San Francisco 49ers Draft Preview

By Kalen Patrick

The 2013 NFL Draft takes place on April 25th, the 3 days of drafting will shape franchises for years to come. Some players will become stars, some will become busts, some will surprise and some will disappoint. The NFL Draft is one of the biggest events on the NFL Calendar and there is certainly a lot of intrigue as we lead up to the main event. Of course this is the San Francisco Sports Cave so I am gonna take a look at some of the 49ers draft needs and which players the 49ers might be looking at. Overall the 49ers have 15 picks in this years draft, and with multiple big contracts looming in the coming years, being able to draft effectively is going to be key for the 49ers to remain towards the top of the NFL.

49ers Position Needs and Potential Targets
Defense
What is very interesting is that the 49ers have been known for their stout defense, but this time around the 49ers have multiple needs on the defensive side.

Safety: The departure of Dashon Goldson in Free Agency and the decline in performance from Donte Whitner makes Safety arguably priority number 1 for the 49ers heading in to the draft. The 49ers hold the 31st, 34th and and 61st picks within the first 2 rounds. I am making an absolute guarantee that with one of those picks (or via a trade) the 49ers will draft a Safety in either round 1 or 2. In my opinion, some of the main Safety prospects the 49ers will focus on will be Jonathan Cyprien (Florida International) and Matt Elam (Florida). Addressing this position early is vital, I don't think any of us 49er fans will forget Joe Flacco torching Whitner and Goldson on all of those deep passes in the Superbowl.

Note: The 49ers did sign Free Agent Craig Dahl, but he in my opinion is definitely a backup talent but may see time in Nickel or Dime packages.

MATT ELAM COULD BE SOMEONE THE 49ERS WOULD TARGET IN THE 2ND ROUND

Defensive Line: There are 2 reasons why defensive line is a huge need for the 49ers. 1- The 49ers lost valuable depth in Free Agency with Isaac Sopoaga and Ricky Jean Francois gone. 2- We all saw how much the absence of Justin Smith effected the 49ers defense. While Justin will be ready to go for Training Camp, he will be turning 34 around the start of the Regular Season. This means he won't be at his high caliber for many years and also he is more likely to get injured and "dinged up" and miss time. With the now lack of depth the 49ers will need to address the defensive line. The 49ers could target Sylvester Williams (North Carolina) if he is available at the end of round 1, the one issue with him is the recent bust Kentwan Balmer played the same position and came from the same school. This may affect the 49ers thought process with Williams. Other potential prospects around the 49ers early picks which could be targeted are Kawann Short (Purdue) and Bennie Logan (LSU).

Note: The 49ers signed Glenn Dorsey who I think could blossom in San Francisco, however the need is still there and I expect the 49ers will add another D-Lineman early.

Offense
The 49ers starting offense is all but set in stone, the key for the 49ers will be acquiring key depth at certain positions.

ZACH ERTZ WOULD BE AN IDEAL PICK

Tight End: We all know how much the 49ers love using the pistol offense and 2 Tight End formations and the departure of Delanie Walker means there is a notable void. I don't believe Garrett Celek is ready to be that guy, with other teams Celek could be a number 2 TE but with the amount the 49ers utilize that position, expect an upgrade somewhat early in the draft. The ideal selection would be Zach Ertz (Stanford) with the 61st pick but it's very likely he will be gone by then. Another possibility could be Jordan Reed (Florida).


Backup QB: After Colin Kaepernick, the only other QB on the roster is Scott Tolzien, who looks solid in the pre-season but should be nothing more than the #3 QB option. Kaepernick is the Franchise QB but with the abundance of picks the 49ers have, it never hurts to have a very solid backup QB. Also with Jim Harbaugh's ability to develop and get the best out of QB's, it's possible the 49ers could develop the back up QB and the trade him to stock up on picks in a similar trade to Matt Schaub to Houston or Alex Smith to Kansas City. Some options the 49ers could look at in the 3rd round are Matt Scott (Arizona), Tyler Bray (Tennessee) or Tyler Wilson (Arkansas).

Lets not forget the 49ers also have two 3rd rounders, (74th and 93rd overall picks). The 49ers will have a lot of flexibility in being able to move and trade to get the players they want. This draft could really set the 49ers up for the next 5+ years and the 3 draft days in April and its success could cement Trent Baalke's reputation as being the top GM in the NFL.

That's it for now. Check back soon for more updates. Over and Out.

