Something we should all think about with regards to MLB post Luke.

[1of10Charnatives]

So not only did this team just lose the greatest MLB of his generation with Luke’s retirement, but as a franchise we have a tradition of being blesssed with really good ones from the great Sam Mills to Dan Morgan and then Beason before Luke’s arrival. The temptation both as fans and probably within the organization is to heavily prioritize getting a top level player as his replacement. We want to continue that tradition.

The reality is that while Luke himself was a difference maker through sheer athletic and football IQ brilliance, MLB is a position that in the modern NFL does not matter the way it once did. As an organization I think we would be better served to invest defensive resources on the line and the secondary, in terms of draft picks as well as salary cap space over time.

Even if the 49ers win the Super Bowl and trigger a resurgence in the running game, passing the football just isn’t going anywhere and coverage combined to getting to the qb are unlikely to become less important as long as rule makers continue to try to make the game safer and put more points on the board. I hope that mocks which have us jumping at Simmons or other lb’s early are off base, not because I have anything against him as a player, I just think we should be restructuring where our talent lies going forward.

[Navy_football]

Agree. And as far as traditions go, I think the new owner and coaching staff are primed to start new ones. 

[Ship]

Quote

 Haason Reddick, LB, Cardinals. Age: 25. 
Haason Reddick has largely struggled since being chosen in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was terrible this past season. However, he's still just 25, so there is a glimmer of hope for him.

From Walterfootball ILB 2020 FA list. Not highly rated, but played for Snow/Rhule....

[1of10Charnatives]

1 minute ago, Ship said:

From Walterfootball ILB 2020 FA list. Not highly rated, but played for Snow/Rhule....

If he was 1st round in 2017, why is he FA now? 1st round contracts are for 4 years? Did he play so bad the Cards cut him before his option year? Cause that would be pretty bad since rookie deals don’t break the bank.

[Ship]

13 minutes ago, 1of10Charnatives said:

If he was 1st round in 2017, why is he FA now? 1st round contracts are for 4 years? Did he play so bad the Cards cut him before his option year? Cause that would be pretty bad since rookie deals don’t break the bank.

Good point, maybe he added him to the list in error. I haven’t seen anything about getting cut.

[4Corners]

From Luke Kuechly to Hassan Reddick as our MLB. Boy things done changed. 

[King K. Rhule]

17 minutes ago, 4Corners said:

From Luke Kuechly to Hassan Reddick as our MLB. Boy things done changed. 

I Think Rhule/snow were basically the only reason he was drafted in the first round.

[JARROD]

Other than we have no one?

[run-run-pass-punt]

Luke's retirement doesn't make me think about baseball at all.

But yeah, the league has changed in many ways. But things are also always cyclical. When the balance tips too far in one direction, you can count on things swinging back the other.

I still think the position is very important, but there are many way to approach roster construction - a variety of ways to build a good D.

I'm totally with you about putting a premium on the D-line. (both lines for that matter)

[lightsout]

The NFL can and will revert to being more balanced. Pass heavy offenses will not remain. The spread came into college as a means to counter the big, physical style of football with speed and space. It came into the NFL as a means to be explosive and create mismatches. Athletes in general are always changing. Peppers was godly in his prime in terms of size/speed. This lead to lankier, lighter DEs becoming popular. The spread forced defenses to become lighter, rangier, and more versatile. This produced NFL talent of that type. Colleges are going back to getting big, physical players sooner rather than later to pound out small defenses that may have a speed advantage. You see my point.

Derrick Henry is proof that the big power backs with average speed (4.5-4.6 range) can still produce and drive an offense into the playoffs. What this means is you NEED a MLB, same as always. I don't think we have to go find our next Morgan/Beason/Kuechly immediately, but it is something we need to address in the next two seasons. First priority has to be DL and secondary though.

[Mr. Scot]

I'm just not a big fan of the whole "define things by the position rather than the player" thing.

Christian McCaffrey and Rex Burkhead are both technically runningbacks. Are they even remotely comparable?

Likewise, if the Giants had said, "this is too high to draft an outside linebacker" and passed on Lawrence Taylor, we'd have called them fools.

I don't really care about how things are trending. If there's a player you really like and you think is really good, take him.

Screw following the trends. Set them.

[Soul Rebel]

15 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I'm just not a big fan of the whole "define things by the position rather than the player" thing.

Christian McCaffrey and Rex Burkhead are both technically runningbacks. Are they even remotely comparable?

Likewise, if the Giants had said, "this is too high to draft an outside linebacker" and passed on Lawrence Taylor, we'd have called them fools.

I don't really care about how things are trending. If there's a player you really like and you think is really good, take him.

Screw following the trends. Set them.

It could also be argued that finding that buffalo nickel kind of roaming hybrid LB/S, athletic unicorn is also a trend currently.

To your point, find the best player that fits your team and trust the coaches to put them in place to succeed...something I have not been confident in for over a decade.

[Ivan The Awesome]

2 hours ago, 4Corners said:

From Luke Kuechly to Hassan Reddick as our MLB. Boy things done changed. 

Doesn't matter who is MLB, filling Lukes shoes will not be easy to whomever is next. 

[Waldo]

Is this not likely to be Thompson? Regardless of the base, we already have the next man under contract...right?