Mid-Season mock

Originally posted by SteveYoung:
Players gone:


NT- Issac Sopoago: He is not worth half the 5 million he is getting paid. Nice guy but average player. Offers NOTHING as a pass rusher and is taken out on every passing down. He can be replaced by Ricky Jean Francois and Ian Williams
WR- Ted Ginn: Offers nothing as a WR. Kyle Williams can replace him quite easily
RB- Brandon Jacobs: Not used. Not needed.
MLB- Tavares Gooden: We have some younger, cheaper guys on the team to take his place
WR- Randy Moss: He will be welcomed back if he wants to play another year as a part-time WR but we need to get Jenkins some time.

Cut:


QB- Alex Smith: He will not be given his roster bonus and we save $9.5 million on the cap. I like the guy but Kaepernick can be a more explosive playmaker for this team. Tolzien can be a capable #2. $9.750M savings.
CB- Carlos Rogers: He has lost a step and has not made nearly enough plays for his upcoming $7.1 mil salary. $5.850M savings
PK- David Akers: 3rd worst PK in the league. He has been the biggest disapointment on this team so far this season. $3.6 mil for this guy? I can see why the Eagles soured on him. $3.1M savings
SS- Donte Whitner: He does not make enough plays to warrant his 5 million dollar salary. This is a very deep safety draft $4.0M savings.

Total savings: $22.7M
We need to re-sign Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati and Aldon Smith in the next two seasons. We will need all the $$ we can get

Re-Sign:


FS- Dashon Goldson: 5 years, 40 million. We need him back. Although we have tonnes of FA's coming up, Goldson is a beast and needs to be back.
TE- Delanie Walker: 3 years, 9 million. Offers more to this team than he will to others. He should be able to be re-tained with a reasonable deal
NT- Ricky- Jean Francois: 3 years, 9 million. Valuable backup/rotational player and can start if needed.
CB- Perrish Cox: 2 years, 4 million. I think he can play a valuable role as a #3 or #4 CB
MLB- Larry Grant: 1 year

Extend:

WR- Kyle Williams: He is an emerging player on this team. 5 years, 15 million
MLB- Navarro Bowman: He is among the leagues best MLB. He cannot be allowed to hit FA. 5 years, 50 million

Draft:

1. (25) Tony Jefferson, SS- Oklahoma 5'10, 212


Athletic, Instinctive. Playmaker. All words describing Jefferson. He will step in and start for Whitner who ends up getting cut.


2. (35) Jordan Poyer, CB- Oregon State 6'0, 190

**trade up to 25 for our #2 and #3

Poyer has the tools to be a great CB and dynamic return man. He makes plays on the ball and will replace Rogers nicely as the nickel CB.


3. f/m Carolina- Sharrif Floyd, DE/DT- Florida 6'3, 295

Athletic and disruptive. He will learn for a year from the best in the league then eventually take over.

rounds 4-7 coming soon

My few cents worth are below.

GONE List, Gooden is worth keeping, he is fine on Special Teams, him, Grant, Spillman and McBath arfe only solid ST players, rest are crap.

Moss could be back, depends on rest of season.

Jacobs was a wasted signing now that he got hurt so early in preseason.

Ginn I wouldn't say is gone for sure, I dont trust Kyle on returns, and Ginn is obviously better or else he wouldn't be playing over Williams.

Sopoaga I agree with, he isn't the NT we need, and he doesn't play every spot.

CUTS List

Alex will make sense, but knowing Harbaugh he will keep Alex around 1 more season, I pray Alex gets his ass kicked out of SF with a nice dont let the door kick you in the ass on your way out deal.

Rogers is a major possibility. He gets burned way too much.

Akers and Whitner should stay, both can help this team, more so Whitner in long run.

No need to re-sign Cox, he is signed for 2013.

I wouldn't go over 7M a yr for Dashon, I dont care if he has had a great season, he is still not matured yet. He makes boneheaded mistakes out there. He should take the 7M a yr we reportedly offered.

I think Grant may bolt for more money and more playing time.

Walker and RJF could be back, both contracts are fine, a bit on low end though.

Draft Wise, I have Poyer in rd 1, and Jefferson end rd 2 grade wise. Also Floyd is a 1st-2nd rd guy IMO.

