A little more than a week ago we saw the richest contract ever given to a rookie draft pick: 6 years, $72 million, with $41.7 million dollars in guaranteed money. No matter how good or bad Matthew Stafford plays, he will receive $41.7 million dollars. Stafford has skills, no doubt about that, but time will tell if he is an Elway/Montana/Manning, or a Leaf/Couch/A. Smith (that's Akili Smith, take a breath Alex-lovers).

The rookie-pay-scale is a topic that has become popular in the build-up-to and the wake after the draft, but the money-pit that is rookie talent is not the only place where money goes to die when it comes to the transition from college to the NFL. One rarely thinks about the cost involved in recruiting these players from high school, and developing them into professional-grade football players.

College football programs put millions of dollars into scouting and recruiting of high school players, equipment and coaching supplies (video equipment), and coaching salaries. While much of this can be covered by alumni donations, tuition and merchandising, it is still a heavy burden for a college to take on. What can be a bigger drain on the economics of a collegiate football program would be if a talented player leaves early to enter the draft. In these circumstances, the money spent on scouting, recruiting and developing the player does not get its full worth. Money spent on a player leaving school after his junior year is only 75% effective - that money was designed to build 4 (or 5 if redshirted) years of talent. (I'm not sure if you have heard, but the 49ers drafted some WR that left school a year early.... Some guy named Mike... Mike... something... I'm not sure, I didn't hear much about the draft at all....)

In this post, I plan on analyzing an argument made by Allen Barra from the Wall Street Journal who wrote an editorial on this topic, saying that the NFL (and NBA) should reimburse collegiate programs for students that decide to enter professional sports prior to completion of their four years of eligibility, and analyze a possible solution for this under-the-radar situation in professional sports.

After the jump: Should the NFL pay NCAA schools for players that become professionals early?

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As important as it is to know all about our 49ers, it's equally important to know what's going on in the rest of the NFC West.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to get an assessment of each team's draft class from the respective bloggers.  So, big thanks to cgolden, VanRam and John Morgan for putting together excellent recaps of their 2009 draft.  After reading them over, feel free to vote on who had the best class.  Arizona will appear before the jump, with the remaining teams after the jump.

Arizona Cardinals - Revenge of the Bird
Selections: RB Chris "Beanie" Wells (1st), OLB Cody Brown (2nd), FS Rashad Johnson (3rd), CB Greg Toler (4th), OG Herman Johnson (5th), OLB Will Davis (6th), RB LaRod Stephens-Howling (7th), OG Trevor Canfield (7th)

Analysis: The Cardinals draft, outside of Beanie Wells, was pretty uneventful and thus hasn't really set the fandom on fire, but that doesn't mean that they didn't pick up some quality pieces. After getting a solid week of Anquan Boldin hoopla, the Cardinals decided they'd rather sit back and have an uneventful seven rounds. They were one of the only teams in the league to fail to participate in some kind of trade yet they still managed to fill most, if not all, of their needs.

First and foremost Beanie Wells is an instant upgrade at running back and regardless of what the Mel Kipers and Todd McShay's of the world will tell you, he's exactly the kind of back that Ken Whisenhunt covets. He may not be the best fit for a Kurt Warner led offense but the old Grey Beard won't be around forever and a Matt Leinart-led offense will need an effective running game to operate efficiently. Let Beanie get his feet wet for a year or two and we'll see where he is one Matty takes over the reigns. In the second round, Cody Brown is your typical college defensive end being converted to linebacker. He's a decent athlete and stout against the run but we expect very little from him in 2009. Making the move from DE to OLB is a difficult transition and it normally takes a full year. At best he's a situational pass rusher and special teams terror this season and hopefully he's ready to start in 2010.

Moving onto the second day, the coaching staff obviously watched last year's tapes again and saw way to many pass happy QB's having a field day against them. Enter Rashad Johnson at free safety and Greg Toler at cornerback. Johnson figures to be the third safety who plays in nickel and dime situations allowing Adrian Wilson to create havoc around the line of scrimmage. Toler's a physically gifted yet very raw talent who's luckily buried on the depth chart and will likely need a season or two in order to adjust the NFL game.

Big Herman Johnson slipped in the draft because he looked like a house and moved like on in the post season workouts. If he can keep his weight down he's a future starter and exactly what Russ Grimm looks for in an offensive guard, but if he keeps tipping the scale at over 350 or 360 he'll just be the heaviest guy in the unemployment line.

