Alabama football's Andre Smith works out during pro
day at the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility on the
UA campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Wednesday, March
11, 2009. (AP Photo/Tuscaloosa News, Dan Lopez)
Would you make your first round draft pick on a guy that didn't play in the biggest game of his life? How about drafting a guy that decided not to participate in the NFL Combine? What about someone who is supposedly too big for his position?
Apparently, the 49ers see him and want him. I'm talking about Alabama tackle Andre Smith.
In a report in the Chronicle, the 49ers were "impressed" with Smith in his pro day workout earlier this week. And even though his shirtless 40-yard dash was something that wasn't pleasant to the eyes, the 49ers see a potential of drafting Smith at #10 if he was to be available.
At Mining the Gold Rush, I had looked at the right tackle position and how it would be approached with other potential tackles. Drafting a right tackle at such a high pick is an interesting approach. One of the readers of the site, SCOTT, had this interesting statistic about drafting a right tackle so early in the Draft.
"It would be nearly unprecedented for a team to use a Top-10 pick on a RIGHT Tackle. Only 8 starting RIGHT tackles in the NFL were even drafted in the first round. Of those, nearly all of them play RIGHT Tackle now because they either struggled at LEFT Tackle (Alex Barron, Levi Brown), played LEFT Tackle in the past (Vernon Carey, John Tait) moved to the RIGHT side due to injury (Marc Colombo), or were converted interior linemen (Damien Woody). The others (Gosder Cherilus and Jeff Otah) were drafted last season and seem to be "Future" LEFT Tackles for their respective franchises."
The 49ers are in a clear need to upgrade at the right tackle position. Jonas Jennings has been a failure at the position. Adam Snyder and Barry Sims just aren't cutting it. I doubt the team will use the free agent market to try to get a new tackle. There are rumors of the 49ers and Orlando Pace meeting up for talks, but that's not going to happen. The team said they have no interest in the left tackle.
For Smith, he adds a lot of great potential to the team. His size and his ability to stop the rushers is something the team has struggled with. However, should the 49ers draft a right tackle so early? Is he Smith the real deal? The 49ers seem to think so.
Comments
unprecedented may be a stretch considering it happened last year... but the Niners should be drafting someone they could plug in at LT. They'll play him at RT b/c there's a hole there, not because he's incapable of playing on the left side. The reader is suggesting we shouldn't draft a tackle despite the gaping hole at RT just b/c they drafted Staley recently? That doesn't make any sense... If the BPA is a tackle, you take him, play him at RT and dominate the line of scrimmage with two beasts on the ends.
And "ONLY 8" is a little misleading considering that's a quarter of the starting RTs in the league.
At this point, I do believe that the 49ers will take the BPA, regardless if he can play RT or LT. In fact, I would hope that the team will get either that pass rusher or tackle with their first pick. Staley was able to move from right to left, so i won't be surprised if a player can do the same and move to the other side of the line.
you're both pretty much saying the same thing, and you're right, if the bpa is a rt, you take him. i think people see the drafting of a rt in the first round as odd is because they you feel you shouldnt pay first round money for a rt instead of a lt. but look at it this way, in free agency, a rt goes for about 35-40 million for about 4-5 years. if you grab a rt in the draft it will be about 18 million for the same time period. so if the right guy is there at rt, the niners should take him. (im still not completely sold on smith tho, but if anybody can motivate him into a pro, its samurai mike!!!lol)
Outland Trophy. Consensus All-American everything. He's the obvious choice. If he is--BY CHANCE--luckily available at 10, that will be the greatest draft pick by the Niners in a long, long time. LONG time.
The team understands its need at RT and if Smith is still available by #10, the Niners know that it would be smart not to pass up on this one chance.
I wonder about this guy's character. Especially after Singletary's speech at the season ticketholders meeting that he wants guys who will come to work everyday and are passionate about winning. I understand Smith showed up at the combine out of shape. I don't think he is the kind of guy Singletary is looking for...
PS Someone please get Andre Smith a man-ssiere!
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