What is your biggest priority for improving the 2013 roster?

Agree w/Joecool.

We need QUALITY players to come in for DLine rotation to keep pressure up & get some sacks.

I keep hearing the commentators saying Ray Mac is an unsung hero. Please enlightne me on exactly what he's done to earn that? He's better than average, runs hot & cold.

IMO, Brooks played very well and get better as te season progressed.

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by rk1642:
I think we go D line in the first 2 rounds. Need a bigger body in the middle to stop the run. and need another motor guy like Justin. Love him to death but is getting old and coming off an injury. These guys take time to develope so we draft them now to be ready when he retires in a year or 2.

Then a cb in either FA or with one of the 2 picks in the 2nd.

And then a TE to replace Walker with the 2nd pick in the 3rd. Walker started to play with more consistancy but will be asking for too much!

No way we take a wr in the first 3 rounds. Trent and Jim are not about to give up on AJ. They think they are smarter than everyone else and I don't see them admiting they missed on him last year. And maybe they are right and it will just take time for him to develope.

I think they see AJ as more of a #3. We need a #1 to put opposite Crabtree.

Second time I've basically seen you call Crabtree a number two WR.

Crabtree is our number #1. No questions asked. During Kaep's (including the playoffs) 10 starts Crabtree totaled 61 catches for 886 yards and that's only through 10 games once again.

Originally posted by HearstFan:
NEEDS:
#1 - Future DE and DL rotation help
#2 - WR - for god sakes please finally address this position with a real big-body WR - even if he is a project get someone on the roster - and NOT the Moss decoy.
#3 - C - I was really down on Goodwin at the beginning and middle of the season, but he really seemed to come on in the play-offs. Regardless, unless the coaches believe his replacement is in the current OL depth - draft a top flight Center -- and that may be just the thing at pick #31.

Lastly, I would sacrifice all the late round picks and even trade back at pick #31 to grab impact quality players in rounds 2-4.

You guys that say the DBs are crappy are NUTS! They were awesome when we had a pass rush.

#1 - The first issue is the lack of a rush - Smith injury and ASmith being injured AND wore down by year end killed us. WE NEED DL rotation and the coaches have to embrace that during the games. That is a coaching issue. RJF needs to be worked into the rotation early in the season - not just when there is an injury. A ton of injuries happen from fatigue - so keeping guys fresh not only let's them play better, it helps avoid injury.

#2 - Early in the season the defense seemed to come out flat. But in the last few games, they seemed to come out confused. There is something going on in the coverage schemes for each game that is causing confusion on the first few series. You can see it in the pre-snap communication scramble, the blown assignments, and then the conversations after plays where guys are asking each other questions.

Classic example of #2 - Culliver get's blamed for the first deep ball completion in the superbowl. But I am convinced there was scheme confusion -- Culliver appeared to be allowing the WR into his body and releasing the WR by him to play Boldin breaking on the underneath in route. But Whitner was also playing Boldin's underneath route. EVEN IF Culliver was making the mistake, Whitner should have had enough awareness with Culliver's drop to know that he should be staying back over the top. HORRIBLE. How can the defense fail to be prepared for that?? and be confused -- they had two weeks. What the Raven WR's ran there was super basic stuff.

Another classic example of a scheme problem -- In the red zone Boldin has run the seam route for TDs all season - it is his hallmark route. HOW IN THE WORLD can the defense be unprepared for that for the first TD pass from the Ravens??

Regardless, I think our DBs are fine - sure, try to draft for improvement. BUT, I would draft DL depth FIRST.

(sorry for the rant! Little SB frustration will be brewing for a year now).

While I disagree with you contention that the DB's are fine, I really agree with your other points. There are some serious scheme and coaching issues. In the Superbowl, Simms was talking about how the Raven's DB's handle their schemes which were designed to also keep an eye on the ball and break. This past year esp. we did not see a single undercut route from Rogers this year where he got almost all of his 6 INT's. The Ravens, by virtue almost had a pick-6 on the double-pump throw to Moss b/c of scheme and coaching. Conversely, Flacco drops back...being pursued by Aldon...Flacco sucks him in even more by backing up to buy his WR who's running an out towards the sideline. Just as Aldon gets there, Flacco throws ALL arm, across his body backing up towards the sideline. It was probably a 20-25 yard arm throw. Brown, in the meantime has no clue what is going on and like we saw with Rogers on Boldin or Culliver on anyone, never even tracks the play or the ball itself and, like we saw ALL year, the DB's only play the receiver AFTER he catches the ball. The ball was in the air so long that Brown had time to break DANCE before it got there and still get a pock-6. Instead, it goes for simple 10-15 yard catch along the sidelines and keeps the drive alive. THIS is coaching. It's also scheme. This could be fixed.

What I disagree with is that I have been watching Rogers all year and he's been half-assing it all year IMHO. I passed it off as trying to stay healthy and playing tournament ball and figured he'd turn it up in the playoffs. I was wrong. Brown is a baller esp. in the big games and he has heart. His issue I already highlighted. Culliver is a fierce competitor but clearly, lacks intelligence and his coaching/scheme (zero S help) really exposed him.

Whitner is done IMHO too. We need a true FS more than anything and if you can upgrade over Rogers, you better do it. Right now, Goldson, Whitner, Culliver & Rogers are all easy targets in the passing game esp. if you have a good slot receiver, some speed for double moves, have bigger guys and esp. weak in the RZ/EZ.

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Agree w/Joecool.

We need QUALITY players to come in for DLine rotation to keep pressure up & get some sacks.

I keep hearing the commentators saying Ray Mac is an unsung hero. Please enlightne me on exactly what he's done to earn that? He's better than average, runs hot & cold.

IMO, Brooks played very well and get better as te season progressed.

