49ers D Line vs.O Line...for a million dollars

What would happen in an all-out scrimmage between our offensive and defensive lines? The million dollars (per man) is so that their would play their hardest. Who would dominate?
The reason for this scenario is that I have been in the camp of drafting a receiver early, and am changing to think that the trenches are the way to go...maybe with the first few picks. Great lines make skill players look good. Nothing like the security blanket of having an awesome O or D line leading the way.
Back to the scrimmage scenario...it feels like our O line is worse at this point than the D...even a D without Ray Mac and J. Smith. Our O line has felt like a pretender for awhile...overrated a bit even at its best, and yet, our Defensive line definitely could use a boost as well. I would like to see exactly where to spend our valuable picks...in the trenches. Losing side is where we would spend our first pick. Still want Lockett, though. And Duke Johnson.

If Justin Smith is back, I think it's our D Line whether or not Iupati is back. They've been making our linebackers look good for years and are part of the reason Borland looked so good his rookie season. Willis and Bowman are great players, but part of the reason they looked like the two best ILB's in the league for awhile is that our defensive line does a terrific job of occupying blockers, especially Justin Smith. Our defense has been one of the top 5 in yards allowed the past 4 years on the strength of our front 7 and I don't know if our D Line gets enough credit for that. If Justin Smith is gone, I would like to see us draft or acquire someone in free agency to help ease the burden of losing him. It would help our defense a lot if we found someone else who can occupy double teams.

Our O Line is no longer one of the best in the league, but I still think it's above average. We struggled running the ball at times this year, but that was more a function of our easy to defend scheme and the inability of our WR's to win one-on-one battles when defenses stacked 8 men in the box. Kaepernick could have done a better job delivering the ball as well. We were sort of the opposite of the Eagles last year - they do a great job of spreading defenses out and winning with speed while we stuffed everyone in the middle of the field and had almost no speed on the outside to threaten defenses. The offensive line was average at pass protection in my opinion. The stats show that we gave up 52 sacks last season which is tied for third, but I think Kaepernick and the WR's deserve a lot of the blame for that as well. Oftentimes, there was nowhere to go with the ball or Kaepernick missed an open receiver.

The bottom line is, I think we need both help in the trenches and some more speed at skill positions, especially WR. If Justin Smith leaves, I wouldn't mind going with a defensive lineman in the first round (Shelton, Goldman, Brown, Phillips). How early we address the offensive line will depend on how we view Brandon Thomas and Marcus Martin. Cameron Erving is interesting to me if we trade back (or up in the 2nd) because of his versatility as our biggest weakness on the offensive line is depth (I don't want to see Jonathan Martin out there again). A WR that opens up the offense with speed or a space-eating NT are the two biggest needs if Smith is gone in my opinion, but I wouldn't hate to see an offensive lineman taken early.

It would be nice to know coach's opinion of some of our linemen, since we don't really have insider info. How does Tomsula view Carradine, Williams, Dial, and other DL who haven't played much, as well as OL like Marcus Martin and Brandon Thomas, who were really well thought of coming out of school. They may know what they have, but we don't. We can only hope for the best from these recent drafts. I just feel like building talent on the lines is the way to go. Kind of unsexy, but great linemen cover up a lot of sins.

It's a case by case situation. Justin Smith beats anyone if they play him straight up. Other than that it would be fairly level playing field with an edge going to the OL now that McDonald is gone. But remember, it's a three man line against five guys so you really have to add in the OLBs to the mix which defninately would tilt it to the D.

So, would you go OL or DL first in the draft? Probably be BPA...Maybe Shelton or Goldman over Peat or Cann? All could be available at our spot.

Originally posted by Murphys1:
So, would you go OL or DL first in the draft? Probably be BPA...Maybe Shelton or Goldman over Peat or Cann? All could be available at our spot.

DL is the most questionable group but there are still unknowns on the OL. Reason I would not pick the OL is Thomas coming off injury, M Martin, Farrell and Fonoti are all first or second year guys and J Martin, Kilgore and Looney are all still very young. If they need someone they should look at FAs.

For the DL they will need to fill an instant need for McDonald and perhaps two if J Smith retires. They might be able to squeek by with Carradine, Dorsey and Williams starting but seems a bit under staffed to me.

Like the idea of a vet in the O line via FA...maybe D line as well. Then, we could think about skill guys.

Originally posted by Murphys1:
Like the idea of a vet in the O line via FA...maybe D line as well. Then, we could think about skill guys.

Would love to pick up someone like Knighton...but likely too expensive.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
It's a case by case situation. Justin Smith beats anyone if they play him straight up. Other than that it would be fairly level playing field with an edge going to the OL now that McDonald is gone. But remember, it's a three man line against five guys so you really have to add in the OLBs to the mix which defninately would tilt it to the D.

No doubt... our oline would get slapped around if they played like last year

A.Davis would get the better of either Brooks or Lynch, Alex Boone would get the better over McDonald, Kilgore would get the better of either Ian Williams and Glenn Dorsey.

The real question is Aldon vs Stalely and Justin vs Iupati