A Fun Two Weeks of Competition Across the Offense

Originally posted by B650:

Originally posted by DaveWilcox:

Originally posted by ninertico:

Originally posted by king32:
From Mindi Bach's Twitter:

"From 49ers; Gore, Crabtree & Alex Smith will stay during the bye week to work on offense"

Somebody may have already noted this. Couldn't find it anywhere though. I would think Shaun Hill should stay during the bye as well and build some chemistry with Crab.

Link

Whoa, Alex Smith? Why not Shaun Hill? Wouldn't the starter need more chemistry?

Still, the fact that these players want to stay back and work with Crabtree says volumes.

We got two weeks to fix this thing and this is a solid start!

Come back after the bye week with Alex at QB, Frank the Tank as RB and finally Crabtree and Jones at WR's.. Now that's change I can live with..

I am DaveWilcox and I approve of this message.

Duck training is next week. For now, they're going to have Crabtree work on catching spirals.

Hm, when you put that way, this could actually work against Crabtree's development. If he works with a qb that can throw a spiral and then has to go in-game with a qb that throw's bird-killers then he won't be able to adjust.

GOOO ALEX! Dont tell me you cant beat Mr. Punt Floaters Hill!

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by jreff22:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
It would be smart to at least keep an eye the QB situation. Hill looks to be getting progressively worse. Many here fail to remember that he has NEVER started a complete NFL season, and you know what?

I expect that to still be the case at the end of this year.

Hill is going to get stuck on the sideline due to one of two possible reasons:

1) Plays so poorly that we have to bench him to allow another QB to spark the offense.

2) Our OL continues to play horrendous and Hill gets blasted and injured, leading to Alex starting.

If my memory serves right you predicted that in the preseason...not sure which thread it was in. But I agreed with you then and still have the same feelings now. Smith will get 1 more opportunity to show what he has this year, if he fails, he is gone.

Actually I think you said Hill would be pulled after the bye..?

I did state many times that Alex was only a play away from starting, and that I also wouldn't be surprised to see him start if Hill wasn't playing well enough and they felt that Alex was ready and "where he needed to be" (A Singletary phrase I've been hearing often regarding players) in the offense.

Fans are getting impatient. I know I am. I want to see Hill do ANYthing noteworthy. I'm not talking about one single drive per game. It's not like Alex can't do that. See: Houston, Denver, Arizona, Rams game-winning drives.

The 49ers would be at that point right now except that some of Hill's problems have
come from the lack of pass protection.

My sense is that Smith and Crabtree will both benefit from the bye. Crabtree will be ready for 10-12 snaps in the Houston game and Smith will be ready for the second half of that game if Hill is not getting the job done.

I have said in other threads that the most critical personnel decision the 49ers need to make this year is to decide, once and for all, whether Alex Smith is the QB of the future or not. In order to make that decision, he will have to play in a minimum of 6 games, IMO, so management can clearly see how he responds to different situations. By now, we all can see what Hill can do. The league has figured him out - rush the passer and load the short zones and he is a dead man walking.

Smith, OTOH, has finally had some decent coaching from Mike Johnson and reportedly made good progress. If he can show that in games, then it is the equivalent of getting an extra first round pick, because if Smith is NOT the guy, then clearly the team must use one of those picks to solve that need.

I certainly hope that Smith can be that guy.

As to Nate Davis; there is no way the 49ers can risk not drafting a QB next year if neither Hill nor Smith prove worthy. His learning curve is just too long to put him in enough games this year to make that determination.

My scenario is that either both Hill and Smith are gone next year, and the 49ers draft a QB in the first round, OR Smith is the starter and Hill is gone with Davis the backup plus and early second day QB pick as the alternate for the future.

This is almost like training camp all over again...

Originally posted by alpha81:
GOOO ALEX! Dont tell me you cant beat Mr. Punt Floaters Hill!

Little self-evaluation on my predictions over the bye-week. I'll interject my evaluation in bold letters.

After yesterday's massacre, which I believe has been far too dramatized on the board by many (in the grand scheme of things, it is one game, and the first bad overall game the team has played all year), the next couple weeks could be a blast to watch, as I surmise Singletary is open up competition all across the offense. The problems are far and wide, and do not seem to be getting better. Hence, the potential for a massive overhaul before the Niners face the Texans.

Here are some of the competitions I expect to see:
1) Rachal vs. Wragge vs. Snyder- While Rachal is far more athletic, the bottom line is that he is struggling. Struggling against a backup lineman last week with the Rams, struggling this week against the Falcons; heck, he's struggled all year. While is has been more convenient for fans to blast Baas (since he will probably depart in FA this year, and Rachal is young), Rachal simply has been terrible in pass protection. He is a lost puppy right now. Wragge is a savvy vet who may need to give the kid a break to get his head together. I have added Snyder just in case he is the loser of the battle below.
Eval: Snyder has been injected into the competition with Rachal. And, it seems like the team plans to rotate the two. It looks like Wragge is not in competition for a starting role.

