Tag: San Francisco 49ers (Page 23 of 34)

      2009 NFL Mock Draft Version 3.0

      April 20, 2009 /

      This is it – the week NFL draft nuts have been waiting for. Soon enough, prospects will know what cities they’re headed to and draft mock experts everywhere will look like idiots when less than half of their predictions are correct despite spending hours of time researching the picks.

      I say it every year – the NFL draft is a crapshoot in terms of trying to make predictions. Nobody knows how high prospects are rated on draft boards around the league except the teams themselves. So while it’s fun to project who will go where, nobody has a clue – not Mike Mayock, not Mel Kiper and certainly not Anthony Stalter. (Did I just refer to myself in the third person? What a joke.)

      The following is my third and final mock of the first round. In my previous two mocks, I had some fun by predicting potential trades that could play out, but I won’t do it here. I’m playing this mock “straight up” because predicting trades in the first round is harder to do than predicting what kind of mood Billy Bob Thornton will be in when he sits down to give an interview. Zing!

      Some of you will inevitably feel as though that I have teams reaching with their picks. That’s fine, but realize that reaches are going to happen come Saturday because they’re just a part of the draft. If you disagree with any of my picks, go ahead and let me hear about it in the comments section. After all, the NFL draft is a spectacle and it’s supposed to be fun for fans. Enjoy all the action on Saturday and good luck to your favorite team on draft weekend.

      (Click here to see Mock Draft Version 1.0 and Mock Draft Version 2.0)

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      NFL, NFL Draft

      2009 NFL Mock Draft Version 2.0

      April 6, 2009 /

      In my first attempt to project the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft, I predicted the Lions to take Georgia’s Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick, Alabama’s offensive tackle Andre Smith to fall out of the top 15 and I also drummed up a potential swap between the Browns and 49ers so that San Fran could land USC signal caller Mark Sanchez.

      But to paraphrase that overactor Nicholas Cage in “The Rock”: Gee, kind of a lot has happened since then. Most notably the Bears sending two first round picks to the Broncos for quarterback Jay Cutler and the Giants’ release of receiver Plaxico Burress.

      Here’s my second attempt at projecting the first round of this month’s draft. As always, feel free to criticize in the comments section, but remember that I’m a human – I have feelings, too, damn it. So be gentle.

      (Click here to see Mock Draft Version 1.0)

      1. Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia
      Mock 1.0 Projection: Stafford
      Nothing in the past couple of weeks has changed my mind about Stafford eventually winding up in Detroit. GM Martin Mayhew reportedly wants to trade this selection because of the financial burden that is bestowed upon having the top overall pick, but other teams don’t want it for the same reason. In the end, Jason Smith (Baylor) and Eugene Monroe (Virginia) are both very good options here, but the Lions were reportedly very impressed with Stafford’s private workout and you know what? They simply need a quarterback.

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      NFL, NFL Draft

      Stafford won’t talk to shrink, so 49ers don’t want him

      March 31, 2009 /

      The 49ers are apparently concerned with quarterback prospect Matthew Stafford because he won’t open up to a psychologist about his parent’s divorce.

      Matthew StaffordA report in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests Stafford was uncomfortable answering questions at the NFL combine last month from a team psychologist regarding his parents’ divorce.

      Niners head coach Mike Singletary told KNBR (680 AM) in San Francisco this week that “if you’re going to look at drafting a guy in the first round, and you’re going to pay him millions of dollars, and asking him about a divorce about his parents, if that’s going to be an issue, uhhh, then you know what, maybe he doesn’t belong here.”

      Stafford, a potential first-round draft pick, told the Detroit Free Press that the psychologist presumed Stafford had “unfinished business” about his parents’ split in high school.

      I guess Singletary has a point in that, if a team is going to pay a prospect millions of dollars in the NFL, then it has a right to know as much about the player as possible. But this is a bit absurd. Stafford is only 21 years old – he’s still a kid. Him not wanting to open up to a stranger about a painful topic doesn’t mean he’s a bad egg or that he has psychological problems. It just means that he’d like to handle the manner in his own way and that doesn’t involve talking to a shrink.

      Considering Singletary pulled his pants down in front of his team to make a point during a halftime speech last year, maybe he should be the one seeing a psychologist and not Stafford.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      2009 NFL Mock Draft Version 1.0

      March 19, 2009 /

      It would probably be good for me to do an intro to this piece, but I’m going to skip all the foreplay and just get right to the action. And let’s be honest – you probably wouldn’t have read the intro anyway.

      Below is my first mock draft of the year. You can disagree all you want, but just make sure you go into detail in the comments section so I know you care. I hate those bastards that trash my work and don’t have the common courtesy to tell me how much of a moron I am in print…

      Let’s mock!

      1. Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia
      Jason Smith (Baylor), Eugene Monroe (Virginia) and Aaron Curry (Wake Forest) are all possibilities for new GM Martin Mayhew with this pick. But the offensive tackle and linebacker positions are deep in this year’s draft – the quarterback position is not. Mayhew can get his franchise quarterback in Stafford, select an offensive tackle at No. 20 and then fill the middle linebacker need in the second or third round. There, I just fixed the 0-16 Detroit Lions in less than 100 words.

      2. St. Louis Rams: Jason Smith, OT, Baylor
      If Smith goes No. 1 to the Lions, then I fully expect the Rams to take Virginia offensive tackle Eugene Monroe. With the jettison of long-time veteran Orlando Pace this offseason, St. Louis needs to address their need at left tackle and they’ll do so with either Smith or Monroe depending on who’s available. If it’s Smith, then they land one of the most athletic offensive lineman in the draft.

      3. Kansas City Chiefs: Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest
      The Chiefs could really use a right tackle to pair with last year’s first round pick, Branden Albert, but Curry would be too good to pass up here. GM Scott Pioli put a premium on versatile defenders while he was in New England, and that’s exactly what Curry is. The Wake Forest product could play either outside or inside in a 4-3 or 3-4 scheme and is easily the best defensive prospect in this year’s draft.

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      NFL, NFL Draft

      Alabama’s Andre Smith could fall out of top 15

      March 12, 2009 /

      Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith has done little right after being suspended for the 2009 Sugar Bowl by his former head coach Nick Saban for violating team rules.

      Along with Baylor’s Jason Smith and Virginia’s Eugene Monroe, Andre Smith was supposed to be one of the top tackles taken in April’s draft. But things went horrible wrong for Smith at the NFL Scouting Combine in late February as he measured 6’4” and 332 pounds (which is weight more suitable for a guard than a tackle), flat out admitted that he wasn’t in good shape and then mysteriously disappeared without working out.

      Several media outlets claimed that Smith’s interviews with prospective teams went “horribly” prior to his disappearance from the combine (which turned out to be a communication problem between him and his agent according to Smith) and some claim that he didn’t perform well at his Pro Day on Wednesday.

      Where Smith could fall on draft day is anyone’s guess. Given his talent alone, he could easily be a top 5 pick. But due to his roller coaster of an offseason, he could also drop into the bottom half of the first round.

      49ers beat writer Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee believes that San Fran won’t pass on Smith at No. 10, because they sorely need a right tackle and he also believes that head coach Mike Singletary could have a good influence on the young offensive lineman.

      But you can’t teach heart and desire and although Smith had an outstanding career at Alabama, he has done nothing to warrant being a top 10 pick in this year’s draft. In fact, if he is selected in the top 10, then maybe the scouting combine means even less than we all thought.

      College Football, NFL, NFL Draft

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