Percy Harvin

[and1GS]

I guess this boils down to me not thinking Harvin is a superstar. Great returner and great on screens, but we already have Crabtree running those same screen plays and excelling on them. He's not a traditional star WR like Calvin or Fitz, he's a really good gadget receiver.

[gswhoops]

^ You could make that same argument about any position on the field. Just because other team's are set at WR, doesn't make it any less of a concern for the teams in need of WR help. Its the reason the same teams are looking to upgrade the WR position every season. Frisco tried to address the WR situation last offseason, it didnt work out. So they are back in the same position this offseason.

This year's WR market in free agency and especially the draft class are considered to be very weak. So not a lot of teams will successfully resolve their WR issues.

I don't think this year's WR class is considered weak, quite the opposite in fact. The draft doesn't have any premier guys but there's tons of depth. Might not be any in the top 10 but I'd wager a dozen or more go in the first 75 picks.

[thesack12]

Last year's draft was considered a stronger WR draft than this one is. Yet, there wasn't anybody who made a sustained strong impact. Several guys were flat out invisible.

1st Round:
Justin Blackmon- 5th
Malcolm Floyd- 13th
Kendall Wright- 20th
AJ Jenkins- 30th

Blackmon came on towards the end of the year, but was awful to start and was inconsistent even after having his mini breakout. Floyd did nothing. Wright was decent and somewhat consistent. Jenkins was arguably the worst pick of the entire draft.

2nd Round:
Brian Quick- 33rd
Stephen Hill 43rd
Alshon Jeffrey- 45th
Ryan Broyles- 54th
Reuben Randle- 63rd

This group has some potential, but didn't do much last season. Both Quick and Hill are very raw. Broyles can become a solid everyday #2 guy, if he can ever stay healthy that is. Jeffrey and Randle remain question marks.

3rd Round:
Devier Posey- 68th
TJ Graham- 69th
Mohammed Sanu- 83rd
T.Y. Hilton- 93rd

Hilton jumps out from this group, and was a top 3 WR from this class. Actually TY may have been the best rookie WR last season. Sanu made a couple plays, but was highly inconsistent. Those other guys were flat out invisible.

The rest of the drafted WR's in order were: Chris Givens, Travis Benjamin, Joe Adams, Devon Wylie, Jairus Wright, KeShawn Martin, Nick Toon, Greg Childs, Danny Coale, Marvin Jones, Juron Criner, BJ Cunningham, Marvin McNutt, Tommy Streeter, Lavon Brazill, Rishard Mathews, Tony Clemons, Jeremy Ebert, Junior Hemingway, Jordan White.

Take out Givens and Brazill, and all that remains is some completely anonymous guys and a big steaming pile of unwantedness...

Obviously, its extemely early in these guys' careers and there's no direct correlation between how last year's rookie WR's fared and what this year's crop will bring. My point is that most times scouts and draft prognosticators are correct with their evaluations and proclamations. That in mind, if last year's WR was indeed superior to this year's class (as has been widely determined) then you can't expect a whole lot out of drafting a WR this season.

[thesack12]

As for the perceived depth of this draft class, a lot of times saying a draft is deep at a certain position is a nice way to say that nobody has seperated themselves from other the other prospects and there isn't expected to be any impact players at the position. Last year's draft is a good example of that. Blackmon was clearly the best WR prospect, with Wright and Floyd making up the seond tier. After that there was a group of about 8-10 guys who were on the same level (also known as depth). After Wright came off the board, it was pretty much a beauty is in the eye of the beholder type thing.

This year there is no clear tiers. Cordarelle Patterson and Tavon Austin are considered to be the head of the class by some people, but even those guys have warts. Patterson only played WR one season, and is Extremely raw. Austin is tiny, and is kind of bit player. Some don't view him as a true WR. Outside those two guys, and perhaps Keenan Allen, there is a big pile of guys all at the same level. Some of those guys will develop into solid players, some guys will wash out of the league in short order. But its unlikley that many of them develop into front line players.

Due to WR being a big need leaguewide, as well as teams wanting to get all these young QB's some more weapons to play with, you will see some WR's get overdrafted this year.