2) Snyder vs. Pashos- A showdown between two mediocre RT's, I've got a feeling that the extra two weeks in this offense will help Pashos, and he will emerge the starter. This would allow Snyder the potential to move inside to replace Rachal or Baas. We need to get our best five guys on the field, and Snyder would be better than Rachal at this point of the season.
Eval: I hit this one right on two ends. Pashos has been named the starter, and Snyder looks to rotate with Rachal.

3) Bruce vs. Jones vs. Crabtree vs. Battle vs. Hill- So, who wants to be the starter next to Morgan? It seems like Morgan has emerged as the top guy the past two weeks (although besides his breakway run yesterday, we still did not see much). However, he is contributing, something we are not seeing elsewhere. Bruce looks like he is 80 years old. Jones is coming back from injury. Battle has been sitting on the sidelines a lot due to Raye's offense, and Hill has been playing special teams. I expect the Niners to give Jones every shot to move up the depth chart and possibly push for a starting role. Crabtree is not going to be ready for the full package, so he's competing for the third WR role. This will be a fun week to see who gets the chance to start and play backup.
Eval: I underestimated Crabtree's preparedness to start, and was completely wrong on Morgan being the starter. The Niners have benched Morgan and kept Bruce on the field. Obviously, Jones is not at the same level as Crabtree, and I overestimated his chances to be a starter.
And, I think someone surprising is going to get cut this week: Hill? Battle? Rossum? Even with Spurlock headed to the waiver wire, I'm just not convinced the Niners will keep 6 WR's, and a PR. I could be wrong.
Eval: Rossum was cut within hours of the posting. Wrong on Spurlock. I'm still surprised he is on the team.

4) Smith vs. Hill- I fully expect Singletary to allow Smith some first team reps, and this may be his shot to run the offense. I still expect Hill to emerge the starter after the bye, but Hill was pretty shaky, and the passing game has been inconsistent all season. So, if Smith lights it up in practice, we may see a change. Something has to pump up this dreadful offense.
Eval: I was right about Smith picking up first team reps, and it appears that Hill will be the starter, as expected.

Final eval: There may be more surprises to come, but the shakeup has begun.

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
Little self-evaluation on my predictions over the bye-week. I'll interject my evaluation in bold letters.

After yesterday's massacre, which I believe has been far too dramatized on the board by many (in the grand scheme of things, it is one game, and the first bad overall game the team has played all year), the next couple weeks could be a blast to watch, as I surmise Singletary is open up competition all across the offense. The problems are far and wide, and do not seem to be getting better. Hence, the potential for a massive overhaul before the Niners face the Texans.

Here are some of the competitions I expect to see:
1) Rachal vs. Wragge vs. Snyder- While Rachal is far more athletic, the bottom line is that he is struggling. Struggling against a backup lineman last week with the Rams, struggling this week against the Falcons; heck, he's struggled all year. While is has been more convenient for fans to blast Baas (since he will probably depart in FA this year, and Rachal is young), Rachal simply has been terrible in pass protection. He is a lost puppy right now. Wragge is a savvy vet who may need to give the kid a break to get his head together. I have added Snyder just in case he is the loser of the battle below.
Eval: Snyder has been injected into the competition with Rachal. And, it seems like the team plans to rotate the two. It looks like Wragge is not in competition for a starting role.

2) Snyder vs. Pashos- A showdown between two mediocre RT's, I've got a feeling that the extra two weeks in this offense will help Pashos, and he will emerge the starter. This would allow Snyder the potential to move inside to replace Rachal or Baas. We need to get our best five guys on the field, and Snyder would be better than Rachal at this point of the season.
Eval: I hit this one right on two ends. Pashos has been named the starter, and Snyder looks to rotate with Rachal.

3) Bruce vs. Jones vs. Crabtree vs. Battle vs. Hill- So, who wants to be the starter next to Morgan? It seems like Morgan has emerged as the top guy the past two weeks (although besides his breakway run yesterday, we still did not see much). However, he is contributing, something we are not seeing elsewhere. Bruce looks like he is 80 years old. Jones is coming back from injury. Battle has been sitting on the sidelines a lot due to Raye's offense, and Hill has been playing special teams. I expect the Niners to give Jones every shot to move up the depth chart and possibly push for a starting role. Crabtree is not going to be ready for the full package, so he's competing for the third WR role. This will be a fun week to see who gets the chance to start and play backup.
Eval: I underestimated Crabtree's preparedness to start, and was completely wrong on Morgan being the starter. The Niners have benched Morgan and kept Bruce on the field. Obviously, Jones is not at the same level as Crabtree, and I overestimated his chances to be a starter.
And, I think someone surprising is going to get cut this week: Hill? Battle? Rossum? Even with Spurlock headed to the waiver wire, I'm just not convinced the Niners will keep 6 WR's, and a PR. I could be wrong.
Eval: Rossum was cut within hours of the posting. Wrong on Spurlock. I'm still surprised he is on the team.

