2011 NFL Draft

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag59

I can understand hyping him up this offseason. Last offseason though, not so much.




I get your concern, especially since I have it to, but I think we weigh competition levels way more then we should. A lot of people don't realize that a lot of quality football players are going to these mid major programs like Boise State, Fresno State, and even Nevada. In fact Fresno State's coach has an anybody, anytime, anywhere policy when it comes to scheduling yet they get turned down constantly because college football is a "year long playoff" that lets you choose who you want to play and most schools across the country would rather play FCS schools then mid majors like Fresno.



We're also in a day and age where we've seen Appalachian State beat Michigan in Ann Arbor. Boise State beating Oklahoma in a BcS bowl game. Joe Flacco is among the best young QB's in the game despite playing at an FCS school.

Anyway the point of all this soapbox ranting is the possibility (not the fact) that someone like Kaepernick was overlooked when he was 17 or 18 by the major schools and in 4 years at Nevada has taken his physical skill set and turned himself into a quality QB. If that's so then the strength of schedule should be an afterthought. At the very least he has intangibles that coaches love. Maybe not as good as Tebow but at least in the same ballpark.

Either way I won't know how I truly feel about Kaepernick (and Dalton/Ponder/Stanzi) until draft day. If Shanahan or some other QB guru takes him then thats a pretty good indication that he could turn into the real deal.

Good points. This is nothing new for pro scouts either. Our beloved teams of the 80s & the 49ers were known for finding diamonds in the rough of small school teams, before the term "mid majors" was even used. Darrell Green & Jerry Rice to name a couple HOFers e.g.