2020 NFL DRAFT OFFICIAL thread

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

At what price? Next year's second round pick? He's only signed for this year, and I don't see how we can fit him under the salary cap for an extension. Not to mention he turns 32 before the season and has had some health issues. I'm just not that interested unless we can make it happen for our fifth round pick.

A 5th this year and a 4th next year could make that happen I think. They could throw in a 6th next year in addition to getting Williams.

I think that's what I said. But as I also said, can't see it happening with a $14.5M cap number unless Staley has already told Lynch that he is retiring.

Going back to reading some of the stuff that came up during the weekend. Man, we are some lowkey prophets on here.

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Watched two of Kinlaw's full games, against Georgia and Alabama. My thoughts:

Kinlaw is clearly a gifted player physically. There are times that he wins and makes the opposing OL look absolutely silly. Several times each game he just destroyed the guy across from him. He can split double teams and drive players back into the pocket/QB. That said, he's a bit inconsistent, or was in these two games anyway. He can play a little high at times, and he seems to lack much nuance in his pass rush. He had almost no discernible countermove if his first move didn't work. He just kept kind of bull rushing or try to rag-doll the OL, usually with minimal effect. When he wins quickly, it is pretty awesome to watch. When he doesn't win quickly, he often doesn't impact the play at all.

He's definitely at his best attacking up the field and penetrating. He has good speed off the snap for a DT, and great power in his hands when they land. But he frequently struggled taking on double teams. That's especially true in the run game, where he seemed like something of a liability (again, this is just two games against good OL competition). When doubled, he did not effectively hold his ground. When singled, he usually held his own or won, but even when he was in position to make a TFL, he generally could not stack-and-shed, more often flailing as the RB as he ran past. This was pretty pronounced in one red zone series against Alabama, I think, where he was in great position to make a big play both times, but couldn't get his hands on the back. Obviously today's NFL defense is all about pass rush, so I'm fine with that, but it is something to keep an eye on. As a three-technique, hopefully he won't have to take on double teams too often, but Buckner did do a fair bit of that.

Ultimately, the dude has major upside, and that's exciting. There is some bust potential there, but I like what I saw for the most part. My reservations have to do with the positional value rather than the player. DT just isn't an impact position, and we are thin at OL and DB after years of neglecting those positions (other than the McGlinchey pick, but that came in tandem with trading Trent Brown so the position was a huge need).

I got this from the 2019/2020 College Football thread. I posted this way before the selection was made. Proof that I was never against Kinlaw, the player—but in fact I thought very highly of him:

I know I am in the minority but I'd rather have Ruggs at #13 over Jeudy or Lamb. Stylistically, Jeudy is similar to Pettis (and to a lesser extent Bourne) - NOT actual shown ability but just in terms of style. Stylistically, Lamb is similar to Deebo. Ruggs brings a dimension that we don't have, thus I think he provides Shanahan with more options to complement Deebo and Bourne than the others do. Although trading down is a real possibility and grabbing someone like Mims at 31 works as well. Of the group, Ruggs (4.27) and Mims (4.38) are the only ones that have sub 4.4 speed. You can't teach that kind of speed.

I am one of the few that you speak of in regard to being in the minority. Ruggs is a true big time playmaker—for every 4/5 times he touches the ball he finds the end zone. I’m not too positive if that’s the exact ratio of him that I read but whatever the actual number was, it was an insane amount when you put it in perspective. However, CeeDee is a much better player than given credit for. He’s much better than Deebo. Not taking anything away from Deebo but the comp for CeeDee is not Deebo but DeAndre Hopkins. [b]If both CeeDee and Ruggs are gone then I’d rather trade back a little and select Kinlaw.[/b] Get a receiver day two someone like Lavishka Shenault.

[NinerSickness]

I got this from the 2019/2020 College Football thread. I posted this way before the selection was made. Proof that I was never against Kinlaw, the player—but in fact I thought very highly of him:

I am one of the few that you speak of in regard to being in the minority. Ruggs is a true big time playmaker—for every 4/5 times he touches the ball he finds the end zone. I’m not too positive if that’s the exact ratio of him that I read but whatever the actual number was, it was an insane amount when you put it in perspective. However, CeeDee is a much better player than given credit for. He’s much better than Deebo. Not taking anything away from Deebo but the comp for CeeDee is not Deebo but DeAndre Hopkins. [b]If both CeeDee and Ruggs are gone then I’d rather trade back a little and select Kinlaw.[/b] Get a receiver day two someone like Lavishka Shenault.

Great call, man. I didn't watch a single snap of Kinlaw's before the draft, but I knew he was one of the 2 top DT prospects in the class. And in hindsight, I actually like him better than Brown (I always thought Brown was a little bit overrated).

Very happy about this pick; there isn't a single guy taken after him I'd rather have (for once).

