Eric Mangini: “Trent (Baalke)’s always been on the field at different points.”

SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Eric Mangini’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers P.R. department.

 

Did you ever question whether LB NaVorro Bowman could get back to this level?

“Well, I think anytime you come off an injury like that you don’t know how it’s going to respond and that’s tough. What he did, what he’s done, is really hard to do. It’s hard to do physically. It’s hard to do mentally. He’s gotten progressively better. I remember the early parts of him practicing, just him going through and feeling the movements again. Just that process of simple things like change of direction where you’re not thinking about it because a lot of the rehab is very defined and now he’s got to react and that part of it. From where we were there to where he is now, I’m really happy for him, really, really happy for him and it’s a great story.”

 

Can you see that on the tape? I don’t know if you overheard him talking about getting lower than he had been and twisting and turning. Is that evident when you think about Week 2, Week 3 NaVorro Bowman versus what he was able to do against the Bengals?

“Yeah, I thought last game was a really good indicator of how far he’s come. You saw the play that he made out in space on the back. You saw the play that he made, they were running a counter back to our left-hand side where he was able to shed the blocker, drift past him and that fluidness has continually improved. But, those are two really good example of where he’s come. Neither of those plays were easy to make and both of them I thought were good indications of his development and dealing with the injury or coming off the injury.”

 

Has he gotten better as a leader this year?

“Yeah. I never thought that he wasn’t good in that area. Again, my experience with him in that role was pretty limited because it was the outside looking in. But, he definitely has and everybody who is thrust into a more prominent role, there’s growth throughout that process. But, he’s spoken to the defense a couple different times. Like, on Saturday nights I’ve had him speak a little bit. Just a great message not just in terms of the short term, but the longer term and bigger picture and selflessness and all the things that whenever you put someone up in front of the group, you don’t know what they are going to say. You love hearing them as a coach and you love hearing the sincerity from that player. It’s not, it wasn’t forced, it’s what he felt.”

 

When you were installing your defense, did you spend extra time with him so that he could in essence become an extension of the coaching staff?

“Well, we spend a lot of time together just because of his role. Initially no, because part of it was learning what everybody could do, could not do, getting to know things. And it wasn’t that I spent less time than I would with a normal player in his position. Some of that too was not trying to press him too much early to do too much. I wanted him to do what he could do within the context of his recovery as opposed to putting more pressure on him to press I guess is the best term.”

 

He’s played so many snaps and last game every snap. Did he set out at the start of the season saying, “Eric, I want to be in there every snap?”

“Not like that, but it’s a, players of Bo’s caliber, great players that compete the way he does, they don’t ever want to be off the field. It may be a package, it may be something that really makes sense, but they don’t want to. There’s very little give in that area, even if it’s in their best interest.”

 

How do you see the young guys absorbing the messages that he’s given on those Saturday nights?

“Whenever you have someone speak, my philosophy is everybody is going to take a little something different from what’s said. I like having guys say a few words, especially older guys, but I’ll mix it up with the group just because there’s so much that you’re trying to do with young guys in terms of accelerating the development. Some of it can come through the coaching perspective, but some of it has got to come from the locker room. It’s like kids on a bus and the parents aren’t there. The other kids on the bus, the older kids can have a real effect on how they develop, how they act. I think each guy has kind of taken something a little different.”

 

Have any of the young guys spoken in any meetings like that?

“Yeah we had, [S Jaquiski Tartt] JT spoke the other night. [DB] Jimmie’s [Ward] spoken. [LB] Eli [Harold] said a few words, he was good, had different guys at different times.”

 

Yesterday we were talking to Jimmie and Jaquiski and I was asking those guys that high draft stature, what kind of encouragement 49ers general manager Trent Baalke has given them and they pointed out that he comes down on the field and he’ll help coach them up and even go over technique issues with them. Can you elaborate on what’s the extent that Trent is on the field and does that interfere with what you guys are doing as coaches?

