San Francisco 49ers: It is Time to Fire Trent Baalke

It was a Tuesday night in January of 2011 that the 49ers made a move that would eventually turn their beleaguered franchise around and into a perpetual Super Bowl contender. They promoted, then vice president of player personnel, Trent Baalke, to the general manager of a once-proud franchise that had fallen on hard times. Baalke’s first move as the new GM was to hire the highly sought after Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh to become the new head coach of the 49ers. Over the next three years, the tandem built the 49ers into a talent-laden Super Bowl contending team that came within five yards of winning the franchises’ sixth Lombardi Trophy.

Now cut to 2016 Week 14, the 49ers have one win to their name and are in the midst of an 11-game losing streak. After starting his career by seemingly doing everything right, Baalke has made a complete 180 and now can’t seem to do anything right. The coach he hired to replace the “mutually departed” Jim Harbaugh was fired after one year. The franchise QB they paid a ton of money to has regressed to a below average QB — at best. Their once dominant defense is now on track to break NFL records for futility, and the very man that helped turn this team into contenders in 2011 is the same man responsible for driving them into the ground.

How did something so promising go so so wrong in such a short amount of time?

It starts with the draft. His first draft of GM in 2011 was looked upon as a huge success having landed a top-tier pass rusher in Aldon Smith and their eventual franchise QB. Hindsight is 20/20 and in fact, the 2011 draft, that was perceived at the time to be a superior draft class, has since proven to be anything but. Not only does the 2011 draft class not look as good as it once did, all of his subsequent drafts have not lived up to expectations either. Here is a breakdown of Trent Baalke’s draft classes since taking over as GM in 2011.

2011 Draft

Grade: D 

First Round Pick: Aldon Smith Pick 7

Could Have Had: J.J. Watt Pick 11

When the 49ers were winning playoff games and contending for Super Bowls, this is the draft many people pointed to as the draft that changed the 49ers fortunes around. After all, they got a superior pass rush specialist in the first round in Aldon Smith and they landed their soon-to-be franchise QB, Colin Kaepernick, in the third round.

Five short years later, Aldon Smith is no longer with the team after repeated off-the-field incidents — and may now be out of the NFL entirely. Their franchise QB is getting more attention for kneeling before games than he is for taking a knee at the end of them, and he is one of only three 2011 draft picks still with the team, the other two being two seldom-used OL Dan Kilgore and DB Colin Jones.

Suddenly this draft doesn’t look as good as it once did, but it only gets worse from here.

2012 Draft

Grade: F

First Round Pick: A.J. Jenkins Pick 32

Could Have Had: Alshon Jeffery Early Second Round Pick

The 2012 draft saw the 49ers take seven picks and not a one has made a significant impact since joining the team. In fact, their top two picks, A.J. Jenkins and LaMichael James, are no longer in the NFL. Jenkins was a historically bad first round choice boasting 17 receptions and 223 yards for his entire career. James contributed early in his career as a returner and change of pace back, but ultimately fell out of favor and was cut.

Only OL Joe Looney and LB Cam Johnson are still with the team from this draft and neither are regular contributors.

2013 Draft

Grade: C

First Round Pick: Eric Reid Pick 18

Could Have Had: DeAndre Hopkins Pick 27

2013 was better than 2012 in the fact that first round choice Eric Reid is still an every-week contributor and has a Pro Bowl to his name, but with 11 total draft picks and only one player deemed a successful pick, this draft is ultimately a failure.

The biggest black eye of this draft was fourth-round pick RB Marcus Lattimore that was unable to recover from a knee injury suffered in college and never played a snap in the NFL.

2014 Draft

Grade: C+

First Round Pick: Jimmie Ward Pick 30

Could Have Had: Not much in the first round has panned out in the NFL, WR Jordan Matthews taken in the second round would be the only upgrade

The 2014 draft had some promise, and could still prove to be a decent draft. Thier first round pick, Jimmie Ward, while he is not game-changing by any means, he has been a serviceable DB over the last few years. The verdict is still out on second round choice Carlos Hyde, who, when healthy, seems like he could be the real deal. Unfortunately, staying healthy has been an issue for him and he has yet to live up to his potential.

Speaking of potential, third round choice LB Chris Borland looked like a budding superstar in his rookie season after taking over for the injured All-Pro LB Patrick Willis. After his stellar rookie campaign, he shocked the 49ers by promptly retiring from the NFL citing the multiple concussions he endured in college and in the pros.

2014 and 2015 Draft

It is too early to grade the 2015 and 2016 drafts, but there are a few negatives from both drafts. For starters, 2015 fourth round selection DeAndre Smelter never took an NFL snap and is now out of the NFL entirely.

The 2016 draft saw the 49ers take 11 players, one of which was a QB they hoped to groom into a starter over the next few years. Unfortunately, they cut him in the offseason with intentions to re-sign him, only to see him claimed by the Bengals.

By my count, the 49ers have selected 61 players in five drafts under Trent Baalke. In an era that seemingly everyone makes the Pro Bowl as a second or third alternate, they have two Pro Bowl appearances to show for it (Eric Reid ’13, Aldon Smith ’12). By comparison, the Raiders have drafted three Pro Bowl players since 2014, three fewer years than Baalke has had. QB Derek Carr, LB Khalil Mack and WR Amari Cooper were all selected to the 2015 Pro Bowl team.

The honeymoon is over and in the words of Jay-Z,

“You had a spark when you started, now you just garbage.”

Baalke needs to go. And while we are at it, fire Chip Kelly too. The 49ers went from being one of the most talent-laden teams in the NFL to being only one game better than the winless Cleveland Browns in less than two years.

The 49ers are going to need more than a new GM and a new coach to get back to respectability, but they need to make changes — and soon.

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