San Francisco 49ers Draft Preview

By Kalen Patrick

The 49ers have managed to bring back all 11 starters on a defense that is a top 3 defense in the NFL. Even the backups are extremely talented. The 49ers main focus needs to be on the offense early in the draft. The biggest weaknesses entering the draft are RG and WR. I really think that Alex and Pat did such a great job on their mock draft of identifying the 49ers needs and addressing them in the first 2 rounds. Alex Young & Pat Tulini Mock Draft

I think when it comes down to it, the 49ers need more consistency on offense, the best way of getting that done is staying in the same offense (check) QB returning (check) and then improve O-Line and Receivers. The 49ers  added Mario Manningham and Randy Moss to their receiver corp. 2 very solid additions, when you add in Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn and Kyle Williams it's a solid set of receivers. The one issue is that there are no clear #1 receivers among them, just a lot of #2's and #3's. I'd like to see the 49ers go for a luxury high risk high reward type WR in the draft.

I really like Stephen Hill from Georgia Tech, I think he can be a real good addition and possibly develop in to that #1 WR the 49ers have lacked since the trade of Terrell Owens. Going by the Mock Draft by my friends Alex and Pat, I think Brandon Brooks would be another great addition to the O-Line and could battle with Kilgore for the RG spot.

I full expect the 49ers to go WR and RG with their 1st and 2nd round picks, but I'm not sure which order they will do that. Through the rest of the draft, expect the 49ers to add depth at D-Line and Safety in particular. The draft is only 2 days away, I can't wait to see who the 49ers add. It's gonna be fun!

Which Draft had the Best QB Class? (2005-2010)

By Kalen Patrick

So I was just browsing over the previous few seasons drafts, and noticed quite a lot of big names in the 1st round. What I thought was interesting was maybe comparing each year and see which one looks the best. I left out the rookies this year, while guys like Andy Dalton and Cam Newton have been very impressive, 8 games just isn't enough of a sample size in my opinion. So here are the candidates?

2005 - Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Jason Campbell

SO MUCH HOPE AND PROMISE AT THE TIME

2006 - Jay Cutler, Vince Young, Matt Leinart
2007 - Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn
2008 - Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco
2009 - Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman
2010 - Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow



What year to you jumps out to be the best of that whole bunch? Between all those QB's only 1 has a Superbowl Victory (Aaron Rodgers). In my opinion immediately you gotta wipe out 2007. Jamarcus Russell was a colossal bust and Brady Quinn will be a #3 QB at best.

The next year that I would take out would be 2006. Leinart is barely in the league any more. While Vince Young has an impressive W-L ratio, it looks like personal issues and what not will keep him from ever being a consistent starting QB, as for one Jay Cutler? The guy has talent, serious talent, but he is way too erratic and is over confident in his abilities. So now we have 2 down.

Before this season I would have gone with 2005 (will explain later), but now I will go with 2010. Tebow doesn't look like an NFL QB, still has a super slow wind up, he can make throws, they certainly are not pretty. He reminds me of Shaun Hill a lot, Hill had some solid games for the 49ers and Lions. Unfortunately Tim Tebow is such a big name, it will be hard for him to fly under the radar as a backup QB. As for Sam Bradford? Yeah the dude has talent, but overall it's hard to come away too impressed after 22 games. He has a 75.3 QB rating and in his last 11 games he has only thrown 4 TD's to 9 INT's. I don't know whether this is sophomore(ish) slump, or the NFL figuring him out or what. But those numbers are concerning.

Now I will have to go with 2009 (yes! shock! horror!) but hear me out. Mark Sanchez has average at best numbers. Luckily he has played for teams with awesome defenses and running games. He hasn't been asked to do much and even with that he can't display good numbers (like Alex Smith this year). Josh Freeman was looking to be a future stud, but this year has been nothing short of a disaster for him. His incredibly inconsistent play has held the Bucs back this year. I will admit Matthew Stafford is playing stud like this year, but Stafford alone is not enough to carry this group.

Next comes 2005. Now this group includes the QB's of the 2 teams with the top records in the NFL, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are 8-0, and Alex Smith and the 49ers are 7-1. Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the NFL right now and Alex Smith is now playing at a level never thought possible for him. He has 10 TD's with only 2 INT's. He has been very efficient (64.1% Completion) with a very respectable 97.3 QB rating. Then finally we have Jason Campbell, Mr. Mediocre. Well  I think we can all see what the loss of Campbell is doing to the Raiders now, essentially since he has gone down, the Raiders have been humiliated in back to back games against division rivals Kansas City and Denver. You have Jason Campbell in those games, and I bet they win one if not both.

