That's a damn good write-up there. I agree with most of it, especially the "not wasting picks on backup TEs part" as I was furious last year when they picked Spaeth instead of Marshall Yanda. I was also pretty mad when they drafted Lawrence Freaking Timmons instead of Paul Posluszny or Joe Staley (Staley would've made the most sense, but I'm a big Poz fan). So if they hadn't wasted those picks last year, we would have a good, young OT and OG to replace the junk they started last year. Combine them with Marvel Smith and Kendall Simmons, and the OL would be decent if center was addressed in mid rounds this year. The OL was absolutely pathetic last year...the entire thing. Simmons always has sucked, Mahan and Colon were out of position and suck anyway, and even Smith and Faneca sucked (Faneca got all-pro by name alone).
The DL was good till Smith got hurt, but old and no depth (which was apparent when Smith got hurt).
Tommy Boy cost us several games with poor coaching, but overall wasn't nearly as bad as I expected since he was so pathetic in misusing the Vikings D last year.
Big Ben proved he's a top QB. IMO, there's not a QB in the league that could've done half as good as he did playing in Pittsburgh. He might not have put up quite the #s of a Brady in New England, but Brady in Pitt wouldn't hold a candle to Ben. I've never seen a QB play as well while under constant pressure in my life.
As for Willie, he's good, when there are holes. His whole game is predicated on hitting the hole hard and fast, and getting to the 2nd lvl. When there is no hole, he's no good. Simple as that. Nothing changed this year, other than the OL sucking and him getting a ton of carries. We also got away from using a "real" FB, Dan Kreider, and reverted to a worthless Carey "Bowling Ball" Davis instead.
Drafting a punter was a good move, though.
My draft last year, prior to the actual draft (not hindsite) would've been:
1. Joe Staley, LT
2. Brian Leonard, HB
3. Brian Robison, OLB
4. Daniel Sepulveda, P
4. Tim Shaw, LB
5. John Wendling, S
5. Mason Crosby, K
7. Dan Santucci, OG
I realize my draft neglects DL, WR and CB, but there just weren't any available worth the picks. Guys I liked were Sidney Rice, Jason Hill, Yamon Figurs, and Laurent Robinson. DE, there weren't any past Adam Carriker that I liked...same with CB past Darrelle Revis, both taken in the 2 picks before our 1st.
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