Seltzer

And you saw last year Rhule had no problem playing the undrafted guys over the drafted ones like Trent Scott over Greg Little, Myles Hartfield over Corn Elder, etc. when he thought warranted. I love it, and it's necessary for building the culture Rhule wants here

Zylstra is a good special teamer and better receiver. I don't think it's a contest

Fair point. Its amazing how completely the defense has been rebuilt since the end of 2019, but you are right about the team being judged by the O Line play and QB, considering how we passed on multiple LT prospects and Fields. On the other hand, if the O Line and Darnold play well, Rhule & Fitterer deserve all the accolades for turning around a team that was on paper arguably the worst roster in the league (on paper) pre-draft before the 2020 season I think this draft was incredible all things considered, and if Rhule can do the improbable and turn this team around around and to a SB in 2 years

I've agreed with a lot of your posts over the years, but I 100% disagree about this draft. I think all 4 picks in the first 3 rounds were solid, and I think Horn will be Pro Bowler sooner than later... he is that good IMO Passing on Fields is a legitimate complaint, and if he becomes special this overwise awesome draft will always be maligned. Trading back allowed us to fill much needed depth. I think this is going to be a much better deal this year with the 17th game. I don't know how at first glance this draft doesn't warrant an "A" or even "A+" given the needs we have addressed and the talent across the board we added (granted on paper for now) I think this draft sets us up nicely for next year's Free Agency where we will have a boatload of cap and can add some more top end talent to this young core. I still have no idea how this season will go, primarily bc Darnold, but at least on paper, I think this team is substantially more talented than last year's. And a large part of this is bc of this draft.

Tiki Barber had a horrific fumbling problem even as an early pro, but the Giants stuck with him bc of his upside and he became a 3x Pro Bowler and all time Giant great. Also, you're drafting on upside from here out... if a guy showed no holes, they would be long gone before the 4th... If he can be an adequate backup to CMC and contribute on ST, it's a good 4th round pick

Between Darnold, Horn, Marshall, Christensen, and Tremble, this has already exceeded Hurney drafts and is solid in its own rite. As someone else mentioned, the hit rate from Round 4 on is approximately the same. Unless their is a player they truly love, it's not a bad strategy to just load on picks and see which ones rise to the top, and cut bait or practice squad the others worth trying to develop

My thoughts on our biggest remaining needs: 1) Free Safety 2) Guard/ Offensive Interior 3) Defensive Interior 4) Power/ Backup RB 5) Inside Linebacker Your thoughts?

Well said. I understand why people wanted someone else, but CB was the most glaring hole on the roster after we traded for Darnold. Whether on not he is the answer is to be determined. Still, it became Twilight Zone-eque continually watching the defense not be able to get off the field on 3rd downs last year. A few stops would have made a difference even last year as many close games as we were in. Jalen Ramsey and Aquib Talib both gave their endorsements for what it's worth. If Horn can play like those guys, we will never regret this pick

Horn wasn't a ball hawk because guys didn't throw at him. It was like 2015 Josh Norman. He made the few cocky guys who tested him pay and then QBs basically stopped challenging him. And he was a dominant player on an otherwise bad Gamecocks defense. He was covering guys for 4-5 seconds man-to-man. That bodes well for what is hopefully a potent pass rush

I would love to have a 2013-esque Defensive Line/ Front 7 that was so dominant that we could play undrafted guys like Melvin White and Robert Lester in the secondary and still be a top defense

Would fill the last major hole on the roster outside of LT heading into the draft. Richardson has never completely lived up to the hype, but I think he is still a starting caliber player. And I'm still down for Short too (at a much reduced price). Once we solidify DT, I'm feeling pretty good about the roster, especially on defense. Our secondary is still unproven, but there is a lot more talent to work with than at any point since 2017. I think Phil Snow made a lot of chicken salad with chicken crap last year, and I'm genuinely excited to see what he can do with more talent. Then it comes back to the offense... can we protect Darnold and can Darnold prove that the Jets held him back and not the other way around? We have the playmakers on offense to score if so. This year feels a lot more unpredictable than last IMO... I honestly could see anywhere from 4 wins (if Darnold sucks) to up to 11 wins (based on 17 game season) if Brady/Rhule can help Darnold become the QB he was projected to be. Darnold is obviously a much more boom-or-bust prospect than Teddy ever was or will be. We've all seen Darnold make the elite-arm talent throws but also the boneheaded plays that are almost as egregious as the Mark Sanchez butt-fumble... hopefully it's just the curse of the Jets But back to the point, I would be totally cool with a 1-year deal for Richardson, and I'm sure Fitts & Co are looking into it... Burns, Brown, Richardson, and Reddick is a legitimate D-Line... Shaq, Perryman, and Chinn is the most intriguing LB corp we have had in a while I'm still not sure how the secondary ultimately shakes out, but that would be a massive improvement for the Front 7 at a minimum.

