Originally posted by Mookster:
Originally posted by dj43:
Originally posted by Mookster:
Anytime that a GM actually makes his team WORSE year over year than it is a dismal failure! If there was a grade worse than F he'd get it. He's been so bad that he may not even be aware Free Agency has started. Arizona and Seatle have both made significant strides forward. even the Rams are likely a better team now than at the end of last year. The Niners.... not so much...
Publicly stating that you "have a plan" but then waiting until all your own promising players are gone, signing only back ups and watching everyone else in the division get better, is ridiculous. I'd much rather have had Balke come out and say that this would be a rebuilding year, there was no money for FA's and that we'd focus on depth rather than marquis players. At least then my hopes wouldn't get crushed (again) this year.
Seattle and AZ had more to offer than SF. Like what? Money - don't think so not on a per target player basis anyways.
Established coaching staffs. No... rookie coaching staff we all HOPE (and expect) is better than the predecessor
Quality stadium. Not yet
Established FO. hmmm..... not sure I agree with this if Baalke doesn't turn things around
In effect, by saying "we will not be big players in FA," he was saying this would be a year to "coach up" current talent and rebuild in areas where talent is not there. The problem with this philosophy is that you are assuming the "talent" exists on the roster. Our weakest areas (QB, O-line, pass defense and QB pressure) were not addressed this offseason. If you believe that the starters were better than the back ups then your "coaching up" argument loses its credibility along with the starters who left (Baas, Spikes, Franklin, Lawson, Goldson, Clements etc). Hope is not an effective plan
From all reports, the 49ers were involved in attempting to bring in better FA players but were turned down. For example, when Burress got the call from Rex Ryan, he cancelled his flight to SF and went to NYC - he didn't even bother to come and listen to an offer. That should say a lot about how the franchise is viewed by players around the league. I absolutely agree with your last point. But would also add that every "plan" should have a contingency component. Didn't get Namdi? Who are the next 3 in line and what is the status of negotiations with them. Houston was brilliant in landing Joseph from Cincy as soon as they felt they weren't in the Namdi game. It appears that Baalke lacks the contingency plans to recover.
You make some good points here, particularly the one about a plan to get Joseph. Of course Houston has A LOT more to offer that SF, not the least of which is an 11% tax rate advantage.
I have been a huge critic of the position coaching the past 8 years. I don't know any more than anyone else about how much better the current roster could be with better coaching. It is my belief that the current group of coaches that Harbaugh has assembled could result in a lot of us being very surprised at how much improvement we will see from a lot of players.
Vernon Davis, as good as he is, still has some major flaws in his game. Better coaching will help him read and adjust much better.
Rachal, as poorly as he has performed, has been the victim of the worst in position coaching. NONE of the recent 49er draft picks have met reasonable expectations. So while that may be just poor drafting, I believe a greater part of it has been poor coaching.
Summarily, until we know how much is talent and how much is coaching, NOT breaking the bank is a good strategy. However, it is also clear that we have holes at OLB, CB and WR that have not been filled. How problematic that will be is yet to be seen.