Khyber53

While I really hope things pan out for the young man, sometimes you've got to make a calculated guess on your returns. I wanted so bad to see us use our first round pick on a LB, C or TE this season, but I think this one injury changes everything. I might suggest taking the best and the second best OTs available in the draft with our first and second round picks. The injury to Icky really makes the first one a good choice and an affordable one. And Moton, who is long in the tooth, needs someone in the wings behind him. This also means that BC is going to need to get a contract for this upcoming season both as a starter at LT and to train the younger player behind him. Also it means that we need to extend a solid contract to Cade Mays and lock him down as our Center for the next four years. Maybe Icky can recover fully and be a starting LT again, but the odds aren't in his favor. Maybe he could be back in line to play as a guard right as our current starters' contracts wind down. It's not pretty having to spend all your picks and money on the line, but it seems to be the wise investment in light of everything.

1. Sadly, it's just too early to tell with Icky. And the draft will have come and gone before we have anything, FA, too probably. Njiman was good, but there's dollars to be invested there as well. This is really our biggest puzzle to figure out. And Moton on the other flank is getting long in the tooth, too. 2. Coker: Pay the man WR2 money. 3. Most WRs take three years before you really know what you've got. We'll know for sure by the end of this one and he's still on a relatively inexpensive rookie contract. Now if someone comes calling for a good, good trade... 4. This is the make or break for good teams vs bad teams. And depth development is essential. We've had a bit of that but there isn't a spot on our line that doesn't have worries except for maybe on guard. 5. I think you draft the best ILB, the smartest one in the first round and don't look back. People lost their poo here on this board when we "wasted" a pick on Luke Kuechly. 6. Yeah, I think Chuba is a workhorse. But we need to be more decisive in his use. Still not sure Rico doesn't come back next season, too. He'll get to see the marketplace first, though, and we'll offer similar numbers to him.

We're just going to keep chasing this dog around the same tree again and again aren't we? I figure, he's going to get next season to prove it, no reason wasting much debate over it right now, no matter how I feel. So I'm pulling the ripcord on this and baling out.

I mean, if you could tell before he ever took a snap... ammiright? Reality, my friend, shows a massive history of the best QBs taking time to come up to speed. Those that didn't are very, very rare. Manning, Rogers, Manning, Young, Montana, Stabler, Bradshaw, Staubach, Favre ... the list of those that took a few years to either get off the bench or make it on the field just goes on and on. The list of those thrown into the fire and just getting burned up is even longer. There's no magic crystal ball. There's just good coaching, patience and a helluva lot of luck in these picks.

This 100 percent. No matter how good a QB is coming out of college, they can't make up for the other 52 guys on the roster or the 20 or so coaching staff members. And the higher the pick, the worse situation they are often getting into. I still contend that we're only now beginning to get a decent groundwork to BEGIN evaluating Bryce and his potential or lack thereof.

You had me at mauling. If he's got brains, too... Centers have to, have to, have to be smart.

I think most folks undervalue Centers. Teams that win championships, though, seem to put high draft picks there and then hold onto those guys for a decade. The problem is that there are only one or two pro-level centers in each draft. If there's a guy who is big enough, strong enough and smart enough, he sticks out and chances are if you don't jump he'll be gone before the next round comes back around to you. And poaching one from another team via free agency is never cheap and you're often grabbing damaged goods unless that team has found itself in cap hell. Sadly, I'm not seeing a guy in the draft right now that rings all the bells, but it's early still. James Brockermeyer might be that guy, though, and I hope we're giving him a solid look. He's out of Miami, so big league program, and can't beat the pedigree as his dad, Blake, was a first round draft pick for us in 1995 as a tackle.

When a great center is available, drop the first rounder on them and don't sweat worrying over it. If you can lead your line, have someone call protections and protect the QB all in one, it's money well spent and can carry you for a decade or more. Is this that time for drafting? I really don't know.

This ^ He's excellent and he's a great cornerstone for the defense. He produced those stats for us when opposing QBs tried to avoid throwing to Horn. Renegotiate the contract, adding an extra year and $8 million additional each time. Seems expensive, but he's more than worth that. Locking him down for a couple of years takes care of the back end of our defense as the front line solidifies and we work on the linebacking situation.

Phew. After seeing the menu, waiter I'll just have a glass of water and take the check.

From a design perspective... the favored teams would be in the forefront to catch the eye. Barkley, Purdy, Burrow, Mahomes, Watt... the usual suspects. Those way, way off in the distance, closest to the trophy, would be the ones that at the beginning of the season they would have been writing off as no chancers, so they get the wee teeny-tiny images in the picture. There ain't no fix, just people manufacturing clicks.

I said back in the day on this board we were making a mistake. That one game against the Vikings when we were getting killed and Sam just came out, put the team on his shoulders and then just started playing way above his pay grade and going off script and running for first downs showed there was more to him than anyone around here believed. We lost the game and for a lot of folks, that was the coda before he should have been tossed in the trash. I said back then he's see a Super Bowl before we did. We were a trash team with trash coaching and he was the butt of it all. Didn't deserve what we gave him, didn't deserve what the Jets did to him. Spent some time rehabbing with great coaching and organization in San Fran, then went to Minnesota and saved their season, then got spun out to preserve their top draft pick guy and found a home in Seattle where they knew how to use him. Good for Sam, the guy deserves it for all the crap he's been through and for not giving up. And maybe he makes a note that our hot takes version of sports is bullshit sometimes.

I'm sure someone can look it up on this board, but back when we jettisoned Darnold, I'd tried to defend him saying that he was still a young QB with a high ceiling, he was just surrounded here with bad coaching and a poorly built team. I said he'd see a Super Bowl before we did. And people just laughed. Same folks who said Baker Mayfield sucked and was a washout. Same folks who live to slam Bryce. (And honestly, my decision on Bryce is still hanging out there, undecided, swaying from yes to no). I'm not saying I know a damned thing about raising up a QB, but I know that I'm not as clueless as some others. Some of these kids that come out as top draft picks get thrown into the fire on a badly built team, a desperate lower tier HC, OCs and QB coaches that are struggling to move up the ladder and an injured, mad fanbase that wants immediate results or it's to the chopping block with some kid that just had the temerity to do well in college football and then come to the podium when their name was called.

Yeah, this is where we get a bit younger on the O-line. I think, though, if there is a great ILB prospect still there in the draft, we grab him and don't look back. Second round take the best center on the board.

I don't know about the stans but he's at times been like 60 percent of the offense on a playoff calibre team. He put up 1202 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, then had effing 102 receptions for 924 yards and seven receiving touchdowns. He touched the ball 413 times this season (an average of 24 times per game.) Then you have to add in that he's a hell of a blocker when called upon. Without him, the injury depleted 49ers in a hot NFCWest division don't make the playoffs at all. If that isn't the Most Valuable Player on the team then who should be? The idea that it is an award solely for QBs is just narrow. Edit to add: Will he win it? No.