Yesterday, Tim Kawakami wrote that the Niners may be seriously considering trading both their first round picks in order to move up to pick Jimmy Clausen. I rebut:
Worst. . . . Idea. . . . . . Ever. Lets see. . . The Niners have got a wide open division, hell, a wide open conference. A blossoming offense with a top 3 tight end, top 10 back and a potential top 10 reciever.
Alex Smith, for the first time in his career, is going to go into the season healthy (hopefully), with a year of experience in the system, and talented skill guys all around him.
The same Alex Smith who finished last season with 2,350 yds, 18TD's and 12picks in 10.5 games. Over a full season that proects to 3,600 yds, 28TD's and 18 picks. And that is with ZERO improvement.
They have a very solid young defense which gave up the 4th fewest points in the league last year, and stands to get better. Heck, the Niners even got a gamebreaking return threat in Ginn.
For the first time in 8 years, they have legitimate playoff expectations. (They always say they expect to make the playoffs, but this year experts and pundits will agree, anything less will be a massive dissapointment) The Forty Niners are a couple offensive linemen and a cover corner away from being a possible Super Bowl contender. And they have two fairly early first round picks.
So you’re telling me, with all of these things going for them, they are going to package those two picks, which could be used on two players who could start THIS SEASON, for a quarterback who, by your admission, wouldn’t sniff the field until 2011.
A guy who came from the same system that brought us Brady Quinn. You say that it’s harder to hit on a franchise qb in the 20’s than in the top 10? That may be true, but its just as easy to miss in the top 10, and it’s far more devastating. Just ask the Niners, who have TWO #1 OVERALL PICK QUARTERBACKS ON THEIR ROSTER! Or look across the Bay at your boy Jamarcus!
Timmy, I read you daily, and you’re generally one of my favorites, but this may be the stupidest theory you have ever come up with. It would be a terrible idea for them to pick Clauson at 13, let alone at 5.
They haven’t made the playoffs in 8 years. But according to you, they’re so confident in Singletarys ability to get this team to the playoffs that that they can afford to get ZERO help this season from their top two pics? They have this luxery because they can always draft Vladamir Ducasse in the 2nd round? What?
And by the way, if the Niners are assuming that they'll make the playoffs with no help, then must'nt they also be assuming that Alex Smith is going to play well, rendering your argument for trading up to get Clausen doubly moot?
I can only hope that you are horribly mistaken. The only good thing I can take from this article is that you never actually say that the Niners like Clausen. So this is a hypothetical based on a possibility that you won’t even guess to be true. If the Niners really really love Claussen they might trade their whole draft to get him, cause Ditka did it once so there’s precedent. Where, oh where, do you come up with this nonsense?
