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| "Smile and remember - I've just made you a millionaire. You're welcome. This is a recording." |
That said, I'm not very excited about the Aldon Smith pick. This is probably because I've seen the 49ers try to draft a pass rusher for the better part of three decades in the first round with minimal results dating back to Jim Stuckey. Since 1999 alone, the team has selected Kentwan Balmer, Manny Lawson, Andre Carter and Reggie McGrew in the first round to provide a top-tier pass-rushing threat to the front line, and none of them achieved any sustained success in San Francisco. While the team has done a good job at picking up some interior linemen like Bryant Young, there are still many more Ted Washingtons than Dana Stubblefields in their draft history.
So I'm hoping Aldon Smith, who was a general consensus surprise pick, will become the type of player we all hoped Manny Lawson would be. But until he rings up double-digit sacks, I'll be pessimistic in his ability to break the current cycle of first-round pass-rushing busts. On the other hand, what are the odds of drafting two "A. Smith" busts less than ten years apart?
So what did some of the "experts" think about the 49ers' first-round selection? Here's a brief sampling - and if you bother to check out the comments in any of these articles, you'll see that I'm not the only person who remains pessimistic about the Niners' level of competence :
- Knapp: Smith wasn't worth a No. 7
- Kawakami: Odd pick for 49ers
- Sports Illustrated's draft analysis: "a very curious selection."
- Pro Football Talk: First Draft Surprise
Ted Washington actually had a very nice career that lasted 16 years, and included 4 pro-bowls. The Niners traded him away but they shouldn't have.
ReplyDeleteTed Washington did have a nice career - but not with the team that drafted him. That's a wasted pick in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI doubt the Buccaneers consider drafting Steve Young a success, either.
Yeah I agree it was a wasted pick, wish we would have kept him.
ReplyDeleteThe only true pashrusher I can think of that was great is Charles Haley. The rest were all borrowed, Fred Dean, Big Hands, Ricky Jackson, Richard Dent, Kevin Greene, Chris Doleman. Good players though, even if they were past their prime.
I don't consider Andre Carter a total bust, but kinda for the 7th overall pick. Julian Peterson could get after the QB though, John York was to cheap to keep him. That's the difference between John and Lil' Jed, Jed is shelling out $$ to keep our young guys, and paying big money to a coach (Harbaugh may or may not pan out but it's still a hell of good effort on Jed/Baalke's part) rather than the cheap route of Erickson and Nolan. John didn't give a shit. I was as disgruntled as you are during the John York days, I'm still giving Jed the benefit of the doubt.
At any rate, I hope Aldon Smith turns out good, we need him bad! He sure looks like a freakish athlete. I personally think he'll be good, but it may take a year.