[Samurai]

I think Salvon Ahmed is making this team. He looks like he could thrive in our system.

Watch on YouTube

Apparently we signed Ahmed to a 3-year deal today. This strikes me as very unusual to make that type of commitment to an undrafted FA. Particularly for a guy that the coaches have not seen in training camp yet. Obviously a lot of unanswered questions about his speed, or lack thereof (he's been reported to be a 4.3 guy but ran 4.6 at the Combine). Since he has the reputation of being a good receiver out of the backfield, and McKinnon is the only RB we have with that type of reputation, maybe he is being viewed as McKinnon's replacement? This signing has me confused.

[CrimsonCrew]

I think Salvon Ahmed is making this team. He looks like he could thrive in our system.

Watch on YouTube

Apparently we signed Ahmed to a 3-year deal today. This strikes me as very unusual to make that type of commitment to an undrafted FA. Particularly for a guy that the coaches have not seen in training camp yet. Obviously a lot of unanswered questions about his speed, or lack thereof (he's been reported to be a 4.3 guy but ran 4.6 at the Combine). Since he has the reputation of being a good receiver out of the backfield, and McKinnon is the only RB we have with that type of reputation, maybe he is being viewed as McKinnon's replacement? This signing has me confused.

Three years is standard for UDFAs. None of it is guaranteed, and they end year three as restricted free agents (like Bourne and Breida this year). UDFAs are basically a shot in the dark, and we're somewhat thin at RB as we don't have anyone all that established. We've been doing pretty well with UDFAs with good physical traits. This could be another one of those moves, even though his testing numbers were pretty mundane. Hasty is a 90% SPARQ athlete, second-best in the class (though three sigma's number seem off this year), and he was also used fairly frequently as a receiver (76 receptions in his final three years of college to Ahmed's 50), so he might have a leg up on this competition. I'd love to see one of them beat out Coleman.

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Watch on YouTube

[wco81]

Well if the season is delayed or shortened or canceled, Trent may not even play for the team.

Then how does the draft and offseason grade?

[Bingo_AlphaMan]

Well if the season is delayed or shortened or canceled, Trent may not even play for the team.

Then how does the draft and offseason grade?

Trent along with the other 230+ players that was drafted last weekend wouldn’t play either. So no way to grade it...!

I still think a lot of teams did well—the Cardinals, Cowboys, Dolphins, Broncos, aced it.

[wco81]

I meant if Trent is a 1-year rental and he doesn't play or plays a shortened season, then the value is not quite the same.

[CrimsonCrew]

Looking at some of these UDFAs, TE Chase Harrell is interesting. Big longshot, a converted WR with very little college production (seven receptions in his final two years of college), but some really intriguing physical tools. His closest NFL comp is probably Kittle, just from a pure numbers standpoint. Both are 6'4" (1/8" different), Harrell weighs 10 pounds more (or did compared to Kittle at the combine). Harrell's 40 was 0.01 slower, his vertical was 1" higher, his broad was 5" shorter, and he had four more reps on the bench. Kittle didn't do the agility drills, but Harrell had a great three-cone (6.76), and an above average though not great short shuttle (4.34). If he had been at the combine, those numbers would have been good for second in the 40, fourth in the bench, fourth in the vertical, tied for fourth in the broad, first in the three-cone, and tied for fifth in the short shuttle. Except for the three-cone (37th percentile), I think all those other numbers are in the 80th and 90th percentiles.

I think it's worth taking a look and seeing if there's something there that we can develop, though he's a practice squad guy at best this year.

[Yoshi]

I came away happy with the draft - what salvaged it was us acquiring Trent Williams. What we gave up is almost a good of a move in comparison to what the Cardinals gave up for Hopkins.

I really don’t like the Aiyuk pick for various some of which are the same reasons that Crimson wrote about several days ago. Deebo Samuel showed us last year how tough and physical he is to bring down. The only receivers that brings that same exact has physicality when the ball is in their hands is Shenault and Antonio Gibson. Aiyuk is definitely more elusive than Samuel but I don’t agree with the notion that he’s the best YAC receiver in the class. Other than the stats anyone can see that Shenault is much more dangerous than he is (reverse / jet sweeps / bubble screens etc.).

YAC in the Pac-12 aren't YAC in the SEC, no doubt, so I get the hesitancy on Aiyuk. Though that applies to Shenault as well. Re: Shenault, I didn't get around to watching him myself for some reason. The issues with Shenault in my eyes - based primarily on reading/listening to scouting reports - is that he's basically a Samuel clone, and he's got a physical style combined with a pretty significant injury history. That's why he fell the way he did. I'm not confident he can stay healthy in the NFL given the way he plays. Aiyuk is also similar to Samuel in some ways, but from the brief highlights I've seen of both guys, Aiyuk looks faster and smoother to me. Granted he's also not as big.