You drunk? Cut Alex? Kaep isn't a qb I'd trust for a full 16 games. And you want to cut Rogers, whitner, don't resign Ice cause he's not a good pass rusher (you must not understand what a 3-4 NT does) but resign stone hands walker when it'd be easier to find a cheaper upgrade in the draft.

Originally posted by Travisty13:
You drunk? Cut Alex? Kaep isn't a qb I'd trust for a full 16 games. And you want to cut Rogers, whitner, don't resign Ice cause he's not a good pass rusher (you must not understand what a 3-4 NT does) but resign stone hands walker when it'd be easier to find a cheaper upgrade in the draft.

Is Alex some All-Star QB? You wont win many games if you dump off every single pass and only try two passes over 10 yards a game. I think Kaepernick can be just as efficiant as Smith but he will make more plays with his feet and arm than Smith can dream of. There is a reason we put in an out clause in Smith's contract. You can only hide your mediocre QB for so long with passive playcalling. 9.5 million for a check down QB who is afraid to take shots? No thanks.

Yes, I know what a NT is supposed to do but every now and again the opposing team throws on 1st down. We might as well be playing with 10 men on the field because Sopoago is useless as a pass rusher. For 5 mil a year he had better be a damn good impactful player. The way I see it is that he is a liability. If he wants to come back for 2 mil a year then sure.

And you must not know what a backup TE does. His value to this team is more than yards and TD's. Although he drops easy passes, he makes big plays when counted on and he is a player that needs to be back.

Originally posted by SteveYoung:

Originally posted by Travisty13:

You drunk? Cut Alex? Kaep isn't a qb I'd trust for a full 16 games. And you want to cut Rogers, whitner, don't resign Ice cause he's not a good pass rusher (you must not understand what a 3-4 NT does) but resign stone hands walker when it'd be easier to find a cheaper upgrade in the draft.

Is Alex some All-Star QB? You wont win many games if you dump off every single pass and only try two passes over 10 yards a game. I think Kaepernick can be just as efficiant as Smith but he will make more plays with his feet and arm than Smith can dream of. There is a reason we put in an out clause in Smith's contract. You can only hide your mediocre QB for so long with passive playcalling. 9.5 million for a check down QB who is afraid to take shots? No thanks.

Yes, I know what a NT is supposed to do but every now and again the opposing team throws on 1st down. We might as well be playing with 10 men on the field because Sopoago is useless as a pass rusher. For 5 mil a year he had better be a damn good impactful player. The way I see it is that he is a liability. If he wants to come back for 2 mil a year then sure.

And you must not know what a backup TE does. His value to this team is more than yards and TD's. Although he drops easy passes, he makes big plays when counted on and he is a player that needs to be back.

Look at the stats for Alex this year, yes he is a pro-bowl type qb.

Originally posted by Travisty13:

Originally posted by SteveYoung:

Originally posted by Travisty13:
You drunk? Cut Alex? Kaep isn't a qb I'd trust for a full 16 games. And you want to cut Rogers, whitner, don't resign Ice cause he's not a good pass rusher (you must not understand what a 3-4 NT does) but resign stone hands walker when it'd be easier to find a cheaper upgrade in the draft.

Is Alex some All-Star QB? You wont win many games if you dump off every single pass and only try two passes over 10 yards a game. I think Kaepernick can be just as efficiant as Smith but he will make more plays with his feet and arm than Smith can dream of. There is a reason we put in an out clause in Smith's contract. You can only hide your mediocre QB for so long with passive playcalling. 9.5 million for a check down QB who is afraid to take shots? No thanks.

Yes, I know what a NT is supposed to do but every now and again the opposing team throws on 1st down. We might as well be playing with 10 men on the field because Sopoago is useless as a pass rusher. For 5 mil a year he had better be a damn good impactful player. The way I see it is that he is a liability. If he wants to come back for 2 mil a year then sure.

And you must not know what a backup TE does. His value to this team is more than yards and TD's. Although he drops easy passes, he makes big plays when counted on and he is a player that needs to be back.