As it pertains the the 49ers, they need a WR to step in and start and make plays from Day 1. Relying on one of these "grab bag" type WR prospects to be that guy is not a good plan of action. WR is one of the most time consuming positions to develop as it is. Not saying Frisco should ignore WR in the early rounds, far from it. Just saying that they need to explore other options to solidify the position going into training camp. This team is too close to have that big of a hole on the roster.....

Oh yeah, and just for the record I'm not advocating dealing a high pick for Harvin. I'm merely discussing my take on the WR position as a whole.

[thesack12]

Yesterday Harvin reportedly demanded a trade out of Minnesota. Apparently he still is targeting Megatron money. Horrible attitude/locker room poison/outrageous contract demands ='s bad news.

[and1GS]

He's going to the Seahawks apparently. I think he could be very, very dangerous there in college style set-ups with Midget Wilson. But again, it's a double edged sword getting Percy. If you use him the exact right way he can be lethal, but if you don't he's Randle El with an attitude.

[arsenal6106]

Welp, that sucks.

Sent From Phone

[gswhoops]

This year there is no clear tiers. Cordarelle Patterson and Tavon Austin are considered to be the head of the class by some people, but even those guys have warts. Patterson only played WR one season, and is Extremely raw. Austin is tiny, and is kind of bit player. Some don't view him as a true WR. Outside those two guys, and perhaps Keenan Allen, there is a big pile of guys all at the same level. Some of those guys will develop into solid players, some guys will wash out of the league in short order. But its unlikley that many of them develop into front line players.

Due to WR being a big need leaguewide, as well as teams wanting to get all these young QB's some more weapons to play with, you will see some WR's get overdrafted this year.

I agree with this assessment, to a certain extent.

There are no clear "top tier" WRs like CJ, Fitz, Green, etc...aka guys with no major question marks. I think a guy you're missing in your discussion of the top WRs though is DeAndre Hopkins from Clemson. Guy is a bit undersized but has great hands, runs great routes, has toughness and speed. He's probably not a true #1 (no one in this class is except maybe Patterson if he develops his potential) but he could be an elite #2.

This is a good draft to be in our position though - with a clear cut #1 WR looking for complimentary guys. After the initial overdrafting of the "top" WR prospects, there are going to be a bunch of quality guys that slip to the end of the 2nd and the 3rd round. Someone like Wheaton, Patton, Woods, Rogers, etc. Hell even a guy like Ryan Swope would be a good pickup and will probably still be there at the end of the 3rd. If we're going high risk/high reward, Marquise Goodwin could be an electric playmaker. Dobson and Bailey could be around in the 4th. Etc. etc....

[thesack12]

Hopkins is ok, but I'm not overly impressed with him. IMO he is similar to Sidney Rice, and that is his ceiling. Rice is a nice player, but he's kind of an in between guy. Rice isn't a big playmaker on the outside, and he isn't too physical or tough to consistently run across the middle on intermediate routes to be a great posession receiver. I personally see Hopkins falling into the same category.

It just concerns me when not even scouts can differentiate much of a difference between 7-10 guys at the same position. Thats why I call those guys "grab bag" prospects.

If Frisco doesn't decide to take a WR early on, I would hope they go after a guy like Stedman Bailey in the middle rounds. His speed/quickness/shiftiness would be a nice contrast to Crabs/Boldin's styles and skillsets.

[thesack12]

As for Percy Harvin, the 'Hawks are the last team I wanted to see him go to. Sure his extension and attitude are concerns for them going into the future, but damn they just got a helluva lot better. They are building to win now, and the NFC west just got harder for Frisco.

IMO the Boldin trade was a slight kneejerk reaction to the Harvin trade. Boldin was going to be cut yesterday had he not been traded, and theres a chance he could have been picked up for cheaper than his 7.3 mil cap hit. Its still a great trade for Frisco, but I wonder if it would have happened if Percy doesn't get traded to Seattle.

One thing is for sure, Frisco and Seattle are currently in an arms race. And Seattle's newest toy is going to further expose Frisco's biggest defensive weakness... the secondary.

[and1GS]

It's concerning that we haven't even slightly addressed the secondary yet, though we are rumored to be in for Woodson (who I think would be an ok signing).