Attention 49er Fans:

Chill Out
By: Brian Sanchez

Please, please, please just enjoy this draft!  Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke have done nothing to make you think they are going to mess this up.  Enjoy the fact that we are the third to last team to pick, it's because we won.  And we won a lot.  Harbaugh has only been a part of the draft process for one year, but Baalke has been the GM for two drafts.  And if you don't remember, he took over as GM a short time before his first draft and he still succeeded.  Trust these guys.  Enjoy the draft.  Whoever they pick it's going to be a good player.  Not who you projected?  Not the guy you wish they got?  Believe me, Baalke and Harbaugh know more about football than you, if they make a pick, it's the right move.  Don't believe me?  Let's take a look at the past two drafts.

2010 NFL Draft (49ers picks of consequence)


Round 1, pick 11- Anthony Davis, T Rutgers
This is more of a Singletary pick than it is a Baalke pick, but he did sign off on him.  Let's be fair:  Davis was terrible year one but improved to being decent in year two.  He is very young (22 years old now and 20 when we drafted him) and very big.  He has the quick feet and long arms you love to see in the tackle. Even if he goes through a modest improvement this year he will be good, especially since he is a RT.





Round 1, pick 17- Mike Iupati, G Idaho
Iupati is a beast.  He is one of the better LG in the league.  When he pulls on he power-o runs that Harbaugh loves so dearly he is a run away locomotive.  Sure the 49ers doubled up on linemen in this draft, but it worked.  Those two are guaranteed to be starters barring injury so this first round is definitely a success in my book.









Round 2, pick 49- Taylor Mays, S USC
You caught me here, Mays was not a good pick.  But how will i defend myself.  It was stated by everyone in the franchise that this was purely and solely a Mike Singletary pick.  I will also remind you that once Singletary was gone, Baalke promptly traded Mays away because he did not see anything in him.  So, it may have been a bad pick but the trade proves Baalke has great talent evaluation.









Round 3, pick 91- Navorro Bowman, MLB Penn St.
Hello!  Winner winner chicken dinner!  My theory is correct!  Bowman is awesome.  Last year Bowman lead the team in tackles, and yes, that means he had more tackles than Patrick Willis (who for what it's worth I consider the best LB and best defensive player in all of football).  We didn't even need a LB but we took him anyways and then, boom! All-pro LB.  Seriously though, how can he be a first team All-Pro LB but not make the ProBowl team?  Doesn't matter, he's a stud and a great pick.







Round 6, pick 163- Anthony Dixon, RB Mississippi St.
Ok, so he hasn't panned out as a RB like the 49ers hoped.  At one point people thought he would be the heir apparent to Frank Gore.  That is not going to happen.  But he has played a very important role on the SF special teams.  49er special teams are truly special and a big reason why they win.  The 49ers had to win the field position battle, and they often did thanks to guys like Anthony Dixon.





2011 NFL Draft (49ers picks of consequence)


Round 1, pick 7- Aldon Smith, OLB Missouri
We didn't need defense, we needed offense.  If we did take someone on defense it had to be Prince Amukamara because we did not need linebackers we needed defensive backs.  Take Gabbert or Locker because Alex Smith is played out and we need a new young QB.  We may not have "needed" Aldon Smith, but we got him, and he is a gem.  There was not a lot of positive feedback when this pick was made but now everybody loves it.  Smith will be the starting OLB and pass rush specialist coming off of a 14 sack rookie year.  He is my prime example of just trust whatever Harbaugh and Baalke do.

Round 2, pick 36- Colin Kaepernick, QB Nevada
We have no reason to say whether or not this is a good pick, but we have reasons to believe it is.  First, Harbaugh is clearly magic with QB's.  He made the 49ers trade up to get him so he obviously sees something in Colin.  Colin is big and athletic with a rocket for an arm.  He could be something special, especially with a couple years on the bench and learning from Harbaugh.  Another good pick.



Round 3, pick 80- Chris Culliver, CB South Carolina
Cully in the house!  Chris Culliver was good in his time on the field in the 2011-2012 season.  He is a very fast and athletic CB.  He mostly played in the nickel and dime packages, but was forced to start a few games because of injuries.  He will start this season as the No.3 CB and if he continues to improve he could be starting sooner rather than later.









Round 4, pick 115- Kendall Hunter, RB Oklahoma St. 
Hunter is a good solid change of pace RB.  He is not dominant or even one of the best small running backs in the league (although he certainly could develop).  But this pick signified that Harbaugh and Baalke saw a need for a faster RB in the rotation so they went out and got one.  Hunter will more than likely be on the team as a scat back making him a decent 4th round pick.



