Frank Gore Thread

His running is irreplaceable. The way he runs.

Except for a few chunk runs, our running game struggled the last 6-8 weeks. because we had no credible short passing threat. SO teams played the second level right on the line, often. That's not really Franks fault. If we traded Frank for AP, AP would also have a had a pretty frustrating 6 weeks because the same thing would have happened to him.

What Frank brings to the table you don't really measure with stats. You need your eyes to see it.

These discussions are so weird.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

His running is irreplaceable. The way he runs.

Except for a few chunk runs, our running game struggled the last 6-8 weeks. because we had no credible short passing threat. SO teams played the second level right on the line, often. That's not really Franks fault. If we traded Frank for AP, AP would also have a had a pretty frustrating 6 weeks because the same thing would have happened to him.

What Frank brings to the table you don't really measure with stats. You need your eyes to see it.

These discussions are so weird.

It's certainly not his fault the passing game sucks, but his inability to break a long run allowed defenses to play that formation more often. AP has the ability to break an 80 yard run, and a loaded box becomes more risky against him. I believe his first run of the season was a 70 yarder. Gore just ran into like a wall for no gain most of the time with a few 20 yarders and the run against Seattle. Chancellor wasn't in position and they got burned. Frank isn't able to keep the defense honest.

Originally posted by senseimatt:
It's certainly not his fault the passing game sucks, but his inability to break a long run allowed defenses to play that formation more often. AP has the ability to break an 80 yard run, and a loaded box becomes more risky against him. I believe his first run of the season was a 70 yarder. Gore just ran into like a wall for no gain most of the time with a few 20 yarders and the run against Seattle. Chancellor wasn't in position and they got burned. Frank isn't able to keep the defense honest.

I don't really see that. I think that's a small, teenypart of a DC's thinking -- let's play soft cover-two in case so and so breaks it past the line. We'll be able to catch him for 20 instead of 40.

I don't think that influences the pre-snap placement and movement very much like that. I think more of it might be things like us coming to the line with Tukuafu, Snyder, McDonald and Gore in the backfield and one wideout. Ok. Who's getting the ball? DC's don't need a ouija board to figure that out. That is more of an influence on a defense crowding the line than a runners 4.3 vs 4.8 speed IMO.

ANyway don't worry. You will get your wish in a year or two. Frank'll stop holding us back then.

Originally posted by fryet:

The Sac Bee had an article on Frank Gore and they mentioned that he had a YPC in 2013 of 4.1 (I think Hunter was 4.7). The Bee argued that they should keep Frank Gore because he is so well loved in the locker room. However, I think that is a bad way to run a team. Walsh would get rid of players while they still had a little bit left in the tank (Montana, Lott). It is the way to field the best football team TODAY and compete for a championship. Will Gore's YPC improve in 2014? Most likely not - it will probably regress more. Will the offense stall without having a 4.1 YPC running back? Most likely not. Boldin at 6 mil per year had a much greater impact on the game than Gore will. We could ask Gore to come back for a vet minimum, however it is probably best to just part ways, and let Hunter, LMJ, and Lattimore duke it out to determine who gets the carries. The coaching staff hasn't worked out the other RB enough for us to know what they have, and it is time to rip the band-aid off now and find out. If they can't replace Gore, then we know what to draft in 2015.

Most of the important big plays last year involved a key block from Gore. This team would be a lot worse without him.

I think the reason people are making a case to cut The Inconvenient Truth is because they're trying to rationalize what we've all been thinking: The time is near.

You have to be realistic...Frank isn't going to be around much longer. Whether that's a couple months or 1-2 more seasons, the time is coming. Time to wrap your minds around that.

I love Frank, I really do. But if Marcus Lattimore comes out and is a complete monster in training camp, you GOTTA know that Harbs will have a decision to make. He had no problem making the tough decision with Alex/Kap.

