Jimmy Clausen Terrifies Me
We’re about one week away from the beginning of the NFL Draft, which I’ve gotten more excited about this year than in many years past. The 49ers have two first round picks, and the draft is reputedly quite deep this year.
That is, with the notable exception of the Quarterback position. This blog has dutifully stated that Alex Smith should have the 2010 season to make his case – and that’s it. The 49ers have stated as much, openly saying they weren’t interested in trading for Donovan McNabb, etc. This hasn’t stopped national writers, who only know of Smith as a “bust,” from linking the 49ers to any and every QB whether or not they are good. This has led to writers wondering outloud why the 49ers wouldn’t go after guys like Derek Anderson or Jake Delhomme, who went elsewhere.
The hair alone kicks him out of the first round.
The main reason is that Smith is better right now than either of those two guys, and neither of them are long-term answers. Oh, what’s that? You want a long-term answer? How about someone in this year’s draft? The prize seems to be Sam Bradford, but after that, it’s truly anyone’s guess – both Tim Tebow and Jimmy Clausen seem to be the next two guys, with Clausen expected to be the second QB off the board.
What makes zero sense – ZERO – is for the 49ers to be involved here. There are top prospects at defensive back and the offensive line that should be available and wasting a top pick on a question mark makes little sense.
Which is why I read in horror when local 49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco, a guy I respect a lot and who knows the 49ers organization intimately said that he thought “…49ers/Clausen is a very interesting possibility.” He then added, “Just to be clear, I will not have the 49ers taking QB Jimmy Clausen in my final mock draft, but I can't completely rule out it happening.”
This ... horrifies me. It’s not just because Clausen looks like a member of the Cobra Kai, that he has perhaps the most idiotic douchenozzle hair I’ve seen in a long time and looks like he might enjoy hitting the bar scene up with Ben Roethlisberger and Sebastian Janikowski.
Sorry kid, you're just ... not likeable.It’s that I can’t find any evidence that he’s any good. At all. Every time they show him throwing deep balls in college, he’s heaving the ball up like it’s from half court. These are the passes that you can get away with in college, and get picked in the NFL. During his ‘pro day,’ one of the few passes I saw was a touch pass of maybe 10 yards across the middle. It wobbled, looked erratic and this was with no pass rush, etc. He didn’t win at Notre Dame (a career record under .500) and didn’t even make first team All-America in the NCAA last year.
Look, I’m all about Notre Dame quarterbacks – or, at least, one of them. The reality is they haven’t really produced a viable QB prospect since Joe Cool. These are the quarterbacks drafted in the NFL from Notre Dame since 1971:
2007 - Brady Quinn
2000 - Jarious Jackson
1993 - Rick Mirer
1987 - Steve Beuerlein
1984 - Blair Kiel
1980 - Rusty Lisch
1979 - Joe Montana
1971 - Joe Theismann
Even if I give you Theismann and Beurlein, that’s not a great group of players, even with the greatest quarterback of all-time in there.
I honestly have no idea what the 49ers front office is thinking, and the fact that there’s been such upheaval there recently certainly gives me pause. But since Clausen is no sure thing … even if you want to take a gamble on a QB, why do it in the first? How about Tony Pike later on, or even Colt McCoy in the 2nd? Don’t pass up guys like Joe Haden, Trent Williams or Anthony Davis for a punk like Clausen. These guys can help the 49ers win in 2010, and so can Alex Smith. Clausen - or any other QB, for that matter - can't.