Not blown away, but finding a gm that actually hits on his draft picks usually are not for hire and even if one were, when you have to play 2nd or 3rd fiddle to Urban and possibly Khan I don’t know who would actually want to take this job.

---

[img]blob:https://www.duvalpride.com/1a8a2498-9833-4b7d-8cc7-5e45aa36d9f6[/img][img=648x560]blob:https://www.duvalpride.com/cfd7a344-8206-4fed-a4c4-6536e150b1a7[/img]

Somehow I feel like that "Nobody will outwork this guy!" is a case of damned by faint praise.  It's one of those things that might technically be true, but isn't really praise.  "He's a great talent evaluator!" is good praise for a general manager.  "He knows how to get the best value for his picks."  "He's an amazing negotiator."  Those are actual skills that are worthy of praise.  "This guy works hard!" is almost like saying he has no other notable skills but they want to say something nice about him because it's polite.  I seem to recall people saying the same thing about a certain other GM who shall remain unnamed.  




My issue isn't that he has misses.  It's that he often has reaches, which include taking chances on guys with torn ACL's.  Sure, if they work out nobody will be complaining.  But Baalke seems like a guy who'd take Myles Jack in the first round.  (Though that wouldn't have even really been a reach.  Jack was often touted as a Top 10 player even with his torn ACL.  But we were pretty fortunate to have a GM who was patient enough to wait to pick Jack at a better time, when there was less risk).  

For all of Caldwell's faults, one of them wasn't that he didn't know how to get good value out of a draft pick.  Heck, he got a 6th rounder out of Gabbert!  Can't believe some sucker traded a 6th round pick for Blaine Gabbert.

And you know who that sucker was? None other than our very own Trent Baalke... Yup that's right, he was the GM of the 49ers in 2014 when he/they traded that 6th rounder for Gabbert. 

---

"Treyvon Wallet is elite run defender and better overall than Aidan Hutchinson" 11/11/23

There was an article in CBS or somewhere yesterday highlighting Baalke and Meyers relationship dating back to Baalke being a west coast scout when Meyer had Alex Smith at Utah. Basically they’ve kept a relationship over the years. Idea was he would help show Meyer the ropes of the NFL this year and Meyer would determine how much he could or couldn’t take on in addition to coaching, then once the role is more defined he’d hire a GM that fits his vision next year.

---

The question we should be asking ourselves is who do you think would be better at finding talent in the draft between Meyer and Caldwell? I’m gonna go with Meyer

---

Meyer is not going to be calling plays on offense or defense; he's going to be a CEO type coach. To me, that means, since he is delegating a lot of responsibility to his offensive and defensive coordinators, he can take on some additional responsibility in player selection.

(Some of you guys are so negative. I'm just trying my best to put a positive spin on things.)

---

Ask the tinhorns how having the coach act as czar worked out...

It can work.

It can fail. 

We won't know with Meyer till we actually try it.  Do you think Meyer is smarter than O'Brien?

I think there's an inherent conflict of interest when HC and GM overlap. Is an HC/GM hybrid going to forego win now to ensure the future is taken care of? Is the HC going to prioritize talent over fit?

If Meyer had been around a while, and was getting the job done, I might have less apprehension about the perceived role in personnel decisions. But right now, there's no guarantee that anything he is looking to do will succeed. If he puts all the chips in on his system and it flops, the franchise is in terrible shape. If he quickly realizes he's not up to the task, we've taken steps further backward than we already were.

This is a very critical point in the team's history, and I'll wait to see how it pans out, but I am uneasy.

---

There was an article in CBS or somewhere yesterday highlighting Baalke and Meyers relationship dating back to Baalke being a west coast scout when Meyer had Alex Smith at Utah. Basically they’ve kept a relationship over the years. Idea was he would help show Meyer the ropes of the NFL this year and Meyer would determine how much he could or couldn’t take on in addition to coaching, then once the role is more defined he’d hire a GM that fits his vision next year.

Are you suggesting that Baalke is going to step down after a year, or that Meyer/Shad is going to fire him?
If that's the case Baalke might be dumber than any of us are giving him credit for.

---

There was an article in CBS or somewhere yesterday highlighting Baalke and Meyers relationship dating back to Baalke being a west coast scout when Meyer had Alex Smith at Utah. Basically they’ve kept a relationship over the years. Idea was he would help show Meyer the ropes of the NFL this year and Meyer would determine how much he could or couldn’t take on in addition to coaching, then once the role is more defined he’d hire a GM that fits his vision next year.

Are you suggesting that Baalke is going to step down after a year, or that Meyer/Shad is going to fire him?
If that's the case Baalke might be dumber than any of us are giving him credit for.

Not if Khan is giving him a healthy salary to go back to director of personnel - where he was before the Caldwell firing. 

He may be perfectly OK accepting that role working with his old buddy Urbs.

---

It can work.

It can fail. 

