One of my favorite parts of covering the 49ers is the interactions with the fans. You came through with several fun questions which covered a wide range of topics. This week you asked about the draft, the quarterback position, and even a couple that go back to the glory days of the 49ers organization.
“As of now, what’s your feeling on the position of the first pick (61)? Do you feel the 49ers draft for need or do you feel they draft best player available?” – @9erfan57
The 49ers come into the draft with needs at safety, interior offensive line, cornerback, edge rusher, and receiver.
San Francisco does an excellent job of creating depth in the roster so they can go with the best player available.
Looking at the players likely to be available at 61, the best value is safety or cornerback. Think Kerby Joseph from Illinois or Marcus Jones from Houston.
“Do you think the 49ers use all nine draft picks, or do they trade up/consolidate to 4-5 picks? I’m not sure there is room on the roster for nine rookies?” – RolloTo56021760
I agree with Rollo; it’s unlikely that nine rookies will stick with the 49ers.
Although they don’t have a pick in the first round, San Francisco has plenty of ammunition to move up and down the board to grab the players it covets.
“How much does Shanahan’s game plan change to profit from a triple threat quarterback?” – ovinator
It doesn’t need to change much.
While Trey Lance is exceptionally athletic, he’s a throw-first quarterback.
The best way to use Lance is for Shanahan to call the game similarly to what he’s done throughout his time with the 49ers. All he needs to change is throw in a few more throws coming off pocket movement to stress the defense.
The 49ers passing game under Shanahan has deep throws built into most plays. The quarterbacks he’s had before Lance were either unable or unwilling to take the shots, which will change.
Whatever you choose, Lance should not be used as a running back. The numbers bear this out. Lance averaged 8.5 yards per scramble in 2021 while averaging only 2.7 yards per rush on designed running plays.
Let the kid play quarterback. It’s what he does best.
“Elijah Mitchell is a solid back, but there were too many times the running game shut down for an extended time. Will they get a true burner to spell Mitchell?” – @ottomattick0
Losing Raheem Mostert only four plays into the 2021 season forced Kyle Shanahan to move Deebo Samuel into the backfield to provide a home run threat.
Part of what necessitated that move was the lack of downfield throws from the quarterback. Moving to Trey Lance will help with that.
Don’t sleep on Trey Sermon either. Sermon showed flashes during a rough rookie season, and the 49ers expect to see improvement in his second season.
The 49ers currently have only four halfbacks under contract: Mitchell, Sermon, JaMycal Hasty, and Jeff Wilson Jr. Look for them to add a running back late in the draft or shortly after. Running back is a position where San Francisco has done an excellent job identifying talent.
“If Eddie D was still the owner, how many Super Bowls would the team have?” – @AnthonyMem10
Five.
The invent of the salary cap was a game-changer. No longer were the 49ers able to stockpile talent as they had throughout the 80s and early 90s.
San Francisco last won a Super Bowl in 1994, the first year of the salary cap. They made several additions to the roster and pushed money to future years.
Over the remainder of DeBartolo’s ownership of the team, the 49ers advanced past the divisional round only once. In his final year as owner, 1999, the team finished 4-12 after losing Steve Young to a career-ending injury in the season’s third game.
“If Ricky Watters stayed a 49er, would we have one more Super Bowl win, and would he be in the Hall of Fame?” – @SwanSongNC
I don’t think so.
The Packers were just a better team than San Francisco in the mid-90s, with the big difference being the level of play on defense.
Green Bay just had the 49ers number during that time.
Regarding the Watters and the Hall of Fame, he benefitted from leaving San Francisco. Watters had over 1,500 yards from scrimmage in six consecutive years with Philadelphia and Seattle, and he was able to top that total only once during his time in San Francisco.
One last piece to consider, Mike Shanahan left San Francisco to become the head coach in Denver following the 1994 season. Shanahan did a terrific job of utilizing Watters’ unique skillset.
Agree with the sage Jack. Shanny misused TL for much of the season. His key value is his ability to throw deep. I think he can develop a snap short throw as well. Designed plays were awkward and generally unsuccessful. Defenses were set for his runs. Let TL play football. He is a natural, very smart, and very skilled. Once he is fully used to the speed of the game and gets some decent OL protection, watch out.
An ex Jets’ scout is saying New York needs to do everything in their power to make a trade for DS. He says if the 49ers (the Yorks) do not want to show Samuel the financial respect his performance warrants, then New York needs to.
