San Francisco 49ers: Evaluating Isaiah Battle and the Supplementary Draft

Next week, the NFL hosts its annual supplemental draft. The supplemental draft is an opportunity for players to enter the NFL who have had situations impact their eligibility, causing them to miss the deadline for entering the normal draft. Players like Bernie Kosar, Cris Carter and Ahmad Brooks have all entered the NFL this way.

It’s also generally a huge anti-climax. No one has been drafted in the supplemental draft since 2012, so the date normally comes and goes with little to no fanfare.

This might not be the case in 2015, however. The San Francisco 49ers, along with other needy teams, might be looking to make a pick this year to break the dry spell.

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According to Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee, the 49ers are attending the workout days for Darrius Caldwell and Dalvon Stuckey, both of whom have entered the draft, but the crown jewel is former Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle. With Anthony Davis’ surprise retirement, should the 49ers make a move to try to bring Battle to San Francisco?

First, you need to consider how the supplemental draft actually works. Teams bid a draft pick from next year’s draft, but it’s not as simple as going in draft order, as the 2015 season obviously hasn’t occurred yet.  Instead, teams are grouped into three buckets—teams that won less six or less games the year before, teams that won more than six games but didn’t make the playoffs and teams that made the playoffs. Then, using a weighted random pick system, teams are sorted within those buckets to create the priority order in the supplemental draft.

That means that if two teams submit a bid in the same round—say, two teams entering a third-round pick on Battle—the team with the higher priority gets the pick. The 49ers will be anywhere between 11^th and 20^th in the draft order, but the official order hasn’t been publicized yet.

At the moment, the 49ers are penciled in as having 12 picks in the 2016 draft. That includes all seven of their own picks, a fifth-rounder from San Diego from the Arik Armstead trade, a sixth-rounder from Dallas for giving up the 246^th pick in this year’s draft and possible compensatory selections from losing Chris Culliver, Perrish Cox and Dan Skuta. That’s a lot of picks, so they can afford to throw one in the supplemental draft without significantly harming next year’s draft. They have the capital to participate, at the very least.

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So, we turn to the players available. All due respect to Caldwell, Stuckey and North Carolina Central’s Adrian Wilkins, but Battle’s the one player who might come off the board. CBS already had him as the fifth-best tackle available in the 2016 draft, which normally carries with it a first- or second-round grade. Other sources are a little more down on him, but everyone agrees that he would definitely be drafted if he were eligible for the regular draft, so he’ll almost certainly be taken by someone on July 9.

Battle says he is leaving college early because of the birth of his child and the need for an NFL paycheck.  However, the Clemson Insider quotes sources that Battle is leaving because his recent citations for marijuana possession and speeding were his third and final strike. It does not, apparently, have anything to do with the suspension he served last year for disciplinary reasons or the suspension he served in 2013 for striking a player.

Whatever the reasons, it is clear that Battle has some off-field character concerns. Does his on-field play overcome those concerns?

Battle has played in 27 games for Clemson over the last three seasons, starting 16 of them. He’s definitely got all the physical traits you’re looking for in a stud offensive tackle, standing at 6’6” and 290 pounds with 35-inch arms. He’s quicker than you’d expect for a player of his size, but he shows average strength at best and some raw mechanical issues. His poor form, bending at the waist rather than the knees, leaves him vulnerable to bull rushes. There’s raw talent there, in other words, but I don’t think he’s a starter from day one or anything like that, especially after missing minicamp.

RICHARD SHIRO/Associated Press

He’s got potential to develop into a starter, however, and that’s where his value lies. He’s mobile enough to stick at tackle rather than moving inside to guard, and with a little more polish and experience, he can develop into at least a solid right tackle in the NFL. With a bit of luck, his range and athleticism could allow him to be a blind-side protector and a long-term anchor for a line, if developed properly.

All that’s a long-winded way of saying that Battle wouldn’t replace Anthony Davis in 2015. He really could have benefitted from another year of experience in college, so whatever the reason is he’s coming out early, it does negatively impact his draft status in my mind.

So, is he worth a pick for future development? Let’s take a look at San Francisco’s tackle situation.

Anthony Davis has said that his retirement is only temporary and that he’ll be back in a year or so. The 49ers retain his rights, so while I don’t think you can fully count on him coming back, they at least have that in their back pocket.

Ignoring Davis for the moment, the 49ers have Joe Staley, Erik Pears, Ian Silberman, Trent Brown, Patrick Miller and Chris Martin under contract for 2016, with only Staley and the rookies under contract beyond that. Staley’s not going anywhere for at least the next three years and is still one of the best in the game, but that’s not a fully stocked cupboard behind him by any means. The 49ers definitely could afford to add another player to develop for the future there, especially if they do not plan to re-sign free-agent-to-be Alex Boone.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Does that have to be Battle? No, of course not. The 49ers will likely have more of a selection if they wait until the actual 2016 draft. They’ll also presumably know more about Davis’ situation, so they’ll be able to make a more informed decision on their need at the position.

Still, Battle is a very talented player who might have been worth a first-round pick if he had stayed in school for another season. If the 49ers can get a good value on him in the supplemental draft, that’s like adding a day one or two pick before the draft even begins. That’s a good situation to be in.

If I was Trent Baalke and the 49ers, I think I would bid my fourth-round pick on Battle. He’s not likely to help the team this season, but he has the potential—if he stays out of trouble—to become a long-term answer down the road. I would not, however, be too disappointed if another team sniped me with a third- or second-round selection. The 49ers’ need isn’t big enough, nor is Battle special enough, to warrant more of a dedicated effort to get him at this point in time.

Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him @BryKno on twitter.