The state of the 49ers Offensive Line, Statistically speaking...

I do think that our OL is among the 5 worst at giving the qb time to throw, they can't block well, can't pick up the blitz or roll over to a side. Just horrible. Sims and Staley are actually pretty good......Sims i don't think should start but Staley is the only OL that COULD start on an nfl team. Our 2 guards, rt and C could NOT start on most NFL teams.......Think about that. That is how bad our OL is.

And when is the last time we were NOT worried about 2nd and 1 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 and said "our OL is not going to get a push and gore is not going to get a 1st down."
And it happens on 3rd and short many times. C and Guards are just bad.

And when is the ast time we were NOT worried about 3rd and 8, 9, 10 and said "please give our QB 1 or 2 seconds to throw" and alas.....no time, pressure sack or incompletion. Luckily Gore Davis and now even Crabtree a little can make a play when it counts.

We need about 3 new O Linemen and definitely a new OL coach. How do we have 2 second round guards and they turn out to be this bad? wow

Good post. I would say use both first round picks on OL. I dont care what people say about taking a G in the first roud. Get this thing solid already. If ones a bust you at least get one solid lineman. The line imo is too small and needs bigger bodies. It just needs to be fixed already.

Stats are fun, but unless you know the linecalls and have inside info it's just fun. How many calls did each player muff? How many sacks were credited due to a player trying to help a weak teammate and leaving a hole on the other side for a late blitz?

I do think Sims on the left and Staley on the right may be the best bet for next year, with a rookie learning from the bench. Guard is more of a quandry. Drafting a very mobile guard who has experience in the spread may be a good idea (Asamoah would fill that need). Heitmann might be better at guard if he has been blowing the calls but that doesn't seem likely given his experience and intelligence.

The line for next year? Sims, Asamoah, Heitmann, Rachal, Staley; with a rookie backing up at OT and Wragge, Baas at OG, Wallace at C. This line would have experience at every other position and very decent backups.

The O-Line needs help no doubt, but it shouldn't be an excuse for Alex. Take a look at the Steelers pass offense. I could be wrong , but I think they have worse pass protection than we do and Big Ben seems to get the job done.

WE JUST NEED TO GET 2 NEW GUARDS IN FA, AND DRAFT A RT... Relegate Rachal to 3rd Guard(his best position), and Snyder to 3rd OT(same reason). And we dont have to break the bank on Guards as some of you allegde(guys like Dahl, College, Williams, etc. will come a lot cheaper than expected).

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Never thought I'd EVAR be saying this, but damn I'm liking Barry Sims. Sims at LT is a whole different player from the RT Sims, RT Sims was making Kwame Harris look good. Now LT Sims is looking like the best LT in the NFC West IMO. IMO, its a tough decision at LT.

I know what you mean I was ready to shave my head when Staley got injured and Sims was the replacement. But overall Sims for some reason played well at LT. I never thought of that hope he resigns as long as we don't put him RT I am happy.

Originally posted by Niners99:

Originally posted by ptinerocket:
where did you get the stats my friend?

profootballfocus.com

they track stats on everything known to football pretty much. the numbers i posted are from everything up to week 15. week 16 hasnt been added yet.

http://www.profootballfocus.com/about.php?tab=about

Send the link to Scot and maybe a cheat sheet with small words so he can figure out how to interpret the stats.

i'm diggin' what DTG said. Staley @ RT and Sims @ LT. Sims really sucked @ RT but is surprising pretty good @ LT. Weird. He is just a back up at that.

The fact that Baas and Snyder aren't contributing equal to the 2nd and 3rd rounds they were picked at is a very bad thing. We HAVE invested in our OL. There is NO REASON they should be playing that bad. They aren't rooks anymore, this is plain and simple lack of coaching/development. Scotty blew it on them. Chilo I'm willing to be patient with because he is so young. Didn't he declare as a Junior? Unless Singletary FIRES this OL Coaches ass, Chilo will be a wasted pick too.

You want a "Fysical" O Sing? It starts up front. Five guys on offense are linemen and it is a requirement they do their jobs before anyone can do theirs. You need to fire someone Sing, cuz if you don't get this fixed, we'll be in the same boat in '10.

Originally posted by excelsior:
I appreciate the work done with the stats - very interesting. But I am not so sure it proves that the OL has not affected Alex. My eyes tell me that Alex is being forced to throw the ball much sooner than he would like in order to avoid being sacked. I am not sure the stats will measure that metric.

To bolster your point stats can be mis leading as they don't tell the whole story. A QB may sense pressure where a stat doesn't record it.

Originally posted by BigDaddy:
The O-Line needs help no doubt, but it shouldn't be an excuse for Alex. Take a look at the Steelers pass offense. I could be wrong , but I think they have worse pass protection than we do and Big Ben seems to get the job done.

more often than not, it's an exception and not the rule.

-9fA

It would be a mistake imo to 'switch' to a more pass friendly scheme. A good line is equally capable of pass blocking and run blocking. Defenses can gameplan against a one dimensional line and it would ultimately be self defeating.

