FanPost

Trade Down - Way Down with SF??



I've only written a few fan posts on BRB, and they always stem from reading and commenting on someone else's article. After reading Nashmeister's excellent piece on Mettenberger, I really started thinking, I wish we had more picks in the second and third rounds - like several more.

I see players at the very top of the draft that I really like. I'm even warming up to Mr. Clowney. The guy has bulldog. How can you not like a guy that owns a bulldog? Also, that really fancy testing he did in Atlanta, well, he broke one of their machines. Gotta love that too. And, when asked what current NFL player he would like to pattern his game after, he had the good sense to say JJ Watt. I wrote a piece about how much I liked Greg Robinson and thought he's who we should take if we don't trade down, and another piece about how we could trade down a couple of times and acquire extra picks in the second round. Considering how difficult it is to find one trading partner, I would imagine it's even trickier to find two.

So, I took a look at which teams had multiple picks in the bottom of the first through the 3rd round, and MAN, San Francisco is loaded. I knew they had two 2nd round picks, but I didn't know they had three 3rd round picks as well. One of those is a comp pick, so we can't get our greedy paws on that one, but maybe we could offer up our 1.1 for their 1.30, 2.24, 2.29, 3.13, 3.30, and 4.29. Now, for those of you reaching for your handy trade value chart, let me save you the trouble. It only adds up to a little more than 1600 points. The things is, I don't care. I would take that deal all day long and twice on Sunday. San Francisco's motivation for doing this deal is two-fold: 1. Aldon Smith may need to be replaced, and Clowney would be one of the few who could fill those shoes, and 2. there's no way all those picks make that team. Even if we don't trade the 1.1, we should consider trading the 2.1 with them for extra picks.

I know many of the readers on BRB would think we were giving up elite talent for scrubs. I just don't see it that way. I don't think we're getting 4 quarters for a dollar either. I see players in this draft that look like they're going to be quality starters in this league for a long time. It's impossible to say for sure, but the same is true for whoever you take at 1.1. With this many picks at the top of the draft, you have a much better chance to hit several home runs (or maybe just triples) with the occasional strike mixed in. If you're still thinking we need their #1 in 2015 to make it fair, that's just not how it's done anymore. Unless, of course, there's a franchise QB involved. Even if they trade down to #6 with Atlanta, I wouldn't expect to get much more than their 2nd rounder.

Think about this, we could address QB, RB, TE, WR, OLB, DE, NT, ILB, CR, and FS with picks in the top 4 rounds. Clowney may very well be the next hybrib Reggie White/Lawrence Taylor, but he can't man 6 spots on defense. At his best, he may make Watt and others better, but he can't cover the holes in our D and we all know that New England and other top AFC teams will exploit those weak areas. Our best year on defense wasn't when JJ Watt had his all world year, but rather, when we had fewer weaknesses to exploit and we could get after the passer at multiple positions.

So, along with our own remaining picks, here's what we could possibly do with that haul:

1.30 - DE - Hageman, Tuitt, Jernigan

2.1 - QB - Bridgewater, Mettenberger, Garopollo, McCarron

2.24 - OLB - Murphy, Attaochu, Van Noy

2.29 - RB - Hyde, Hill, Sankey, Mason

3.1 - ILB - Skov, Boreland, Jones

3.13 - RT - Mewhort, Turner, Hurst

3.30 - NT - Jones, Ellis, McClullers

4.1 - TE - Fiedorowitz, Gillmore, Lynch

4.29 - CR - Gaines, Allen, Purifoy, Mitchell

4.35 - FS - Brooks, Bailey, Ladler

5.1 - WR - Janis, Saunders, Heron

6.1 - FB - Prosch, Millard, Hoskins

6.35, 7.1, and 7.42 - BPA/SpecialTeams

So, thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. Is it May 8 yet?

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