Look at the stats for Alex this year, yes he is a pro-bowl type qb.

did you not notice the drop off after smith went out? i am very grateful you have nothing to do with running the Niners

FYI we have until April 1st 2013 to decide on Alex Smith, he IS NOT a near $10 MILLION QB. I rather ease into the future with Kaepernick than Alex Smith.

The more I look at it, some players will be purged in this offseason. Rogers is perfect example, though his $5.5M base salary in 2013 becomes guaranteed if on roster on April 1st 2013. His workout and roster bonuses would be gone if cut. Actual savings would be $4.15M most, and that's after june 1st, which wouldn't even work, since his guaranteed is on april 1st. If cut before then but designated for june 1 cut, the savings is that $4.15M, and $2.5M dead money in 2014, if not able to designate for june 1, then total savings would be $400K.

Originally posted by AB83Rules:
FYI we have until April 1st 2013 to decide on Alex Smith, he IS NOT a near $10 MILLION QB. I rather ease into the future with Kaepernick than Alex Smith.

The more I look at it, some players will be purged in this offseason. Rogers is perfect example, though his $5.5M base salary in 2013 becomes guaranteed if on roster on April 1st 2013. His workout and roster bonuses would be gone if cut. Actual savings would be $4.15M most, and that's after june 1st, which wouldn't even work, since his guaranteed is on april 1st. If cut before then but designated for june 1 cut, the savings is that $4.15M, and $2.5M dead money in 2014, if not able to designate for june 1, then total savings would be $400K.

10 million is a bargain for a qb that takes his team to nfc championship, is 20-6-1 in past 27 starts with top 5 qb rating and 70 completion %, not to mention 5 picks vs 13 td passes

Originally posted by hofer36:

did you not notice the drop off after smith went out? i am very grateful you have nothing to do with running the Niners

what drop-off??? kaep was awful in the 1st half but was very solid in the 2nd...except fore gore, he was the factor why we could comeback

Originally posted by communist:

what drop-off??? kaep was awful in the 1st half but was very solid in the 2nd...except fore gore, he was the factor why we could comeback

I wouldn't say he was solid. He played scared to throw the ball and ran it every chance he could. I saw nothing out of him impressive to me except the fact that he can run it. He'll always be a qb that relies on his legs more than his arm.

Originally posted by Travisty13:

Originally posted by communist:
what drop-off??? kaep was awful in the 1st half but was very solid in the 2nd...except fore gore, he was the factor why we could comeback

I wouldn't say he was solid. He played scared to throw the ball and ran it every chance he could. I saw nothing out of him impressive to me except the fact that he can run it. He'll always be a qb that relies on his legs more than his arm.

Far too early to say this. Honestly, we'd need a full season to evaluate him -- to loop this back to the mock. There is no way we cut Smith this offseason, his contract is going to run out, we might restructure it to shuffle money around but Kaepernick is definitely no where near were he needs to be for us to just flat out kick Smith to the curb.

Originally posted by sfout:

Originally posted by Travisty13:

Originally posted by communist:

what drop-off??? kaep was awful in the 1st half but was very solid in the 2nd...except fore gore, he was the factor why we could comeback

I wouldn't say he was solid. He played scared to throw the ball and ran it every chance he could. I saw nothing out of him impressive to me except the fact that he can run it. He'll always be a qb that relies on his legs more than his arm.

Far too early to say this. Honestly, we'd need a full season to evaluate him -- to loop this back to the mock. There is no way we cut Smith this offseason, his contract is going to run out, we might restructure it to shuffle money around but Kaepernick is definitely no where near were he needs to be for us to just flat out kick Smith to the curb.

While it is still early to say it, it's hard to teach running QBs when it's okay to run and when they need to stay in the pocket and throw it. He seems like he'd rather try for a 5 yard run than throw for 10. While that might work now, it won't once teams start preparing for it.

We definitely have some challenges - present and future.

Present - Against the Giants, Vikings & Rams we seem to have trouble in pass protection. and it ISN'T all on Alex holding on to the ball too long. Yesterday Boone [one of my favorites] and Goodwin played very poorly in pass protection. Kap was also running for his life. The Bears game will tell us a lot more.

Present - The DLine, and I've been saying this for a while, is NOT what it was last year. Rodgers is SOOOOO over-rated and was made to look awesome because the DLine put so much pressure on opposing QB's.