With that said, there's been reports/banter about "if Frank doesn't take a paycut he'll be gone." That very well may be true, but remember who we're talking about here. FRANK F'N GORE. He'll take a paycut if that's what it takes. That's just who Frank is.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put on my cherry red throwback Gore jersey.

Originally posted by real9erfan:

Originally posted by fryet:
The Sac Bee had an article on Frank Gore and they mentioned that he had a YPC in 2013 of 4.1 (I think Hunter was 4.7). The Bee argued that they should keep Frank Gore because he is so well loved in the locker room. However, I think that is a bad way to run a team. Walsh would get rid of players while they still had a little bit left in the tank (Montana, Lott). It is the way to field the best football team TODAY and compete for a championship. Will Gore's YPC improve in 2014? Most likely not - it will probably regress more. Will the offense stall without having a 4.1 YPC running back? Most likely not. Boldin at 6 mil per year had a much greater impact on the game than Gore will. We could ask Gore to come back for a vet minimum, however it is probably best to just part ways, and let Hunter, LMJ, and Lattimore duke it out to determine who gets the carries. The coaching staff hasn't worked out the other RB enough for us to know what they have, and it is time to rip the band-aid off now and find out. If they can't replace Gore, then we know what to draft in 2015.

Walsh didn't get rid of Montana or Lott. You're right, he would tell players they were done before they thought they were done, but Walsh wasn't there when Montana and Lott were traded.

That was Seifert and Carmen Policy's watch, Walsh was retired when Lott was let go and coaching Stanford when Montana left.

The man was a top ten running back last year and is still considered the 49ers main weapon on offense.

Against continually stacked boxes, Gore delivers in the clutch. Does he sometimes run into a wall? Sure. But that's not his fault. Any RB would run into a wall when the offensive coordinator calls for a between-the-tackles run against 11 guys in the box.

He's blocking is impeccable and a huge asset in the passing game. His vision, initial burst, and anticipation are second to none--that's what makes him the running back that he is and that's what makes him conducive to success as a 30+ year old running back.

Of course Gore is going to slow down some soon but he's definitely still got another solid year in him, especially if this stubborn coaching staff finally allows players like Hunter and Lattimore to start sharing the load.

I can't see Gore fighting a contract restructure if the 49ers come to the table with that. He's a team-first guy and has made plenty of money. He deserves to still be the focal point of this offense and he deserves to retire a Niner but most of all... he deserves a ring.

The Niners must get that man a ring!

im gonna go watch some gore highlights and cry while you guys keep talking about letting him go

True Frank Gore was the consistent hard working lone bright spot on this team for many of the 8 straight years of not making the play-offs. The NFL needs to allow a few cap exceptions so people like Frank don't get dumped in their twilight years because of salary cap constraints. Everybody here loves Frank but those that didn't see his drastic decline last year are blinded by that love. The stand out one was the 50 yard run against Seattle where he had a 5+ yard lead on the closest defender and was run down from behind. That would have been a 70 yard TD two years ago. We ended up with a field goal and had to sweat a 2 point win. I say bring him back as a third down back, but not at his current cap number.

That's not really the best play to make your case.

No other player on our team had the moves to break the run in the first place. No other player on our team is savvy enough to go down in bounds and keep the clock going. We need a varied multifaceted offense that can use Gore as one of many pass and run options. That will help take the load off him and showcase what he can still do.

And by the way, sticking in Lattimore or Adrian Peterson or Eddie Lacey or who ever isn't going to change that. It's not like oh wow, our run game will really take off when we stick AP in the backfield with McD, Vern, Miller, SNyder. Yes, I grant you that Frank will have gained 8 inches while AP will get 10.5 inches. Yes. 33% improvement there. Really looking forward to that.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
That's not really the best play to make your case.

No other player on our team had the moves to break the run in the first place. No other player on our team is savvy enough to go down in bounds and keep the clock going. We need a varied multifaceted offense that can use Gore as one of many pass and run options. That will help take the load off him and showcase what he can still do.