Important to remember. Tepper still wants Watson

I think we need to approach the draft with an open mind. If Fields or Lance somehow fell to us at 8, I would be overjoyed. Otherwise, I think we take BPA, trade down, and/or trade a 4th for Darnold. None of these is ideal, but ideal went out the window with our "all-in" approach on Watson falling through

And there is no logical reason IMO why having Goff will make the Lions definitely not take a young QB. The chances of staying at 8 and getting one of the top 4 QB's is not good. I'm not saying we should trade up, but we need to be realistic about where we stand

This... there's so much smoke at this point, you wouldn't be able to see the fire whether it's there or not... and enough smoke will kill even without seeing the fire. Even in the very best of lights, Watson showed unbelievably bad judgement and put himself in compromising situations time and time (and time) again. There is no good explanation for a franchise QB (who has access to professional massage therapists through the team anytime he wants or needs) to be seeking out multiple young, female "massage therapists" off Instagram (during a pandemic no less) and flying them in to perform a hybrid of legit massage therapy with other acts that are obviously more sexual in nature... Watson at the very least put himself in positions again and again with multiple young females where he could blur the line of consent and justify overtly sexual acts as part of a "massage." Even if nothing non-consensual happened (and that seems far less likely with the sheer volume of women), Watson was undoubtedly using his fame, power, and money to orchestrate an environment where these things not only could happen, but were likely to happen. Watson obviously used these "massage therapy" sessions to fulfill his own sexual desires, and in many cases (again even in the best light) either mislead or outright lied to these women going into the sessions about what was expected only to continue to ask for more and more acts that went beyond normal massage therapy into sexual acts. That's not behavior you want in the person most representing your franchise and someone you're committing to paying $100M+, even if it's not ultimately deemed criminal. I wanted Deshaun Watson here so badly, for reasons both on and off the field. But after these revelations, there's no way... The Niners trading up to #3 was the first domino falling as teams move past the idea of trading for Watson. The problem with the Panthers is that we went so far "all-in" on Watson, we don't have anywhere else to go...

I understand, but "wasting" one more year building the team makes more sense than making a massive, massive gamble on an unproven player when we aren't one player away from competing like the Niners feel they are. Deshaun Watson was Plan A, B, & C... that was directly from sources inside the Panthers... That obviously isn't an option now, and we are left at Square 1... I just don't want the Panthers to make another Teddy-esque move b/c we lost out on Watson and potentially set ourselves further back...

Exactly... this to me is much more indicting of Rhule and company (disclaimer- I like much of what they have done outside of QB) than fretting over draft position for QB's that haven't proven a thing and that have a bust potential of greater than 50%

I don't understand all the existential dread on this topic... absolutely zero of these QB's have proven they will be dominant in the NFL, let alone become an established starter... Ryan Leaf, Jamarcus Russell, RG3, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Mitch Trebisky, Sam Darnold, Sam Rosen (remember him), etc, etc, etc, etc... the list never ever ends of top-drafted QB's that either flame out entirely or at least with their drafted team. Honestly, even if we draft a QB high, Teddy is/was almost assuredly going to be our starter going into the season and potentially for all of it. We were all set to go all-in on Watson... thank God we didn't trade for him and then have all this crap happen. I love the Panthers, but all the stars would have to align for us to overtake Tampa this year, even had we gotten Watson. We are not 1 player away... of course every team wants to find their franchise guy... but that doesn't happen more often than it does... Everyone wants better QB play, but short-circuiting a team that is being built the right way to do so isn't going to help us in the long-term. Statistics tell us it is an almost certainty that at least 2 of the top 4 QB's (Lawrence, Wilson, Fields, Lance) are going to be massive disappointments. I understand you have to take a chance to get one of these young QB's, but there is no guarantee this is going to work out for the Niners... But it's much easier to make the case that they should make that risk versus the Panthers since they really are arguably one player away

QB will be the perennial need until we get a franchise QB. However, in the short term, CB, LT, & DT would be how I would categorize our remaining needs in that order

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/03/23/steelers-cut-steven-nelson/ One of the few younger (28) starting-caliber CB options left Overall PFF grade of 67.1 (not that this is the end-all, be-all but still worth posting) Season stats are below. Was scheduled to make $8.25M this year. Certainly worth looking at for a 1-year deal, and would help tremendously to have CB locked down before the draft for BPA 2020 SEASON STATS SOLO TACKLES 42T-52nd INTERCEPTIONS 2T-23rd TARGETS 76T-27th RECEPTIONS ALLOWED 43T-42nd

I'm liking this defensive signings way more than the offensive line ones...

Not to be a downer bc I love the signing, but I wonder if this is insurance against the Texans demanding Burns as a part of a potential Watson trade...

You can never have enough pass rushers... the Bucs won the Super Bowl bc they got after Mahomes (also a big assist to Remmers and the other backup tackle for sucking royally)

I don't know about one of the best, but Shaq, Perryman, & Chinn are WAY better than what we had going into last season. Like light years better

You're right, but you can't blame the fanbase bc we have been conditioned to almost think of anything after the 1st round as throwaway over the past 20ish years for the most part... b/c they have been... 2015 should be the answer to that issue though... Our MVP QB that year took this team to the Super Bowl with Ted Ginn, Philly Brown, Jerrico Cotchery, and rookie Devin Funchess... Nothing is more important than an elite QB