The Draft: A Posey or a Balmer

by 16to80endzone on Jun 7, 2008 12:24 AM PDT

In MLB Baseball, the SF Giants drafted a much heralded 9-in-1 position player in Buster Posey, who hit .468 in 63 games with 24 home runs and 86 RBIs, as the 5th pick, and he is one of the most pure hitters in Amateur ball now.

In NFL football, who did the 49ers get? Balmer, whom the 49er called the best player available to them on the board. They didn't get DeSean Jackson or some star, but a player who quietly goes about his business. Balmer was picked because of his size, strength, and athleticism. Balmer is strong enough to move the pocket but is he a pass-rush threat, recording just 3.5 sacks as a senior?

Obviously, the 49ers feel he is a good candidate to disrupt things so that the front seven will be able to get to the opposing quarterbacks. Balmer is a 3-4 defense kind of guy.

We got Balmer who had 3.5 sacks as a college senior, and Justin Smith, a free agent who registered 2.0 sacks, both in 2007. Not many sacks, huh?

Balmer might be a good player for the Niners, but I'd take a Posey, because his numbers show, Posey is actually the top two collegiate player in the nation.

Balmer? He's just one of the guys. One of those mean, streaky guys, I mean.

Hopefully.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.

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Two different sports, man

But the Giants needed someone like a Posey.

MURS for President!!!!!!!

by jtoj on Jun 7, 2008 2:29 AM PDT 0 recs

balmer v. posey

I get the general idea where you’re going with this FanPost, but if you’re gonna fully consider everything, remember the Giants were drafting 5th overall. If the 49ers had the 5th pick they could have grabbed a Vernon Gholston, Glenn Dorsey, Sedrick Ellis or Derrick Harvey (among many others). Big difference there.

Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!

by Fooch on Jun 7, 2008 8:51 AM PDT 0 recs

Sitting On the 49ers Lap

DeSean Jackson, a potential superstar, was sitting in the 49ers lap when they chose a player who is not a wide receiver, if I am right, and took Balmer instead.

If we had more draft picks and drafting higher, that’d help too. It’s just not a glamorous draft for us this year, but a blue collar one.

But sometimes a blue collar draftee will do damage, and boy, I hope so!

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 7, 2008 12:48 PM PDT up 0 recs

I don’t mind not getting DeSean Jackson at all, and I’m a fan of his.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 7, 2008 11:57 PM PDT up 0 recs

DeSean Jackson, a potential bust

The odds of Jackson busting are infinitely greater than the odds of Balmer busting.

by methodrampage on Jun 8, 2008 11:01 AM PDT up 0 recs

Speed a Bust?

How can pure speed be a bust? But yes, Balmer can provide consistency as a workhorse.

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 9, 2008 9:02 AM PDT up 0 recs

Quoted for Insanity

How can pure speed be a bust?

Neglectful father of David Quinowski

by marcello on Jun 9, 2008 9:41 AM PDT up 0 recs

+1

Apparently all it takes to succeed in the NFL is pure speed and brute strength.

by methodrampage on Jun 9, 2008 11:05 AM PDT up 0 recs

Awesome!

I’m almost halfway there!

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 9, 2008 11:22 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hmmm...

See: Ismail, Qadry

It’s not like the 49ers were the ONLY TEAM that passed on him. There were 48 other picks before him, in which, I think all 32 teams passed on him as some point. Jackson is talented, in speed. He lacks size, strength, and questionably, toughness to stick it out for 16 games per season. I think teams had valid question marks in him and have no problem with the 49ers passing on him all together.

Method points out he has less of a chance of succeeding than Balmer does, and I’ll agree with that.

by sfgfan on Jun 9, 2008 10:54 AM PDT up 0 recs

Workhouse Value

Balmer is of workhorse value, I’ll concede. DS Jackson, aka “The Flash” will show flashes of brilliance, but success is spelled out in a 16-game season.

Or should we vote for NFL to increase from 16 to 17 games a season?

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 9, 2008 12:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

WORKHORSE VALUE

Disregard the title in the comment above. A typo! I meant Workhorse Value, not Workhouse Value.

There should be a edit feature for all finalized replies (groan).