And by the way, sticking in Lattimore or Adrian Peterson or Eddie Lacey or who ever isn't going to change that. It's not like oh wow, our run game will really take off when we stick AP in the backfield with McD, Vern, Miller, SNyder. Yes, I grant you that Frank will have gained 8 inches while AP will get 10.5 inches. Yes. 33% improvement there. Really looking forward to that.

You should have told me about your crystal ball! I have so many questions. Who's the 9ers first pick in the draft? Does Gore get 2000 yards on the Vikings? Do you realize you said our running game won't change if we put in Lattimore,who has yet to see a NFL snap in his life, or with AP,who has established himself as the best RB in the league, meaning it doesn't really matter if we keep Gore because all RBs are created equal? Can I tell my girlfriend 2.5 inches isn't a big deal?

Everything you wrote cannot be proved, and is just your opinion. I would think twice about giving others advice on how to make a case. A key play in a key game about a key player makes sense. A TD in that situation is huge as it saves us a turnover risk on the following plays, a potential missed FG, and forces Seattle to go for 7.

Originally posted by senseimatt:

You should have told me about your crystal ball! I have so many questions. Who's the 9ers first pick in the draft? Does Gore get 2000 yards on the Vikings? Do you realize you said our running game won't change if we put in Lattimore,who has yet to see a NFL snap in his life, or with AP,who has established himself as the best RB in the league, meaning it doesn't really matter if we keep Gore because all RBs are created equal? Can I tell my girlfriend 2.5 inches isn't a big deal?

Everything you wrote cannot be proved, and is just your opinion. I would think twice about giving others advice on how to make a case. A key play in a key game about a key player makes sense. A TD in that situation is huge as it saves us a turnover risk on the following plays, a potential missed FG, and forces Seattle to go for 7.

+1

Look I love Gore's mentality as much as the next person. However, he has clearly declined rather significantly. As good of a leader he is, he is not worth his current cap figure.

Once RB's decline, they typically go fast. I'd love to have him back at a reduced rate but no way we pay what he is scheduled to make. I just isn't smart.

My point is that it wont matter much who is running behind a lot of our formations where evsryone is a blocker but one.

Ill share my opinions with who i pleaze.

You can tell your girlfriend what you want.

I didn't make the case of the 50 yard run that would have been a 70 yard TD two years ago as a case of Frank Gore isn't still a good back, but it definitely showed how much Frank has declined, the guy that eventually tackled him closed from almost 10 yards back. Maybe you aren't aware that 30+ year old running backs decline faster than ice cream melts on the side walk in a Southern California desert in July. For a running back Frank has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
You can count on one hand the number of running backs that had good years the year after turning 30. I think his 2014 cap number is around $6 million, if you keep him at that number you are hurting the team, the salary cap is a cruel reality. No one defeats father time, especially NFL running backs.

Originally posted by BobS:
I didn't make the case of the 50 yard run that would have been a 70 yard TD two years ago as a case of Frank Gore isn't still a good back, but it definitely showed how much Frank has declined, the guy that eventually tackled him closed from almost 10 yards back. Maybe you aren't aware that 30+ year old running backs decline faster than ice cream melts on the side walk in a Southern California desert in July. For a running back Frank has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
You can count on one hand the number of running backs that had good years the year after turning 30. I think his 2014 cap number is around $6 million, if you keep him at that number you are hurting the team, the salary cap is a cruel reality. No one defeats father time, especially NFL running backs.

It's for one year. One year. It's not like he's being paid 6 million a year for the next 5 years. He's being paid six million for ONE year. While I do believe he will restructure and lower his cap number, his salary for ONE year is not going to "cripple" this team or hurt the team as you put it. We will be fine for this one year having Frank Gore, even at that salary.

Now if a renegotiates to lower the number, great. But he isn't hurting the team.