Players who surprised you?

Originally posted by BrianGO:
This year, so far its Anthony Davis and Alex Boone. Just wait and watch how much better our line will be this year.
I challenge anyone to point out one bad play by either of these two in the preseason.

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/125790-offensive-line-play-most-important/page65/

Yeah, by far, Brown would be mine...felt I had a great pulse about many of the others but Brown came out of no where...literally. The rest either met or slightly exceeded my expectations. Miller and Aldon would be my 2nd tier surprises.

I would say Sopoaga. He used to look like garbage.

Originally posted by BrianGO:
This year, so far its Anthony Davis and Alex Boone. Just wait and watch how much better our line will be this year.
I challenge anyone to point out one bad play by either of these two in the preseason.

Both were responsible for a sack on alex in last weeks game, AD false started twice that game but the replacement refs missed it.
they are both playing well but they havent been perfect, just sayin

T Brown for sure

Boone, (didnt think he'd make as easy a transition to guard)

K Hunter (keeps this up and he'll be a top 10 back in this league)

Originally posted by miked1978:
Great list so far and agree with all of them.

I'll add mine:

Chris Culliver - When we drafted him i was like WHO? A saftey? Why do they think they can make him into a corner when South Carolina moved him to safety? You don't ususally move a great corner to saftey until after their prime.

NaVorrow Bowman - I remember when we drafted him. Didn't think he would be a bust but didn't think he'd be a probowler neither. Heck for a while there the zone couldn't figure out if he'd be an OLB or ILB,

Actually, USC moved Culliver from Saftey to Corner but the rest still stands.

Gore has continued to surprise me every year. people are always talkin about this guy getting old and beat up and starting to slow down and he proves them wrong every year. no one in the entire NFL has more heart than Frank Gore. man-crush is fully engaged

Dobbs - Undrafted free agents- Killed it last preseason and now a legitmate two way player

Originally posted by NCommand:
Yeah, by far, Brown would be mine...felt I had a great pulse about many of the others but Brown came out of no where...literally. The rest either met or slightly exceeded my expectations. Miller and Aldon would be my 2nd tier surprises.

I was surprised by Miller but when Harbaugh came aboard I assumed any pickup would be better utilized than under Singletary or Nolan. Brown has surpassed my expectations but I wonder how much is the coaching and scheme making all these DBs so effective?

Didn't want to search long for a better place to put this interesting nugget....

http://sulia.com/channel/san-francisco-49ers/f/ff268c79-b49d-40cb-ac1b-99a23172a64d/?source=twitter

QBs when throwing against Brown in 2011:

First 9 games: 117.8 rating
29 of 46, 458 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT

Last 9 games (including playoffs): 19.3 rating
19 of 43, 206 yards, 0 TD, 5 INTs (19.3 rating)

Originally posted by oldman9er:
Didn't want to search long for a better place to put this interesting nugget....

http://sulia.com/channel/san-francisco-49ers/f/ff268c79-b49d-40cb-ac1b-99a23172a64d/?source=twitter

QBs when throwing against Brown in 2011:

First 9 games: 117.8 rating
29 of 46, 458 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT

Last 9 games (including playoffs): 19.3 rating
19 of 43, 206 yards, 0 TD, 5 INTs (19.3 rating)

Pretty incredible! Wonder if Fangio made adjustments or did Brown's light just turn on?

Probably a bit of both. Our defense was clearly more evolved than our offense, but it was still.. the early stages.

Thought I'd add former players who surprised me:

Joe Montana: thought he was great at ND but wasn't tough enough for the NFL (injuries at ND). Plus--I liked Steve DeBerg

Roger Craig: his running style was too upright!

Dwight Hicks: Didn't impress me until he was surrounded by some very good rookies. Was a good leader.

Hacksaw Reynolds: Thought his rep was more hype than play...crazy guy gets attention.

Bubba Paris: Hated the 9ers drafting an overweight big man, away from their former strategy.

Just some of the guys I did not think would make a difference.

Good thread. My list:

Tarrell Brown - I was one of his biggest critics, now I don't think we need to draft a CB next year.

Dashon Goldson - Another player I heavily criticized, looked pretty inconsistent, then light came on now I think hes one of the feared DB's in this league.

Alex Smith - This was no secret, but now I fully crown him as our starting QB.

Ray Mac - Didn't think he was starter material, he shut my ass up from week one of last season.

Bruce Miller - I was pretty upset when I found out they wanted to turn him into a FB when we drafted him. Now hes one of my favorite players on offense.

tolzien