Present - We will definitely NOT get rid of Alex BUT I do see Kap getting more & more chances to get the experience he desperately needs to move forward. Many people said Steve Young would never be a good passing QB and man did prove those people wrong - and so will Kap.

Future - I don't know enough about a lot of the players you guys mention in the upcoming draft and I REALLY learn a lot by reading your posts. So Please keep them coming.

Future - We really need a monster NT and someone to groom to replace Justin. Ray Mac has been very inconsistent this season.

Future - Getting another Safety who can come in and play right away will make an immediate difference. Whittner seems slow - I may be wrong but he just seems "old".

Future - We will need to take a hard look at a Kicker in this draft.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
We definitely have some challenges - present and future.

Present - Against the Giants, Vikings & Rams we seem to have trouble in pass protection. and it ISN'T all on Alex holding on to the ball too long. Yesterday Boone [one of my favorites] and Goodwin played very poorly in pass protection. Kap was also running for his life. The Bears game will tell us a lot more.

There were some people here, who voted for a Center in the draft in the first 3 rounds. Now we know why ;) We have to replace Goodwin anyway in the near future.
And if Boone continues to play inconsistent, add another Guard.

Present - The DLine, and I've been saying this for a while, is NOT what it was last year. Rodgers is SOOOOO over-rated and was made to look awesome because the DLine put so much pressure on opposing QB's.

Where is the news that Carlos is poor against slot receivers? Seems like the coaching staff still didn't get that...He is old, too. Based on the "fact" that Brown, Culliver and co. are solid but nothing special, we have to go after a stud CB in the draft or FA.

Present - We will definitely NOT get rid of Alex BUT I do see Kap getting more & more chances to get the experience he desperately needs to move forward. Many people said Steve Young would never be a good passing QB and man did prove those people wrong - and so will Kap.

I don't get the hate...Based on that he had to replace Alex from one second to another, he was absolutely ok. Extended some plays with his legs, didn't do a lot of mistakes and so on. We have got bigger problems right now, imo.

Future - We really need a monster NT and someone to groom to replace Justin. Ray Mac has been very inconsistent this season.

You are absolutely right here. The problem is very apparent if one concludes that our OLBs are monster pass-rushers but they don't get the help they got last year anymore. Especially our NT sucks...he should be replaced in 1st place.

Future - Getting another Safety who can come in and play right away will make an immediate difference. Whittner seems slow - I may be wrong but he just seems "old".

No, you are right. We need another starting safety in general. Don't think that we will extend Goldson.

Future - We will need to take a hard look at a Kicker in this draft.

Captain Obvious, hm?

I wondering sometimes when I read that our defense is stacked in general. The only part of our defense which is REALLY stacked, is the LB-corps. We've got a lot of #2CB but no true #1, the d-line is underperformaing AND aging (save for RayMac) and Whitner/Goldson are replaceable.
We still need a big WR, perhaps another Guard, certainly a Center and a backup-TE...man, the upcoming draft will be very significant.

Good job, heres my two cents. I agree with your players gone list. the only one i could see coming back is Moss. but he will want to play with a team that passes more often if he does not retire.

as far as players gone we disagree on some of them. There is a possibility of Alex getting cut. However it depends on how far we get this season. Is he a Pro Bowl QB, no. But he is a quality starter and can lead this team, he does what we need him to do. I wont be upset reguardless of whether he stays or goes. Rogers is a possibility but I would be surprised to see him cut he is still a legit starter and our pass D is good this year. Whitner I dont think will or should be cut, he is worht 5 mil a year. Akers however may be cut. His great year last year may have cut his career a little short.

I agree with most of your re-sign. I haven't always been the biggest Goldson fan, but he is a beast. RJF and Cox deserve to be re-sign as well but for cheap. I don't think Walker and Grant will re-sign, they will go somewhere to compete for a starting job.

When it comes to extending I will disagree with both. Bowman is worth the 50 mil. But we have that much invested in Willis, although most of that is gone this year (17 mil cap hit for 2012). That is to much for one position when we could spend it other positions on defense like the DL. Williams is a good player but his numbers aren't good enough for 5 yr 15 mil. we only gave manningham a 2 yr 7 mil deal. I say a 2 yr 4mil for williams.