IF DS leaves thanks to that accomplished triad of Lynch, Paraag and especially the Yorks, forget TL and the offense. Deebo was, and is, the offense. There’s no replacing him.
Trey Sermon will be a solid contributer. He actually had decent numbers when he did play.
Yes I agree. It’s a little strange wow little he played considering the injuries down the stretch.
1. I really like the Penn St. safety Brisker. Lynch was at the Penn St. Pro Day. I think we have our eye on him.
2. A great deal is riding on Banks and Kinlaw this season. If they develop and play at a high level we will be in very good shape.
3. The NFC West and the entire NFC declined this last year with the exception of the Rams. I think a return to the NFCCG is in the cards.
Jack,
It seems that one of the 9ers goals for next season is to be the overall #1 special teams. I believe they need to find a kick off guy who consistently kicks off through the end zone. It seemed to me that Wishnowski lost a lot of depth on his KO’s and his punts were shorter in the 2nd half. I would love to see the 9ers use one of their 3rd round picks on Matt Araiza the P/K for SD St.. I believe he will flip the field better than Ray Guy. Would you draft Araiza?
3rd round picks??
Shoup,
Are you questioning whether they have multiple 3rd round picks or picking a punter in the 3rd? If its the latter check out his highlights, he will impact the game more than Ray Guy when he first started.
Coach,
I’d like more intel on how he performs under pressure, first.
One thing I noticed is in the MW Championship Game and then in their subsequent Bowl Game, he performed more at par with other punters, having some ups and downs but not his consistent booming kicks. He even had a punt blocked.
The reason why I say all this is because we currently have a punter who had a strong leg coming in, and he’s does fine during meaningless games. But once pressure situations start in the playoffs, he tends to shank his punts or drop them short, or into the end zone when they could be pinning the opposition deep.
Confidence in trying circumstances is important for a special team we who stands out for his individual performance. I’m not sure I’m seeing enough of that when it counts with Ariana to warrant a third round selection….. yet.
Now the guy who is replacing Araiza is intriguing. He doesn’t quite have Araiza’s leg but he’s a better field goal kicker and his confidence and ability to forget the last bad kick is impressive.
Old Coach
* RE Matt Araiza P/K for SD St.
Most draft boards don’t list draft picks past #150. Two boards that do, drafttec.com and cbssports.com, list P Matt Araiza, as pick #161 and #151. Both are Round 5 draft picks.
While I agree, Zraiza’s talent is rare, he does have some area’s for improvement.
* profootballnetwork.com “Areas for improvement:”
“With his cannon for a leg, positional versatility, and increasing profile, Araiza has potential that few punting prospects have had in recent NFL Draft classes. However, that doesn’t mean that his scouting report doesn’t reveal some areas for improvement.” To Gavin Nuisance’s point!
“These primarily center around consistency. As a field goal kicker, his completion percentage has declined with every college season. In 2019, he hit 85% of his kicks. In 2020, he made 71%, and this season, he’s down to 65%. Araiza needs to ensure that his strides and ball striking remain consistent from kick to kick.”
The above listed concerns is, IMO, WHY Araiza is listed as a 5th Rd draft pick.
Geep,
I see him as a punter and KO specialist. Gould is our field goal kicker for at least one more year.
Spending a 3rd rounder on a punter is a bit much. I’m against taking any punter earlier than round 5
This is a good point, OldCoach.
Not sure I’d draft a punter that early, but they could use some help with kickoffs for sure.
I read the Marcus Johnson article which prompted me to look at the teams depth chart. I was surprised to see KeeSean Johnson on the roster and forgot we signed him back in January.
One thing that I think this offense has been missing since 2019 is speed! Remember how impactful Goodwin was before getting hurt? Let’s not forget Richie James made some big plays as well.
Glad to see we are addressing that so far this year and we might not be done with all the speedsters available in the draft.
I hope Shanahan uses his normal playbook with Trey Lance. I truly hated the game plan in Lance’s first start against the Cardinals. Would be curious to know how much Mike McDaniel had to do with designing those run plays for Lance. The kid is going to have a very short career if that’s Shanahan’s vision for a Trey Lance offense. I liked the game plan much better against the Texans but the offense was basically invisible in the first half. To me, there should be no designed run plays. If Lance has a run it should come off a scramble.
Jack
If the 9er FO and Deebo can’t come to a salary agreement. What, in your opinion, do you expect the 9ers can
trade him for?
I’d hope they can get at least two first round picks for him.