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 9, 2008 12:25 PM PDT up 0 recs

DeSean Jackson = Peter Warrick

IMHO

by methodrampage on Jun 9, 2008 11:10 AM PDT up 0 recs

ASHLEY LELIE!!!!!!!

by Nellieball on Jul 4, 2008 4:26 PM PDT up 0 recs

Let’s not forget Jemile Weeks in this discussion!

Plenty of A’s fans on board, here.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 7, 2008 9:45 AM PDT 0 recs

As Balmer, Smith, and sacks go, one again I can’t stress enough that the personnel on our defense has never been and is not now suited to get sacks directly from defensive line play. This is one reason that I am extremely hopeful about Balmer’s potential as a future Nose.

We’ve got lots of guys who are supposed to pressure the QB in the linebacking corps – guys lie Lawson and TBC. We don’t have those guys on the line. It’s one reason that the 3-4 is a logically better fit for this team (conversely, our semi-deficient defensive line is a reason why a 4-3 makes more sense). Which, altogether is a good reason why we’re probably going to run a similar 3-4/4-3 hybrid to the last few years.

And hopefully the pass rush works this time.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 7, 2008 9:49 AM PDT 0 recs

And by “never” I mean during the Nolan years.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 7, 2008 9:49 AM PDT up 0 recs

How does running a 4-3 make more sense with a semi-deficient line? You probably have a good point, I just don’t know what you mean.

I wouldn’t be upset with Franklin/Sopoaga at NT, Balmer playing a 3-technique, Smith at strongsite end, and Lawson at weakside end when we went to a 4-3. You could even go with Balmer at NT, Smith at 3-tech, Lawson and TBC at ends for an obvious passing down. Sounds surprisingly…decent?

by rufio on Jun 8, 2008 9:25 AM PDT up 0 recs

Semi-deficien was a bad way to say it. The fact is that our line is semi-deficient regardless whether we’re running a 3-4 or a 4-3. There’s no getting around that. It’s not what I meant, though.

What I meant was that our defensive line doesn’t have the ideal personnel (and is thus “semi-deficient” – again, it was fairly bad phrasing on my part) to run a 3-4. I was saying we have the linebackers for a 3-4, the defensive lineman for a 4-3. Which is why the hybrid is likely not going anywhere.

I hope that doesn’t sound like nonsense.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 8, 2008 10:51 AM PDT up 0 recs

I hope that doesn’t sound like nonsense.

Especially since I apparently can’t type to save my life.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 8, 2008 11:20 AM PDT up 0 recs

They could do...

... like the “all-time” team here and go with a 4-4! (Kidding, of course).

by sfgfan on Jun 9, 2008 10:58 AM PDT up 0 recs

But you can do cool box-quote things.

I agree that the Dline is not where it needs to be for us to be a Super Bowl contending team while playing a 3-4.

Balmer can be the guy at either DE spot in a 3-4. He may have the versatility to play NT, but we won’t be able to tell for at least half of this season, probably a season and a half.

Sopoaga and Franklin…I wouldn’t mind seeing either of them as the 4th man on a 3 man line.

Smith is a wildcard: where do we play him? Do we slim him down, stand him up, and let him rush the passer? Do we bulk him up, put his hand on the ground, and tell him to take up blockers? I am curious to see. He can certainly get the job done in a 4-3, but where does he fit in our scheme? He could potentially solidify the 2nd of 3 DL spots.

We do need a super bowl caliber NT though. That’s one type of player that doesn’t come around every year in the draft. I don’t think anyone on the roster is capable of playing NT (in a 3-4 scheme) at a really high level. We also have a few guys who may be able to contribute but didn’t get a chance to prove it last year. I think at best we have 2 of 3 spots nailed down, and to fill the most important one we are still looking for the next Ted Washington.

As for LBs in the 4-3, Willis could play the MLB, and I would have to go with Brandon Moore at SLB, and either Ulbrich or Larry Grant at WLB. Still, we probably have 1 spot nailed down for sure and 2 spots at best.

The good news is, this could all be fixed in 1 offseason.

by rufio on Jun 9, 2008 7:41 PM PDT up 0 recs

Lawson

Where’s Lawson in 4-3 LBs discussion? I think that he would play the Sam in a 4-3, with B.Moore playing the Will.

by sfgfan on Jun 10, 2008 8:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

We actually had every WR in the draft available, not just DSJ.

