The 2nd worst offensive line in football

Whilst a lot of the background issues have been highlighted in the thread I think it also comes down to some integral problems with technique. The OL do not looked well trained at all in pass protection. Their run blocking is suspect as well as you rarely see anyone of them drop the hammer on a defender. They need a complete review of mechanics.

Ultimately what is most disappointing about it all is that for a unit that has been called out more than once this season for poor play none of them.....to a man.....play pissed off. They don't look angry or nasty at all.

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Interesting stats in this article by Football Outsiders. It shows the Ninets to have the 2nd worst line in football better than only the Chiefs:

http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

This has to be the top priority for the Niners next year. I think the team has to draft an OT with the first pick, and an OG with the 2nd round pick.

i think that the Redskins OL is the 2nd we are third !

Originally posted by SmokeCrabtrees:

Originally posted by Envy:

Originally posted by Super5:

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:
Interesting stats in this article by Football Outsiders. It shows the Ninets to have the 2nd worst line in football better than only the Chiefs:

http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

This has to be the top priority for the Niners next year. I think the team has to draft an OT with the first pick, and an OG with the 2nd round pick.

I agree 100%

This will be more important than the QB and pass rusher positions

It should've been a top priority this year

They cannot go into next years draft with the same mentality of drafting the best player available unless they are able to address the problem through FA also.

100% agreed. Said before the draft that we need to fix the holes before we can sign luxury players.

About time there's some great valid points on this forum. As much as Michael Oher would've been nice we've seen in the past sometimes when we draft a "need" it has fired back on us but Crabtree WAS the OVERALL best player available and last time I checked we still needed a playmaker at the position.
P.S-Couldnt agree more about OT with one of our two 1st round picks and a OG with our second. With our other 1st round pick I believe if there's a player that has slipped we will go for the best player available but would a dream to get a OLB for our 3-4...Stronger pass rush=Takes pressure off the secondary that everyone is IN&OUT of love with every other week. A safety can be addressed in 3rd round/FA.

I like the idea of getting a RG and a pass rushing OLB in the first round next year and maybe getting a RT in FA who is reliable.

I'd like to see us take a RT on the first day but I don't see the logic on using first day (1,2,3 rd) draft picks on guards if our strategy is to not resign them when they turn out to be good because they cost too much.

Originally posted by Bluefalcon61:

Originally posted by amir_tn80:
This is probably the worst 49ers offensive line I have ever seen in the 22 years I've been a fan. I remember saying the same thing in '04. Then in '05. Then in '07. Then in '08. Evidently the front office thinks offensive line is a luxury item the team can do without just like a pass rush and a competent quarterback.

LOL.

To be fair, the FO has tried to do its part by spending high draft picks on Baas, Staley, Rachal, and Snyder; and signing guys like Jonas Jennings and Marvel Smith to FA contracts, and having holdover OL like Kwame Harris (1st rounder), Eric Heitmann (still playing) and Justin Smiley (having a good 2nd career with Miami).

Getting these guys to develop together and play as a cohesive unit, I pin that on the coaches, plus the other underlying factors you mention above - competent QB, etc.

Bingo. People blaming the FO haven't paid attention to our moves in the draft and FA. The one mistake was letting Smiley go in FA because he had established himself to be a good player, and was only looking for a fair market contract. The others weren't good when they were here, they were developed by superior coaches. In hindsight the picks made in the Oline may not look good, but the guys we took were rated very highly, otherwise you don't take a G on the first day, other than Wallace who was a huge reach.
So blame should be laid squarely on the coaching staff of the last 5 years. MS gets a pass for now because he inherited these players, but it is on him to get a coach who can actually develop players after this season.

New line coach and better play calling.

Originally posted by BrianGO:
We certainly have problems on the right side of the line.

But when I watched Joe Flacco play against Minnesota, its not like he was just sitting back there in a pocket all day.

He had people CONSTANTLY in his face, yet he simply GOT RID of the ball.
If it was one of our quarterbacks, he would have been sacked 10 times.

Quarterbacking in the NFL is no joke. It requires a special skill.

Some quarterbacks feel the pressure and get rid of the ball. Some don't.

The difference leads to all of these half-flawed statistics.

You are talking about one of the best D lines in football, if not the best. We are giving up sacks to sorry ass d lines

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
Nowai!

Bills also have an awful oline, the Steelers and Cards sure don't have a better oline than ours, it's pretty bad, but not top 3, more like somewhere around 6-9.

We need Pashos or Snyder to step up and be the fulltime starter at RT

Wragge needs to be a mauler at RG if were gonna be a power running team

Baas also needs to start dominating for the line to improve

Rachal needs to be a mean and aggressive RG when he gets some playing time

and the entire offensive line needs to be on the same page in regards to pass protection.

enough is enough, the O Line is the key to our season and if they get their asses kicked, so will the entire team.

Originally posted by BirdmanJr:

Originally posted by BrianGO:
We certainly have problems on the right side of the line.

But when I watched Joe Flacco play against Minnesota, its not like he was just sitting back there in a pocket all day.

He had people CONSTANTLY in his face, yet he simply GOT RID of the ball.
If it was one of our quarterbacks, he would have been sacked 10 times.

Quarterbacking in the NFL is no joke. It requires a special skill.

Some quarterbacks feel the pressure and get rid of the ball. Some don't.

The difference leads to all of these half-flawed statistics.