“No, I had like six jokes in reaction to that, but [49ers vice president of communications] Bob [Lange] didn’t like any of them. Well, he liked them all, he just didn’t like them for public consumption. Trent’s always been on the field and he talks to all the guys. So, it’s not like it’s exclusively Jimmie and JT and most GMs that I’ve been around are the same way. They’re vested not just from a picking players and putting together a roster, but also watching their development. It’s a positive thing when you have a consistent message coming from all the different levels. I think that’s a good thing. There are some GMs that I think, I haven’t been everywhere, but may not be as present and maybe that works for their style. But, each guy is a little different and Trent’s always been on the field at different points.”

 

Have you ever felt in a situation like that where maybe a GM would be overstepping his bounds? Does it feel like as a coach maybe that’s–?

“No, when you have that title, you really have, your bounds are different. It’s the same thing if you’re the owner or wherever you are in the structure. You have to look at the big picture. You have to look at everything and if you feel like there’s something that needs to be said or that you feel like there’s something that could help somebody, you’re going to do it. I know as a head coach I would do it to different positions or different areas if I felt strongly about something or if I felt I wanted to communicate something to somebody.”

 

Does Trent inform you or secondary coach Tim Lewis what coaching points he has for the guys on that day?

“No, no, I haven’t gotten those bullet points.”

 

ME: Bengals TE Tyler Kroft’s touchdown it seemed he beat a safety blitz, which you had called during the previous series in a similar situation in the red zone. Do you know what I’m talking about?

“Yeah, the one after the turnover?”

 

ME: So, did you get the feeling that the Bengals were expecting you to call that blitz a second time and would you have liked that call back in retrospect?

“Every call that I call with a touchdown, I want back. I really do. It’s one of those pressures that thought that they were going to run initially. Felt good about it. We had been doing a good job on the backside bringing the safety over. Our disguise has been pretty good. It was one of those things where I thought the quarterback made a nice read. I thought the tight end did a good job of keeping it thin, away from the backside safety who was coming over and the linebacker got sucked up a little bit. And with any pressure, you take a chance. There are things you’re going to be good at. There’s going to be things you’re light on and if they hit it in the right place at the right time, that’s just what happens.”

 

I have a rather trick question. When you mention that it’s not unusual, can you mention other GMs who have been on the field and been pretty hands on?

“[Former NFL head coach and executive] Mike Holmgren, the GM I worked with in Cleveland, or president, he had a couple titles. [Miami Dolphins vice president of football operations] Mike Tannenbaum, when I was in New York he was on the field. New England, we didn’t really have one. Yeah, pretty much everywhere I’ve been different guys have been part of practice. I don’t know how you treat [former NFL head coach Bill] Parcells, he was kind of both.”

 

DT Tank Carradine said last week that he hopes to be in the mix at outside linebacker next year going into 2016. Does he have that skillset? Does he have the movement skills required for that position?

“I’ve seen over the years tons of transition from D-End to outside linebacker and typically early on it’s a little bit rough because you have to, it’s a different world standing up and seeing things from a two-point stance. A lot of guys have successfully made that transition. And even with some of the bigger defensive ends, I worked [former NFL DE] Shaun Ellis some at outside linebacker in New York and he was 290 at the time. But, as you start to understand your drops, where you need to get to, understanding your strengths and weaknesses within the context of where you have to get to, all that stuff gives you a chance to do that and do that well. Tank has a really great opportunity to be a great edge-setter as an outside linebacker because of his size, his strength. Tank is a guy that did the signals a couple of weeks ago, the guys review the signals and they have to get up in front of the group. And he was, he worked at it, he was impressive. It’s small things like that with Tank where you see his work ethic, you see how important this is to him, you see how much he cares. So, all those things are really encouraging from my perspective, whether he’s just going to play more of a true end or some sort of hybrid end, outside linebacker type role.

 

Where has Eli Harold improved in your eyes that allows him to get more playing time now?

