One thing gets clearer to me as the years and drafts role by: fans and media are on one side of the equation and teams and their GMs are on the other. Us trying to get into the team GMs' heads or think we know almost as much as they do about players, when to take them, why they are the picked when they are picked, etc. is simply chuzzpah. And then when they don't take who our chart says they should, they're wrong and we're right.
Believe me, I'm thinking "my gosh, Humphrey is falling right into their laps". And then they take a smurf that was never on any of our radar. And then this Jones guy that doesn't seem to have any outstanding features....size, speed, pretty much anything. And then they trade back in order to have an extra 4th rounder? And they do it with the Niners?
Snead must believe that the 4th round is the sweet spot this year.
The other thing that is clear to me is that to grade a draft on the day of the draft is fool hearty. The earliest picks bust, and the latest picks bloom, and everything in between. You can't grade a draft class for 3 years minimum, and probably 4. Why? Because guys can have great rookie years, and then go downhill, and vice versa. Guys can be on an uptrend for 2 or 3 years, and then go south.
I think Snead has done a very good job drafting and managing the personnel and I'm going to have to trust that. Because otherwise I have no explanation for what happened. But it's also why fans are fans, and the media guys are just talking heads. It's 100% speculation versus the guys that actually evaluate and make the decisions.
So, we need to be patient and have a little faith in our FO. They've done us well these last few years.
And BTW: would you rather have traded the same draft capital the Niners did for Trey Lance, or for Matt Stafford as the Rams did? It was essentially the same. Would you rather have had the 25th pick this year (and probably next) or perhaps 1 of the top 3 corners in the game today that shuts down the best WR on the other teams offense game after game?
This is why GM's are paid the big bucks, and why some succeed and others are sent packing.
