For the purposes of these questions, assume the following conditions:

A.  A top slot WR and top nickel/slot CBs are considered starters, given the prevalence of 11 personnel and nickel defenses.

B.  There will be no trades up or down in any round, nor will there be any trades for or away of players existing on rosters, so there will be no trading away Shenault or trading for DK Metcalf.  What you now see as far as draft picks is what we will utilize in this draft.

With the above conditions in place:

1.  How many new starters do you expect to come out of our free agency haul?  Who are they?
Kirk, Engram, Scherff, Oluokun, Fatukasi, Williams, Zay Jones

2.  How many immediate starters do you expect to come out of this draft?
Two or Three

3.  Are there any guys drafted last year that did not start for whatever reason last year to be starters this year?  Name them and if applicable, name their positions.
Cisco, Little

4.  Given the number of new starters combined from the questions listed above, would you say that is a good or bad total?  Why?  Do you think the number of new starters is a reflection of a job well done in terms of player acquisition, a function of how bad the roster was in the first place, the need for newer players to fit the new schemes, or some combination? Will the players be clear upgrades or scheme fillers?

This is as good as we can hope for, I think.  The other side is that the cupboard was so bare, the FO would almost have to be incompetent to not have significantly upgraded the starters in two off seasons.  Scherff is a clear upgrade to Norwell.  Oluokon is a scheme fit upgrade over Jack.  Fatukasi is an upgrade over whatever rotation guy was playing at the time. Cisco is an upgrade over Dewey.  Williams is an upgrade over Herndon/Ford/Whomever.  Little is an upgrade over Taylor.  Kirk is an upgrade over all our WRs. Engram is an upgrade over all our TEs.  Zay Jones is an upgrade over the bag of undesirables that started after Chark went down. 

Whoever the #1 pick is will be an upgrade, whether that is Hutchinson, Walker, Neal, or Ekwonu.  If I’m the one pulling the trigger on #1, I almost need to flip a coin to choose between Hutchinson, Walker, or Neal. If we look back in 5 years at this draft, we will be pleased with either of those three.  As much as I crave the kind of pass rush we could have with one of the edge players, if we choose Neal our OL is suddenly no longer a question mark.  We have the fortress to protect Trevor.  We could put out a very respectable starting five.

Whoever the #2 pick is would be a starter.  For sake of argument, let’s say it’s Skyy Moore.  While not a conventional X, if we’re in 11 personnel it’s the best 3 of Kirk, Marvin, Zay, and Skyy.  It’s hard to say he could not beat Zay, or based on athleticism, Marvin. That may not take off the top on deep plays.  But can you imagine what the short and intermediate game would look like?!

5.  Do your expectations rise or fall depending upon who has the most sway in the draft room between Baalke or Pederson?

All signs point to significant input by Pederson.  I expect his wishes to be respected.

6.  Would your expectations be any higher if Baalke had been fired or an EVP beeh placed above him as promised by Khan?

Hard to say.  I think the EVP would have been more a proxy for Shad’s lack of football judgment.  He could have restrained some of Baalke’s worse impulses.  But there are too many variables to answer well.

7.  Of all of the positions deemed to be needs on this team, what's the one position you somehow think will not be addressed by round 3?

I think LB and Safety are the odd positions out.  If Edge is taken at #1, the OL can be addressed in 3 and 4.  There is some good depth at IOL.  But if OT is taken at #1, then addressing Edge becomes much harder.  We have to hope Mafe falls to #33.  Otherwise, I don’t see a quality Edge available by round 3.

I will give my answers a little later.  I want to hear your thoughts.

---