Who gets benched?

Really no one! We may shuffle some OLine, but these are the players coaches loved during the off season including a lot of fans. I was all for free agency along with some other fans, but it was shut down quick because it was a moronic idea. Washington was practically a give away trade that would solve our PR/KR and might have won a game vs NO.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
~ Chilo Rachal.
~ Moran Norris.
~ Michael Crabtree.
~ Takeo Spikes.
~ Parys Harralson.
~ Michael Lewis.

I agree Norris does not add much to the offense, he could be effective in spot duty, but not as an every down player

Crabtree needs a fire lit under his ass thats for sure

Spikes needs to give way to Bowman and allow him more snaps for a deeper defense and more speed at LB

Haralson needs to step it up BIGTIME..I wouldn't shed any tears if he was let go

Michael Lewis still has a little gas left in the tank, but Mays should be groomed for the future with a lot more playing time

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
~ Chilo Rachal.
~ Moran Norris.
~ Michael Crabtree.
~ Takeo Spikes.
~ Parys Harralson.
~ Michael Lewis.

All but Crabtree. Yes you can tell he's pouting but he did look good and ran sharp routes against the Saints. He did wet the bed in the Saints game, but not the cheifs game.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
~ Chilo Rachal.
~ Moran Norris.
~ Michael Crabtree.
~ Takeo Spikes.
~ Parys Harralson.
~ Michael Lewis.

Everybody except Chilo and Crabtree. Chilo is still real young and has room for improvement, let him play. Crabtree just needs to get targeted more and be given passes that aren't 5 feet over his head.

Michael Lewis - This move has been two years in the making. Everytime someone suggests benching him, his apologists bring up his high tackle numbers. Of course he has a lot of tackles - he is normally well out of position and chasing people down.

Moran Norris - Am I the only one that saw Norris consistently get blown up at the point of attack Sunday? I am as frustrated as anyone else with the inordinate number of runs straight up the middle, but why would any of that work when our fullback is going backwards. He is a huge symbolic representation of the gap between our offensive philosophy and that of the successful NFL offenses.

Chilo Rachal - I don't know that Rachal will ever be the nasty force that we need to be a power running team. He has consitently failed to impress given ample opportunity. When is performance going to lose this guy his job? Oh and a side note, a finger injury kept him on the bench for the Saints game. Monday night - at the Stick - against the World Champions and your finger keeps you out. I once heard of a guy cutting his finger off to play - who was that...oh that's right, Ronnie Lott!

^^^All the people you are looking to bench who do you guys want to replace them with? In a 3-4 Spikes and Bowman are going to alternate. Rachal sucks! his backup is backup quality. If he was so awesome Rachal and 2 other Rookies would not play full time. Norris he gets 2-5 plays per game he doesn't make or break us! In reality our team is no good from coaching to some of our starters all the way to the backups. The only thing I can really watch now are individual plays and hope for potential.

D. Goldson
C. Rachal
P. Haralson
M. Lewis

I think Reggie Smith needs to get some time over Micheal Lewis.

Originally posted by Rathman_44:
Michael Lewis - This move has been two years in the making. Everytime someone suggests benching him, his apologists bring up his high tackle numbers. Of course he has a lot of tackles - he is normally well out of position and chasing people down.

Moran Norris - Am I the only one that saw Norris consistently get blown up at the point of attack Sunday? I am as frustrated as anyone else with the inordinate number of runs straight up the middle, but why would any of that work when our fullback is going backwards. He is a huge symbolic representation of the gap between our offensive philosophy and that of the successful NFL offenses.

Chilo Rachal - I don't know that Rachal will ever be the nasty force that we need to be a power running team. He has consitently failed to impress given ample opportunity. When is performance going to lose this guy his job? Oh and a side note, a finger injury kept him on the bench for the Saints game. Monday night - at the Stick - against the World Champions and your finger keeps you out. I once heard of a guy cutting his finger off to play - who was that...oh that's right, Ronnie Lott!