“The best indication of Eli’s improvement was the play towards the end of the game where he drove the tight end back into the back and made the tackle for a loss. To me, if you’re looking for one play to summarize Eli’s improvement, that’s the play because as an outside linebacker you’ve got to be able to set the edge and you’ve got to be able to be disruptive while setting the edge. That to me was one of the most exciting plays he made all season because it was low, good leverage, good hand placement, good finish, understanding where the back was, understanding where the run fit was. It was all of the things that you’re looking for from a young guy and for a guy that just because of his build right now, he doesn’t have that strength that he’s going to get. Really encouraging. And I think it was either the play later or a play earlier he had that really nice chase play when they were backed up. That you will see a lot of from Eli. That he has just built into him. But, that one play where he drove that guy back I thought, ‘OK, we are getting really close to really turning a corner with him.”

 

Can I ask you one quick question about your opponent this week? How have they become really good these last six weeks or so?

“I think he’s done a great job, or offensively they’ve done a great job of attacking weaknesses. Some of it is formational. Everybody has got to deal with [Detroit Lions WR Calvin Johnson] Megatron. The backs are really explosive. You look at a guy like [Detroit Lions WR] Golden Tate, very effective run after the catch player. So, it’s not forcing things. They’re not forcing things. They are looking for an answer, the answer’s not there, they are going quick to the back or quick to Tate, mixing in screens. They operate really well in space. All three backs average over eight yards a catch. So, you’ve got the big-play issue. You’ve got the plays Golden Tate can make outside. You’ve got the backs and they’re not forcing things that aren’t there and because they aren’t they’ve been really effective at moving the chains and turning small plays into explosive plays. Space on a fast track with the group that they have, that’s tough. That’s going to be tough.”

This article has 93 Comments

  1. “Every call that I call with a touchdown, I want back. I really do. It’s one of those pressures that thought that they were going to run initially. Felt good about it. We had been doing a good job on the backside bringing the safety over. Our disguise has been pretty good. It was one of those things where I thought the quarterback made a nice read. I thought the tight end did a good job of keeping it thin, away from the backside safety who was coming over and the linebacker got sucked up a little bit. And with any pressure, you take a chance. There are things you’re going to be good at. There’s going to be things you’re light on and if they hit it in the right place at the right time, that’s just what happens.”
    ——————
    Translation: Sometimes $hit happens.

        1. Well, when Lynch is out, and no one else has generated a pass rush, the defense has to blitz or the defense will be picked apart. I would love if only 4 pass rushers could get to the QB, but Manziel looked like Johnny Unitas when he played the Niners.

          1. There’s a risk to blitzing, but how can you criticize them for doing what you wanted them to do?

            1. Maybe they should not do the same thing over and over so they can make an adjustment and devise plays that counter it. Maybe the Niners should vary the blitzer and the area the blitzer goes for. I wanted more delayed bliztes up the middle.

  2. Seems like the DC are the only ones ever worth asking questions of around this team. Fangio always gave direct honest(mostly) answers which were great, especially compared to the garbage that came out of Harbaugh’s mouth. Mangini is clearly an intelligent and well spoken guy that really knows his football. He might not be a good teacher or coach but the guy knows football and it comes through in his answers. Mangini also seems to have a pretty decent sense of humor.

    1. Tim Kawakami’s article, York’s Lies will cause another Implosion, said the 49ers rely on false positives, for example, Gabbert’s garbage time wins and stats. For this reason the York’s will keep Tomsula next year.
      The Jedster will enumerate from his list of bullet points: 1. Massive losses in personnel last offseason, 2. Garbage time coaching improvement in Gabbert as the reasons.

      And probably the biggest false positive: Coach T won his first coaching play challenge..

      1. “He might not be a good teacher or coach ”

        I don’t know if I would call it getting to like him.

