it together on offense until Harbaugh came.

That draft particularly, we chose Vernon Davis over Huff, Whitner, Ngata, and then drafted Manny Lawson later in the round. Seeing some mock drafts pick Kyle Pitts pretty high reminded me that we drafted Vernon at #6. Vernon would have a pretty solid career with us. His best year was a 78 reception, 965 yard, 13 TD season, and he got us our first big playoff win over the Saints. In 9.5 seasons with the 49ers, he put up four seasons with at least 750 yards, and had two seasons with at least 500. Considering that we were built to be a traditional, run-heavy team with Frank Gore at its centerpiece, he was perhaps our most dangerous pass-catcher. He was super fast, super strong, and was a terrific run-blocker. He would end up going to Washington and having a couple pretty solid seasons.

In thinking about it... was he worth it at #6 though? #6 is a pretty high draft position. You expect that guy to be a perennial Pro Bowler in a premium position. In hindsight, I don't know if I would've drafted the other guys that were picked right after him.... perhaps Haloti Ngata. But at the time, we had a pretty good defensive line that included Bryant Young, Isaac Sopoaga, Anthony Adams, Marques Douglas.

When we drafted him, Vernon Davis was meant to be the next elite tight end. He had some very great seasons, but he never struck me as being at the level that Kittle, Kelce, and Gronk are currently at now. Part of me attributes that to our lack of offensive continuity, but it makes me wonder what he and the rest of our offensive could've done had they not been wasted in the Nolan/Singletary eras.

What do you guys think?

He was never worth the #6 pick. He was supposed to revolutionize the position. Too big too fast. People saw his physical attributes and thought he'd learn to be a complete TE. Completely dismissing his short comings.

Now here we are 15 years later

And just like that I turned it into a QB thread. My bad!

THIS POST NEEDS A GIF OF A CHIMP SHAKING HIS HEAD!

Originally posted by TD49ers:
no. Great catch against the Saints though.

Should have keep Walker and let Davis go.

In hindsight, absolutely.

But imagine actually doing that after the Super Bowl?

Davis had a great 2013 season, about as good as any other.

Should have found a way to keep Walker one way or another. That was the secret sauce to Kap being a productive QB.

I don't want to trigger bad memories, but we had a rather unique offense and didn't build to it properly. That regime had a huge head start compared to the current one and didn't build it to what it needed to be. Walker and a proper deep threat WR would have kept this franchise relevant, Harbaugh or not, Kap or no Kap.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by Aj_hwd954:
Vernon Davis was one of the leagues elite TEs in his prime that any team would've loved to have, he may have turned soft after the Kam Chancellor hit in 2012. But this a horrible thread topic. He would've put up better numbers if he did have such worthless QBs like Alex Smith or Krap. If only Harbaugh and Baalke were good enough to close the deal on signing Peyton Manning in 2012

Davis was good but not great. He was an excellent blocker but he didn't play like a 4.38 TE. He's another in a long line of workout warriors that don't play as fast as their workouts. Lance said we isn't going to run a 40 because he thinks they're worthless. He prefers they look at the laser timing of him actually running in a football uni. That makes more sense. I never understood timing guys on a track, wearing shorts and starting out of a sprinters stance. It has no real bearing on how fast they play on the field.

He did play like a 4.38 TE... with suspect hands, poor route running, and no elusiveness after the catch.

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:

Originally posted by TD49ers:
no. Great catch against the Saints though.

Should have keep Walker and let Davis go.

In hindsight, absolutely.

But imagine actually doing that after the Super Bowl?

Davis had a great 2013 season, about as good as any other.

Should have found a way to keep Walker one way or another. That was the secret sauce to Kap being a productive QB.

I don't want to trigger bad memories, but we had a rather unique offense and didn't build to it properly. That regime had a huge head start compared to the current one and didn't build it to what it needed to be. Walker and a proper deep threat WR would have kept this franchise relevant, Harbaugh or not, Kap or no Kap.

Didn't help that the GM hated the HC during that stretch.