Not that we couldn’t have already figured this out for ourselves, but Matt Maiocco says there’s pretty much no way Michael Crabtree will suit up for the opener, even if he ended his holdout and signed a contract with the San Francisco 49ers today. Terrific. You know, because the 49ers are so talented they don’t even need a first round pick this year. Hey, they won five out of their last seven last year. Don’t want to mess with that.
Drafting in the first round should be fun (for the fans), and it should be lucrative. Since Scot McCloughan joined the team in early 2005 as a player personnel guy, the first round has been neither for the 49ers. In fact, you could argue that no other team in the NFL has had as many botched first round picks in the past five years as the 49ers. So, since the best thing to do in these situation is point our fingers at the Niners and laugh to keep from crying, let’s rank the last five first round performances by McCloughan and Co. (to be fair, in the first three years Mike Nolan had more power than McCloughan and should take most of the blame), starting with the least painful:
Fifth Worst: 2007
This is the draft where the 49ers picked up SEC Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Willis at No. 11, and traded their 2008 first round selection for the chance to snag Joe Staley with the Pats’ pick (No. 28). Willis may be the best linebacker alive, and Staley is a serviceable left tackle. Not bad, except for the fact that the pick the 49ers gave up turned into the No. 7 overall pick in 2008 (a pick New England traded to the Saints, who ended up drafting USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis).
Fourth Worst: 2006
Vernon Davis at No. 6 has been labeled a bust by many, but considering who else was available the 49ers could have done worse. For instance, the Raiders selected Michael Huff at No. 7, and Matt Leinart went tenth to Arizona. In fact, this whole draft was crap. It would have been nice if the 49ers had taken Jay Cutler (chosen 11th overall by Denver), but the 49ers already thought they had their franchise quarterback (more on that later). Eight of the first rounders from ‘06 have been to the Pro Bowl, but two of those (Vince Young and Joseph Addai) have pretty much fallen off the face of the earth since. The 49ers chose another guy who looks better with his shirt off than he does on the field in the first round, taking Manny Lawson at No. 22. You can’t close the book on either VD or Manny, but the returns to this point have been disappointing, to say the least.
Third Worst: 2008
Whenever the only thing you hear about a first round pick is the coaches defending his “work ethic” and “improvement” to the beat writers, you know the pick was probably wasted. Until Kentwan Balmer actually makes a tackle for a loss in a regular season game (or at least takes up a couple blockers every now and again), the grade here is incomplete. Kind of get the feeling this guy is lazier than JaMarcus Russell…hopefully Mike Singletary can wake him up a little.
Second Worst: 2009
There’s still a chance Michael Crabtree will sign a contract fairly soon, get up to speed by midseason and become an All-Pro wide receiver for a decade. Even if that happens, the damage caused by Crabtree’s ultra-long holdout has already been done. The 49ers look inept and have backed themselves into a corner, and the guy they hoped would be their signature player has been called a diva more times in the past three months than Mariah Carey has in her entire career. Still, there’s a chance this could all work out, even though every day that goes by makes it more possible that Crabtree will sit out the entire season.
When the 49ers had Crabtree fall into their laps, we all thanked the lord that Al Davis will never die, and that he’s still married to the idea that 40 times are some underrated quality that the other player personnel decision-makers haven’t caught onto yet. Ironic that Davis’ off-the-charts offer to No. 7-selection Darrius Heyward-Bey is the reason the 49ers are in this mess with Crabby and his agent, Eugene Parker. Al just smiled as he read that.
Worst First Round of the McCloughan/Nolan era: 2005
Bust. Bust bust bust. Bust bust bust bust bust.
We can all, without any doubt, hand this label to Alex Smith. No more excuses bemoaning the musical chairs situation at Offensive Coordinator, or the infighting with Nolan, or even the injuries (which have become as common for Smith as passes thrown out of bounds). This guy doesn’t have it, and Aaron Rodgers does. Pretty painful, considering Rodgers only played college ball in the Niners’ backyard. Unfortunately for Nolan and then-newbie McCloughan, the rest of the league knew well enough not to trade up for the No. 1 pick that season, and the 49ers relied more on Wonderlic tests and physical metrics against no competition than the obvious question marks about a quarterback from Utah who took all his snaps from the shotgun.
Smith’s a nice guy, and there’s a 1% chance he could have a decent season or two in the NFL — but it won’t be with the Niners, whose choice of Smith set them back five years and counting. That’s what happens when you run the worst team in the NFL (which the 49ers were in 2004) and you make the worst No. 1 overall selection in modern history. Hopefully Crabtree will sign sometime soon, because the 49ers can’t afford to waste yet another first round pick.
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Yikes! That’s a knarly list right there. It’s been a tough run for Niners fans, but here’s a Rams fan to make you feel better! At least the Niners didn’t blow their *entire* 2006 draft!
There’s no refuting Smith as the biggest bust. I think it’s a little early to put Crabtree 2nd on this list. I think he’s going to get signed when all is said and done. You’re right, the damage is done for this season, but he’s still the best receiver in this draft class.