Alex Boone competing at OG

That whole argument is a pretty bad one, you dont sit a player because of his backup value at a different position. You put the best players on the field at all positions.

Playing not to get hurt is like playing not to lose, it never has the intended effect. Not putting your best 5 lineman on the field also endangers the QB and RB's... who would be allot harder to replace than a RG.

If Boone proves to be the best option at RG, then you have to start him. I'm really hoping Kilgore steps up and wins the job so we can keep Boone as the swing tackle. His best position is probably at tackle anyhow since he's never played guard in his life, and at 6'8", is an odd fit at guard. He's got to be one hell of a knee-bender.

Originally posted by 5280High:

That whole argument is a pretty bad one, you dont sit a player because of his backup value at a different position. You put the best players on the field at all positions.

Playing not to get hurt is like playing not to lose, it never has the intended effect. Not putting your best 5 lineman on the field also endangers the QB and RB's... who would be allot harder to replace than a RG.

Bingo. I don't see any way that this argument can be shaken to get to a point for me where it would make more sense to NOT play the best five OL if Boone wins the RG job.

It takes one play for us to lose a QB on a missed block. One play to lose a RB on a missed block. It takes two plays to lose both the starting RG and then a starting OT to be in a situation where we play the reserves. You carry 9-10 OL for a reason.

I 100% agree. I'm much more worried about our QB getting hurt than our RG. Say a starting OT got hurt.. Boone could just as easily get hurt right after him and we'd be in the same spot as if he had been on the bench as the back-up to begin with, so why keep him on the bench? There is no logical basis for it if he is in fact deemed to be the top RG option.

And then of course there is the idea that maybe Harbaugh knows what he is doing to get all of the line up and running and get the backups prepared for the season. We have Kilgore, Person, Beeler, Looney, Slowey, Gonzalez, Netter to develop for the available positions. Now again we will see if Harbaugh knows what he is doing for the OLine. If not then all of our offensive players are at risk.

We have 4 or 5 potential right guards and one potential reserve tackle. Unless Boone puts out a Iupati type of performance keep him at T. If he's marginally better then the other four, is it really worth it?

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
We have 4 or 5 potential right guards and one potential reserve tackle. Unless Boone puts out a Iupati type of performance keep him at T. If he's marginally better then the other four, is it really worth it?

Almost all the young reserves played LT in college; so I would expect them to be OK at OT in a pinch.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
We have 4 or 5 potential right guards and one potential reserve tackle. Unless Boone puts out a Iupati type of performance keep him at T. If he's marginally better then the other four, is it really worth it?

Almost all the young reserves played LT in college; so I would expect them to be OK at OT in a pinch.

But none of them have any NFL playing time where Boone at this point does. I don't like OT being playing in a pinch. That means the passing game becomes non-existent and we become predictable.

I looked up the height of good guards,

6'3'' - 6' 5'' seems to be the ideal size.

The following are 6'3''- 6' 5'': Iupati, Hutchinson, Bruce Matthews, Carl Nicks, Randle Mcdaniel, LArry Allen, Mike Munchak, Gene Upshaw and the list goes on.

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:

We have 4 or 5 potential right guards and one potential reserve tackle. Unless Boone puts out a Iupati type of performance keep him at T. If he's marginally better then the other four, is it really worth it?

If Boone is even just marginally better, it's absolutely worth it. You know how Harbaugh is about gaining the slightest of advantages now matter how small. If Boone turns out to be the best RG option, then I would put him there in a heartbeat. It could be the difference between one win that gets us to the playoffs or a division title, or a loss that knocks us out, by not playing him. The best players need to play. Boone and/or our OTs could get hurt anytime, anywhere, bench or practice or during a game. Playing grandma-style "I don't want to get my little baby hurt" football is a losing mentality, in my opinion.

But to backtrack all the way to a key point mentioned a while back -- if Boone doesn't win the RG job, none of this matters anyway.

Originally posted by NinerGM:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
We have 4 or 5 potential right guards and one potential reserve tackle. Unless Boone puts out a Iupati type of performance keep him at T. If he's marginally better then the other four, is it really worth it?

