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2025 draft class

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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#101 » by CrimsonCrew » Mon May 19, 2025 8:36 pm

Some good film of Alfred Collins (haven't gotten to the Marques Sigle part yet), particularly going against Georgia this past year. Georgia's interior OL were all drafted in the second and third round this year (Ratledge 25th pick in the 2nd, Fairchild 17th pick in the 3rd, and Wilson 31st in the 3rd), and Collins really dominated all of them in the run game. Nothing so far as pass rush on here, but the run play is elite. And he played quite a lot of three-technique here.

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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#102 » by CrimsonCrew » Thu May 22, 2025 10:21 pm

Barrows has an interview with Tariq Ahmad, director of player personnel, that reviews the draft picks. Nothing all that earth-shattering, but a few nuggets that are worth sharing:

Mykel Williams and Nick Martin were great interviews. Hard workers, natural leaders that they hope can help this rookie class contribute the way we'll need them to.

They intend to ask the DTs in particular to attack more, as opposed to doing the two-gapping they did frequently in college. They think doing so will untap more pass-rush upside than they showed in college. We'll see on that one. The team hasn't exactly killed it in terms of developing pass rush over the past couple years. Kinlaw was probably a similar evaluation, and he never developed as a pass rusher. Beal is a DE, but similar deal where they loved his get-off, but that hasn't turned into pass-rush productivity.

For Watkins, like Shanahan, he also spoke primarily about the dude's combine. I just don't get that. Why is the combine the first talking point for this player? Any single game film should be more important than how he ran the gauntlet. We'll see about that pick, but I'm not holding my breath. Feels like Kyle saw something he liked and made the call to draft him (Ahmad commented on how much Shanahan liked him). Shades of Dante Pettis, though at least this pick was two rounds later. Danny Gray, too, for that matter. Though Pearsall showed promise last year.

Mentioned how much QB's coach Mick Lombardi loved Rourke, too.

You get a real impression that the coaches have a tremendous amount of say in who the team drafts. I'm fine with that as a general proposition. You want the people who are going to be using these players to have a vision for them. But it also likely explains why it feels like the team reaches so much, and perhaps why they have a tendency to fixate on certain players and either move up for them or reach absurdly vs. consensus.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#103 » by Jikkle » Fri May 23, 2025 7:40 am

CrimsonCrew wrote:Barrows has an interview with Tariq Ahmad, director of player personnel, that reviews the draft picks. Nothing all that earth-shattering, but a few nuggets that are worth sharing:

Mykel Williams and Nick Martin were great interviews. Hard workers, natural leaders that they hope can help this rookie class contribute the way we'll need them to.

They intend to ask the DTs in particular to attack more, as opposed to doing the two-gapping they did frequently in college. They think doing so will untap more pass-rush upside than they showed in college. We'll see on that one. The team hasn't exactly killed it in terms of developing pass rush over the past couple years. Kinlaw was probably a similar evaluation, and he never developed as a pass rusher. Beal is a DE, but similar deal where they loved his get-off, but that hasn't turned into pass-rush productivity.


To be fair Kinlaw's main problem was that he was never healthy enough to develop. The biggest sin with taking Kinlaw was knowing full well he was likely going to have chronic knee problems but crossing our fingers and hoping he didn't. At least with Drake Jackson his injury didn't come until later and that's something with him you just chalk up to bad luck but Kinlaw should've been off the board based on his medical.

Beal was at least a 5th rounder so eh at that point you take your shot at a guy whose physically gifted but had productions issues and hope you can develop him into something. Also he'll be entering his 3rd season so he's not at the point where he's beyond hope to develop into something.

I mean we've had busts but we also had guys like DJ Jones and Arden Key that we got pretty good production out of so there are some success as well.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#104 » by CrimsonCrew » Fri May 23, 2025 6:09 pm

Jikkle wrote:
CrimsonCrew wrote:Barrows has an interview with Tariq Ahmad, director of player personnel, that reviews the draft picks. Nothing all that earth-shattering, but a few nuggets that are worth sharing:

Mykel Williams and Nick Martin were great interviews. Hard workers, natural leaders that they hope can help this rookie class contribute the way we'll need them to.

They intend to ask the DTs in particular to attack more, as opposed to doing the two-gapping they did frequently in college. They think doing so will untap more pass-rush upside than they showed in college. We'll see on that one. The team hasn't exactly killed it in terms of developing pass rush over the past couple years. Kinlaw was probably a similar evaluation, and he never developed as a pass rusher. Beal is a DE, but similar deal where they loved his get-off, but that hasn't turned into pass-rush productivity.