Will Davis is a pure passer but also a pure project who will probably be best served with a year on the practice squad as he learns how to play OLB. LaRod Stephens-Howling was LeSean McCoy's backup at Pitt but he also doubled as their kick returner. At best he's a Darren Sproles type of back and at worst he's JJ Arrington a couple of years ago, but either way in the seventh round it was worth that risk. Canfield is a guard who can also play center but will probably spend at least one year on the practice squad.

Overall the Cardinals filled their two biggest needs one the first day and sat back and took whoever they thought was the best player on the board to fit their particular needs. Wells, Brown and Herman Johnson could all be starters in a years time while Rashad Johnson, Toler and Davis could be productive guys on the depth chart. Ultimately this draft will be graded on how well Beanie Wells performs but overall I'd give the Cardinals a B+ right now.

After the jump, check out the recaps of the rest of the division.

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Early yesterday we rolled out grades for the 49ers draft overall and by player.  Naturally these are very arbitrary given that they have yet to don pads for the 49ers.  They could do nothing, they could be superstars.  However, it's practically required for a team blog to grade it's draft results.  I'm sorry, I don't make up the rules.  I forgot earlier, but big thanks to wjackalope for a feeee-nomenal graphic for this.

Accordingly, I thought I'd also go through and find some of the various draft grades given to the 49ers.  It's amusing how all over the place some of the grades can be.  We're sticking with primarily national folks as a baseline.  Due to length, most are after the jump.  Thanks to Dre for the FanShot of the Yahoo grade average article as I made sure to include those grades.  One reason to take these with a grain of salt (among many other reasons), is because of lazy comments like this from Clark Judge under "Biggest Losers":

The San Francisco coaching staff. Good luck with Crabtree, fellas. At least when Terrell Owens was a rookie, he was humble. Try telling Crabtree what to do.

Mel Kiper:

GRADE: B+
Obviously the 49ers hit the jackpot with wide receiver Michael Crabtree falling to them at No. 10. Running back Glen Coffee gives the 49ers a nice one-two punch with Frank Gore. Getting inside linebacker Scott McKillop in the fifth round was a steal. Bear Pascoe is one of the best blocking tight ends in the draft, and the two LSU kids (Curtis Taylor and Ricky Jean-Francois) were great pickups in the seventh round.

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The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity here at Niners Nation.  The draft kicked off Saturday afternoon and it's been a sprint ever since.  We've had seven draft choices and multiple undrafted free agents added to the fold.  We've had some screaming and yelling and we've had some more civilized discussions.

The common thread in all of this is that we've had a whole lot of posts for discussion.  Given that, I thought I'd put together a quick link dump of the various posts we've had the last few days.  You could go through three pages of posts and still not see everything that went down.  So, I thought we'd bounce back to Saturday and take a link-based journey through Draft weekend.

Before the draft started, the 49ers unveiled their new uniforms.  We had a nice-sized thread going discussing them.  Personally, I like them, but I think some folks may take some time to come around.

First draft thread of Saturday.  The best part of that thread is seeing the excitement as the Raiders took DHB and then Crabtree fell to the 49ers.  It's the kind of comments usually reserved for game winning touchdowns.

Michael Crabtree thread.  The excitement carried over as people wrapped their minds around adding Crabtree to the offense.

Third draft thread of the day.  Things were getting crazy busy as we had to open up a new thread while waiting for the 49ers second round pick that....

Never came. Some folks were fine with the trade, plenty of folks were not so kind.

After things got a bit heated following the trade, we closed out the evening with a bit of levity from our own Josh from Hollywood.  He had put together a live blog of the first round for our entertainment.

We also got a Scot McCloughan wrap-up of the first round.

Day 2 through now after the jump.

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More photos » by Paul Sakuma - AP

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And so the 2009 NFL Draft is officially in our rear view mirror.  Things got a bit heated at times (pretty much the entire time after the first round), but that's to be expected this time of year.  Unless you're a Raiders fan, most teams' drafts leave some fans happy, some angry and some somewhere in between.

Naturally, the first thing we can do is grade the draft.  I decided to wait a day so people could calm down and take a second look at the returns.  Some of you will still be angry, but at least you've had a chance to sleep on it.  Also, as you can see from the poll, we're including undrafted free agents in this group.  While not part of the "draft class," they are a part of the San Francisco 49ers rookie class of 2009.  Maybe they get lucky with some of them, maybe not.  But we're including them anyways.  On to the grades.  A grade for the draft as a whole is at the end.  And no pluses or minuses here.  Just solid grades.

