In 2018 when Niners Nation looked at Baalke’s selections it was astonishing how bad the team’s drafts were under his watch. We’re not Mut 24 coins  talking about players just not living up to their potential, it’s them being so bad they were either traded, or out of the league. An unreal 41 percent of his selections didn’t last seven years on the team, and he was the biggest catalyst for the downfall, and rebuild of the dominant Jim Harbaugh Niners.

The shift in thinking from Aidan Hutchinson to Walker began a couple of weeks ago, when “chatter” began that the Jags could be looking at the Georgia pass rusher. It’s only picked up steam since then. As recently as last week Baalke seemed to already be justifying picking Walker to the media, trying to advocate that Walker and Hutchinson were equally productive players in college.

“[They’re] used differently, totally different schemes, used differently within those schemes,” said Baalke. “Again, you’re looking at them, you’re looking at how they made their plays, how they were used, and then you have a vision for how you can use them. All of that plays a part, but traits are important, production is important. You weigh it all.”

To be clear: They absolutely were not equally productive players in college. There is literally no evidence of that being the case, and any argument to the contrary is just an effort to assuage concern. Hutchinson had 14.0 sacks last year, 16.5 tackles for a loss — he forced two fumbles, and batted down three passes at the line of scrimmage. Walker had 9.5 sacks ... in his career, 13.0 tackles for a loss ... in his career, three passes defended ... in his career, and forced one fumble, you guessed it ... in his career.

That’s not the point though. There are justifications for talking Walker over Hutchinson that don’t involve lying about their college careers. You don’t take Walker for what he did at Georgia, you take him for what you think he could become — and that’s where there is no comparison between the two top pass rushers in this draft.

Hutchinson hasn’t reached his ceiling, but he’s close to it. He’s a player innately similar to Joey Bosa, who had a 16.0 sack season his final year ay Ohio State, and has gone on to be a reliable defensive end who gets 8-12 sacks a year and is a buy madden 24 coins  staple of the Pro Bowl.