2017 draft effected both Superbowl teams

Super Bowl 2020: Revisiting the Patrick Mahomes draft-day trade and how the Chiefs' gamble paid off

fBy Jordan DajaniJan 25, 2020 at 12:11 pm ET • 8 min read


The 2017 draft class was a bit top-heavy when it came to quarterbacks. It wasn't considered a deep class, but there were a couple of signal callers who had the potential to develop into NFL stars. Mitchell Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were considered the top three quarterbacks in the draft once Day 1 arrived. However, it's important to remember just how far Mahomes shot up draft boards. Early in the process, he was discussed as a Day 2 pick, then a fringe first-rounder, but all it took was one team to fall in love.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/supe ... -paid-off/

The 2017 draft was bad for the 9ers, and they're lucky it wasn't absolutely atrocious.

What saves it is that Kittle is the best player at his position in the NFL. They had a 3rd round grade on him but took CJ Beathard in the 3rd and Joe Williams in the 4th instead. :lol: :roll:

They're lucky as hell he was still there in the 5th.

DJ Jones is a decent base down DT, and three years later there's still a chance of Spoon and Taylor being something, but overall it was a bad draft.

Popeyejones":1p3d0i1v said:

The 2017 draft was bad for the 9ers, and they're lucky it wasn't absolutely atrocious.

What saves it is that Kittle is the best player at his position in the NFL. They had a 3rd round grade on him but took CJ Beathard in the 3rd and Joe Williams in the 4th instead. :lol: :roll:

They're lucky as hell he was still there in the 5th.

DJ Jones is a decent base down DT, and three years later there's still a chance of Spoon and Taylor being something, but overall it was a bad draft.

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We've had this conversation before and we disagree. Thomas and Foster....no getting around it. Titanic disappointments.

However, for me, Kittle makes it ALL a wash. If no other player panned out, that guy is a franchise changing talent.

If you take him in the top 5 and put Thomas in the 5th round, the draft would be viewed very differently. Jones is very good. Taylor is good when he can stay on the field.

The 2017 draft didn't have all the foundational pieces we'd hoped, but the 49ers are absolutely not in the SB without that 5th round pick from Iowa.

Popeyejones":vps5qj83 said:

The 2017 draft was bad for the 9ers, and they're lucky it wasn't absolutely atrocious.

What saves it is that Kittle is the best player at his position in the NFL. They had a 3rd round grade on him but took CJ Beathard in the 3rd and Joe Williams in the 4th instead. :lol: :roll:

They're lucky as hell he was still there in the 5th.

DJ Jones is a decent base down DT, and three years later there's still a chance of Spoon and Taylor being something, but overall it was a bad draft.

Click to expand...

Kittle is a beast, but I don't think he's the best TE in the NFL. Not yet. I'd give that to the guy who'll be starting against you on Sunday.

Maulbert":1qdj24uv said:

Popeyejones":1qdj24uv said:

The 2017 draft was bad for the 9ers, and they're lucky it wasn't absolutely atrocious.

What saves it is that Kittle is the best player at his position in the NFL. They had a 3rd round grade on him but took CJ Beathard in the 3rd and Joe Williams in the 4th instead. :lol: :roll:

They're lucky as hell he was still there in the 5th.

DJ Jones is a decent base down DT, and three years later there's still a chance of Spoon and Taylor being something, but overall it was a bad draft.

Click to expand...

Kittle is a beast, but I don't think he's the best TE in the NFL. Not yet. I'd give that to the guy who'll be starting against you on Sunday.

Click to expand...

Its really a matter of what you want. Kelce is a better route runner and receiver, but not nearly the blocker Kittle is. If you ask me who'd I want in the Niner offense, I want Kittle hands down. His presence is felt in the run game much more than Kelce and that's a huge part of the 49er offense.

Marvin49":yohz574t said:

Maulbert":yohz574t said:

Popeyejones":yohz574t said:

The 2017 draft was bad for the 9ers, and they're lucky it wasn't absolutely atrocious.

What saves it is that Kittle is the best player at his position in the NFL. They had a 3rd round grade on him but took CJ Beathard in the 3rd and Joe Williams in the 4th instead. :lol: :roll:

They're lucky as hell he was still there in the 5th.

DJ Jones is a decent base down DT, and three years later there's still a chance of Spoon and Taylor being something, but overall it was a bad draft.

Click to expand...

Kittle is a beast, but I don't think he's the best TE in the NFL. Not yet. I'd give that to the guy who'll be starting against you on Sunday.

Click to expand...

Its really a matter of what you want. Kelce is a better route runner and receiver, but not nearly the blocker Kittle is. If you ask me who'd I want in the Niner offense, I want Kittle hands down. His presence is felt in the run game much more than Kelce and that's a huge part of the 49er offense.

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Kittle's probably a better athlete and definitely a better blocker, but at this point I give it to Kelce because he's missed just one game in the last 6 seasons. Not saying anything on Kittle's durability, I'm sure this year is more an anomaly, but you can't argue with Kelce's consistency.