4) Smith vs. Hill- I fully expect Singletary to allow Smith some first team reps, and this may be his shot to run the offense. I still expect Hill to emerge the starter after the bye, but Hill was pretty shaky, and the passing game has been inconsistent all season. So, if Smith lights it up in practice, we may see a change. Something has to pump up this dreadful offense.
Eval: I was right about Smith picking up first team reps, and it appears that Hill will be the starter, as expected.

Final eval: There may be more surprises to come, but the shakeup has begun.

I'm surprised Spurlock is still here, too.

If he's not returning kicks, what the heck is he doing on the team when Jason Hill can do whatever else Spurlock can? We're done with the "Taser" -- Either put Spurlock on the PS or actually use him. That's my take.

Summary-to-date of Bye Week winners and losers:

Offense:
Frank Gore ready to resume lead dog role from Coffee
Crabtree "wows" and takes starting X (split end) position from Morgan.
Pashos "wins" starting RT job from Snyder.
Rachal loses exclusive hold on starting RG spot, now shared with Snyder.
Baas keps his starting LG job, while Wragge remains a back-up.
Bruce holds off all challengers for starting Z (flanker) position.
Shaun Hill gets 2 weeks to heal from season-long sack pounding.
A. Smith gets a few 1st team reps running Niner plays, to maintain preparedness.

Defense:
Ulbrich's playing career is probably ended.
Roman prevails over injured Reggie Smith as starting SS until Lewis recovers.
Wilhelm will compete with McKillop as primary ILB back-up.

Special Teams:
Wilhelm takes over Ulbrich's ST roles.
Battle's primary job moves from WR to PR.
Walker holds primary KR job, in spite of fumble vs Atlanta.
Morgan may get some KR or PR opportunities.

Coaching:
Singletary makes a number of personel changes to the starting line-up.
Singletary reacts to "I thought that we were past that type of loss."
Singletary brings in personal tutor to expedite Crabtree development (Wendell Davis).
Raye changes his mind about how quickly to incorporate Crabtree.

Practice Squad:
A few shuffles in and out (to be continued).

I just know that we shaking things up and I hope they equal more wins.

Originally posted by jimbagg:
Summary-to-date of Bye Week winners and losers:

Offense:
Frank Gore ready to resume lead dog role from Coffee
Crabtree "wows" and takes starting X (split end) position from Morgan.
Pashos "wins" starting RT job from Snyder.
Rachal loses exclusive hold on starting RG spot, now shared with Snyder.
Baas keps his starting LG job, while Wragge remains a back-up.
Bruce holds off all challengers for starting Z (flanker) position.
Shaun Hill gets 2 weeks to heal from season-long sack pounding.
A. Smith gets a few 1st team reps running Niner plays, to maintain preparedness.

Defense:
Ulbrich's playing career is probably ended.
Roman prevails over injured Reggie Smith as starting SS until Lewis recovers.
Wilhelm will compete with McKillop as primary ILB back-up.

Special Teams:
Wilhelm takes over Ulbrich's ST roles.
Battle's primary job moves from WR to PR.
Walker holds primary KR job, in spite of fumble vs Atlanta.
Morgan may get some KR or PR opportunities.

Coaching:
Singletary makes a number of personel changes to the starting line-up.
Singletary reacts to "I thought that we were past that type of loss."
Singletary brings in personal tutor to expedite Crabtree development (Wendell Davis).
Raye changes his mind about how quickly to incorporate Crabtree.

Practice Squad:
A few shuffles in and out (to be continued).

Very good breakdown. Lots of changes. Should be fun to see how the Niners perform against a good Texans team.

1. Seems crazy to me to start Crabtree, unless it is to boost his ego (now that I've written that he will probably gain 300 yrds next week). Coming out of a gimmick offense and missing training camp, how can he be ready?

2. Hill still seems like the best option at QB, expecially with a suspect line. Smith does a convincing deer in headlights against a big rush.

3. Too much too soon for Chilo. He's way to young and inexperienced to be starting. I do think he has a future, however.

4. No one on this team is a starting RT, and they aren't going to find one in a trade. Where's Kwame? .

5. The 9ers are still leading their division and at least one game better than I hoped they'd be. It could be worse. Nolan could be the coach. After they beat Houston, we'll all be talking superbowl again.