Baalke made 2 errors this offseason

Originally posted by JamesGatz83:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Letting Goldson go and keeping Whitner + a rookie will make us worse and a Super Bowl run much tougher.

Nah. A safety does not make or break a defense. If we restore and upgrade our pass rush, nobody will notice he's gone.

The safety was what killed us vs BAL, specifically, Whitner.

Originally posted by GNielsen:
If he's replaced by someone with better coverage skills, it will be a net gain. The strength of his game is as an enforcer. And, as I keep saying and more and more of you are going to realize as time goes on, the NFL is going to penalize that style of playing out of the game. And, I'm going to have to agree with James Gatz here. Culliver was a safety in college. In fact, he was a safety with good coverage skills. If one of their first three choices is one of the top three corners in the draft, I wouldn't be surprised if they move Culliver to safety. His weakness has been finding the ball in the air. That may be because he's used to finding it from the safety position and not while he's tight on a receiver running with him all the way from the line of scrimmage.

I have been against moving Culliver to safety, but this is a pretty sound argument. Acquiring one of the top corners in the draft would allow that player to replace Culliver as the 3rd CB and move Culliver to starter. Our pass defense might actually improve, given Culliver's coverage ability. I only hope he can be more of a playmaker (in terms of interceptions if he were facing the QB as opposed to having his back turned.

Perhaps lightning will strike in the same place times where we lose a starter and a guy comes in and performs well, if not better. There was Isaac Soapoaga and NaVorro Bowman replacing Aubrayo Franklin and Takeo Spikes in 2011. Perhaps Chris Culliver or maybe even Trenton Robinson surprise us in 2013.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by JamesGatz83:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Letting Goldson go and keeping Whitner + a rookie will make us worse and a Super Bowl run much tougher.

Nah. A safety does not make or break a defense. If we restore and upgrade our pass rush, nobody will notice he's gone.

The safety was what killed us vs BAL, specifically, Whitner.

True, but we weren't getting the kind of pressure we were in the beginning of the season.

No mistakes have been made yet because we haven't lost/replaced guys yet. How will we use all these draft picks? Move up, trade for player, trade for future picks. Will we replace Goldson with a rookie, rotation guy or FA? No mistakes yet just investments

At this moment it seems our projection as a team is very long term. We will know more once the Draft occurs. I felt we had 2 defensive positions needing retooling this offseason: Defensive Line & Corners. Now we added Safety. That tells me we will most likely bring the same core of Cornerbacks back this season

Originally posted by Joecool:
The safety was what killed us vs BAL, specifically, Whitner.

Nah, the lack of pass rush is what killed us. Virtually no safety in the world could've covered up for the lack of pass rush we exhibited down the stretch.

It was no coincidence that our defense fell apart at the exact moment Justin Smith got injured.

If a QB can step up into a clean pocket or roll out and buy time and throw without pressure, his rate of success is going to increase enormously regardless of who's playing in the secondary. You can only ask guys to cover for so long, and ultimately there's no defending a perfectly thrown ball.

Originally posted by Squidp:
"Cool dog picture, but no coherent argument."

Football is, and has always been, about the guys in the trenches. The best QB in the world is worthless without protection, and the best DBs in the world are worthless without a pass rush. Ever watched or participated in a 7-on-7 before? Offense dominates.

The Giants won two Super Bowls with a god awful secondary and a dominant pass rush. Corey Webster looked like a shutdown corner at times in 2011 and looked absolutely helpless in 2012 when the Giants' pass rush faltered. Aaron Ross went from a Super Bowl starter at CB with the Giants to being cut by the Jaguars after one season due to lack of effectiveness.

This isn't rocket science. If even an average NFL QB can throw with no one in his face, he's going to put the ball wherever he wants it, and there's really no defending a perfectly thrown ball. I guess you think it's a coincidence that our secondary fell apart the very instant Justin Smith got hurt.

Originally posted by JamesGatz83:
Based on the fact that he played FS in college and it is his more natural position.

Check your facts before you write things off as "Madden nonsense".

Based on the fact he hasnt played free safety in 4 years? he has only been coached to be a CB in the NFL, he was drafted as a CB, he was a draft canididate as a CB not a FS.
while we are at it lets move joe staley to TE or maybe move bruce miller back to DE becuase they played there in college. That argument doesnt fly.

Originally posted by NinerFan408:

Originally posted by JamesGatz83:
Based on the fact that he played FS in college and it is his more natural position.

Check your facts before you write things off as "Madden nonsense".

Based on the fact he hasnt played free safety in 4 years? he has only been coached to be a CB in the NFL, he was drafted as a CB, he was a draft canididate as a CB not a FS.
while we are at it lets move joe staley to TE or maybe move bruce miller back to DE becuase they played there in college. That argument doesnt fly.

