Here we are again with another edition of the Golden Nuggets. It's freezing here. By freezing, and we're all Californians here aren't we (wink, wink), by freezing I mean 55 degrees and a bit of rain. That's what's great about Melbourne. This is as bad as it gets. Very similar to the paradise that is Fairfield, California, where I spent most of my youth. Only difference is the seasons are backwards and their football is funny. Great game, by the way, the Aussie Rules. Easy to watch. Like a kickoff, mixed with soccer, mixed with punt / pass / kick competition mixed with bloopers. I love it.
As for the real football...more football school notes and more draft recap. I guess there's not much else to take away from the 49ers at this point in the year. So that's what I give you...links.
A good article by Mercury News' Tim Kawakami shows that the 49ers draft strategy duplicated their free agency strategy and that was to add weapons to the offense. Duplication to insure improvement to the playmaking department. | 49ers draft copies FA moves. (Mercury News)
The 49ers are smarter. This article by BASG proves it. The Niners picks are graded according to their intelligence and they pass the test...get it? | Niners are smarter! (Bay Area Sports Guy)
Matt Maiacco gives a list of everyone on the 90 man roster at the WR position and breaks down the the position in depth. Crabtree will hopefully take another step forward. | Maiacco on the WR position. (Maiacco)
The 49ers get a value pick in the 7th round. Cam Johnson's athletic ability didn't always translate into production, but our coaching staff may be able to coax that out of him. | Value pick in the 7th. (CSN Bay Area)
The Niners can expect to get more picks from their free agency losses in next years draft. That, plus the impressive haul pulled in on the weekend should give us a ton of picks (maybe literally). | Niners can expect compensation picks. (Maiacco)
"Trent Baalke is a draft ninja." That is all I'll tell you about this video discussing the 49ers draft from CSN Bay Area. | Video analysis of the Niners draft. (CSN Bay Area)
Here's one I missed yesterday. Examiner.com's new 49ers guy, Christian Gin, gives a detailed breakdown of the 49ers draft class. Lots of info on each pick. | Draft analysis from examiner.com. (examiner.com)
A nice consolidation of the various grades given to both the 49ers and the Raiders (if you care about them, and some might). We get a C+. | Summary of our various draft grades. (Bay Area SB Nation)
Michael Crabtree should make strides this offseason. He says he has learned to take care of his body better after growing up and hopefully this will eliminate the nagging injuries that have plagued him. | Crabtree set to make strides this offseason. (49ers.com)
Mike Sando's mailbag answers a question for each team in the NFC West. His question on the Niners is why did LaMichael James fall so late in the 2nd round. I'll let you click to find out. | Sando's mailbag. (Sando)
This is an article with some video embedded. It's about Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald mentoring the two first round draft picks their teams selected. | Moss as a mentor? (Sando)
All the firepower added to the offense serve to raise Alex Smith's status. He has so many options in the offense that he has to be better than last year. | Draft moves elevate Smith's status. (SFGate)
Who is the anti-Travis Taylor Mays? New S Trenton Robinson, of course. Baalke hints that Mays couldn't do the things that Robinson can, namely, cover in the passing game. That was one of Baalke's worst picks, forced on him by Singletary. | Robinson is the anti-Mays. (SFGate)
Alex Smith got to throw his first passes to two of his new additions Randy Moss and Mario Manningham (remember rookies don't report until later). | Smith throws to Moss and Manningham. (49ers.com)
WHAT? That's what you'll say when you read this. The 49ers apparently tried to sign Randy Moss last year. They were told he had hung up his cleats. | 49ers tried to sign moss last year. (Yahoo!)
Adding weapons. That's the name of this video from NFL.com analyzing our draft strategy. Is Kendall Hunter's job in trouble? | Video on 49ers draft. (NFL.com)
The 49ers are assigned $4.02 million for the rookie draft pool. (Bay Area SB Nation)
Video of 49ers running the gauntlet. (49ers.com)
Video of Randy Moss' first day at football school. (49ers.com)
Mike Iupati has cut his hair. (49ers.com)
Being a Sheep
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