San Francisco 49ers Post Draft Commentary

The 49ers essentially had two seasons in 2008. The first was before Mike Singletary was Head Coach, and then there was the period after. The team played a much tougher brand of football during the second half of the season with Singletary at the helm. The defense saw a drastic reduction in both points and yards allowed as the team began to make some noise in the NFC West. Singletary returns in 2009 and he should bring a the same level of play to the squad as he did the second half of 2008.

The 49ers entered the 2009 off season with some question marks along both the offensive and defensive lines, at safety and corner. The defense needed the most work of all the units in my opinion as there areas of concern on all three levels. The defensive line needs to have another defensive end added to the mix after Kentwan Balmer barely made an impact in 2008. The 49ers did select Ricky Jean-Francois; a talented but an athletic defensive end prospect that may be best served as a defensive end in 3-4. He has the ability to hold his own against the run, but can have trouble disengaging and making plays in the back field. Jean-Francois may surprise some people in his ability to be a solid run defender as a 7th rounder. The team could also have used to bring in another candidate for nose tackle as neither Isaac Sopoaga and Aubrayo Franklin are great players at the position.

Perhaps the team’s biggest needs on defense were rush linebacker, corner and safety as the team continues to get little in terms of sack from Manny Lawson. The team elected to neglect this area of the defense however and rely on the corp already in place, which I think may be a mistake. Inside linebacker was also an issue as Takeo Spikes comes back as a partner for Patrick Willis, but Spikes is slowing down and may be better served as a depth player at this stage of his career. Scott McKillop was brought in to help the unit, but he will need to become more physical at the point of attack when defending the run before he can be considered the heir apparent to Spikes. McKillop is a heady player, who will make plays and he hustles all over the field. The team did decide to wait on selecting a safety candidate until the 7th round, which personally I don’t agree with as their safety tandem was amongst the worst in the league last year and Mark Roman was a walking completion or interference call whilst on the field. Curtis Taylor may be too little too late in terms of bringing in quality depth at the position.

Offensive tackle was an area of concern as the team needed to find a right tackle. The 49ers did sign Marvel Smith in Free Agency but he is s stop gap measure at best. The team does not have a great deal of depth at the position either, so adding a younger player to the mix should have been an option in my opinion. This draft was loaded with quality tackle prospects, and the 49ers came away with none of them. The team continued to have a need at wide receiver, even after spending 7 picks on the position over the previous 5 years and elected to draft Michael Crabtree. Crabtree should give the offense a go to player for the first time in a long time other than Frank Gore. Crabtree will struggle with the transition as most wide outs do, but he should be able to still contribute right away. Glenn Coffee is a nice complement to Gore and will bring some added toughness to the backfield.

The team did add talent, but it also neglected some areas of need that appeared to be more pressing, especially in terms of long term security. Marvel Smith may prove to be a bad signing, as he was never dominant in Pittsburgh. Having a younger player to groom at the position would have been better for the team long term. Neglecting the safety and corner position as well may also come back to haunt them if there are any injuries. The two starters will be over 30 by the end of the season, and youth needs to be added to help ease the transition that will happen within the next year or so. Regardless the team probably will compete for the division crown as they appear to have done enough to do so.

Pre Draft Needs: S, RB, OL, DL, LB, CB, WR