Almost all the young reserves played LT in college; so I would expect them to be OK at OT in a pinch.

But none of them have any NFL playing time where Boone at this point does. I don't like OT being playing in a pinch. That means the passing game becomes non-existent and we become predictable.

An OT gets injured Boone can move to cover but then you're going to have a guy playing OG with no experience. So I'm not sold on the idea of reserving a good player in case of injury. After all, we could keep Bowman on the bench in case Willis is injured, etc. I realize this is not an identical situation but it serves a point. I'm not sold on Boone at RG at all but if Harbaugh believes he is the best guy he should and will play him.

Last year a number of our OLinemen missed some plays due to injuries but we lucked out and no one was out for the season. This year I have more confidence in the back ups even without experience.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

I looked up the height of good guards,

6'3'' - 6' 5'' seems to be the ideal size.

The following are 6'3''- 6' 5'': Iupati, Hutchinson, Bruce Matthews, Carl Nicks, Randle Mcdaniel, LArry Allen, Mike Munchak, Gene Upshaw and the list goes on.

Harbaugh discusses Boone's height with Maiocco; Sees no problem with it: http://www.csnbayarea.com/pages/ninersvideo?PID=hXWM2-QssmDjEcTP__3dTOQ3DcilSZqbYEyrhi

Interesting that this happened to be addressed just now.

Seems like Harbaugh is fully intent on playing Boone if he deems him the best at the spot. We'll see what happens.

I bet Boone doesn't win the starting gig. But its great to get him experience and have everyone battle it out. I also like that Slowey and Kilgore are getting run at Center which we need. I think Person is in at Center, guard and tackle. Being versatile is good, but we want a clear winner!

Strong competition breeds CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Originally posted by MadDog49er:

Originally posted by 5280High:
Translation: If the team drafted how I would have we would have a roster full of All Pros and at least 10 more superbowl rings.

At least we wouldn't have a guy playing RG with a gigantic question mark on his back instead of a number. So, the answer is "Yes". How many years do we have to play with someone not fit to start at right guard before we say...how about we find a legitimate starting right guard and solve this issue once and for all.

Right now, we are playing games at the position.

Finally, not 10 rings, 12. Get it straight.

The team used an early selection on this position (Rachal, who happened to turn out to be terrible) and then another for another OG. It's not that the team hasn't addressed the O-line ever, they just chose to address other issues this year. Isn't it time we get speed on offense? Isn't it time we start thinking of replacing Gore? Isn't it time we look for an eventual replacement to our best player who has a lot of wear on the tires? Isn't it time we.... Point being, you can't address every position. The Giants are super bowl winners are have a shaky line. The Packers won without a run game, the Colts without a single worthwhile player not named Peyton, the Pats made it to the Super Bowl with tons of holes. Yes, we will not be as well off as we would be if we had drafted DeCastro (hypothetically speaking, since it would have required a trade which we assume could have happened) at RG. But that doesn't mean it wasn't the right move for the team to add another dimension to the offense. Building a team isn't simply about filling in the 22 starting spots (and ST I suppose), but you already know this MD.

Good for Boone! Great inspirational story

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
We have 4 or 5 potential right guards and one potential reserve tackle. Unless Boone puts out a Iupati type of performance keep him at T. If he's marginally better then the other four, is it really worth it?

If Boone is even just marginally better, it's absolutely worth it. You know how Harbaugh is about gaining the slightest of advantages now matter how small. If Boone turns out to be the best RG option, then I would put him there in a heartbeat. It could be the difference between one win that gets us to the playoffs or a division title, or a loss that knocks us out, by not playing him. The best players need to play. Boone and/or our OTs could get hurt anytime, anywhere, bench or practice or during a game. Playing grandma-style "I don't want to get my little baby hurt" football is a losing mentality, in my opinion.

But to backtrack all the way to a key point mentioned a while back -- if Boone doesn't win the RG job, none of this matters anyway.

This. This. This.

Also, if the past is any indication, we may be using a lot of Jumbo packages. Are we supposed to protect Boone from injury then, too?

Injuries happen. It always sucks. You can't game plan scared.