To me, Norris and Rachal are differnet examples of a failed offensive scheme that was wrong in many ways.

Norris is on the team because the Sing/Raye system wanted an extra blocker at the point of attack. He was asked to do little else, and in certain situations he was quite good at what he was asked to do. However, when the defense knows in advance what is coming, the plug a 300 pound DL into the hole, or a 270 pound LB, and Norris, at 250 pounds is not usually going to drive that guy out of the hole.

Norris is a decent, not great, short-yardage back but has proven he can do little else. On passing downs or in a spread formation, he should be replaced by Brian Westbrook. If at some point when the 49ers get away from the "up the gut" philosophy to the point defenses are no longer loading the box, he may be helpful but for now, the style of offense this team needs to take advantage of the talent on the team, does not have a place for Moran Norris.

Chilo Rachal is also an example of a failed offensive scheme but in a different way. The style of run blocking favored by the team the last two years is man blocking. This fits Singletary's "tough guy" mentality and it can be useful if all you are doing is running up the gut but it isn't the best way to block if you are trying to go off tackle or around the outside. For those types of runs, and for all pass protection, zone blocking is not only easier for a young lineman to learn, it is more effective as well. All Rachal needs to know is to hit anyone that comes into the space between the center and the tackle. Don't worry about chasing #96 if he isn't invading your space. If the line slants to the right or left, you still block the space between the center and tackle. There is a bit more to it than that but that is the basic idea and it is easier to learn and to execute, especially for a guard.

In Rachal's case, he started with a poor OL coach and then was asked to learn an outmoded style albeit with a better position coach. Now, IF Johnson is allowed to open up the offense and run plays that spread the defense out along the line, that should help the entire OL, including Rachal. There won't be time to make a major change in the blocking scheme immediately but play design will help and adjustments in blocking patterns can be integrated over a few weeks.

In any case, Rachal was known in college as being very mobile (good to lead outside or off tackle runs) and to play with a nasty streak. We haven't seen very much of that as a pro but the system he has been in hasn't allowed him to show much of those qualities. He still has them and they would work well if he is allowed to play in such a way as he can resurrect them.

A long answer to say that Norris' time should be reduced but not Rachal's.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Rathman_44:
Michael Lewis - This move has been two years in the making. Everytime someone suggests benching him, his apologists bring up his high tackle numbers. Of course he has a lot of tackles - he is normally well out of position and chasing people down.

Moran Norris - Am I the only one that saw Norris consistently get blown up at the point of attack Sunday? I am as frustrated as anyone else with the inordinate number of runs straight up the middle, but why would any of that work when our fullback is going backwards. He is a huge symbolic representation of the gap between our offensive philosophy and that of the successful NFL offenses.

Chilo Rachal - I don't know that Rachal will ever be the nasty force that we need to be a power running team. He has consitently failed to impress given ample opportunity. When is performance going to lose this guy his job? Oh and a side note, a finger injury kept him on the bench for the Saints game. Monday night - at the Stick - against the World Champions and your finger keeps you out. I once heard of a guy cutting his finger off to play - who was that...oh that's right, Ronnie Lott!

To me, Norris and Rachal are differnet examples of a failed offensive scheme that was wrong in many ways.

Norris is on the team because the Sing/Raye system wanted an extra blocker at the point of attack. He was asked to do little else, and in certain situations he was quite good at what he was asked to do. However, when the defense knows in advance what is coming, the plug a 300 pound DL into the hole, or a 270 pound LB, and Norris, at 250 pounds is not usually going to drive that guy out of the hole.

Norris is a decent, not great, short-yardage back but has proven he can do little else. On passing downs or in a spread formation, he should be replaced by Brian Westbrook. If at some point when the 49ers get away from the "up the gut" philosophy to the point defenses are no longer loading the box, he may be helpful but for now, the style of offense this team needs to take advantage of the talent on the team, does not have a place for Moran Norris.