I think we also nee a LB to rotate with Aldon and Brooks.

Originally posted by SFrush:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by rk1642:
I think we go D line in the first 2 rounds. Need a bigger body in the middle to stop the run. and need another motor guy like Justin. Love him to death but is getting old and coming off an injury. These guys take time to develope so we draft them now to be ready when he retires in a year or 2.

Then a cb in either FA or with one of the 2 picks in the 2nd.

And then a TE to replace Walker with the 2nd pick in the 3rd. Walker started to play with more consistancy but will be asking for too much!

No way we take a wr in the first 3 rounds. Trent and Jim are not about to give up on AJ. They think they are smarter than everyone else and I don't see them admiting they missed on him last year. And maybe they are right and it will just take time for him to develope.

I think they see AJ as more of a #3. We need a #1 to put opposite Crabtree.

Second time I've basically seen you call Crabtree a number two WR.

Crabtree is our number #1. No questions asked. During Kaep's (including the playoffs) 10 starts Crabtree totaled 61 catches for 886 yards and that's only through 10 games once again.

When I call him a #2 it doesn't mean that he's any less. He just doesn't have the speed to take off the top. He's a possession reciever that goes over the middle and moves the chains. We need someone to do that and he's the best we got.

Originally posted by mayo49:
When I call him a #2 it doesn't mean that he's any less. He just doesn't have the speed to take off the top. He's a possession reciever that goes over the middle and moves the chains. We need someone to do that and he's the best we got.

Then you could've said we need a deep threat. A possession Wr can certainly be a number one Wr and saying other wise is foolish.

Originally posted by SFrush:

Originally posted by mayo49:
When I call him a #2 it doesn't mean that he's any less. He just doesn't have the speed to take off the top. He's a possession reciever that goes over the middle and moves the chains. We need someone to do that and he's the best we got.

Then you could've said we need a deep threat. A possession Wr can certainly be a number one Wr and saying other wise is foolish.

Ok, we need a deep threat. A deep threat is usually a #1, a Calvin Johnson type. A bigger 6'4" type with speed and leaping ability.

Injuries just made them so thin at OLB. I think having PH take some snaps on 1st and 2nd downs would have helped like it did the year before.

I'd like to see a little more production out of Brooks though. If teams are paying so much attention to Aldon and Justin he should create more than 6.5 sacks b/c he's one on one most of the time. I'd like to see him reach 9/10 sack status. And can he please stop being offsides at the worst possible moments.

I do wonder if the staff doesn't believe in rotating guys in or they just don't like the guys they currently have.

my concern is depth, how many guys played like 90% of the snaps? it was an insane amount, these guys got worn down, not even 2 bye weeks since week 17 re-energized them

Originally posted by mayo49:
Ok, we need a deep threat. A deep threat is usually a #1, a Calvin Johnson type. A bigger 6'4" type with speed and leaping ability.

Um.....Victor Cruz is a deep threat, Torrey Smith is a deep threat, Desean Jackson is a deep threat.....etc



I have no idea what you're trying to say here other than....."#1 WR's MUST be SUPER BIG and SUPER FAST" and reality just doesn't support that.

Desean Jackson, Hakeem Nicks, Greg Jennings, Steve Smith, Reggie Wayne.....none of those guys are huge and are still dominant WR's.


Now if you're talking about the 49ers drafting another Calvin Johnson or an AJ Green, good luck with that, guys who are that gifted physically almost never get out of the Top 5 picks of the draft.


Crabtree is a #1 WR in the NFL, not sure how anyone can doubt that anymore after this season. Now if you're arguing that the 49ers need a Victor Cruz type guy in the slot, that's fine, but dissing Crabtree because he's not Calvin Johnson, the most dominant wide receiver in the NFL, is asinine.

Originally posted by mayo49:
Ok, we need a deep threat. A deep threat is usually a #1, a Calvin Johnson type. A bigger 6'4" type with speed and leaping ability.

A Calvin Johnson type is rare. You won't find many 6'5 235 pound Wr's running 4.3.

Originally posted by SFrush:

Originally posted by eonblue:

Originally posted by 951NINER:
Get Haralson back and relegate Aldon to just a 3rd down rusher again!

It's not even relegation. It's for his own good. Hes a pure pass rusher. Parys is a 2 down run stuffing pass covering LB who could switch out effectively with Aldon.

Hey Aldon you nearly had a 20 sack season, but take a demotion. I'm sure Fangio would love to explain that to him just to play an inferior player.

Aldon has not reached his ceiling as a three down LB. There is no way he's returning to be a situational pass rusher especially with how much offenses are throwing the ball now.

Well Aldon better start drinking his tiger milk because he was almost non-existent during this playoff run. You could blame Justin being hurt or rookie wall or whatever you want but I would gladly have traded half of his 20 sacks for Aldon to be fresh and healthy for the playoffs and SB. So it might mean that we need much more contributions from the D line during the reg season and with Haralson rotating Aldon did just fine.

Originally posted by SFrush:
A Calvin Johnson type is rare. You won't find many 6'5 235 pound Wr's running 4.3.

And you see a lot of guys get overdrafted because of their physical size and end up as major busts. Talents like Calvin Johnson and AJ Green are incredibly rare, you're not likely to find guys like that anywhere other than in the first few picks of the draft. But teams get size obsessed anyways and that is how players like Victor Cruz and Wes Welker both go undrafted.

I wonder how much better or worse our defense would be if we blitzed more?

Originally posted by Joecool:
I wonder how much better or worse our defense would be if we blitzed more?

i saw a stat around after the 10 or 12 game mark that mike sando tweeted saying that the pressure we got on the qb when we blitzed 5 or more was pretty pathetic and rather low ranking amongst the other teams. we actually had more success in terms of sacks when we brought just 4.