49ers Draft Aldon Smith, Send Fans Scurrying to Their Draft Guides

While I didn't have the pleasure of being there among the great unwashed masses gathered outside of the 49ers Santa Clara headquarters to celebrate the first transaction of consequence of the Jim Harbaugh Era, I have it on good authority that the announcement of Aldon Smith, defensive end/outside linebacker, Missouri, was met with stunned silence.

As with most things concerning the 49ers, there are two ways to interpret this: Bad or "meh."

Being the charitable folks that we are, let's start with the "meh" interpretation.

Any 49ers fan worth his Patrick Willis jersey has been beaten over the head with two names and pretty much only two since the first mocks came out in late January—Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller and LSU corner Patrick Peterson.

We were told, ad nauseum, that any pick outside of those two would be settling for guys with red flags and perceived flaws.

Miller and Peterson were the sure things. Everyone else was a question mark with a helmet and shoulder pads.

So when the 49ers announced their pick of Smith, which came a few minutes after the division rival Arizona Cardinals snatched up Peterson with the fifth pick, who himself was picked a few minutes after the Denver Broncos plucked Miller with the second pick, there was literally no one the 49ers could've taken that would've drawn cheers.

Sure, the expected play (and maybe even the smart one) was for them to trade down and gobble up an extra second rounder, but it's just as likely that their field of suitors dried up after Peterson and Alabama wideout Julio Jones were off the board fifth and sixth respectively.

In fact, 49ers general manager Trent Baalke disclosed the Atlanta Falcons did discuss trading with him, but apparently they found a sweeter deal with the Browns, which seems fairly impossible since the Browns got a mint for that sixth pick.

Mostly, the lack of reaction from the crowd was the result of them not liking Smith but rather not knowing a thing of him, which is the fault of us ink-stained wretches for not doing our due diligence.

The names out there beyond Peterson and Miller were Smith's more celebrated teammate at Missouri, quarterback Blaine Gabbert (an Alex Smith clone but with worse numbers), North Carolina end/linebacker Robert Quinn and Nebraska corner Prince Amukamara, with maybe Cal end Cameron Jordan for the hardcores.

None of these picks were exciting in the least at the seventh slot mind you, but they were the known quantities.

Gabbert, a guy who threw seemingly every play, produced only 16 touchdowns last season and completed less than 50 percent of his passes on third down. Quinn was enough of a naughty boy to be suspended for the entire 2010 season.

Amukamara, meanwhile, had as many interceptions as you or I last year and not because foes were giving him the Darrelle Revis treatment.

How can anyone boo Smith compared to those luminaries?

After all, while it's true he was mostly anonymous to us locals, the kid does own the single-season sack record for freshmen in the pass-happy Big 12 conference, which he set in 2009 with 11.5. That figure was also good enough to break the Missouri single-season record, previously held by his soon-to-be teammate on the 49ers, Justin Smith. 

To hear Harbaugh and Baalke tell it, they were just as impressed by Aldon Smith's toughness as they were by his talent. He suffered a broken right fibula in the third game last season and returned in just three weeks, even though it was readily apparent to one and all that the injury hadn't fully healed. He just didn't want to miss the meat of the conference schedule.

Harbaugh said the sight of his newest charge limping around on film desperate to make a play despite his limitations "struck a chord," in him, apparently enough to overlook the fact that Aldon Smith's sack total dropped from 11.5 to 5.5 last season.

Yes, it was a risky pick, especially at number seven. Aldon Smith fills a position of need to be sure, but he's never had to drop back into coverage before, he's never had to hold the edge against the kind of monsters he'll face at this level and he's never had the pressure of having to impress a skeptical and win-starved fan base.

So that will be fun.

As far as the negative nancys are concerned, the only reason the pick wasn't booed mercilessly was not because of a lack of dissatisfaction with it, but rather because it would've been impolite and we don't do that here unless it's Alex Smith.

For the pessimists, the pick is just the latest in a long line of first-round head-scratchers the 49ers have put their fans through since the turn of the millennium.

Instead of trading out for value or taking someone at their most glaring position of need—quarterback—they pick a 20-year-old defensive end who both Harbaugh and Baalke readily admit will not be ready right away and will go through growing pains.

It's one thing to suffer through a project at quarterback that high, but a project pass rusher? How complicated is it see ball, hit guy with ball?

Not only did they draft a 20-year-old, but they drafted one with an injury history, one who only had one proven year of success in college (and that was as a freshman before any opponents had scouted him) and one who they'll be asking to switch positions in the NFL.

Consider that Willis, the crown jewel in an otherwise thoroughly forgettable defense was only the 11th pick in 2007, it dawns on you that being seventh overall is a pretty big deal and not for those who you kinda hope might maybe sorta be pretty decent I guess someday.

With that pick you better be forecasting some trips to Hawaii for your guy, and not as a vacation destination.

Again, even for the most obnoxious fan, it would be hard to muster legitimate animosity for the pick considering the alternatives.

Do you really believe that strongly in Amukamara after the way he got soundly thrashed by Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon? Were you holding a candle for Quinn, who would've had to make the same position switch as the guy the 49ers took?

Or were you really, truly a believe in Gabbert, who is basically a carbon copy of Alex Smith but with worse stats and Tom Brady's haircut?

Really your anger is not that the 49ers picked Aldon Smith but that they couldn't figure out a way to maneuver for Miller or Peterson. Maybe you're slightly ticked that they didn't have the marbles to choose Auburn's Nick Fairley, who was so dominant last season.

Mostly, you're upset because the team spent their seventh pick and they don't appear any better tonight than when you woke up this morning.

To that, we say cheer up buckaroo.

Harbaugh said Alex Smith will be in the facility tomorrow, presumably to work out.

Everyone's favorite saucy little redhead, TCU's Andy Dalton, is still on the board (or he will be until the Bengals pick 35th) and so is Nevada's Colin Kaepernick.

And of course, there's Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb, just waiting to find a home as soon as Roger Goodell lets someone give Andy Reid a 2012 first-round pick and a $50 gift certificate to T.G.I. Friday's for him.

You say the 49ers disappointed you mightily tonight?

Heck, they've only just begun disappointing you.