Today, at 11:46 AM, Harrison sent me a text message. It simply states:
“I can’t wait til draft day, draft day is the best”
Harrison is incredibly right. Part of me wants me to just copy and paste that text message over and over until I get to 1,000 words for this entry. Day one of the draft really is the best part of the year outside of the season. Traditionally, the opening of free agency is the opening of the new year in the NFL and around the league, but I contend that the day before the draft is the end of the prior year. Free agency is ostensibly over, and your team is primed to add fresh faced rookies to its constituents. Rosters really start to take shape and coaches can start planning with personnel on hand. Free agency has really become the “off season” between the season that ends with the Super Bowl and begins with the NFL Draft.
What will come of the draft? I have no earthly clue what could possibly happen. I pay no attention to college ball; baseball, football, basketball is all a mystery to me until about a month pre-draft, then I start to pay attention. I could tell you who I think the Niners will get, but I would be regurgitating one of the Matts (Maiocco, Barrows or Williamson). I fully believe the Niners are using their massive amount of picks to move up, and any prognostication over who they will pick where they currently pick will be pointless.
Well, how did my 49ers do in the off season between the Super Bowl (which they lost) and the draft (in which they have eleventy billion picks)? I’ll take a look at it positing how they did, generally position by position. The free agent moves are courtesy of ESPN.com.
Quarterback
Out: Alex Smith
In: Colt McCoy
If you told me four years ago that I would feel a twinge of pain over the loss of Alex Smith, I would laugh, whole-heartedly in your face. We were coming off a year of JT “Just Touchdowns” O’Sullivan and Shaun Hill the year prior. This tells you the value of Mr. Smith to the 49ers franchise at the time. Nevertheless, Alex Smith became a massive part of the Niners’ franchise over the last two years. He was the NFL Offensive Player of the Week before he was benched following a concussion and was the hero of the NFC Divisional Game against the Saints in January of last year. Unfortunately for Alex, as he became affectionately known, Colin Kaepernick literally ran him out of town.
Supplanted by Kaepernick, Alex Smith was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for the 34th overall pick this off-season. This gave the 49ers two of the first 34 picks; an unprecedented position for the NFC champs. This is a massive pull for Harbaalke, who managed to turn their backup quarterback into a top-35 pick.
This left a vacuum in the 49ers chain of QB-authority, leaving their backup QB slot mostly vacant. I say mostly vacant because I truly believe that Scott Tolzien is a capable backup QB in the NFL. However, the 49ers thought differently and dealt a sixth-round pick for Browns Quarterback/scrambled brain Colt McCoy. McCoy will be a serviceable backup, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tolzien beats him out, given the athleticism required of a quarterback in the Harbaugh/Roman system.
RB: The 49ers made no significant changes at this position going from 2012 to 2013.
WR:
Out: Randy Moss
In: Anquan Boldin
If this post was written in 1999, I would be lamenting the loss of Moss, one of the best deep threats to ever play the game and a potential future Hall of Famer. This year, however, moving on from Old Man Moss to Old Man Boldin is a definitive step-up for the 49ers. Over the past couple of seasons, the biggest 49ers bugaboo has been the red zone efficiency, and Boldin represents a massive move forward in that respect. Boldin is a Tight End that has been reclassified as a Wide Receiver at this point in his career, and let me tell you, the 49ers are more than happy to have him. Moving from Moss, who was mostly a long-ball decoy to Boldin, who represents a second possession threat alongside the suddenly incredible Michael Crabtree, is a massive upgrade for the 49ers. Boldin will easily add 5-6 touchdowns to the 49ers, which, given their propensity for close games, could give them 1-2 more victories and an easy hand in the NFC West division championship.
While he isn’t a new player, the contribution of AJ Jenkins will play huge into the 49ers in 2013. They burned a 2012 draft pick on a player who received essentially no reps. Reports for the team state that Jenkins wasn’t ready mentally to handle the Rubik’s cube that is the Greg Roman offense. He is one of the young WRs who have practiced with Kaepernick this offseason (and is the only one who stands a chance of making the active roster every week), so I anticipate big things for Jenkins in 2013.
TE:
Out: Delanie Walker
In: Wishing the 49ers had resigned Delanie Walker.
The 49ers made no significant moves at the TE position in the offseason, and watched their “swiss army knife,” Delanie Walker, sign a massive-overpay contract to go to the Tennessee Titans. There isn’t much to say about this maneuver; I wish the 49ers had resigned Walker, but I wish him all the luck with the proverbial phat cash he acquired by moving on to the Titans. Thus far, the 49ers haven’t signed much of value at the TE position (I expect them to address it in the draft, specifically with Zach Ertz). There isn’t much to say here; Walker was of great value to the 49ers but he provided average contribution across a series of areas. This draft was perfect to replace him, as there are several TEs who can replace him, including Ertz and Tyler Eifert (one of each should reach the 49ers at the #31 pick). The 49ers lost a valuable, but replaceable player in Walker this offseason.
OL:
I almost want to just leave this year. The 49ers boasted what I consider the best unit in the league in 2012. They removed human turnstiles Adam Snyder and Chilo Rachal at Right Guard and replaced them with sudden stalwart Adam Boone. If you look up at the format there is an in/out involved, but the model of consistency that is the 49ers OL remains mostly unchanged going into 2013. The major move is from pulled-out-of-retirement Leonard Davis being replaced by “don’t call it a second year” OL Joe Looney. Rumor had it that Looney would be replacing C Jonathon Goodwin, but that turned out to not be the case.
That having been said, the 49ers did not lay flat on their offensive line this off season, signing RT Anthony Davis to a 5-year extension with the Niners. I’m excited about this move and hope it stands as a portend to Davis’s draft-mate Mike Iupati, who is also due for an extension.
Going into the 2013 draft on Thursday, the 49ers have done a great job in making moves to put themselves back atop the NFC in 2013. However, as the 49ers eye a TE, or potentially a deep threat WR, there are some holes in their offensive roster. Going into the draft, I will take a look at the suddenly more questionable 49ers offense and their offseason moves.
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