To be fair Kinlaw's main problem was that he was never healthy enough to develop. The biggest sin with taking Kinlaw was knowing full well he was likely going to have chronic knee problems but crossing our fingers and hoping he didn't. At least with Drake Jackson his injury didn't come until later and that's something with him you just chalk up to bad luck but Kinlaw should've been off the board based on his medical.

Beal was at least a 5th rounder so eh at that point you take your shot at a guy whose physically gifted but had productions issues and hope you can develop him into something. Also he'll be entering his 3rd season so he's not at the point where he's beyond hope to develop into something.

I mean we've had busts but we also had guys like DJ Jones and Arden Key that we got pretty good production out of so there are some success as well.


Just pulled up Kinlaw's PFF numbers for the past year. Apparently he was much more effective in the pass rush than the run game. Huh. That's the opposite of what I thought. So maybe I'm wrong and he has developed as a pass rusher, though he certainly didn't with the Niners. Certainly agree that Beal has outperformed his draft slot as a 5th-rounder who has developed into a great STs player and decent rotational DE. But He hasn't developed as a pass rusher, and I think there's some reason to question Kocurek's ability to develop pass rush at this point.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#105 » by clyde21 » Sat May 31, 2025 2:27 am

CJ West looks like an absolute animal

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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#106 » by CrimsonCrew » Fri Jun 6, 2025 8:59 pm

Watched the Oklahoma-Ohio State game to check out CJ West and, to a lesser extent, Kurtis Rourke. Not a great game for Rourke. The OSU D was all over him and he was awful. But West was awesome.

He almost single-handedly shut down OSU's run game for much of the game. The final score looks bad, but OU allowed a PR TD and also botched their own punt to set OSU up deep in their territory, which accounted for 14 points. West also pressured Howard into a quick throw that was picked deep in OU territory after a Rourke fumble set OSU up inside the OU 20 to keep the game from getting out of hand early. Really impressive play from him on a D without a lot of playmakers.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#107 » by Jikkle » Sat Jun 7, 2025 9:15 am

CrimsonCrew wrote:Watched the Oklahoma-Ohio State game to check out CJ West and, to a lesser extent, Kurtis Rourke. Not a great game for Rourke. The OSU D was all over him and he was awful. But West was awesome.

He almost single-handedly shut down OSU's run game for much of the game. The final score looks bad, but OU allowed a PR TD and also botched their own punt to set OSU up deep in their territory, which accounted for 14 points. West also pressured Howard into a quick throw that was picked deep in OU territory after a Rourke fumble set OSU up inside the OU 20 to keep the game from getting out of hand early. Really impressive play from him on a D without a lot of playmakers.


I'm guessing you mean Indiana not Oklahoma.

I'm excited for West because I felt like the D line hasn't been the same since it lost DJ Jones and I think West could be in that mold.

As far as Rourke goes I don't think they are counting on lightning striking twice but probably hoping they can develop Rourke into a capable long-term backup. I think the team could really use a guy like that instead of the constant backup QB rotation we seem to have yearly.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#108 » by CrimsonCrew » Sun Jun 8, 2025 2:43 am

Jikkle wrote:
CrimsonCrew wrote:Watched the Oklahoma-Ohio State game to check out CJ West and, to a lesser extent, Kurtis Rourke. Not a great game for Rourke. The OSU D was all over him and he was awful. But West was awesome.

He almost single-handedly shut down OSU's run game for much of the game. The final score looks bad, but OU allowed a PR TD and also botched their own punt to set OSU up deep in their territory, which accounted for 14 points. West also pressured Howard into a quick throw that was picked deep in OU territory after a Rourke fumble set OSU up inside the OU 20 to keep the game from getting out of hand early. Really impressive play from him on a D without a lot of playmakers.


I'm guessing you mean Indiana not Oklahoma.

I'm excited for West because I felt like the D line hasn't been the same since it lost DJ Jones and I think West could be in that mold.

As far as Rourke goes I don't think they are counting on lightning striking twice but probably hoping they can develop Rourke into a capable long-term backup. I think the team could really use a guy like that instead of the constant backup QB rotation we seem to have yearly.


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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#109 » by Pattersonca65 » Mon Jun 9, 2025 4:14 pm

CrimsonCrew wrote:Barrows has an interview with Tariq Ahmad, director of player personnel, that reviews the draft picks. Nothing all that earth-shattering, but a few nuggets that are worth sharing:

Mykel Williams and Nick Martin were great interviews. Hard workers, natural leaders that they hope can help this rookie class contribute the way we'll need them to.