  3. Mangini handled that question very well. He was obviously prepped for it. He obviously could not trash his boss so he deflected it and deflected it well. However, Baalke has no business coaching individual players at practice, it undermines the position coaches, it undermines the defensive coordinator and it undermines Tomsula. Obviously, Baalke does not care about any of that, he just wants to be in charge. The GM should watch the practices, from a distance to get a feel for how the team and individual players are doing. If he has concerns about a player or a scheme he should share it with the head coach, in private. To do otherwise is to undermine the entire structure, which he seems to be doing. Does anybody believe that Harbaugh, or any competent NFL head coach, would put up with that? The fact that this goes on and Tomsula allows it and that Baalke does it speaks volumes about both of them.

    1. Baalke’s micro-managing inclinations may stem from his scout days. Seems he hasn’t grown into his GM role where he would need to step back and get a handle on the Big Picture.

    1. Blaine was born to drive a Geep. Did you see him ring Bell for a two yard gainer on third and three? A match made in conservative heaven….

      1. I need a rep from the Niners F.O. in the celebrations. “I’ve got a lot of problems with you people! And now you’re gonna hear about it!! “

    1. His firing would be a great New Years present! But Jim Tomsula will not be fired. He will be our coach, at the very least, for one more year. Book it.

      1. You can book it that he doesn’t make a another full season if he makes it out of this one.

  4. Seems like the Falcons are ready to all but give Roddy White away. He’s got to be better then Patton still.

    1. While I certainly agree with you Coffee, I do not think this OC would use him or any other talent appropriately. I do not particularly want to destroy a young man’s career by inviting him here to lose.

      1. To be fair, White’s career is mostly over. Would be hard to destroy it at this point.

  5. Been a die hard 49er fan since the early 70’s when I was a young kid. The direction of this team under Jed along with the almost unwatchable officiating on a week to week basis has my future in doubt. Who cares what Mangini says or how much coaching Trent Baalke is doing during practice. All of these men need to be fired and the team taken in a totally new direction under a new GM. Jed York needs to be cut totally out of organizational management as he is a total failure at leadership. If that doesn’t happen, it will be very difficult for me to give so many hours on Sundays to this team. I get more joy out of watching high school and college players play with heart and passion than I do out of NFL safety’s and LB’s that dip their head, throw a shoulder, and miss a tackle.

    Bad NFL football < Amateur Football played with heart.

    1. Get real. You’re not going anywhere. By the time August 2016 rolls around you’ll be back on board.

      1. Damn you! Let me rant without throwing reality in my face.

        It’s like Brennan Clay trying to get away from Gina D’Agostini for being such a horrible wife but he knows he just can’t go and she knows he won’t go. Jed views 49er fans just like Gina views Brennan. We send angry tweets, we yell, we fly banners over the stadium claiming we are leaving the team and we slam the door as we leave the stadium vowing to never return. And there sits Jed calmly thinking to himself, “They’ll be back.”

        And we are.

        1. Au contraire, by the second half, Levis turned into a mausoleum.
          Denise is smart enough to know that all those empty seats will hurt the bottom line.

          1. Denise doesn’t care about empty seats in the 2nd half. She cares about empty seats in the first half, especially if those empty seats did not sell.

            1. There are no unsold seats unless you mean the ones held by people who don’t want to go to the games. Of course they can’t make any secondary sales to an empty seat.

          2. How exactly are the empty seats hurting the bottom line. The way the PSL contract is written (I know because I am one of the fools who fell for Jed’s bait and switch) you cannot refuse to buy the seats for next year. The 49ers can take you to court. All seats are sold. Jed an Denise have already pocketed the money. They could care less if nobody shows up at the stadium.

            The empty seats do have a minor impact on the revenue stream from the overpriced food sold at the stadium, but that is a drop in the bucket.

            Let’s face it. Thanks to the PSL scam, we fans are locked in. We have no way of holding Jed accountable. The Yorks pretty much have us by the cajones.