Nice comeback, NinerFan408. Well said.......

Originally posted by SanFranFanfrmVa:
Baalke has been great and getting 2 good draft picks for Smith was incredible but he's made 2 mistakes this offseason. The first was letting Tom Gamble leave and take a lateral position with the Eagles. The 2nd was not placing the franchise tag on Goldson. It's fine if he didn't want to give Goldson a longterm commitment but with a team ready for another super bowl run you don't start to go with rookies or players who don't know your system. Should've franchised Goldson and drafted his repacement to learn for a year. Goldson is as good as gone and Baalke let the wrong safety get out of town.

I'm not sure this team will be ready for another superbowl run if things go the way I'm suspecting. We are letting some of our best players go. We were fortunate our run to the superbowl was against lesser opponents, and that's why we got there, but if we just let players go and think we can rebuild from the draft and run the table next year, we are in for a rude awakening. I think our best chance has passed.

Originally posted by truekingcarlos:
I'm not sure this team will be ready for another superbowl run if things go the way I'm suspecting. We are letting some of our best players go. We were fortunate our run to the superbowl was against lesser opponents, and that's why we got there, but if we just let players go and think we can rebuild from the draft and run the table next year, we are in for a rude awakening. I think our best chance has passed.

The Falcons were the #1 seed and the Packers were favored to win the playoff game the Niners won. I'm not sure what you're talking about. And, the Niners away schedule next season is easier than it was in 2012. The reason the team wasn't ready for the last Super Bowl was that the defense wore down and didn't perform as they should have. If the Niners fix the defensive line depth so that the line is still fresher at the end of the year and fix coverage problems in the secondary, they'll be in even better shape for a Super Bowl than they were last season. Plus, I don't really understand this notion that you can't let expensive players go from year to year and build in the draft and cheaper free agency. The Patriots have won 3 Super Bowls that way and are still in contention every year. The Niners plan is to build offense around Kaepernick and retain a cohesive offensive line and some key players on defense.

So, what exactly is it that you are suspecting that will make this team not ready for another run? I really don't understand the basis for your pessimism.

Again, a lot of you guys are placing too much value on Dashon Goldson, especially considering the obvious trend in the NFL away from allowing vicious hits on receivers. I like him a lot, but IMO he is not worth what he will probably get. You should have noticed this last season that often when he did what he does best, blow up the receiver, it just amounted to an extra 15 yards and an extended drive. What the team needs is better coverage skills.

Originally posted by GNielsen:

Again, a lot of you guys are placing too much value on Dashon Goldson, especially considering the obvious trend in the NFL away from allowing vicious hits on receivers. I like him a lot, but IMO he is not worth what he will probably get. You should have noticed this last season that often when he did what he does best, blow up the receiver, it just amounted to an extra 15 yards and an extended drive. What the team needs is better coverage skills.

Listen to this man.

Originally posted by GNielsen:
Again, a lot of you guys are placing too much value on Dashon Goldson, especially considering the obvious trend in the NFL away from allowing vicious hits on receivers. I like him a lot, but IMO he is not worth what he will probably get. You should have noticed this last season that often when he did what he does best, blow up the receiver, it just amounted to an extra 15 yards and an extended drive. What the team needs is better coverage skills.

The Truth has been spoken!!!

1) I got no prob with letting Gamble go. I don't want to trap a guy who wants to leave.

2) Baalke is smart on Goldson. He's not worht what he wants. One of 2 things is gonna happen here. Someone will give him ridiculous money and they will let him walk. If nobody throws that money at him, the Niners will offer what they view as a fair contract after Goldson has seen he can't get what he's looking for.

Either way, Baalke knows he can't afford to overpay for Goldson and then still be able to pay everyone else who's gonna be due for a new contract.

Tom Gamble explains why he left the 49ers for the Eagles-
Why would Gamble take a job that was in essence a lateral move, and leave a franchise that has had great recent success for a team that was starting over with a new head coach and from near bottom?

Gamble, who spoke to a handful of Eagles reporters today on the phone, admitted that his situation in San Francisco was great. But he said the allure of returning to the first NFL team he worked for, and to the area that he was raised proved too much to resist.

"I wasn't looking to go anywhere. I was in a great situation ... as good as it gets in this business," Gamble said. "But it was Philadelphia. For me, that means something."

Gamble began his career in 1988 working as a scout for the Eagles. His father, Harry, was the Eagles' president at the time. Gamble eventually became the college scouting coordinator before leaving in 1994.


http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-eagles/Tom-Gamble-explains-why-he-left-the-49ers-for-the-Eagles.html