They intend to ask the DTs in particular to attack more, as opposed to doing the two-gapping they did frequently in college. They think doing so will untap more pass-rush upside than they showed in college. We'll see on that one. The team hasn't exactly killed it in terms of developing pass rush over the past couple years. Kinlaw was probably a similar evaluation, and he never developed as a pass rusher. Beal is a DE, but similar deal where they loved his get-off, but that hasn't turned into pass-rush productivity.

For Watkins, like Shanahan, he also spoke primarily about the dude's combine. I just don't get that. Why is the combine the first talking point for this player? Any single game film should be more important than how he ran the gauntlet. We'll see about that pick, but I'm not holding my breath. Feels like Kyle saw something he liked and made the call to draft him (Ahmad commented on how much Shanahan liked him). Shades of Dante Pettis, though at least this pick was two rounds later. Danny Gray, too, for that matter. Though Pearsall showed promise last year.

Mentioned how much QB's coach Mick Lombardi loved Rourke, too.

You get a real impression that the coaches have a tremendous amount of say in who the team drafts. I'm fine with that as a general proposition. You want the people who are going to be using these players to have a vision for them. But it also likely explains why it feels like the team reaches so much, and perhaps why they have a tendency to fixate on certain players and either move up for them or reach absurdly vs. consensus.


It was reported that Bobby Turner was behind the Joe Williams pick, Turner really liked him. The only other issue with that is accountability when overall things aren't working out unless you fire everyone.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#110 » by CrimsonCrew » Mon Jun 9, 2025 5:20 pm

Pattersonca65 wrote:
CrimsonCrew wrote:Barrows has an interview with Tariq Ahmad, director of player personnel, that reviews the draft picks. Nothing all that earth-shattering, but a few nuggets that are worth sharing:

Mykel Williams and Nick Martin were great interviews. Hard workers, natural leaders that they hope can help this rookie class contribute the way we'll need them to.

They intend to ask the DTs in particular to attack more, as opposed to doing the two-gapping they did frequently in college. They think doing so will untap more pass-rush upside than they showed in college. We'll see on that one. The team hasn't exactly killed it in terms of developing pass rush over the past couple years. Kinlaw was probably a similar evaluation, and he never developed as a pass rusher. Beal is a DE, but similar deal where they loved his get-off, but that hasn't turned into pass-rush productivity.

For Watkins, like Shanahan, he also spoke primarily about the dude's combine. I just don't get that. Why is the combine the first talking point for this player? Any single game film should be more important than how he ran the gauntlet. We'll see about that pick, but I'm not holding my breath. Feels like Kyle saw something he liked and made the call to draft him (Ahmad commented on how much Shanahan liked him). Shades of Dante Pettis, though at least this pick was two rounds later. Danny Gray, too, for that matter. Though Pearsall showed promise last year.

Mentioned how much QB's coach Mick Lombardi loved Rourke, too.

You get a real impression that the coaches have a tremendous amount of say in who the team drafts. I'm fine with that as a general proposition. You want the people who are going to be using these players to have a vision for them. But it also likely explains why it feels like the team reaches so much, and perhaps why they have a tendency to fixate on certain players and either move up for them or reach absurdly vs. consensus.


It was reported that Bobby Turner was behind the Joe Williams pick, Turner really liked him. The only other issue with that is accountability when overall things aren't working out unless you fire everyone.


As memory serves, Shanahan was the one who really banged the table for Williams. Where they took him, anyway. Not saying Turner wasn't also a big fan, but I distinctly recall stories of Shanahan being unable to sleep at the thought of missing out on him, or something along those lines.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#111 » by Pattersonca65 » Mon Jun 9, 2025 8:22 pm

CrimsonCrew wrote:
Pattersonca65 wrote:
CrimsonCrew wrote:Barrows has an interview with Tariq Ahmad, director of player personnel, that reviews the draft picks. Nothing all that earth-shattering, but a few nuggets that are worth sharing:

Mykel Williams and Nick Martin were great interviews. Hard workers, natural leaders that they hope can help this rookie class contribute the way we'll need them to.

