Day one of this year’s draft wasn’t nearly as exciting as last year’s draft — at least, from my perspective. This isn’t an objective evaluation of the excitement, or even an evaluation as a fan. It’s just my personal feelings based on the context of this year.
Last year, the 49ers had two draft picks. Double the pleasure, double the fun. Thus, automatically, this year couldn’t be as exciting, haha. Last year, I remember being more optimistic that the Niners might make the playoffs. (To be fair, the division was really weak.) I also had a vehement hatred for Jimmy Clausen and hoped that the Niners wouldn’t draft him. I remember yelling, “NO CLAUSEN!” at the TV screen, much like I would yell during a football game.
This year, I definitely didn’t want Gabbert as the pick, but I didn’t hate him nearly as much as Clausen. The players that I would be extra excited about wouldn’t fall to the 49ers (Von Miller, Patrick Peterson). I didn’t do as much research, so I had an idea about certain players I would find acceptable that the 49ers might draft (Prince Ican’tspellhislastnamewithoutlookingitup, Cameron Jordan — a Cal guy, and Robert Quinn).
Instead, they picked Aldon Smith. I was like, “Who?” I was expecting to be either really angry or really happy about the draft. When I looked it up, some people were projecting him to go to Houston at #11, so it seems like this wasn’t a crazy reach. I couldn’t necessarily be angry. But I just didn’t have any idea who this guy was. I don’t have any strong opinions on the guy. I’ll do more research in the coming days, I suppose, but that won’t change how I felt yesterday.
How do I feel now about the pick? I still don’t really know enough about him, or enough about what other people think about him. I can’t form a good judgment. I will say that I am happy that at least they didn’t draft Gabbert. Even in a worst case scenario, another Manny Lawson is better than another Alex Smith. I also think I would’ve preferred Prince, but if this guy turns out to be a good pass rusher, I’ll be happy they went with him instead of the corner.