The Niners systems, or at least their approach to their systems, are much less rookie friendly than ours are. To accurately gauge their draft success based on the number of starters they produce, we'd have to adjust our scope of measurement to be broader because their learning curve is presumably steeper. That or we're much better at quickly coaching our new faces up than they are which is only remotely a slight to their GM. It's also a slight I would imagine their fan-base is more than okay with at the moment.

[quote="themunn"].

In 3 drafts (before 2013) with the Seahawks Schneider has made 28 picks, and 22 of those players are still with the team (though I expect a few will be cut to make room for some 2013 guys), almost of whom have had significant playing time. In the process has built inarguably one of the strongest rosters across the board in the entire league - to such the extent that he could afford to pick a 3rd RB with his first pick in 2013 and nobody has criticised him for not filling a position of need... because there aren't any.

quote]

When comparing GMs around the league, this point can't be emphasized enough. Schneider built one of the youngest, athletic, talented rosters in the league from scratch. We're only in his fourth offseason, and we're already stacking for projected depth. He built the equivalent of the 90's Cowboys with relatively light draft capital (i.e., it wasn't built from top-10 first rounders aside from Okung).

amill87 wrote:And BTW, between the 2010 to 2012 draft, the Niners drafted 25 players. 5 of them are starters. That doesn't wow me. It's not bad but it's not great either

Starters:

2011:

Smith
Kaepernick
Miller

3 pro bowls between them and an All Pro

2010:

Davis
Iupati
Bowman

3 pro bowls. 3 All Pro nods

6 starters, 6 pro bowls. 4 AP distinctions. Even despite the 2012 mulligan, that's incredibly impressive over 3 years.

Comparatively, we've added 11 starters. But this team was bereft of talent. Some of those starters are likely to be replaced in the next year or two as they aren't real quality starters. We've also not had the success that the Niners have had over that span. So the lack of all pro distinctions is understandable.

Their drafting under Baalke is inconsistent. They've had issues getting good players past the early 2nd round. Bowman is clearly the outlier. Miller is -- well he's a fullback. And even a good fullback is just not something you rest your laurels on as a personnel guy. Baalke has hit significantly on his early picks. This year will be the 2nd consecutive year they've picked late in the rounds. And it's reasonable to think that SF will be saddled with low draft capital for the medium term. Thus far, their record without having high draft picks is poor. This draft will probably not resolve the inconsistency label -- it really can only confirm the poor results of 2012.

SF is approaching the precipice. They have to find a quality replacement for Justin Smith and Frank Gore. They also are going to have to acquire quality depth to spell some of the players hitting the wrong side of 30 (Asomugha, Goodwin, Boldin and Rogers). They also have several approaching the 30 mark (Brooks, Davis and Staley)

It's going to be increasingly difficult for SF to maintain quality, if they remain reliant on 1st and 2nd round picks. Particularly top half of the draft picks. This is a big year for them. They have to show they can get significant quality outside the top 15 overall.

twisted_steel2 wrote:I love Harbaugh, the dude is so fun to hate and make fun of! It was a great hire!!

What is he, 3 years old?

Attyla the Hawk wrote:

amill87 wrote:And BTW, between the 2010 to 2012 draft, the Niners drafted 25 players. 5 of them are starters. That doesn't wow me. It's not bad but it's not great either

Their drafting under Baalke is inconsistent. They've had issues getting good players past the early 2nd round. Bowman is clearly the outlier. Miller is -- well he's a fullback. And even a good fullback is just not something you rest your laurels on as a personnel guy. Baalke has hit significantly on his early picks. This year will be the 2nd consecutive year they've picked late in the rounds. And it's reasonable to think that SF will be saddled with low draft capital for the medium term. Thus far, their record without having high draft picks is poor. This draft will probably not resolve the inconsistency label -- it really can only confirm the poor results of 2012.

SF is approaching the precipice. They have to find a quality replacement for Justin Smith and Frank Gore. They also are going to have to acquire quality depth to spell some of the players hitting the wrong side of 30 (Asomugha, Goodwin, Boldin and Rogers). They also have several approaching the 30 mark (Brooks, Davis and Staley)

It's going to be increasingly difficult for SF to maintain quality, if they remain reliant on 1st and 2nd round picks. Particularly top half of the draft picks. This is a big year for them. They have to show they can get significant quality outside the top 15 overall.

Good catch on Miller. I forgot about him cause well....he's a full back.

Bowman is a great pick for him and he deserves kudos there but even Ruskell hit on an all pro player in Max Unger. Than you got a starting full back, who is pretty good. Than three players in the the top 17, two of which are all pro (although it is debatable how good Smith is when Justin Smith is out, elite players don't need other players to make them elite but I digress). And finally Kaep. I know it'll sound hypocritical but I think the story of how good he is is still yet to be written.

So just like you said, Baalke has been pretty good at the top half of the first round, half his starting players came from there. By definition, he appears average. He isn't like the bad GMs who do terrible in the first round and he isn't like the greats who do great later in the draft. He hits on the players that are supposed to hit.

Scottemojo wrote:

Disp wrote:No, I'm still here, I'm just incognito. I'm not comparing Schneider and Baalke. I asked who, other than Schneider in your fan base's eyes, has done a better job at GM over the past few years. I brought it up because Baalke has been exceptional, yet some of you seem to think he's a middle of the road GM. You guys are the ones pounding your chests.

I asked a legitimate question that didn't have anything to do with the Seahawks at all and you guys got all defensive.

So, I give you a legit and true response about Baalke, one you can't possibly deny, and you continue to thump the SeaHawks don't respect my guy drum? Puhleeze. I think you want to feel persecuted. Baalke is a great GM and his best move was hiring Harbaugh. Right? Or is your inferiority complex demanding you feel like all Hawk fans must disrespect your boy?

Radish asked me to stop posting in the thread because it was stirring stuff up, so I did. I don't think anyone would argue that his best move was hiring Harbaugh, just like the Patriots hiring Belichick was their franchise's best move.