They intend to ask the DTs in particular to attack more, as opposed to doing the two-gapping they did frequently in college. They think doing so will untap more pass-rush upside than they showed in college. We'll see on that one. The team hasn't exactly killed it in terms of developing pass rush over the past couple years. Kinlaw was probably a similar evaluation, and he never developed as a pass rusher. Beal is a DE, but similar deal where they loved his get-off, but that hasn't turned into pass-rush productivity.

For Watkins, like Shanahan, he also spoke primarily about the dude's combine. I just don't get that. Why is the combine the first talking point for this player? Any single game film should be more important than how he ran the gauntlet. We'll see about that pick, but I'm not holding my breath. Feels like Kyle saw something he liked and made the call to draft him (Ahmad commented on how much Shanahan liked him). Shades of Dante Pettis, though at least this pick was two rounds later. Danny Gray, too, for that matter. Though Pearsall showed promise last year.

Mentioned how much QB's coach Mick Lombardi loved Rourke, too.

You get a real impression that the coaches have a tremendous amount of say in who the team drafts. I'm fine with that as a general proposition. You want the people who are going to be using these players to have a vision for them. But it also likely explains why it feels like the team reaches so much, and perhaps why they have a tendency to fixate on certain players and either move up for them or reach absurdly vs. consensus.


It was reported that Bobby Turner was behind the Joe Williams pick, Turner really liked him. The only other issue with that is accountability when overall things aren't working out unless you fire everyone.


As memory serves, Shanahan was the one who really banged the table for Williams. Where they took him, anyway. Not saying Turner wasn't also a big fan, but I distinctly recall stories of Shanahan being unable to sleep at the thought of missing out on him, or something along those lines.


LOL, Turner was pushing Shanahan to draft Williams
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#112 » by clyde21 » Tue Jun 10, 2025 5:01 pm

CrimsonCrew wrote:
As memory serves, Shanahan was the one who really banged the table for Williams. Where they took him, anyway. Not saying Turner wasn't also a big fan, but I distinctly recall stories of Shanahan being unable to sleep at the thought of missing out on him, or something along those lines.


i guess coaches fall in love with certain players similar to how fans do :lol:
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#113 » by Jikkle » Tue Jul 15, 2025 10:02 am

I know people are worried about Collins not being signed but I saw a couple of days ago 30 of the 32 2nd round picks aren't signed so it's a league issue and not a 9er issue.

Seems like a standoff and nobody wants to be the first to budge but I'd imagine once things move they'll move fast and a deal with Collins will get done quickly.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#114 » by CrimsonCrew » Tue Jul 15, 2025 7:07 pm

Jikkle wrote:I know people are worried about Collins not being signed but I saw a couple of days ago 30 of the 32 2nd round picks aren't signed so it's a league issue and not a 9er issue.

Seems like a standoff and nobody wants to be the first to budge but I'd imagine once things move they'll move fast and a deal with Collins will get done quickly.


Yeah, it's not worrying on a personal level, but Collins is penciled in to start at a HUGE position of need, so if his development is delayed, it becomes a big problem for this team. He needs to get on the field and learn this defense.

Given that it's a problem almost every team is facing, I've got to think the dominoes will start to fall in the near future. I can't see 30 teams (or maybe 28 or something if a couple didn't have second-round picks) just not having their second-rounders participate in camp this year.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#115 » by CrimsonCrew » Wed Jul 16, 2025 10:42 pm

Looks like Rourke is getting a redshirt year. Just fine with me. It should extend his rookie deal by a year, gives him a chance to recover fully and get immersed in the offense, then make a bid for the long-term backup QB next year and into the future.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#116 » by Jikkle » Thu Jul 17, 2025 8:07 am

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Guessing that makes the 9ers the first to start the dominoes falling.

Glad it's done and he can be in camp to get rolling on his development.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#117 » by Jikkle » Thu Jul 17, 2025 8:09 am

CrimsonCrew wrote:Looks like Rourke is getting a redshirt year. Just fine with me. It should extend his rookie deal by a year, gives him a chance to recover fully and get immersed in the offense, then make a bid for the long-term backup QB next year and into the future.


Yeah it's an ideal scenario for everybody because they can stash him without having to worry about a roster spot for him and he can at least spend this year learning the playbook while being able to take his time to get himself right physically.
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Re: 2025 draft class 

Post#118 » by CrimsonCrew » Thu Jul 17, 2025 2:12 pm

Good vibes for player and the team that they were able to reach a compromise to get Collins into camp, both potentially catching some flak from their peers for "caving." It demonstrates a commitment to winning, albeit at a small level. Very happy that the big man will be there when practices start. He needs to have a big role from the jump.

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