            1. So Jed can continue to run the franchise into the ground and put an awful product on the field with barely any financial repercussions whatsoever and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Wow, that sucks. That’s communism.

              1. No. That’s exactly what free enterprise is. It’s his family’s team, and they can make money from it in what ever way they choose. And they are — making money the way they choose.

              2. Yes HT but professional sports owners have an obligation to the fans, league, and other owners to put together a winning product. That means spending within the cap system and marketing the product so that it attracts fans worldwide.
                People that think Jed York won’t make any changes after a season of turmoil are mistaken. There is countless pressure from the media, season ticket holders, fans, investors and other NFL owners to bring the franchise back to respectability. Remember this is a revenue sharing league.

    1. A temporary fix at best. I have come to the conclusion that no healthy change will come until Baalke is removed as GM. I think Baalke is responsible for much of the dysfunction and ineptitude of the front office and coaching staff. He runs a horrible organization. Leaving aside his mediocre, at best, draft record he appears to be a paranoid control freak.

      We are stuck with Jed and hopefully he becomes embarrassed enough to clean house and hire a real GM.

      1. I concur. Since Jed seems entrenched as CEO, the best move is to mutually part with Baalke. His drafts have been head scratchers, but his FA signings doomed the Niners. Marginal talent or too old and feeble players that have disappeared.

        1. I’m a little surprised at the inaction of the F.O. on Tiller and Williams during the season. Could be the result of a range of factors, including a distracted Marathe. But it could also portend internal strife.

          1. I’d hate to think it’s because these guys want to leave this dumpster fire and join a better team. Still, if I were in their shoes………..

            1. Players will go wherever they can get more guaranteed money — unless they are Pro Bowl-caliber players approaching retirement and long for play-off appearances.

              I think it has to do with the current state of internal confusion in the front office with Marathe busy with stuff other than player valuation and contracts.

              1. Seems like we should be able to get both of them for a reasonable price if we extend them now (but it might already be too late). If the FO fails at signing these guys, it will be just one more example of team dysfunction from top to bottom.

      1. It’s a realistic staff given the circumstances and the fact that we’re dealing with York and Baalke. How do you rate Jack’s suggestion against what we currently have? Who would you propose instead that we have a realistic shot at getting (and forget Payton – it’s doubtful he’s going anywhere and if he does it’s at least for $8M per year).

        1. I don’t care if it’s better than the current staff. It’s a terrible staff.

          – Your HC would be someone who was fired twice previously as a HC because he was terrible. He had a huge ego and alienated people on the Jets and the Browns. He also snitched on the Patriots for the same thing that allowed him to get a HC job in the first place. He is a no talent ass clown.

          – The DC will have been fired from his previous HC job, but I like Pagano. Much better coordinator than HC and a good guy.

          – Pep Hamilton didn’t make it through the season in Indy. No thank you.

          I’d prefer they just stay the course until things get so bad that they have to make real changes. These coaching suggestions will keep the team knee deep in mediocrity for the foreseeable future.

      2. Having said that I’d like the team to take another shot at Gase for HC. We need to shake up the entire team and move it to an offensive mindset. I’d also be for bringing in a veteran QB who honed his craft somewhere else.

      1. Pep’s OK for college, but he’s not very imaginative and an inadequate offensive strategist for the NFL. He owes Andrew Luck a cut of the money he made from the Colt’s contract.

    2. It’s a better trifecta than we have now, but that isn’t saying much. I think Pagano has mentioned that he’s done after the Colts job as well.

      I like Pep Hamilton. He’s going to land on his feet somewhere.

      1. I would like for Jed to get a hot college OC like Mike Norvell of Az St., Tom Herman of Ohio St., or Rhett Ashlee of Auburn.

        1. Tom Herman left Ohio St last year and is now the head coach at the University of Houston. He did a great job this year and he will end up at a major college program in the next few years. Herman is not ready for the NFL.

