CalamityX12 wrote:CrimsonCrew wrote:Don't like that pick one bit. One of the only picks we could have made given how the draft shook out that I would have been unhappy with. Kinlaw looks like he'll be a good player. Maybe even a great player. But he's a DT. It's not an impact position, unless you're Aaron Donald. They made the right call to let Buckner go, and then they just replace him with a lesser version. It's a lateral move, at best, when they needed to make a move to improve the team.
We've now thrown five of the past six high first round picks at the DL. FOUR of them for interior DL. And we traded a second round pick and gave big money at the position. It's ridiculous. DL was still a position of strength on this team. The cupboard is pretty bare at WR, OT could be a HUGE issue next year, and CB could be an even bigger one. I had heard the rumors that the FO felt we needed a DL, and prayed it was just blowing smoke. Apparently not. Newsflash: it's not the 1990s. Modern NFL is won on the edges, not in the trenches. You can justify DE and OT, but interior DL just isn't how you win games unless the opposing QB keeps throwing right into the DT's arm.
When we moved Buckner, we really dealt a blow to our DL. One of our consistent studs who showed up every play and game... our DL was rocked with his departure.... The void was there would we have survived without addressing it? Definitely not last year’s level with the current depth chart but now with Kinlaw and going forward, maybe our Defense can maintain that violent attack?
Mind you, had we drafted WR instead, that’ll be just as fine... but defense won’t be as strong
I believe in more in Shanny in making WRs and late rd offensive players(including OL) work in his system than I do in Saleh still... besides we still have the late first to address WR... I think we need speed at WR and that can be still had with a few WRs currently left available.
Sure, losing a great player at any position will be felt. But that player does not play a high value position. That's part of why it made sense to trade him rather than paying out the nose to keep him. And we have talent and depth along the DL even without Kinlaw. Bosa, Armstead, Ford, and Jones are a group that would make about 28 NFL teams ecstatic. Filled in with solid depth and it's a position of strength overall.
On the other hand, our CBs got exposed a bit in the playoffs last year. Sherman is a year older. Witherspoon was an absolute disaster by the end of last year. Moseley generally played really well - though he was at least partially responsible for arguably the biggest blown coverage in the SB and has put more film out there. Williams had a great year, but he's getting older and has been somewhat inconsistent. Beyond those guys, I don't know what we have at the position. And they are all FAs next year. Maybe Verrett will rebound, but that's kind of a wing and a prayer at this point. No one else on the roster even bears mentioning.
At OT, Staley will almost certainly be gone after this season. Maybe Brunskill can take over. Maybe Coleman can. But expecting either to step in without a pretty serious downgrade is optimistic to say the least. Next offseason could be absolutely brutal, and we had a chance to fix that problem by standing pat and taking Wirfs.
I absolutely agree that I have more faith in Shanahan to scheme around his players' weaknesses than Saleh. And generally, I think that's easier to do on offense because defenses usually react to what an offense does. But Shanahan was not able to get production out of his WRs last year. His high-priced players and highly drafted guys busted almost to a man. We had to go out mid-year and give up valuable picks to get borderline production out of that group. So my faith in Shanahan is shaken a bit.