You are talking about one of the best D lines in football, if not the best. We are giving up sacks to sorry ass d lines

And this is the main thing that i have a problem with. I dont care who we have under center. Other teams have bad o-lines, but when they do throw the ball, things happen. My thing with Hill isnt when he has no time to throw the ball, cause thats a given. But what happens when he does have time, and he either overthrows a deep ball, throws behind the receiver, or flat out, continues to go to the checkdown underneath man. No one can lie, like it or not, maybe not every time he throws, but i will say 50% of the time, when HILL DOES, have time to throw, it's always to the underneath man.

I just say how can you blame the O line completely, if and WHEN THEY DO HOLD, and our QB hasn't produced what he should, you still blame them? How does that work exactly?

Originally posted by Jersey9er:

Originally posted by BirdmanJr:

Originally posted by BrianGO:
We certainly have problems on the right side of the line.

But when I watched Joe Flacco play against Minnesota, its not like he was just sitting back there in a pocket all day.

He had people CONSTANTLY in his face, yet he simply GOT RID of the ball.
If it was one of our quarterbacks, he would have been sacked 10 times.

Quarterbacking in the NFL is no joke. It requires a special skill.

Some quarterbacks feel the pressure and get rid of the ball. Some don't.

The difference leads to all of these half-flawed statistics.

You are talking about one of the best D lines in football, if not the best. We are giving up sacks to sorry ass d lines

And this is the main thing that i have a problem with. I dont care who we have under center. Other teams have bad o-lines, but when they do throw the ball, things happen. My thing with Hill isnt when he has no time to throw the ball, cause thats a given. But what happens when he does have time, and he either overthrows a deep ball, throws behind the receiver, or flat out, continues to go to the checkdown underneath man. No one can lie, like it or not, maybe not every time he throws, but i will say 50% of the time, when HILL DOES, have time to throw, it's always to the underneath man.

I just say how can you blame the O line completely, if and WHEN THEY DO HOLD, and our QB hasn't produced what he should, you still blame them? How does that work exactly?

Maybe our WR's just suck? Bruce is old and slow now, everyone thinks Morgan is our #1 WR but we all saw the game against ATL how lazy he was on a couple of routes..maybe it's just that our WR can't get open for s**t..on top of that we got Hill who really doesn't have the arm to put it in tight spaces....it's everything together..no great WR's, a QB who can't throw into tight spaces and a s**tty o line...hopefully Crabtree can really help us..if not

Originally posted by Jersey9er:

And this is the main thing that i have a problem with. I dont care who we have under center. Other teams have bad o-lines, but when they do throw the ball, things happen. My thing with Hill isnt when he has no time to throw the ball, cause thats a given. But what happens when he does have time, and he either overthrows a deep ball, throws behind the receiver, or flat out, continues to go to the checkdown underneath man. No one can lie, like it or not, maybe not every time he throws, but i will say 50% of the time, when HILL DOES, have time to throw, it's always to the underneath man.

I just say how can you blame the O line completely, if and WHEN THEY DO HOLD, and our QB hasn't produced what he should, you still blame them? How does that work exactly?

It's transparent that fans are desperate to believe we have a good QB under center. Hill is such a likeable guy and underdog type that every fan wants to believe. They especially need to believe because they convinced themselves that if Hill is not the answer, there is no one on the roster that can save the team this year. Another truth is, it's not possible for a team to mask the weaknesses of a limited quarterback week in and out. In these weeks where everything around the QB isn't good, can Hill overcome this with skill and talent? Signs so far point to a big NOPE. Would love to be wrong though... this isn't about personal ego or being right over wrong... this is about wanting success for SF.

Originally posted by Bluefalcon61:

Originally posted by amir_tn80:
This is probably the worst 49ers offensive line I have ever seen in the 22 years I've been a fan. I remember saying the same thing in '04. Then in '05. Then in '07. Then in '08. Evidently the front office thinks offensive line is a luxury item the team can do without just like a pass rush and a competent quarterback.

LOL.

To be fair, the FO has tried to do its part by spending high draft picks on Baas, Staley, Rachal, and Snyder; and signing guys like Jonas Jennings and Marvel Smith to FA contracts, and having holdover OL like Kwame Harris (1st rounder), Eric Heitmann (still playing) and Justin Smiley (having a good 2nd career with Miami).

Getting these guys to develop together and play as a cohesive unit, I pin that on the coaches, plus the other underlying factors you mention above - competent QB, etc.

I do agree that the coaching staff should take a part of the blame. We always end up with offensive line coaches no one wants a part of. But the front office deserves the blame as well. The offensive line draft pick and free agent signings have left a lot to be desired.

When they signed Jonas Jennings the entire league shook their heads in disbelief. He sucked at Buffalo and didn't finish one complete season. I think he and his agent laughed when they heard the 49er offer. David Baas was a terrible pick. He sucked at pass blocking at Michigan. Adam Snyder has no business starting on any offensive line in the league. Chilo Rachel is regressing at a rapid rate. Marvel Smith was damaged goods. Joe Staley has been ok but nothing spectacular. Larry Allen was a good signing but he was at the tail end of his career and his pass blocking had deteriorated by then. I'm sure I left a few other linemen out but since they're not starting on this team right now they're not going to make a positive case for the front office.

Justin Smiley and Eric Heittman were Donahue draft picks. Scary thing that Donahue drafted better linemen than this current front office. So the bottom line is everyone is to blame for this abysmal line play.

I have to add Green Bay and San Diego's OL suck even worst than ours.

I don't care whether we are second worst or in the bottom 10. We need our O-line to be better or it doesn't matter how much talent (or lack thereof) we have in the offensive skill positions.