*Affected.
*Super Bowl.

RolandDeschain":2eqrihvm said:

*Affected.
*Super Bowl.

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You misspelled Superb Owl.

Maulbert":2awbxije said:

RolandDeschain":2awbxije said:

*Affected.
*Super Bowl.

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You misspelled Superb Owl.

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I'd have let that one slide because of the intended meaning. :lol:

PFF gave George Kittle the best grade out of any player.... period. I can see how the casual fan would look at the flashy pass catching stats and say Kelce is better, but I would take Kittle all day every day.

94Smith":12x07j48 said:

PFF gave George Kittle the best grade out of any player.... period. I can see how the casual fan would look at the flashy pass catching stats and say Kelce is better, but I would take Kittle all day every day.

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I would also say that no rookie can just knock off a veteran with sustained excellence for six years already. Kittle was OUTSTANDING this year. Let's see him sustain it for at least a couple years first. I don't think he was an obvious flash in the pan like Lamar, but...I think you get the picture.

RolandDeschain":2hi430sn said:

*Affected.
*Super Bowl.

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Thank you

I'll take Kittle over Kelce by the slimmest of margins

RolandDeschain":1ula9lzo said:

94Smith":1ula9lzo said:

PFF gave George Kittle the best grade out of any player.... period. I can see how the casual fan would look at the flashy pass catching stats and say Kelce is better, but I would take Kittle all day every day.

Click to expand...

I would also say that no rookie can just knock off a veteran with sustained excellence for six years already. Kittle was OUTSTANDING this year. Let's see him sustain it for at least a couple years first. I don't think he was an obvious flash in the pan like Lamar, but...I think you get the picture.

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Dude he's not a rookie and he set the record for pass catching yards by a TE last year ahead of Kelce, with 3rd and second string Qbs throwing at him, and no other receiving threats to speak of (unlike Kelce). It's his third year, hence the 2017 draft.

94Smith":1fij8hmk said:

Dude he's not a rookie and he set the record for pass catching yards by a TE last year ahead of Kelce, with 3rd and second string Qbs throwing at him, and no other receiving threats to speak of (unlike Kelce). It's his third year, hence the 2017 draft.

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I don't know why I thought he was a rookie. Now that you pointed this out, I remember him from the year before, lol.

However, no other receiving threats tends to HELP a great receiver a lot of the time, so don't use that as a point in his favor. Yeah, they get more coverage than average in scenarios like that, but they also tend to get schemed for on offense more and targeted very heavily when they're clearly the best receiving target on the field.

For example, look at what Josh Gordon did in Cleveland and that wasn't just with bad QBs, that was with a bad overall TEAM every year, too. By comparison, the overrated OBJ did.....what, exactly, in Cleveland with a better team and QB than Gordon EVER had in that organization?

Kittle is a bottom 5 TE if he played in the XFL.

Kittle has been playing with a torn Lambrum for two years as well, guy is a beast.

Maulbert":1wr2lvbt said:

Popeyejones":1wr2lvbt said:

The 2017 draft was bad for the 9ers, and they're lucky it wasn't absolutely atrocious.

What saves it is that Kittle is the best player at his position in the NFL. They had a 3rd round grade on him but took CJ Beathard in the 3rd and Joe Williams in the 4th instead. :lol: :roll:

They're lucky as hell he was still there in the 5th.

DJ Jones is a decent base down DT, and three years later there's still a chance of Spoon and Taylor being something, but overall it was a bad draft.

Click to expand...

Kittle is a beast, but I don't think he's the best TE in the NFL. Not yet. I'd give that to the guy who'll be starting against you on Sunday.

Click to expand...

I'm on the other side of this topic. Kittle is a significantly better all-around tight end than Kelce. Kelce just plays in a pass first offense with a better QB.

Kelce is a really good TE in the passing game, but let's not act like Kittle is purely blocking and Mark Bavaroing his way for first downs.

How many 75+ yard TDs does he have already? 3?

RAC king for not just TEs but also WRs?

knownone":3aobv8xe said:

Maulbert":3aobv8xe said:

Popeyejones":3aobv8xe said:

The 2017 draft was bad for the 9ers, and they're lucky it wasn't absolutely atrocious.

What saves it is that Kittle is the best player at his position in the NFL. They had a 3rd round grade on him but took CJ Beathard in the 3rd and Joe Williams in the 4th instead. :lol: :roll:

They're lucky as hell he was still there in the 5th.

DJ Jones is a decent base down DT, and three years later there's still a chance of Spoon and Taylor being something, but overall it was a bad draft.

Click to expand...

Kittle is a beast, but I don't think he's the best TE in the NFL. Not yet. I'd give that to the guy who'll be starting against you on Sunday.

Click to expand...

I'm on the other side of this topic. Kittle is a significantly better all-around tight end than Kelce. Kelce just plays in a pass first offense with a better QB.

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That's funny, the same could be said about Jimmy Graham pre-Seattle. :2thumbs: