It’s the first day of May and time for another episode of my world famous This and That column.  There is a lot to get into, so without further ado, let’s jump right in.

California Dreaming–The NFL draft was last weekend.  The 49ers added 8 new guys to the roster.  I do not believe in grading drafts right after they happen because no one knows if any of these guys can play.  No matter what kind of expert they are supposed to be.  And I don’t follow college football so I really don’t know.  The 49ers did address three positions of need with their first three picks, so give them credit for that.  I really wanted them to trade way up and draft one of the top tackles, but who knows how realistic that was or if they tried but couldn’t find a dance partner.  I also wanted them to go all in on a nepo draft just for the fun of it.  While they didn’t draft any legacy Niners, they did sign Terrell Owens’ son after the draft.  All in all, I can’t complain.  Hopefully all eight guys become hall of famers. 

Timber!–The Boston Celtics have lost a key component to their championship dreams as Kristaps Porzingis has suffered a calf strain.  Or, more specifically, a right soleus strain.  It’s apparently the same injury Giannis is currently suffering from and is expected to cause Porzingis to miss at least a couple of weeks.  This is a big blow to the Green team, especially if it lingers.  Should it hurt them against the Heat?  Nope.  But going forward, it will be a factor whether people want to admit it or not.  Porzingis changes the Celtics on offense and defense and is a huge loss no matter how good the rest of the team is.  They should still beat the Heat no problem and take care of their opponent in the next round.  After that, we shall see.  Luke Kornet played great in the regular season, again, no matter whether people want to admit it or not, and should fill in nicely.  This is also why they traded for Tillman and even elevated Queta to a regular contract.  Their depth should get them through this, and the next round, no problem.  After that, it could come down to match ups.  One last thing, calf injuries can lead to much worse Achilles injuries if players rushes back.  It’s what happened to Durant a couple of years ago.   So Porzingis and the Celtics have to make sure he is 100% before they put him back in the lineup.

Six Four Three–The New York Yankees really, really, REALLY need to stop grounding into double plays.  It would go a long way to helping them score runs against teams not from Milwaukee.  So far, the Bronx Bombers have grounded into 36 double plays in 31 games.  That is on pace for 188 GIDPs.  That would shatter the MLB record of 174 set by the 1990 Boston Red Sox.  I don’t know what the solution is.  They have a lot of guys who hit the ball hard and don’t run very well.  Maybe spreading them out in the line up would help?  With Judge, Stanton, and Rizzo hitting back to back to back, odds are one of them is going to hit a hard ground ball to short.  Whatever the solution is, they need to figure it out.  They call double plays a pitcher’s best friend for a reason.   The Yankees need to stop facilitating that relationship. 

Maye Be Too Soon–Being in New England I can’t avoid Patriots talk, and their draft was the talk of the region for the past month.   Thus, I figured I’d give my two cents.  First, though, I want to acknowledge the greatness of the Felger and Mazz Big Board as it once again nailed not one but two of the Patriots draft picks.  All hail the Big Board.  With that out of the way, personally, I thought the Patriots should have traded back.  I am a big fan of building the team and then going for the QB, but they went the traditional route.  Here is the problem, by all accounts, Drake Maye needs time to develop.  He has things in his game he needs to work on before he will be ready to play.  That is fine, I’m all for that.  The problem arises when the Patriots decided to go cheap and sign Jocoby Brissett to be their starter this season.  Brissett isn’t good, and if the Patriots get off to a bad start, the fans and media are going to be calling for Maye to play.  We don’t know the Pats schedule yet, but they have a lot of good teams they are playing.  If they happen to all be at the top of the schedule, the Pats, who should be much improved this season, could get off to a 1 and 4 start or something like that.  If that happens, there are going to be “we want Maye” chants in Foxboro.  Every Brissett incompletion is going to be met with boos.  Every 3 and out.  The media is just going to be asking, “If they are going to lose, why not just play the kid?”  “Why not get him experience for next season?”  The Falcons did it the right way by signing Kurt Cousins.  He’s a legit starter, and they plan on making a playoff run this season.  Penix is going to have plenty of time to develop (barring a Cousins injury).  The question for the Patriots all season is going to be “when do they play Maye?”  The answer should be next season. 

Still Catching On–There was a lot of talk of the 49ers trading one of their all world wide recievers during the draft.  I would not have been surprised if they moved one of them for a top 15 pick where they could have taken one of the top tackles in the draft.  However, there was no way they were trading them for a late first or a second rounder, as was suggested by a lot of people.  You don’t draft a player, develop them into a probowler, then trade them for a lesser draft pick than you used to get them in the first place.  As far as keeping both guys and drafting 2 wide outs and signing one in free agency goes, it makes sense for both now and the future.  For the present, the Niners are trying to win the Superbowl.  Keeping two high end recievers will help them do that.  If their first round pick, Ricky Pearsell, works out, he will give them insurance if Aiyuk or Deebo gets injured during the season.  In a league that is all about passing the football, you can never have too many weapons.  As for the future, it gives them options.  Not only is Aiyuk a free agent at the end of the season, but so is “3rd and Jauan” Jennings.  Both guys could sign extentions this season, or either of them could play out their contract.  If the new additions become players, the 49ers won’t have to worry about losing either of them.  (And yes, they can let Aiyuk just walk for nothing in an attempt to win the Superbowl this season.)  And if one or more of these recievers works out, they would be in position to trade either Deebo or Aiyuk (assuming an extension) next year for cap relief and draft capitol.  Or they could trade Jennings at the deadline if they are not going to re-sign him.  Once the top tackles were off the board, taking the wide receiver they liked the best was a very good decision by the Niners.  Now we wait and see if he can play.

Well, that’s about it for now.  Til next time…