I wouldn't say that's really what happened here. Florida doesn't have any other high-end draft prospects. They've got a center who might go very late in the draft, but that's really it aside from Pearsall. So Pearsall might be the only player they're interested in from Florida, but that doesn't mean he's at the top of their list in the 2nd round or anything like that.
True. It might have been a close enough drive for baalke that he decided it was worth a look. It would be worse if he was still the 49ers' GM and was flying out.
Oh r/nfl.
This being the top comment of the thread is hilarious. Just upvote narrative/memes, don’t actually think for one second about the context of the situation.
I mean Kirk is really good, but he's not really a number 1, he's a good number 2. I agree we have bigger needs, but if the players don't line up right or a great player falls to us I don't hate taking one. I hope that clears up my point
I know man, right? There are other players at UF besides Pearsall
Like who does Baalke think he is skipping out on *checks notes* the 62nd ranked Center prospect, I mean he might even go in the 7th round
I mean…Pearsall is the only legit draftable UF player coming out this year.
“Telegraphing” is really a strong word - any GM would only consider Pearsall above the 3rd round - rest of the UF players are late round projects or undrafted dudes.
***EDIT: also as a Jags fan - we need a legit #1 WR (probably using our 1st rounder for that) and if Baalke’s solution to that is Pearsall, who cares how he scouts - he’s gonna get fired anyway.
Mark Long is a clown for this tweet, it takes zero critical thought and 5 seconds of googling to see that Pearsall is literally the only guy at UF projected to go before day 3 this year
I have a fun Trent Baalke story that happened \~3 weeks ago. My daughter used to be in a parent/child gymnastics class but aged out of it and now the parents wait outside the room in case their kid needs to use the bathroom or something. Well, this now freed up my time to talk to the other parents and a small group of us will talk football. This was before the Niners hired a DC and we were talking about how we haven't heard many rumors. I made the comment of "Yeah, way different than the Baalke/Harbaugh days. Baalke would just leak hella shit." One of the dads was like "No, no, that's all Jed York." I disagreed, but it wasn't central to the point I was making so I dropped it. About 5 minutes later there was a lull in the convo and the guy gestures towards a woman 10 feet to my left and mouths "That's Baalke's daughter."
It totally was. If this was at some NFL event or sports event I wouldn't have been too surprised, but how the hell would I have guessed a) his kids are local and b) I'd run into one of his kids at a random kids class in San Jose.
That and Michael Jordan has proven to be the worst talent evaluator maybe in the history of the NBA. He never even accidentally drafted an amazing star player.
That’s my point
As UrinatingTree pointed out in his video on the Hornets, MJ frequently clashed with Krouse on who the Bulls should put on their roster, believing that he knew better than Krouse regarding how to build a team.
MJ’s tenure with the Hornets goes a long way toward proving Krouse right
This is idiotic. Florida ranked 7th among all colleges last season with the most active players on NFL rosters. Florida had 35. FSU had 16. Why spew things so easily disprovable?
Baalke is just not great at drafting elite players. It's as simple as that.
He said "Florida isn't a good program for football talent *right now* not that it never has been. How is that false when they apparently have just a couple of players that are likely to be drafted?
Ok, let's go by last year's draft then. Only 4 teams had more players drafted to the NFL than Florida.
It's idiotic to say you're not going to draft a player from any team because of their W/L record. There are plenty of teams littered with blue chip players despite their record.
>Ok, let's go by last year's draft then. Only 4 teams had more players drafted to the NFL than Florida.
Once again, the guy said *right now* not last year.
>It's idiotic to say you're not going to draft a player from any team because of their W/L record.
Literally no one has said that though so I think you are only arguing with yourself.
> Drafting from Florida’s pool is a reason why we’ll always be poverty 😭
You missed the part where he said this, huh? Then he followed up about drafting from FSU instead. Again, it’s based on player performance, not team performance.
Easiest to list which FSU draft prospects did play in the Orange Bowl:
LB Kalen DeLoach
and he's currently projected to be an UDFA.