THESE QB'S HEADLINE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL QB CROP IN RECENT YEARS

So that leaves 2008 as the winner and lets face it, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have had nothing but success since coming in to the NFL. Leading their respective teams to impressive records, multiple playoff appearances and many more to come. Both of these guys, while they can be shaky at times, in general are very capable and going to be good for a long time. I think it's only a matter of when not if one of these guys is hoisting a Lombardi trophy. And there we have it, so let's sum up the rankings:

1 - 2008
2 - 2005
3 - 2009
4 - 2010
5 - 2006
6 - 2007

Aldon Smith - The 'Other' A.Smith

By Kalen
With the 7th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select Aldon Smith, Defensive End Missouri. After Roger Goodell had said the previous words, followed confusion and anger among many 49er fans (including myself). I was 100% positive the 49ers would be taking Prince Amukamara or Blaine Gabbert, but no, the 49ers selected Aldon Smith or as I called him on facebook immediately after, Aldon who?

ALDON SMITH PICTURED WITH HEAD COACH JIM HARBAUGH AND GM TRENT BAALKE

Already I feel like Aldon Smith has become forgotten, which is so strange for such a high draft pick. Of course the NFL Lockout probably has a lot to do with this, but I still find it strange that the 7th overall pick is getting zero media attention in the Bay Area. Aldon Smith in my opinion has higher potential than 2nd overall pick Von Miller, of course my opinion is biased but even Miller himself kind of agreed with me. Miller was asked who he thought would be Defensive Rookie of the Year, did he say himself? Patrick Peterson? Marcell Dareus? No he said he thought it would be Aldon. Throughout the entire draft preparation process, Miller would have gotten to know the other top Defensive prospects very well, there must have been something about Aldon that thought "Hey, this guy is the real deal". 

While so many draft experts called the pick a 'reach', I say, wait 3 years and then see if the pick was a reach. When I first started watching the draft, I would slam every team that "reached" for a guy, but when I realized that players who were considered steals failed just as often as players who were considered reaches, I came to the conclusion, that every team has their guy. No GM or scouting department is perfect. The draft prep process is so long and detailed, I never buy when "draft experts" say one team panicked when a player got picked, and then reached. That is the biggest load of garbage I have ever heard. These guys have spent months and months, planning out the draft days, you think GM's don't have a Plan B, C, D, E, F? Come on now!

Of course the 49ers wanted Patrick Peterson there at 7, but I have no doubt in my mind, that the 49ers had imagined every possible scenario of what could happen, and then took the best player available on their board (Aldon Smith). Trent Baalke mentioned, calling teams to trade down, sure, in a perfect world the 49ers get an extra pick or two and still get Aldon but it takes two to tango and it takes two teams to make a trade work. 49ers tried and didn't get an offer they liked, so they took the guy they had highest rated on the board. After some research into the pick, I love it more and more.

THE 49ERS HOPE AND EXPECT TO SEE ALDON SMITH TERRORIZE QB'S

In the 2009 college season Aldon may have been one of the top pass rushers in college, in 2010 he suffered through an injured year, yet played through it (shows toughness and competitiveness), had a productive year all things considered, and is 100% healthy as we speak. He has a variety of moves and has potential through the roof. I know potential is one of those words people tend to hate, but this guy seems to have all the tools to succeed. Not to mention he is going to a defense which will be very aggressive under new Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio. What Clay Matthews does in Green Bay, is what Aldon will do in San Francisco, only difference is Aldon will have the best MLB in the league beside him in Patrick Willis. 

If I'm 49ers GM Trent Baalke, I'm building the defense around these 2 guys, meaning, you have to give them protection with a good D-Line, and always put them in a position to play to their strengths. Which is why I think the 49ers should do what they can to bring back Aubrayo Franklin, Takeo Spikes and Manny Lawson. These 3 players are very talented, and along with Pro-Bowler Justin Smith, provide enough talent to allow guys like Willis and Aldon to make plays. I think Aldon is in the perfect defense for his skills, I think he will become a star in this league, I think he will be a pro-bowler, and I think the NFL world will soon (if there is football) know the name Aldon Smith, even if most 49er fans don't right now. 

This is Kalen from The Sports Cave. SPREAD THE WORD.