Chilo Rachal is also an example of a failed offensive scheme but in a different way. The style of run blocking favored by the team the last two years is man blocking. This fits Singletary's "tough guy" mentality and it can be useful if all you are doing is running up the gut but it isn't the best way to block if you are trying to go off tackle or around the outside. For those types of runs, and for all pass protection, zone blocking is not only easier for a young lineman to learn, it is more effective as well. All Rachal needs to know is to hit anyone that comes into the space between the center and the tackle. Don't worry about chasing #96 if he isn't invading your space. If the line slants to the right or left, you still block the space between the center and tackle. There is a bit more to it than that but that is the basic idea and it is easier to learn and to execute, especially for a guard.

In Rachal's case, he started with a poor OL coach and then was asked to learn an outmoded style albeit with a better position coach. Now, IF Johnson is allowed to open up the offense and run plays that spread the defense out along the line, that should help the entire OL, including Rachal. There won't be time to make a major change in the blocking scheme immediately but play design will help and adjustments in blocking patterns can be integrated over a few weeks.

In any case, Rachal was known in college as being very mobile (good to lead outside or off tackle runs) and to play with a nasty streak. We haven't seen very much of that as a pro but the system he has been in hasn't allowed him to show much of those qualities. He still has them and they would work well if he is allowed to play in such a way as he can resurrect them.

A long answer to say that Norris' time should be reduced but not Rachal's.

Great points. I am not saying that giving up on Rachal is the answer, he is too young for that. But we do need to start adapting our scheme to the strengths of the players we have. I agree completely that his strength is his mobility, but we seem to never get outside of the tackle so we are in essence wasting his ability. He gets little to no push on inside run plays and often gets fooled on stunts up front. Too early to quit on him, but he does need to be utilized correctly.

Norris is a round peg in a square hole. I am not saying he needs to clear 300 pound linemen out, but when he hits the hole he should at least be able to make some room for Frank. Too often he gets stood straight up and the plays timing takes a crucial hit. If football is truly a game of inches, then he is costing us the 5 to 6 inches in a game that may be the difference between wins and loses.

i want norris and rachal off the field, if we NEED a lead blocker just put bynham at FB and put snyder at RG

Originally posted by NinerFan408:
i want norris and rachal off the field, if we NEED a lead blocker just put bynham at FB and put snyder at RG

Snyder has already shown us he has reached his potential. He has neither the strength nor the mobility of Rachal. Rachal has not yet reached his potential, and he won't get better sitting on the bench. He needs experience in a system that works. Let's hope that is the Mike Johnson system.

Originally posted by drake49er:

Originally posted by D_Niner:
Chilo and hopefully Alex...

I'm all for benching Chilo and Haralson.

Haralson is still on the team?

Fair question...and one Singletary needs to address and quit dancing around. My thoughts:

Snyder to replace Rachal at RG. He's more effective and can help school A. Davis.

Bowman to replace Spikes at ILB. Has the speed needed to chase down ball carriers/receivers.

Reggie Smith to replace M. Lewis. Much better speed/cover skills.

Byham to replace/supplant Norris. Better blocker and hands...as F/H-Back.

RJF to rotate w/Franklin. His strength is needed...Franklin's not in real game shape yet.

Westbrook to rotate/supplant w/Gore. Skilled player basically being wasted!

Other players who need to be on the field and/or get the ball more:

Dixon. Kid's a stud who needs to get some legitimate touches.

Crabtree. One of MJ's challenges...to get MC and Alex on the same page.

Walker. Needs to get the ball more...

Mays. ST's not enough...get him on the field so he can replace Goldson next year.

Brooks/LaBoy. Both need to be on the field more to get some real pressure on the QB. Lawson and Haralson aren't getting it done.

so you want Westbrook to take over Gores spot? Am i reading that right?