An uneducated, needless, and pointless draft review: Day 1

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016 3:54 PM:

I'm sitting in an office in Seattle completely oblivious to what the San Francisco 49ers will do for the draft. I'm helping Fooch get things ready for coverage, proving to my employers I'm actually working, and doing my own speculation. The only thing to keep me completely unfocused, whether with this, or anything else, is the office dog that constantly barks when it hears another dog down the hall give even a yip. I'm going to step away from this post, hoping the 49ers go for  DeForest Buckner despite logic saying they should add a piece to the offensive line.

If not Buckner, I'm very high on Joey Bosa. There is the risk of him not in a 3-4, but I feel there's a risk with every draft pick. Bosa is a beast. A beast that was triple teamed this year in several contests because he's just that good. On one hand, it's Tank Carradine, on another, it's J.J. Watt. Just don't draft Lynch, don't draft Cook. Don't draft a prospect with a bum knee that is going to be sitting for most of the season and not even see the field unless it's due to someone getting injured. Please.

In any case,I'll return to this post Thursday evening/Friday Morning when I'll continue this and make sense of whatever Trent Baalke tries to do. I had Fooch look at this to verify I wrote the above BEFORE the draft.  See you all then:

Thursday, April 28th 2016, 8:05 PM:

Hey! We got ourselves a Buckner. The 49ers defensive line is now officially bad-ASS. It would have been nice had  Jalen Ramsey made the fall to the 49ers at the 7th pick, but Buckner's potential sounds flat awesome. Pro Football Focus gave the pick an A+ and  the coming chemistry between him and Arik Armstead is welcome. If it all pans out in the future, a line with Buckner, Lynch and Armstead? Scary. Give them a year, offenses will be having fits.

A lineman would have been nice, but none of them were really anything spectacular or as unique as Buckner was at number 7. Jack Conklin would have been useful, especially with the recent Anthony Davis drama, but Buckner has too much potential. If it's between those two, Buckner seems the better pick.

Glossing over this pick would be pointless. Given the relationship with Armstead, I'm going to give this the tag of "Duck-Duo" and be done with it.

Grade: A+

I'm going to head off to bed. I see no reason in glossing that pick anymore than I already have. Buckner is an absolute freak and I almost can look past the Pac-12 connections and suppress Chip Kelly jokes on the said, Pac-12 connection. I'm sure ESPN is going to have a field day with this, but this is a great pick.

Time to turn in and--

Thursday April 28th, 2016 8:19 PM:

What in the flying hell? This editorial just got a helluva lot longer.

Well then. *sigh* Ok, *deep breath* let's talk about Joshua Garnett.

At first, shock and awe consumed the mood realizing the 49ers traded multiple draft picks to move back into the 1st round (a very big Trent Baalke assumed no-no). And the pick elicited a great big "What the [site decorum]"

And oddly enough, as time went on,this seems like a great trade and an even better pick.

This may not be a sexy pick. That's in the eye of the beholder. Plus, there's a chance Garnett would have been available once the 49ers picked in the second round, leaving that 4th and 6th necessary to bargain with.

Key word: chance.

There was also a chance the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals would have snatched him since they were rumored to be connected to this guy. Pro Football Focus has him graded out as a gifted run blocker and possibly the best run blocker in this year's class. Oh and then there's this:

The 49ers just drafted this dude: https://t.co/0f9vaAbFf7 https://t.co/mrRPhbk233

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger_sherman) April 29, 2016

If the rumblings of a running back only being as good as his offensive line are true, well Christian McCaffrey had a field day behind this guy, think about what Carlos Hyde will do. Garnett's played in a pro style offense, is wickedly smart,  and he brings the added bonus that the 49ers may have screwed over Arizona and Seattle getting him.

His pass protection needs work, but so did Mike Iupatti's. Yes, Iupatti was picked WAY ahead of this guy in the 2010 draft and yes, Iupatti has  better raw talent if there's a comparison between the two, but the point is, Iupatti worked out pretty damn well with similar strengths/weaknesses. It's probably not a fair comparison, but I'll use it anyways. If you watched that video above you probably noticed a few comments underneath where Garnett got absolutely worked. My response is to go watch videos of Eric Pears and Jordan Devey and tell me that this isn't better.

As far as the questions of where this leaves Zane Beadles, that's not near as bad as it could be. The 49ers are going to run a high powered, high octane, uptempo offense and Beadles is going to turn 30 this season. There may be a rotation between guards that could help the rookie, and if one doesn't work out, at the very least we have a backup plan. Even for what we gave up, having a small package to learn from never hurt anybody. And the best part of this pick for the fans? Jordan Devey will probably never see a 49ers offensive line again.

Yes, some real estate was given up for him. Good. How many of those gazillion draft picks make the roster anyways due to the wealth of talent (Trey Millard, Kaleb Ramsey, Carter Bykowski, the list goes on)? Yes, there actually is talent on that roster, even if it rarely showed last season. Might as well package things up and get the guy you want. Especially if two of your division rivals are sniffing the guy.  Also, how much of next year's draft did the 49ers give up? Nothing. Which means if things don't work out, it's just like another Trent Baalke pick from 2012...a bit more costly of a pick, but the same nonetheless, especially if Trent Baalke doesn't have a job next year.

As far as the position, yes the 49ers could have taken a tackle or a different guard. If you're taking what Mel Kiper says to heart, there were better options available if the team is going to give up draft capital, especially options not in the Pac-12. That's an argument I'm not going to win, just acknowledge it.

Bottom line: it's a good pick, a well-timed trade, but it's still a pick with a chance of not working, and the 49ers gave up capital to do it. Since this hides the bane of 49ers fans existence, Jordan Devey, I'll call this pick the "Devey-Omitter" and call it good.

Grade: B

Final Thoughts:

Definitely expected something else, pleasantly surprised with the final outcome. A bit of a reach, but two needs for the 49ers were addressed in that draft. Hopefully they aren't picking on the defensive line for the next couple years. I'll go B+ and see what crazy things happen tonight.