The San Francisco 49ers are interviewing ESPN analyst Louis Riddick on Tuesday for their vacant GM position. There are pros and cons to Riddick. He has NFL experience, but it does not appear to include any college scouting and draft experience. On the other hand, he is an excellent communicator on ESPN, which is a useful tool for working with his own staff and with other teams. And of course, he has a friendship with Josh McDaniels that could help him.
And then there’s this tweet.
Two of my favorite OL's acquired for great value due to positional versatility: #49ers Marcus Martin & Brandon Thomas. Future starters.
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) May 11, 2014
No general manager is going to bat 1.000 with their draft picks. A GM is likely going to need to do better than the proverbial 3-in-10 that can get a baseball hitter into the Hall of Fame. But, there will be plenty of misses.
I don’t think this tweet proclaiming Marcus Martin and Brandon Thomas as future starters is any reason to disqualify him (some people actually tweeted at me that it should), but it is the usual reminder to always temper expectations with the front office. The 49ers have to do big work this year and moving forward, so this is not an excuse for a poor high pick. But, this is a process that will take some time and have its share of misses to go with the hits.