Michael Crabtree, WR - Grade: A
I realize the luck/Al Davis stupidity involved here.  But sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.  And in this case, the 49ers were exceptionally lucky.  Crabtree was pretty close to #1 on my list of all players in the draft, and definitely #1 on the guys I wanted who I thought miiiiight slip to the 49ers.  He's a gifted athlete who could be the 49ers #1 receiver before too long.

Obviously most any pick could be a bust, but there was simply no way the 49ers could pass up when Crabtree was dangled before them at #10.  I think Michael Oher will end up having a very solid career in the NFL.  Nonetheless, when it comes to what he brings to the table, he is no Michael Crabtree.  Wide receiver was not a great need for the 49ers, but I won't even discount the grade because of that.  He's the man and that's all there is too it.

Glen Coffee, RB - Grade: C
I'm not a big Coffee drinker but i actually like Glen Coffee.  Based on what I've read and what some Alabama fans have told me (included in the above post), Coffee will be a very solid option for the 49ers as a backup running back.  I like that he knows he can stand to put on about 8-10 lbs.  That would put him at 6-0 and close to 220lbs.  More importantly he loves to hit things and you know Singletary loves that.

The reason I discount this grade so much is that I'd imagine they could have had him a little later, or even gone with some other RB options late in the draft.  Running back was a need for this team, in spite of what others might think.  However, there were some serious players available here that left me a bit confused.  In the end I can live with this pick because I do think the 49ers front office has some clue of what's going on (no snickers please).  However, it was one that had me a little bit befuddled.

Scott McKillop, ILB - Grade: B
Barrows was pretty much on the money with this as he was pointing to McKillop and another ILB at this spot a few minutes before hand.  People were screaming for Jamon Meredith as he was slip-sliding like crazy.  The selection of McKillop resulted in a lot of Agggggghhhhhs.  However, on reflection, people seem to be recognizing the value of the pick.

McKillop will start off as a special teams guy and a backup to Takeo Spikes.  Jeff Ulbrich is running out of gas and is probably nearing the end of his 49ers tenure.  Ulbrich could never snatch that Ted position, so now we've got another youngster who will get a crack at it.  This is mostly about the future as McKillop is a sure tackler who probably has a good chance to eventually take over Spikes's position.  Not a homerun pick but one that I view as very sound.

After the jump we wrap up the remaining four picks and undrafted free agents and give our overview.

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Michael Crabtree made his way out to Santa Clara earlier today.  He had a tour of the facilities and followed that with a press conference.  I definitely think Crabtree has no problem handling the press.  Maybe that's more of his "diva"-ishness!

RE: Are you the best player in the entire 2009 draft?

“I try to be. I strive to be. I like to work hard and try to be the best.”

RE: You’ve just heard what your new coach expects out of you. What do you expect out of yourself?

“Just to do what I’ve been doing since college, since high school: working hard every day, looking to my coach and, whatever the game plan is, go out there and execute the best way we can.”

Given all the posts this weekend, I've moved most of this after the jump.

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While Bear might have gone a bit early, he was a definitely a guy on people's radar as a potential blocking tight end.  If he makes the roster he'll be filling Billy Bajema's role.

RE: You’re from Porterville?

“Yes, sir. Yes, I am sitting down here right now at my parent’s place, I’m down at the barn just hanging out.”

RE: Down at the barn?

“Yeah.”

RE: How many acres do you guys have?

“We have about 30 acres here, 15 in oranges and 15 down the river where our horses and everything are.”

RE: What’s been your pro football team of choice through the years?

“As far as being a fan and everything…it’s kind of funny. I’ve always been a Dallas fan but now I got to switch teams. You know? I’m a niner fan now.”

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The 49ers used their fifth round compensatory selection on Nate Davis, the quarterback out of Ball State.  It remains to be seen if he could be the long term answer at QB, but he is definitely an intriguing option.  He won't be forced into an ugly Alex Smith situation, so we'll see what some bench time does for him.

RE: What’s your reaction to being picked by the 49ers?

“It’s just a great opportunity. I came out there to visit: it’s a beautiful place. Great coaches – Coach [Mike] Johnson. There’s just some great coaches. It’s a dream come true.”

RE: Did you have an idea when you came out here that you were on the radar and that you could be getting the call on the second day?

“I was thinking, sometimes I’ve heard before when you go it’s just to show people that you’re looking at them. I liked it a lot out there, loved the coaches but I always had a feeling that San Fran was the place for me.”

RE: What other teams did you visit?

“I visited the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

RE: Why is San Francisco the place for you?

“Because Alex Smith is a great quarterback and Coach Johnson is a good quarterbacks coach, and I can learn great stuff from them.”

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