The San Francisco 49ers Could Learn Something from the Browns

The Cleveland Browns are two losses away from joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only NFL teams of the past twenty years to go winless. However, the Browns also have a reason to pat themselves on the back: they don't have the league's worst point differential this season. Since Week 2, that dubious honor has belonged to the San Francisco 49ers, a franchise whose barren roster can't handle head coach Chip Kelly's offense.

Browns and 49ers: The Battle for the Bottom (Since Week 2)

Team

Record

Point Differential

Average DVOA

SF

0-12

-198

-27.9%

CLE

0-12

-169

-40.2%

The Browns, of course, have spent the past decade in a state of perpetual rebuilding—it's practically the culture in Cleveland—and while they've left a lot of failed football careers in their wake, they also are turning the page. The team has made good use of the waiver wire this year, plucking successful players like wideout Terrelle Pryor and corner Jamar Taylor. The Brown still need better players at the most important positions on the field, but little triumphs will pay off more handsomely once the big pieces are secured.

The 49ers, on the other hand, are just now entering the worst part of the NFL franchise life cycle: a once-good team on the downswing, ruined by hubris. Forced to pick between general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Jim Harbaugh a few years ago, the organization chose Baalke. While Baalke's first-round picks, I would argue, have been decent, most of the best players on the roster were drafted by former general manager Scot McCloughan, who now works for Washington. The team's picks have done nothing memorable since 2011, when Baalke took over.

Draft Picks Under General Manager Trent Baalke

Draft Year

Total Career Approximate Value (Through 2015)*

Starters Still on Team

Colin Kaepernick, Daniel Kilgore

Eric Reid, Vance McDonald, Quinton Patton, Quinton Dial

Jimmie Ward, Carlos Hyde

Arik Armstead, Eli Harold, Trenton Brown

*Per Pro-Football-Reference

Tackle Joe Staley? McCloughan. Linebacker Navorro Bowman? McCloughan. All the great players from the Harbaugh teams that contended for the NFC title—Anthony Davis, Vernon Davis, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Dashon Goldson—all these guys were either free agents or draft picks brought in by Baalke's predecessors.

It's fair to say that Baalke's drafts have seen some misfortune. Middle linebacker Chris Borland looked like a star, but he retired due to concussions and concerns about CTE. Aldon Smith was a star edge rusher whose career has been ruined by frequent off-field problems. Carlos Hyde has been excellent when healthy, he just can't stay on the field.

But it's also fair to say that Baalke has gambled and lost. Often. Nobody outside the 49ers organization had wide receiver A.J. Jenkins as a first-round pick. San Francisco picked him 29th overall in 2012, and he caught just 17 balls in the NFL. Second-round running back LaMichael James, in that same class, had just 49 career touches.

And when granted extra high-round picks from the Alex Smith trade, the 49ers weren't able to do much with them. San Francisco whiffed on finding a pass rusher in 2013 between Tank Carradine and Corey Lemonier. The 49ers also drafted injured players and got nothing out of them: guard Brandon Thomas and running back Marcus Lattimore, third- and fourth-round picks respectively, never saw a NFL snap.

Then you look at the hits they've had. They willingly benched Kaepernick for Blaine Gabbert for most of the season. Eric Reid is a nice safety, and first-round picks Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner are run anchors in a 3-4 front. But outside of that, what have they really developed? A below-average center and some rotational receivers and defensive backs? The 49ers came into 2012 with a treasure trove of picks and a golden goose head coach in Harbaugh; it was an opportunity to build a dynasty. Under Baalke, they failed to capitalize on it.

The NFL rumor mill currently has Baalke likely getting canned at the end of the season, but keep in mind that a power vacuum doesn't always attract the right suitors. The 49ers are at rock bottom. This is the kind of team you wind up with after you sign all the free agents in the Madden pool, then trade them away to acquire as many first-round picks as you can. Except, you know, they have only one first-round pick. This isn't the kind of organization that attracts top-flight head coach candidates. There is no Harbaugh riding in to save the team. They need to save themselves.

So while the Browns may finish winless, they're also better positioned for the future than the Niners. The Browns have an extra first-round pick this year. They've developed some players on the fringes of their roster. The 49ers aren't finding young players with a future; they're a waypost for last-chance talents like Gabbert, Christian Ponder, and Shaun Draughn. Instead of finding the next pieces that can start at guard on a winning 49ers team, they're spending snaps on Jaguars castoff Zane Beadles. Thirty-two-year-old Ahmad Brooks still starts at linebacker.

The last team I can remember with this little hope on the roster was the 2011 Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that fired Jack Del Rio and was about to watch Maurice Jones-Drew become old. They have some analytical sympathy in the front office, but have operated in a very traditional manner overall. Five years later, they're still a disaster.

All of which is to say: the 49ers could learn some things from the Browns this year. They need to seek out and take chances on interesting young talents. They need to be a little unconventional and forward-thinking, not only in player-acquisition or draft-pick trades (which Baalke has actually been decent at), but also when it comes to coaching and the overall approach of the organization.

Without a careful and thoughtful strategy this off-season, the 49ers will have a hard time turning things around.

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