Round 5, pick 163- Daniel Kilgore, G Appalachian St.
This could be a 5th round gem.  Kilgore is a very physical linemen who is more nasty than he is fundamentally sound.  That is why Jim Harbaugh loves him.  If he plays across from Mike iupati we are talking about a potential for two run away locomotives on the O-line at the same time.  Kilgore as of right now is the starting RG.  The 49ers are expected to draft another one or sign a veteran to start a competition with Kilgore for the starting spot.

Round 7, pick 211- Bruce Miller, FB Central Florida
This guy was a pass rush specialist at UCF and was one of the best defensive players in all of Conference-USA.  Looks like we might have found a good defensive player in the final round.  Or Harbaugh can turn him in to a FB and make him an absolute stud.  Miller was, is, and will be the 49ers FB and a member of the very special, special teams.


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QB Competition in SF

Smith vs. Johnson vs. Kaepernick 

By: Brian Sanchez

3/22/2012

HC Jim Harbaugh (left) and GM Trent Baalke (right)
will have to make a decision together about the QB position

Ladies and Gentlemen, there is officially a QB competition in San Francisco.  Yes, the 49ers did just sign QB Alex Smith to a 3 year $24 million contract.  So what?  This is Harbaugh's team, not Smiths'.  First SF kept Smith on a yo-yo while they tried to court Peyton Manning (who absurdly picked Denver).  In that time Smith went to Miami to visit the Dolphins and try and apply pressure to the 49ers to sign him and for more money.  Fail.  The Dolphins decided to sign David Garrard who hasn't thrown a pass in an NFL game in nearly two years.  Then when Manning chose the Broncos Smith had to come crawling back to the 49ers and sign a 3 year deal for only $8 mil a year.  That is basically nothing for a starting QB and an insult to Smith as far as saying they do not believe he is "elite" like they mentioned last year because they are paying him like an average QB.  Jim Harbaugh has made it very clear that Smith is the starter going into the season.  But if Smith struggles and Johnson shines in training camp and preseason play you'd better believe Harbaugh will make the switch.  It appears that now the real battle will be between Kaepernick and Johnson to be the No. 2 QB and be ready to supplant Smith if he drops from being a decent QB back to being a terrible one.

Let's take a look at the 3 Quarterbacks:

Alex Smith
(6"4' 217 lbs. 1st round No. 1 overall pick in 2005 out of Utah)

2011 starter and projected 2012 starter Alex Smith

Smith was the No. 1 overall pick and hasn't, and probably will never, live up to the billing.  He struggled for 5 years in which he had a new Offensive Coordinator in every year.  This was a common excuse but did not account for his poor arm strength and pocket presence.  Smith had his best year by far last year setting a new career high in QB Rating (90.7) completions (273) attempts (445) completion % (61.3) and yards (3144).  While those were career highs they are not terribly impressive.  Also he attempted the fewest passes among starters who started at least 12 games and while he only threw 5 interceptions he only threw 17 TD.  That is bad.  The 49ers did however have a 13-3 record last year and made it seemingly within one punt return of making the Super Bowl.  Now whether that was because of Smith or in spite of Smith is up to you.

Josh Johnson
(6"3' 205 lbs. 5th round pick in 2008 out of University of San Diego via Oakland Tech in Oakland, California)

Harbaugh (left) and Johnson (right) are very familiar
with each other after spending 3 years together at USD

Johnson signed a two year deal with the 49ers just one day after Smith signed his 3 year deal.  Johnson spent 3 years playing under Harbaugh at USD where he still holds 4 different passing records.  Johnson is believed to be in a battle with Kaepernick to be the main back up in case Smith were to get hurt or be (even more) ineffective.  But, Johnson did say in a statement that he chose his new team based off of where he thought he would have the best chance to become a starter.  He could have been banking on Smith being bad, he could have based it off of Harbaugh loving competition and knowing JJ, he could have based it off of knowing he will outwork Smith and earn the job straight up.  Whatever the case may be, he will get a fair shot as long as Harbaugh is involved.

Colin Kaepernick
(6"4' 230 lbs. 2nd round (4th) in 2011 out of Nevada)

Kaepernick (above) is regarded by many coaches and fans
as the future QB of the 49ers

Kaepernick has widely been seen as the future at the QB position for the 49ers.  It seems that he is the reason the 49ers signed Alex Smith to such a cheap contract.
that way Smith would be easily cuttable if it became time for Kaepernick (or Josh Johnson) to take over.  The 49ers traded up to the top of the 2nd round to make sure the got their hands on this kid.  Colin is a big, athletic, fast, and very smart QB with a rocket arm.  He did come from a spread system in college.  It is believed that he is just not ready to pick up NFL schemes and blitz packages yet.  When he finally does play he will open up the playbook for Harbaugh because of his arm strength and ability to make any throw on the field.

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