NFL Draft

The Bengals just picked Andy Dalton. Nice pick. AJ Green and Andy Dalton are good picks for a team that has a decent defense.

 

I'm shuddering thinking about what is running through Al Davis' mind right now, although I'm happy he didn't trade next year's #1 to NE to draft Colin Kaepernick, which I was dreading would happen.

 

Minstrel, the 49ers just took Colin Kaepernick. Wow!! Didn't see that one coming.

 

I was actually hoping for Kaepernick in the second. I think his physical upside is huge, nearly as high as Cam Newton, but I'm much more comfortable gambling a second round pick on raw upside than a top-ten pick. I was hoping he'd fall to the 49ers' pick, I didn't expect them to trade up in the round for him. Hopefully that means that Harbaugh really likes him and believes he can develop him into a top-flight NFL quarterback.

 

I just find it a bit odd that the 49ers would pick another spread/pistol QB to potentially replace Alex Smith.

 

D'Quan Bowers, Stephen Paea, Justin Houston, Brooks Reed, and Titus Young are all still available. I hope one of them falls to #48, with Bowers or Reed being my preferred pick, followed by Paea and Houston.

 

Most college quarterbacks don't come from a pro-style offense, though it's definitely a bonus if they do. I don't think Kaepernick is all that similar to Smith, despite the spread-em-out offenses they come from. More importantly, they have someone in place (hopefully long-term) to develop Kaepernick. They never really put Smith in a position to succeed, with a different OC every season until this one (and when he finally gets one for two straight seasons, it's the inept Jimmy Raye under the simplistic philosophy of the equally inept Mike Singletary). I don't think Alex Smith was worth the #1 pick, but I also don't think he was developed properly.

Kaepernick is an athletic freak with a ton of upside as a passer, and he'll have a pretty well-respected developer of quarterbacks in Jim Harbaugh from Day 1. He's nothing close to a guarantee, but I think it's a nice situation.

 

Now I'm hoping that Mallet falls to the Raiders, just so I can be disappointed in Al for drafting him.

Last year's draft was too good to be true, so something has to mess up this year's, doesn't it?

 

lol. Mallet is such a Raider style pick. Go Al Go!

 

Damnit!

 

Is Al suddenly becoming smart again? The Wiz Kid is a solid pick in a position of need. Plus, his uncle gets to coach him.

 

I guess I should have expanded a bit. Yes, accuracy % can increase as comfort level of the playbook increases, and the playcalling gets more conservative.

Where Locker is going to struggle is throwing within the pocket. He not a good passer. He's not a natural thrower. He reminds me a lot of Brady Quinn when he throws the ball. That's not a good thing.

He's great outside of the pocket and looks much more comfortable on the move. But he's going to get killed in the NFL if he tries to do that too much.

We'll see how it turns out in 3-4 years, but I think he busts.

 

Locker has an NFL arm, while Quinn has a noodle for an arm. That said, I don't think that it's a good thing that Locker is most accurate while running. The guys chasing him in the NFL will be a lot bigger and faster than what he saw while scrambling at UW. He's a project, and I hope Tennessee has the patience to let him develop.

 

What's funny is that I'm petrified that my Seahawks will now take Mallet. I should have kept my stupid mouth shut.

 

Da'Quan Bowers was a nice get for Tampa Bay. His potentially degenerative knee condition is a big worry but Tampa evidently decided, and I agree, that the reward finally outweighed the risk at that pick. He was in the argument for #1 pick overall until the knee concerns. He's a huge talent.

 

We traded down. Not sure what we got. At least we didn't draft Mallet.

 

Agreed, plus, you look at their first two rounds the last two seasons, they have added McCoy and Price at the DT spot, and now Bowers and Clayborn at the ends. Nice work.