San Francisco 49ers Draft Picks: What to Expect from Aldon Smith

The funny thing about expectations is they are all relative, which is good news if you are 49ers’ top draft pick Aldon Smith. 

Initial feedback is that 49ers’ fans expect second-round selection, QB Colin Kaepernick, to help fix a broken offense, revive the 49ers’ QB legacy, return a downtrodden franchise to glory and generally excel in the most high-profile position in Bay Area sports.

Smith, the man chosen 29 spots ahead of Kaepernick, just needs to sack the quarterback. The bar for success is awfully low. 

San Francisco hasn’t produced a player with double-digit sacks since Andre Carter in 2002, and you might have to go all the way back to Charles Haley to find a 49er who truly brought fear with him off the blind side. 

At 6’4”, 263 pounds, Smith has the tools to be a scary edge rusher and he set a set a single-season sack record his freshman year at Missouri. 

Critics would say those numbers came as a defensive end in a 4-3 alignment, but new 49ers’ coordinator Vic Fangio figures to run a hybrid 3-4 that brings pressure from multiple angles, so Smith’s experience on the line could be viewed as an asset. 

Unlike other positions, which require a major mental leap from college to the pros, pass-rushing is one of the most innate skills sets in football.

Beating your blocker and getting to the quarterback is essentially the same whether you’re in Pop Warner or playing on Sundays.

If the 49ers are smart they will bring back Manny Lawson and use him in coverage and run situations, further lessening Smith’s learning curve and allowing him to focus solely on his duties as a pass-rusher. 

Smith’s playbook should just be one page, with a picture of Sam Bradford and a giant arrow. 

Putting on our positive hats for a second, let’s say Smith can muster 10 sacks next season. That's the same number Clay Mathews, the No. 26 overall pick, put up as a rookie in Dom Caper’s hybrid 3-4. 

Then let’s imagine San Francisco can add a veteran free-agent cornerback and find the right spot for talented second-year safety Taylor Mays. 

Suddenly San Francisco has a defense without a lot of holes. Not saying it is the ’85 Bears, but it’s good enough to shut down the pathetic offenses in the NFC West and maybe steal a couple low scoring games at home. 

Finally, and this might require the biggest leap of faith, imagine the 49ers offense takes a solid step forward under QB guru Jim Harbaugh. 

All these pieces add up to a 10-win team and a return to the playoffs. 

Is it unrealistic to expect Smith to be the domino that sends the 49ers careening back to respectability? Perhaps, but that’s the thing about expectations, they are whatever you want them to be.