      2. I like Hamilton too. He seems like a Baalke type of fit. I think he got kind of a raw deal in Indy.

  6. Mike Tanier writing on the Niners: “Witty comment about upcoming Lions and Rams games cancelled due to lack of interest.”

  7. TK put together a list of potential Coaches and among the ones the Niners could possibly get, I like Hue Jackson and Kyle Shanahan the best.

    1. Kyle has not shined in Atlanta, and Hue has too big of an ego. He suffered from delusions of grandeur while at Oakland.
      The only one I liked better than Shaw was Brian Billick.

      1. Kyle has been fine in Atlanta and was calling plays for one of the best offenses in the league before injuries hit them. Hue did a nice job in Oakland as a HC. It was his short stint as GM that wasn’t all that successful.

        1. Hue’s power grab was an epic fail. It’s easy to forget how delusional he was during that press conference. He’s an excellent coordinator, though.

          1. If he is then the Niners should hire him immediately.

            When teams are losing games these kinds of stories start coming out, but what I know about Shanahan Jr. and Sr., is that they will run an effective balanced offense. I don’t know much about Kyle the person, but the football mind is there.

    2. Jackson is a guy I like too, but how much better do you think this offense would have been with him dealing with these players?

      1. Tough to say with how bad the Oline has been, but there would be more aggressive play calling and creativity in the passing game at the very least.

      1. Koetter is an option as well. He’s had HC experience albeit not all that impressive, but at least he’s had some.

    1. GMs are only as good as their last four drafts, and as good as their last two free agent seasons. Four is an arbitrary number found floating around in the void between my ears. I flipped a coin for the two.

  8. Quote not provided by the 49er publicity department:

    ““Jarryd is doing a really good job, OK?” Tomsula said. “He is getting better, OK? But we’re going to see where everybody is.” … OK?

    1. Whenever I see a Tomsula quote, I always picture him at the podium with a piece of pastrami hanging from the corner of his mouth.

  9. Note: The following isn’t a blanket defense of management or Baalke’s personnel skills. A teams record is a pretty good indicator on how well its FO is doing.

    There’s been alot of cherry picking among the “Baalke hasn’t gotten any good players in last four drafts” crowd.

    Its easy to make a GM look worse by including the most recent draft. Its rare for teams to have multiple impact rookies. (1981 was an exception. The 49ers had the 8th pick.)

    We all know Baalke’s had major misses, but 2010-2014 is a better indicator of draft capabilities. Also keep in mind the low (starting) draft position 2012-2014.

    1. So Baalke does worse the better his team does. “We don’t hang no flags but Superbowl flags!” … Or Something Like That

      1. My comment was mainly about draft record. Was it Baalke or little Jed that said the thing about Super Bowl flags?

        1. They are a well oiled team, but it was Jed bless his soul.

          I understand the point you made, but any “good” GM who wants a winner has to do his best work at the back end of each draft round. 2010 was a higher draft position, and the board was made up under the direction of another GM.

          The 2012 through 2014 draft position were bad because of that incompetent guy who left with his tail between his legs. Maybe we shouldn’t blame Trent for the slow development of players from those drafts. The 2015 draft will be greatly enhanced by the consistent effort made by the guy who replaced the guy who left with his tail between his legs.

          1. I’m firmly committed to my wishy-washy, ill defined position that Baalke may or may not suck in a different way some fans think he sucks.

    2. I’ll be doing a complete review of Baalke’s draft history (2010-2014).

      I will tell you off the top of my head that there are no picks from the 2012 draft still on the team, or in the NFL for that matter. That is a pretty big whiff. Compare that to the Seahawks 2012 draft, multiple pro bowlers and a Super Bowl winning qb. Baalke is not a good GM and certainly not the best judge of talent. On of the reasons, in my opinion, that Baalke is mediocre at best is that he is using template that is at least a generation out of date. He wants to build the niners into the 90s NY Giants. Those type of teams can win some games, but will not win championships.

