Young 49ers look to lead the way
49ers fans will have no choice but to hope beyond hope that these draft selections begin to turn the tide in terms of overall talent on their roster. The rest of the teams in the division have added pieces either through free agency or the draft. Being that San Francisco tends to take a more passive approach in free agency it places even more pressure on these draft selections.
I’ll also address the elephant in the room concerning the rumors that have been swirling about general manager Trent Baalke being on the hot seat this year. If that is truly the case then the immediate impact or lack thereof from this draft will either be his saving grace or the last straw. It wasn’t surprising that this draft had his fingerprints all over it and clearly the team went into the draft with two specific areas of need in mind.
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Out of eleven total picks, five were along the trenches and another three in the secondary. For a team with so many needs it is imperative to get better up front and stop getting pushed around at the line of scrimmage. Winning on that area of the field will get things headed in the right direction even in an immensely difficult division. It was also interesting to see the continual bridge to the Pac-12 that Chip Kelly has consistently focused on. 48% of his selections have been from his old conference since joining the NFL.
This leads me to the first two choices of the draft for San Francisco…
Deforest Buckner, 7th pick overall:
The 49ers found themselves in a rare situation as a player with great size and athleticism that also plays a position of severe need was available at their slot. Add in the fact that Buckner already has familiarity with the coaching staff and defensive scheme offers plenty of reason for optimism that he will be an impact player immediately.
A defense that ranked in the bottom four of total defense and sacks needed to add impact pieces (not just along the defensive line but more on that later) immediately. Buckner should provide an instant boost to that side of the ball not just off the edge but also kicking inside to defensive tackle to wear down the opposing offensive line. Along with having previous familiarity with the coaching staff Buckner and last year’s first round choice Arik Amsted are also former teammates from college. It will be exciting to watch as they both can hopefully translate their chemistry from college to the pro landscape and give the 49ers two monstrous defensive lineman to build around.
Joshua Garnett, 28th overall:
Most of the feedback from this selection fell into the “I like the player but not the slot” category. The reason that I like the player and the slot is actually very similar to why I liked the Buckner pick at 7…addressing a huge need with a potential immediate impact player. Yes the team had to part with their 2nd, 4th, and 6th round picks in order to pull off the trade up but they still had picks remaining in the 4th and 6th round after the trade was all said and done.
While some analysts felt confident the 49ers could have selected Garnett with their 2nd round choice in lieu of trading up to get him I would like to point out that Seattle took a guard just a few picks after San Francisco traded up. They selected Germain Ifedi (whom was slotted a second round player), that selection by Seattle leads me to believe they were ready and willing to draft Garnett at their spot.
Often times when a trade is pulled there is usually an effort to jump ahead of certain teams that have similar needs or draft strategies. This trade up not only gives San Francisco a hopeful immediate starter at right guard but also potentially blocked another key piece landing in Seattle. Time will tell how much impact this trade and selection will have but there is a great chance this ends up being a two for one benefit to the 49ers.
With the enormous roster turnover from the retirement spree two seasons ago it was important to replenish several positions through this draft. Baalke and Kelly focused on the trenches and secondary for a vast majority of their selections. Lets see if that concentrated approach ends up offering depth or were those picks (specifically on the offensive line) an attempt to replace previous failed selections?
The assumption is that Torrey Smith will provide the deep threat but questions remain on who the other target will be as it appears Anquan Boldin will not be returning to the team. Other than selection Aaron Burbridge in the 6th round the team stayed away from selection another wide receiver within the draft. While I am a fan of his after watching him play at Michigan State I wonder if another draft choice could have been worth adding as well. Perhaps Kelly has already found his next wide receiver to step in and play opposite Torrey Smith. Stay tuned for my next article as I explore the other potential contributors to the passing game.
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