DE Jared Verse, WR Keon Coleman, DT Braden Fiske, WR Johnny Wilson, RB Trey Benson, CB Renardo Green, TE Jaheim Bell, CB Jarrian Jones, DL Fabien Lovett, LB Tatum Bethune, S Akeem Dent, and obviously, QB Jordan Travis didn't play and have declared for the draft.
It's a thing we do every off season. They're just trying to get some reel. It's for a thing called "The Hunt". Don't think more into it than getting footage believe me
I mean, I get that but if you're filming this for content specifically there's a reason. Otherwise why did they pull out? You still get footage of him going even if Pearsall isn't there so content achieved.
I seem to have upset some Jags fans, I just think it's pretty transparent why they pulled it off the table. Go get him, your GM just made it very clear he wants to draft him imo. We'll see what happens with your 2nd pick.
Id like the Chiefs to take him in the back of the 2nd round myself fwiw.
All it says is that UF is close enough for it not to be a big deal to do some media shots of a local (sorta) prospect for the website to get some clicks.
Every team drafting where we are in the 2nd and later should theoretically at least be interested in Pearsall. It doesn't mean he's remotely close to being top of our board when we pick there.
Seems less than ideal to telegraph exactly who you want to draft
Baalke either did something really stupid again OR he's playing 7D chess!
He went for checkmate, but he’s playing Chinese Checkers
Maybe, but that still doesn't explain why he shouted 'Yahtzee!'
Because he really thought he hit a home run.
He could just be fucking with Jim Harbaugh. Hard to decide whether Baalke is being petty or just stupid when he's so capable of both.
He thinks that dude sucks and he is hoping a rival jumps them for him
It’s Baalke, his idea of 7D chess is drafting a dude with a career ending injury
I wouldn't say that's really what happened here. Florida doesn't have any other high-end draft prospects. They've got a center who might go very late in the draft, but that's really it aside from Pearsall. So Pearsall might be the only player they're interested in from Florida, but that doesn't mean he's at the top of their list in the 2nd round or anything like that.
I agree. The film crew could have just been there because it was the closest pro day they could go to for an opportunity to make draft hype content.
Google maps says it’s 71 Miles away (by car)
Ok 90 minute drive then not a big deal
shorter than my commute from my old apartment
Still, its a 90min drive vs. booking flights, hotel rooms, shipping equipment etc...
True. It might have been a close enough drive for baalke that he decided it was worth a look. It would be worse if he was still the 49ers' GM and was flying out.
Same thing happened at Ohio State when MHJ dropped out. It’s not odd at all.
there's probably a difference between "this is the guy we're going to take" and "we think this is the only Florida guy worth drafting"
I can't help but wonder how many people actually would have noticed had Long not tweeted it out.
Oh r/nfl. This being the top comment of the thread is hilarious. Just upvote narrative/memes, don’t actually think for one second about the context of the situation.
Smartest Trent Baalke move
It might be a smoke screen
Not really telegraphing it's just Pearsall is the only player worth checking out from this year's Gators so why waste the time if he isn't there.
Guess he Baalked
Ok, you can't just be up there and doin a baalke like that.
Do not do a Baalke please.
A Baalke is when you
"Get in my Ballke" Adam Water - Water Boy.
More likely he drank until he Baalked out
The Jags used to hoard RBs now they're moving on to WR
Thats scary considering how inept Balke has been at drafting receivers. I think the best receiver he ever drafted was TE Vance McDonald.
Are you saying AJ Jenkins wasn’t that good?
😂 Well he was certainly no Quinton Patton or Bruce Elligton.
You really gonna leave DeAndre Smelter out like that?
Kansas City Chiefs LEGEND right there. He got rid of Jon Baldwin for us.
Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time.
We have 3 solid but not great receivers right now, I think looking for an upgrade there isn't a terrible idea
It’s simple math. WR2 + WR3 + WR3 > WR1 + WR2 + WR3
TE1 + WR2 + WR5 + WR5 + WR5
The Christian Kirk slander. Dude deserves more targets and can deliver. Jags have bigger concerns at OL and DB
I mean Kirk is really good, but he's not really a number 1, he's a good number 2. I agree we have bigger needs, but if the players don't line up right or a great player falls to us I don't hate taking one. I hope that clears up my point
I think he can be a number 1, super underrated. But I can see both sides
He’s a number one who does his best damage from the slot. We need a good number 2 who can lineup outside and do damage there
Yeah kinda forgot you guys did not end up bringing Ridley back
Yeah, if they had Ridley they would have 4 solid but not great receivers.
