2016 NFL Draft: 5 Bad Picks for the 49ers
LB Reggie Ragland, Alabama
Over at Draft Breakdown—the source for all these great highlight videos—they have the 49ers taking inside linebacker Reggie Ragland in the first round as Patrick Willis’ replacement.
Reggie Ragland is the top inside linebacker prospect in the draft, so if the 49ers are dead-set on finding someone to play next to NaVorro Bowman, Ragland would be my pick—even over Myles Jack. He’ll step up, fill any hole in the front, and clobber opposing running backs who break through. He’s not the best coverage linebacker in the world, but he looks to be a stud in the run game, with great instincts and good closing speed to get to the ballcarrier. He’s your prototypical two-down run-stopping linebacker.
If Ragland falls all the way down to the second round—or, more likely, to the 20s with the 49ers trading back up to grab him—I’d have few problems with adding him. Making a series of trades and taking Ragland and Paxton Lynch in the first round would be a job well done for Trent Baalke and the 49ers staff, but taking him in the top 10 seems almost ludicrous.
Ragland has a history of missed tackles, as well as coverage and speed limitations. At 6’1”, he’s shorter than your ideal inside linebacker, and the 31.5-inch vertical jump he put up at the combine indicates poor lower body strength and matches with a lack of an initial burst, which shows on his gameday tape. In addition, more philosophically, run-stopping studs are becoming less and less important in the NFL as the passing game continues to bloom. You need to be able to stop the run, of course, but pass rushers and cover guys are becoming more and more important to a defense’s overall skill with each passing year, making players like Ragland something of a throwback.
I like Ragland’s fit for the 49ers more than any other player in this slideshow, but not unless it comes with a fairly significant trade backwards, with the 49ers ending up with two picks in the back-half of the first round. Anything else just wouldn’t be getting the needed value out of the seventh overall pick.
Next: Vernon Hargreaves