i may be the only one but coffee...

Let's put it this way, if the Niners had LT behind that same O-line, and he was on my fantasy team, I'd bench him unless they were playing the likes of the Rams. Maybe Adrian Peterson could do something back there, but even he would have trouble I think. Teams know we're going to run, and like him or not, there have not been very many big pass plays down field from Hill and the receivers, so defenses can pretty much just concentrate on one thing, the run. Combine that with an O-Line that is weak, and it's a disaster.

I can't tell if Coffee is any good or not.

I agree. It's his rookie year, but RBs usually have the easiest transition on offense. If you are a great athlete, you can have a little success. Coffee was a power back in college, although, he is too small to be a power back in the NFL, IMO. He isn't fast, or quick by NFL standards. No shakes either. I hope his vision improves and he gains some more power. Fans took Gore for granted, without him the offense is WAY worse. He shouldn't of made the dumb comment in preseason, about the transition to the NFL being easier than he thought. That was the preseason big guy.

[ Edited by sacniner on Oct 8, 2009 at 15:43:35 ]

patience my friends.. patience

Everyone needs to relax. We're 4 games into his rookie year and everyone is mad that he's not running all over defenses like Gore

Did anyone stop and think he's not Gore!
Have any of you watched this O-Line play this year?

If he gains more than 100 yards against Atlanta's 30th ranked run defense you guys will be back on his nuts.

For what it's worth he still needs to continue to work on his pass blocking. He'll be fine.

Besides two big runs against Seattle you can say gore hasn't looked good either.
However, we are getting no push, it seems our line is getting pushed back at least a yard every run play.

I think we need to spread out the D more. Run more out of 3 wr sets

Originally posted by darkknight49:
well, according to maiocco, he was cutting back and trying to find the hole in training camp but he got yelled at by jimmy raye. He was told to follow where the run was going and not to dance around so that's what he did, even if nothing was there.

I'll see if I can find the link.

Yep that's what happened.

Coffee is playing like an okay back-up now.. but I understand he's a rookie, AND that we reached for him. Coffee was a 4th -- maybe even 5th -- round talent, if you can remember the discussions. I was not particularly thrilled with us taking him so soon, but we didn't have a 4th to wait for.

We took him because he could block decent and produced well, despite not having great speed or tremendous power. Next year, we seriously need to look at Coffee and consider this: "Do we have enough speed at RB?"

Right now the answer is a clear and distinct NO. We do NOT have anywhere near enough speed at RB to spread out defenses. They hardly, if ever, need to contain the edges because we simply are incapable of burning anyone that way.

You guys amaze me, you slam a guy for not playing like a pro bowler and never once take into consideration that the oline is playing terrible. What ever happened to smart football fans?

Originally posted by SF69ers:
I'm still giving Coffee the benefit of the doubt. He's a rookie trying to run behind an offensive line that hasn't performed as well as we had hoped.

Agreed.

-9fA

We need to bring up SHEETS. Who cares if he can't block, neither can the rest of the O-line. At least as a change of pace third down back

Its mystifying how the consensus is that the OL is not creating holes but then Coffee is criticized for not finding the holes. At the same time, he struggled against the Vikings, who have led the NFL in rushing defense for 3 straight years so he is apparently not alone in doing that among NFL RBs.

He averaged 3.1 yards/carry against the Rams in a game where even Singletary said the OL generally and Baas and Richal specifically have to play better.

Early in this thread, Coffee was compared negatively to Sproles and Marion Barber, who came into the league as back-ups. So, I went back and checked their rookie years. For Sproles, he had all of 8 carries his entire rookie year. The truth is he was largely a special teams player until last year but regardless he certainly didn't make any impact his rookie year as a rusher from scrimmage. In Barber's case, in 8 of the 12 games he had a rushing attempt during his rookie year, he averaged less than 4 yards per carry and ended up at 3.9 yards per carry for the year. He then got significantly better his 2nd year.

Coffee's going to get better but some are putting unrealistic expectations on him. He's not embarrassing himself or costing the 49ers wins. And, don't underestimate his ability to pick up blitzers...just remember Lawrence Phillips failing to pick-up A. Williams' blitz against the 49ers ended Steve Young's career.

Originally posted by ninersrule4:
Well Gores been very unimpressive too except for two runs where the line blocked

Its the line

I think a lot of you guys are missing the point. We know the line hasn't played too well. We know that most of the time there really aren't big holes to run to. It's not about his 2.8 yards a carry. I dont blame him for that.

The problem that I have is what many have stated. In the few chances he's had in the open field or in the second level he hasn't looked impressive. He doesn't break tackles and isn't very illusive. You combine that with the fact that he doesn't have great speed and you have a servicable back that can get you a few tough yards, but thats about it. If we are going to be Superbowl contenders we will need to draft another back. We need a legit two back system.

two games....and only started in one...imo zoners are being a little harsh...i will wait to pass judgment till after sundays game.

[ Edited by GORE-ILLA on Oct 8, 2009 at 18:30:25 ]

Originally posted by GORE-ILLA:
two games....and only started in one...imo zoners are being a little harsh...i will wait to pass judgment till after sundays game.

Not everything said by every Zoner is a definitive statement. Sometimes we are just making general observations.