      1. The 2012 draft sucked big time. Makes dumpster fires look downright fun.

        I’ll be looking forward to your review of review of Baalke’s draft history. I have two questions on methodology.

        1) Will it factor Draft Position?

        Draft position is rarely mentioned when evaluating GMs. Below are (standard) chart values of 49ers drafts 2008-2013.

        Year – Chart Value
        2014 – 1,718
        2013 – 2,041
        2012 – 1,031
        2011 – 2,363
        2010 – 2,800
        2009 – 1,600
        2008 – 1,463

        Note: Points are based on draft slots used. They do not include draft slots traded to following season(s).

        Relative to chart value, 2008 and 2013 could be the worse then 2012.

        2014 – 1,718 – Ward, Hyde, M. Martin, Borland, B. Thomas, B. Ellington, Johnson, Lynch, Reaser, Acker, Ramsey, Millard

        2013 – 2,041 – Reid, Carradine, McDonald, Lemonier, Patton, Lattimore, Dial, Moody, Daniels, Bykowski, Marcus Cooper

        2012 – 1,031 – Jenkins, LMJ, Looney, Fleming, Robinson, Slowey, Johnson

        2011 – 2,363 – Aldon Smith, Kaepernick, Culliver, Hunter, Kilgore, R. Johnson, Colin Jones, Miller, Person, Holcomb

        2010 – 2,800 – Anthony Davis, Iupati, Mays, Bowman, Dixon, Byham, Williams, Adams

        2009 – 1,600 – Crabtree, Coffee, McKillop, Nate Davis, Pascoe, Taylor, RJF

        2008 – 1,463 – Balmer, Rachal, Regie Smith, Cody Wallace, Josh Morgan, Larry Grant

        1986 – 1718 – Roberts, Rathman, McKyer, John Taylor, Hayley, Steve Wallace, Kevin Fagan, Miller, Don Griffin, Popp, Cherry (really), Stinson, Hallman

        1985 – 1278 – Rice, Ricky Moore, Collie, Barry, Wood, Chumley

        2) What will be the standard of measure?

        Dystopian – Baalke’s a great drafter because he got better players than Joe Thomas did.

        Utopian – Baalke’s a horrible drafter because the players he has aren’t as good as [insert GM name with Lombardi trophy or GM name with super high draft picks 2013-2015]

        Comparative – Baalke’s bad at running drafts compared to Scot McCloughan (or any average GM)

  10. There are mitigating factors in any draft analysis.
    Sometimes, with the team sucking, they can garner high draft picks over several years that provide quality starters.
    Sometimes the squad is loaded with veteran talent and rookies cannot break into the starting line up.
    Sometimes the draft class is weak and there are less quality players for areas of need.
    Sometimes, the GM selecting players whiffs on good players and pick bad players.
    Sometimes, the Gm will gamble on ACL players who are passed over by other teams because of the injury issue.Sometimes they recover fully, and many times they never recover to a pre injury status.
    Once there was Trader Bill who traded up a storm, and wound up with 7 starters and a nucleus for a Super Bowl team. I dont think it has ever been repeated.

  11. Granted, the draft is a hit or miss proposition. but Baalke has whiffed on way too many choices. His use of analytics to draft injured players because they have potential just means that the present needs are being ignored for a possible future payout. When those big gambles do not pay off like Latimore, Baalke looks clueless.
    However, it is not only the draft where he has failed. Free Agency has been startling pathetic for him, and the coaching hires were scraping the bottom of the barrel. When Baalke signs up Dockett, Wright, Cook, Bush, Hunter and Bishop, and all those choices have disappeared, It is just another failure on his part. When fans wish Pears and Devey would disappear, but dont, that is also a damning result. When his coaches play those 2 and it results in their franchise QB getting injured, and the backup gets sacked 9 times in a game, Baalke is at fault for selecting those incompetent coaches.
    When Baalke and the coaches sit the most dangerous weapon on the team and play crapola couch potatoes, changes must be made.

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