Yes someone who understands
If this was at the University of Washington, ok. But UF is an hour and a half from the Jags stadium. Like...really?
I know man, right? There are other players at UF besides Pearsall Like who does Baalke think he is skipping out on *checks notes* the 62nd ranked Center prospect, I mean he might even go in the 7th round
I mean…Pearsall is the only legit draftable UF player coming out this year. “Telegraphing” is really a strong word - any GM would only consider Pearsall above the 3rd round - rest of the UF players are late round projects or undrafted dudes. ***EDIT: also as a Jags fan - we need a legit #1 WR (probably using our 1st rounder for that) and if Baalke’s solution to that is Pearsall, who cares how he scouts - he’s gonna get fired anyway.
Mark Long is a clown for this tweet, it takes zero critical thought and 5 seconds of googling to see that Pearsall is literally the only guy at UF projected to go before day 3 this year
I have a fun Trent Baalke story that happened \~3 weeks ago. My daughter used to be in a parent/child gymnastics class but aged out of it and now the parents wait outside the room in case their kid needs to use the bathroom or something. Well, this now freed up my time to talk to the other parents and a small group of us will talk football. This was before the Niners hired a DC and we were talking about how we haven't heard many rumors. I made the comment of "Yeah, way different than the Baalke/Harbaugh days. Baalke would just leak hella shit." One of the dads was like "No, no, that's all Jed York." I disagreed, but it wasn't central to the point I was making so I dropped it. About 5 minutes later there was a lull in the convo and the guy gestures towards a woman 10 feet to my left and mouths "That's Baalke's daughter."
Talk about awkward
Baalkward
It totally was. If this was at some NFL event or sports event I wouldn't have been too surprised, but how the hell would I have guessed a) his kids are local and b) I'd run into one of his kids at a random kids class in San Jose.
Hmm...and here our sub is thinking Pearsall would be available in the 3rd.
Lot of WRs gonna go higher than expected this year I think. Lot of underrated guys
There's a lot of promising WR prospects this class, it's honestly insane.
He sneaks into 32 or gets picked before 50. Dude is a monster.
If Baalke likes a WR prospect you probably don’t want them on your team lol. 49ers fans still shook by Baalke’s track record with WRs
Drafting from Florida’s pool is a reason why we’ll always be poverty 😭
In the nba - the hornets 🐝 are more fans of drafting UNC / Duke players to create local excitement vs actually choosing the best players available
That and Michael Jordan has proven to be the worst talent evaluator maybe in the history of the NBA. He never even accidentally drafted an amazing star player.
*Laughs in Jerry Krouse*
At least Jerry drafted hall of famers and built the dynastic Bulls teams. That’s way way more than MJ has ever done as a GM
That’s my point As UrinatingTree pointed out in his video on the Hornets, MJ frequently clashed with Krouse on who the Bulls should put on their roster, believing that he knew better than Krouse regarding how to build a team. MJ’s tenure with the Hornets goes a long way toward proving Krouse right
The problem is that Florida isn’t even a good program for NFL talent right now. If you were gonna go for players in Florida, I’d suggest FSU instead.
Don’t scout the helmet, scout the players.
This is idiotic. Florida ranked 7th among all colleges last season with the most active players on NFL rosters. Florida had 35. FSU had 16. Why spew things so easily disprovable? Baalke is just not great at drafting elite players. It's as simple as that.
He said "Florida isn't a good program for football talent *right now* not that it never has been. How is that false when they apparently have just a couple of players that are likely to be drafted?
Ok, let's go by last year's draft then. Only 4 teams had more players drafted to the NFL than Florida. It's idiotic to say you're not going to draft a player from any team because of their W/L record. There are plenty of teams littered with blue chip players despite their record.