Just because Smith has been able to get throws off does not mean the line has given him enough time to throw. Even out of the shotgun he is consistenly pressured.

Gore would run apes**t behind a line that could actually create running lanes, and I am confident Smith would thrive behind a Patriots, Eagles, Colts, Saints style offensive line.

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Never thought I'd EVAR be saying this, but damn I'm liking Barry Sims. Sims at LT is a whole different player from the RT Sims, RT Sims was making Kwame Harris look good. Now LT Sims is looking like the best LT in the NFC West IMO. IMO, its a tough decision at LT.

Sims at LT and Staley back at RT (his natural position) would solve a pressing draft issue an free up a first or second rounder to pursue a pass rusher, a CB and possibly a FS (if Clements isn't back). Sims did more than hold his own against a couple of very solid DE's.

I have been posting sometime now for 2 OLs in first rd, and then draft an all pro FA , be he OG or OT. We took a pass on Hutchinson, Faneca, and Dielman (SD), and all have gone on to all pro careers. Face it. Several yrs ago Hutchinson was worth every penny at $7Mil/yr, same for Dielman, and i assume Faneca was in that ballpark, tho since he was FA last yr, he may have gotten more. I thoroughly disagree with drafting some OLs in the 2nd and 3rd rd. We should have been drafting OLs in the first rd SEVEN yrs ago, and since scot has been here, we basically got Staley at #28, a late first rounder. 2nd and 3rd rd OLs have not been good to us. Golden Rule: you get what you pay for, and snyder, baas, wragge were not high draft picks, but we SHOULD have taken hi OL draft picks. Take a 3rd rd OL, and that's about where that guy will end up: 3rd string.

Most pleasant (and unsuspected) surprise this yr was SIMS, who actually played well. Thank God. Worst surprise was Chilo going backwards, and i blame this squarely on crapola OL coaching. Biggest surprise was the 17 penalties on VD and Morgan. Again that's coaching, and look to bigMike for responsibility there. He is, after all the HC, and his guys aren't paying attn. First move on Mon is to search out and sign an all pro OL coach with LOTS of experience. It will cost money.

i usually don't find myself in complete agreement with madDog, but independently we both have pushed for drafting 2 OLs in first rd, and buying an all pro OL in FA. If we end up with 3 OGs, or 3 OTs, what the heck. At least they can block, and it better be pass and run blocking. Snyder, what can i say? Rags looks like backup, as well as Baas.
Until this OL is fixed, this team goes nowhere. OL is an eyesore, but i just wonder how much better they would be with a top flite OL coach. Oh yeah, back the truck up for him also, filled with $$, or we won't get a good one, unless we steal from the cradle in college. Remember, this is a GM, unfortunately, who doesn't believe in paying these OLs what their market value is. "We can always pick up an OT in FA or in 2nd , 3rd rd." Right scot, and look where that has gotten us. But not only does scot have to convince jedi jed to pay the OLs, he has to convince jed to pay the OL coach , too.

This team just won't make it without an outstanding OL. Only way for this to happen is bigMIke to get involved also, because scot by himself, won't be doing this. His lack of appreciation for OLs and their pay and need is reason enough to fire him. He comes thru for us and bags two OLs in first rd, i eat my words. Then he has to get one of the rare all pro OLs in FA. Anything short of that is a failure in my eyes. And if somebody like a VD or a Crabs or a top flite QB, is available, scot better not burn a 1st rd on one. Those are reserved for OL. ONLY.

Originally posted by BigDaddy:
The O-Line needs help no doubt, but it shouldn't be an excuse for Alex. Take a look at the Steelers pass offense. I could be wrong , but I think they have worse pass protection than we do and Big Ben seems to get the job done.

they have given up alot of sacks, especially up the middle, but also notice Big Ben has been injured a ton this year. he also has better WR's and a very reliable, and an elite "intangibles" TE in Heath Miller.

and last time i checked, ROTFLisberger was better than Alex Smith.....so you cant fault Alex for not doing what Ben does with his bad line.

I think we should definately look into moving Staley to RT and keeping a good thing going with Sims at LT. at least try it out, see how Staley does at RT.

honestly Staley hasnt been all that great this season, mostly due to injuries and rustiness from those injuries afterwards. the guards suck, plain and simple, but i think Rachal still has hope. hes still young. Baas is looking like more of a backup, we need to sign a good f/a G experienced with the spread.

and as for the draft? you dont take Guards in the 1st. you just dont. theres way too much talent around in the 1st, and you can easily wait til the 2nd to get the best Guard on the board in most drafts. and weve tried this TWICE now. both Baas and Rachal were arguably the best Guard in their draft. wed be better off signing f/a's

and to the guy saying Staley is the only OL on our team that could start for other NFL teams? totally untrue. have you seen some of the other OL in the NFL this year? theres a line up in Buffalo that would LOVE Barry Sims.

and Eric Heitmann is a very solid C. about smack dab in the middle of the pack of starters at 16, but i think if someone told you there were only 14 or 15 better C in the NFL than your guy, youd be ok with it. and Heitmann has been a solid anchor on this horrible, horrible line for years now. show some respect.