I still like the pick of Balmer. The casual football fan looks for their franchise to draft a WR or a star RB, but NFL people know that the game is played from the lines out, period.

Sacks are not the only Dline stat that matters. Pressuring the QB and making him throw it away, or throw INTs can be equally or more effective. Playing your role in a defense is more important than how many sacks you had. I did not watch Balmer in college, so I don’t know what his role was. If it was to take up 2 blockers every down, then he could have been very successful and only had 3.5 sacks. Some people are thinking Balmer will play NT for us, and that means taking up 2 blockers, not getting sacks. If teams were always beating UNC in the 2nd half and ran almost every down to milk the clock and Balmer only had half the chances at sacks that other players had, 3.5 is pretty damn good for an interior lineman. Stats never tell the whole story.

If you didn’t like the pick for other reasons, then fine. But simply because the guy’s stats weren’t good…

by rufio on Jun 8, 2008 9:21 AM PDT 0 recs

Effectiveness at the D-Line

As Rufio put it, if you take up 2 blockers every down, that is successful despite getting only 3.5 sacks, that was a genuine pointer. Sometimes stats don’t tell the whole story. We have to watch every down from the sidelines to see what the guy has done.

My ideal draftee is:

1. One who did exceptionally well at the Pro Combine

2. Who has game speed, not only Pro Combine speed

3. One who compensates in other ways other than registering sacks

4. If a scout sells a draftee to the coach, likewise the coaches to the head coach, that’s telling a lot about that player’s potential

5. If other players vouch for the draftee saying, “wow that guy is real fast, real explosive off the line of scrimmage” then that gives me reason to get excited about that player

6. Decent stats and consistently over a 4 year span in college

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 8, 2008 10:03 AM PDT 0 recs

Defensive linemen....

... outside of 4-3 ends don’t post stats. They don’t generally “do exceptionally well” at the combine (or Pro Days). Other than those two stipulations (and the related ones), I think you’re pretty much describing Balmer.

The ability for a coach, scout, or ANYONE to sell an idea to the GM should not be used as a measuring stick on how good a draft pick is. If you have a defensive line coach who can sell a candied apple to someone with dentures, he could sell a useless player to a coach pretty easily (not that the 49ers have such a coach).

by sfgfan on Jun 9, 2008 11:02 AM PDT up 0 recs

Candied Apples and Dentures, Inc

“sell a candied apple to someone with dentures”

I’ll sell candied apples with insurance policies to denture wearers. Maybe throw into the pot overnight denture solution cleaners.

Laughing My Arse Out (LMAO)

You’re getting there sfgfan, I like your sense of humor. You’re outdoing me, man.

If there’s something about the 49er fans, we have sense of humor. Uncanny sense of humor.

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 9, 2008 12:19 PM PDT up 0 recs

Actually, mine comes from a can.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Jun 9, 2008 12:26 PM PDT up 0 recs

Ah.

That explains why your sense of humor is that odd color pigmentation.

by sfgfan on Jun 9, 2008 2:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

No, that's his sense of humas

which comes from a can too.

by methodrampage on Jun 9, 2008 2:30 PM PDT up 0 recs

Color Pigmentation

If I was a Raider fan, I would have the black and silver odd color pigmentation.

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 9, 2008 4:05 PM PDT up 0 recs

uhhhh

two different sports two different teams, you cant compare the different situations

Ellis to the rim!

by Sprewell4President on Jun 10, 2008 11:51 PM PDT 0 recs

I for one would have been very disappointed if the Niners had drafted Buster Posey.

If you like things that are funny, perhaps you will enjoy ChatterBalks Dot Com?

by groug on Jun 16, 2008 4:10 PM PDT 0 recs

Ball Boy Buster Posey

If the Niners drafted Posey, I’d appoint him Ball Boy. After all, he’d take a bat and bring out his bucket to scare the living bats out of the new rookies. That would sequence the rookies into proper position and adjust their hands into proper technique.

"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."

by 16to80endzone on Jun 16, 2008 7:04 PM PDT up 0 recs