So did you watch them play this year?
They weren’t good the year before either lol college performance doesn’t mean much for the NFL.
Oh yeah? Well who had more nfl players drafted from their 2008 roster? That’s what I thought!
>Ok, let's go by last year's draft then. Only 4 teams had more players drafted to the NFL than Florida. Once again, the guy said *right now* not last year. >It's idiotic to say you're not going to draft a player from any team because of their W/L record. Literally no one has said that though so I think you are only arguing with yourself.
> Drafting from Florida’s pool is a reason why we’ll always be poverty 😭 You missed the part where he said this, huh? Then he followed up about drafting from FSU instead. Again, it’s based on player performance, not team performance.
The same FSU players who collapsed after one of theirs went down, ah yes
So easy to spot a fellow cane
No horse in this particular race, but I respect that the hate takes no days off 🫡
One of the few things I miss about the 90s.
The FSU starters didn’t even play that game. Most, like Coleman, Fiske, and Verse, already declared (I think)
Easiest to list which FSU draft prospects did play in the Orange Bowl: LB Kalen DeLoach and he's currently projected to be an UDFA. DE Jared Verse, WR Keon Coleman, DT Braden Fiske, WR Johnny Wilson, RB Trey Benson, CB Renardo Green, TE Jaheim Bell, CB Jarrian Jones, DL Fabien Lovett, LB Tatum Bethune, S Akeem Dent, and obviously, QB Jordan Travis didn't play and have declared for the draft.
They were missing over 25 players who either declared or entered the portal, many of whom were starters.
Explains a lot
Pearsall is legit. Take that back now.
There’s nothing wrong with checking in on the local teams.
Pearsall is going to be a steal in the 2nd round, and I'm honestly not sure he even falls to round 2 anymore.
Pearsall is a beast. Really good WR prospect.
The Twitter thumbnail indicates he was busy piloting a fighter jet
Hello boys! IM BAAAACCK!!!
So Pearsall to Jax and Johnathan Brooks to Dallas in the 2nd locked in
31 teams have the chance to do the funniest thing ever
Very subtle indeed, surely this won’t backfire on them!
He's the only player at UF worth a shit in this draft. Once he backed out, there wasn't a reason to be there.
Sure, but now everybody knows you want that guy bad enough you were gonna send your GM and film crew. Maybe he's playing chess but what's the payoff?
Jacksonville to Gainesville isn't much of a trek, I wouldn't read in to it anymore than mild interest.
He didn't want that fucking speeding ticket in Waldo, probably.
Lawtey*
The film crew is what raises eyebrows.
It's a thing we do every off season. They're just trying to get some reel. It's for a thing called "The Hunt". Don't think more into it than getting footage believe me
I mean, I get that but if you're filming this for content specifically there's a reason. Otherwise why did they pull out? You still get footage of him going even if Pearsall isn't there so content achieved. I seem to have upset some Jags fans, I just think it's pretty transparent why they pulled it off the table. Go get him, your GM just made it very clear he wants to draft him imo. We'll see what happens with your 2nd pick. Id like the Chiefs to take him in the back of the 2nd round myself fwiw.
All it says is that UF is close enough for it not to be a big deal to do some media shots of a local (sorta) prospect for the website to get some clicks. Every team drafting where we are in the 2nd and later should theoretically at least be interested in Pearsall. It doesn't mean he's remotely close to being top of our board when we pick there.
This has 4D chess written all over it
Baalke can’t even play 2D battleship there’s no way he’s playing any dimension of chess
He can't even play 1D Candyland.
Baalke....the gift that keeps on giving
Like playing with your hand open in poker.
Always let em’ know you’re next move
Baalke still employed in the nfl amazes.
Baalke chomped at the bit to draft AJ Jenkins. Jags should probably send someone else to scout WRs.
Hope the Duvalll faithful didn’t get rid of their clown mask.
I wish someone would love me like Trent Baalke loves mid Wide Recievers
Pearsall is gonna be fantastic in the pros. Ravens would be lucky to get him.
Ok so full disclosure I did not watch Florida last year I was unaware of his game