I think the better burst/explosiveness that Aiyuk provides with more vertical speed than Deebo (or Shenault) is a big reason why Shanahan liked him so much. That distinction from Deebo provides Shanahan with more weapons rather than having "two Deebo's". Shenault is much more physical. When he has the ball and sees a DB in front of him, he tends to have a Bronko Nagurski mentality. And given that he's dealt with injuries the past 2 seasons, that makes his NFL durability more of a question mark. I'm fine with picking Aiyuk. Obviously I would have liked it better if it was at 31 instead of moving up to 25, but Shanahan strongly felt he wouldn't be there at 31. Since Shanny and Lynch have far greater resources on reading the tea leaves than I do, I have to assume he had strong reasons to make the deal. He said Aiyuk was one of those "6 foundational players" and he valued him and Lamb nearly equally. Since Lamb was already gone by then, he must have felt that getting 2 of his "6 foundational" guys in the first round (particularly their #1 guy in Kinlaw) was something he could not pass up. I liked Mims more than Shenault and was hoping he would trade down from 31 to get him, but oh well.....

Initially, I was upset as well about the Niners trading up to get Aiyuk, only to learn later that Green Bay would have nabbed him had the Niners not done so. I'm a big Bama fan, and that offense was terrific, but I also wonder if Ruggs/Jeudy are products of the system as opposed to being truly elite players.

Ruggs is your classic Raiders pick - lots and lots of speed. What concerns me is how he will fair as probably the feature WR in that offense and with his size when he was surrounded by Jeudy, Davonta Smith, and Waddle. This guy has flashes of Tyreke Hill but he wasn't featured enough. There are many guys before him have lots of speed (Brandin Cooks, LeMichael James, etc) but didn't feature well enough into their teams. I just wonder about Ruggs.

Jeudy is a true baller, and for what it's worth is a solid route runner. If you ask me I think he has a chance to surpass guys like Amari Cooper and Riley to become the second best WR to come out of Bama since Julio. My only question regarding him is his physical strength, as he is not a solidly built WR. I was at the Alabama - Clemson game in Santa Clara back in January 2019 and he had some difficulty coming of his sets due to Clemson's corners jamming him on the line. If he's in open space, watch out, but I wonder if he can bulk up and still play at his speed.

That leaves us with Aiyuk. Gotta admit, I did not watch the PAC 12 as much this year with Cal sucking, but another down year for the conference altogether. He also looks like a guy who take catches to the house, but what I keep hearing about him is his route running being unpolished. Aiyuk, however, based on his interview with Shanalynch, looks like a guy who wants it. I hope he's a legit WR threat who can make us forget about Pettis.

[Scoots1994]

Initially, I was upset as well about the Niners trading up to get Aiyuk, only to learn later that Green Bay would have nabbed him had the Niners not done so. I'm a big Bama fan, and that offense was terrific, but I also wonder if Ruggs/Jeudy are products of the system as opposed to being truly elite players.

Ruggs is your classic Raiders pick - lots and lots of speed. What concerns me is how he will fair as probably the feature WR in that offense and with his size when he was surrounded by Jeudy, Davonta Smith, and Waddle. This guy has flashes of Tyreke Hill but he wasn't featured enough. There are many guys before him have lots of speed (Brandin Cooks, LeMichael James, etc) but didn't feature well enough into their teams. I just wonder about Ruggs.

Jeudy is a true baller, and for what it's worth is a solid route runner. If you ask me I think he has a chance to surpass guys like Amari Cooper and Riley to become the second best WR to come out of Bama since Julio. My only question regarding him is his physical strength, as he is not a solidly built WR. I was at the Alabama - Clemson game in Santa Clara back in January 2019 and he had some difficulty coming of his sets due to Clemson's corners jamming him on the line. If he's in open space, watch out, but I wonder if he can bulk up and still play at his speed.

That leaves us with Aiyuk. Gotta admit, I did not watch the PAC 12 as much this year with Cal sucking, but another down year for the conference altogether. He also looks like a guy who take catches to the house, but what I keep hearing about him is his route running being unpolished. Aiyuk, however, based on his interview with Shanalynch, looks like a guy who wants it. I hope he's a legit WR threat who can make us forget about Pettis.

My WR rankings going in to the draft was Lamb, Jeudy, Aiyuk, Ruggs. I think Ruggs is a little over-rated, but it's rare for players like him to have long productive careers too. It's good to draft for the career and not just the peak year or two. Lamb and Aiyuk were not playing on stacked teams with all the talent in the world around them and were more tasked with being the man to carry their team.

I'm thrilled with Kinlaw and Aiyuk in the first.

The 49ers played several games last year down a lot of players to injury. Last year PFF ranked the 49ers the 4th most injured team in the NFL, the year before the 5th most. If they want to contend regularly they have to find a way to stay healthier.