We won't know with Meyer till we actually try it.  Do you think Meyer is smarter than O'Brien?

I think there's an inherent conflict of interest when HC and GM overlap. Is an HC/GM hybrid going to forego win now to ensure the future is taken care of? Is the HC going to prioritize talent over fit?

If Meyer had been around a while, and was getting the job done, I might have less apprehension about the perceived role in personnel decisions. But right now, there's no guarantee that anything he is looking to do will succeed. If he puts all the chips in on his system and it flops, the franchise is in terrible shape. If he quickly realizes he's not up to the task, we've taken steps further backward than we already were.

This is a very critical point in the team's history, and I'll wait to see how it pans out, but I am uneasy.

FWIW - I'm uneasy as well. 
I'm merely pointing out ways in which this could indeed work out OK - since we've got a large handful of posters who think the ship has already sunk to the bottom of the mariana trench.

---

Maybe we could get a merging of Baalke threads? That way we can keep track of all the moaning and groaning and hand wringing for the next year or so...

---

Not blown away, but finding a gm that actually hits on his draft picks usually are not for hire and even if one were, when you have to play 2nd or 3rd fiddle to Urban and possibly Khan I don’t know who would actually want to take this job.

---

This is going to be a mess of catastrophic proportions.

---

This is going to be a mess of catastrophic proportions.

You're probably wrong. That is assuming Meyer is in charge of evaluating the talent and Baalke is there to write contracts. It sounds like that will be the case.

---

I'm condescending. That means I talk down to you.

Leftwich over Garrard? Dem fighting words

Lol, I tried to get all the classics in. Still can’t believe that was ever a thing.

---

Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

Some of you guys just want big name guys. Would you rather have Caldwell back ? Geez

I’m fine with it. We’re getting Lawrence and another 1st round pick. Oh no we got Trent at GM....we’re gonna go 1-15 again

Actually I would like Caldwell. I think his drafts are actually better from the same time period as Baalke and I think he was a good evaluator of talent.

---

Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

(Emphasis added)

The interview this afternoon on 1010XL supports this viewpoint.  It seems the biggest question is whether he can actually have a functional working relationship with Meyer, considering he flamed out with FOUR (4) different 49ers head coaches.

Somehow I feel like that "Nobody will outwork this guy!" is a case of damned by faint praise.  It's one of those things that might technically be true, but isn't really praise.  "He's a great talent evaluator!" is good praise for a general manager.  "He knows how to get the best value for his picks."  "He's an amazing negotiator."  Those are actual skills that are worthy of praise.  "This guy works hard!" is almost like saying he has no other notable skills but they want to say something nice about him because it's polite.  I seem to recall people saying the same thing about a certain other GM who shall remain unnamed.  

But the very best GMs have their misses.

Jimmy Johnson  spent the first pick of the 2nd round in 1990 on Alexander Wright.

Bill Walsh drafted Larry Roberts.

Belichick missed on any number of WRs.

It concerns me that he takes a lot of chances on guys with torn ACLs.  THAT is more concerning that the mere presence of misses.

That happens with every GM from time to time.

My issue isn't that he has misses.  It's that he often has reaches, which include taking chances on guys with torn ACL's.  Sure, if they work out nobody will be complaining.  But Baalke seems like a guy who'd take Myles Jack in the first round.  (Though that wouldn't have even really been a reach.  Jack was often touted as a Top 10 player even with his torn ACL.  But we were pretty fortunate to have a GM who was patient enough to wait to pick Jack at a better time, when there was less risk).  

For all of Caldwell's faults, one of them wasn't that he didn't know how to get good value out of a draft pick.  Heck, he got a 6th rounder out of Gabbert!  Can't believe some sucker traded a 6th round pick for Blaine Gabbert.

You know the sucker that traded that 6th round pick was Baalke right?

---

Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

I demand that the obvious incorrect "93% approval" option be edited to the obviously correct 91%. I mean, DUH!! Jeesh.

---

Looking to troll? Don't bother, we supply our own.

 

 

Some of you guys just want big name guys. Would you rather have Caldwell back ? Geez

I’m fine with it. We’re getting Lawrence and another 1st round pick. Oh no we got Trent at GM....we’re gonna go 1-15 again

Actually I would like Caldwell. I think his drafts are actually better from the same time period as Baalke and I think he was a good evaluator of talent.

When you are drafting in the top 5 or top 10 every year, you tend to land better talent

---

Per PFT it will be a joint decision on pick(s) between Urban and Baalke, with some input by Khan.

Yikes; we have been transported to the past with picks by committee ala Shack Harris and jack Del rio. That turned out well.

---

Per PFT it will be a joint decision on pick(s) between Urban and Baalke, with some input by Khan.

Yikes; we have been transported to the past with picks by committee ala Shack Harris and jack Del rio. That turned out well.

Were just a few bad GMs away from twitter polling our draft picks

---