Tank Carradine Thread

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Hopper:
Harbs just said Tank had a procedure after the season to clear out scare tissue in his knee. He said he couldn't straighten out his knee before the surgery.

Well that's reassuring. ...There is a reason many of us are not convinced our DL is as "set" for the years to come.

* Justin Smith is 35 and said himself he's not sure he'll be able to do this anymore after this coming season.
* McDonald is rock solid, but he turns 30 this year himself and has been nicked up fairly often.
* Carradine has yet to even step foot on the field for a game -- no one should assume how good he'll be, if any, until we see him play.
* Dial dressed for only three games. He made 1 tackle. 1. He's the 4th string NT/DE. Totally unproven.
* Jerrod-Eddie showed a fair amount of both promise and versatility, but he's still developing and the drop-off was still obvious when he was in, as opposed to the regular starters.

So after our aging starters, all we have really is one big clump of question marks. I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to go into the season with all those eggs in one basket. It's my opinion we must draft a DL in case Carradine isn't healthy. TJE showed promise, but there was still a noticeable drop-off between him and the starters. If McDonald or Justin get hurt, I want a player in there who gives me more assurance than our current backups.

Which is why, question marks aside, this team is clearly set to be fighting for scraps in this division. A long with the S.O.S. we're going to need some of these question marks to turn into some serious exclamation marks. The Seahawks are sitting at the top of the division and the Rams have the second over all and one of the best defensive lines in the league.

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
And miraculously we've still got Tomsula!!

Thank god.

Originally posted by OregonNiner87:
Which is why, question marks aside, this team is clearly set to be fighting for scraps in this division. A long with the S.O.S. we're going to need some of these question marks to turn into some serious exclamation marks. The Seahawks are sitting at the top of the division and the Rams have the second over all and one of the best defensive lines in the league.

They've still got Bradford and ARI still has Palmer. We've got 3 real WRs now and a ton of talent being added to the field with rookies that should improve from year one to two. I seriously doubt we face the adversity that we faced last year with injuries and controversial close losses and whatnot. We have for the last 3 seasons played heavyweights and beaten them both home and away. I expect us to be a better team this year than last noticeably and I expect 13 hard fought wins! If that has us fighting for scraps, well then the NFCW champion will be the Super Bowl champs again!

I realize that you are referring to the DLs not the teams. Oops! But we have proven to be the best run stopping team in this division the last half decade. That is what we are about. Until SEA and STL overtake us in that key statistic I am not about to count us out!

Originally posted by Pillbusta:

Originally posted by OregonNiner87:
Which is why, question marks aside, this team is clearly set to be fighting for scraps in this division. A long with the S.O.S. we're going to need some of these question marks to turn into some serious exclamation marks. The Seahawks are sitting at the top of the division and the Rams have the second over all and one of the best defensive lines in the league.

They've still got Bradford and ARI still has Palmer. We've got 3 real WRs now and a ton of talent being added to the field with rookies that should improve from year one to two. I seriously doubt we face the adversity that we faced last year with injuries and controversial close losses and whatnot. We have for the last 3 seasons played heavyweights and beaten them both home and away. I expect us to be a better team this year than last noticeably and I expect 13 hard fought wins! If that has us fighting for scraps, well then the NFCW champion will be the Super Bowl champs again!

Bradford can Alex Smith the Rams, especially with that defensive front playing lights out. I think the Cardinals finish last in the division.

We played the last three seasons with a non-35 year old Justin Smith. I'd rather dealing with the injuries situation last year than I would have Justin Smith and Frank Gore both facing sharp declines in their careers, and both of their back-ups having never played a single down in the NFL. And our MVP out until the halfway point of next season.

Good point about the 3 read WRs. But it's going to be a tall order asking Kap to put the team on his back in a division like the NFC West. As much potential as this team has, it also has a ton of potential for some serious problems -- more so than any other season in the Harbaugh era.

Originally posted by 9erred:

Originally posted by Louisiana49er:
Trouble Draft... Baalke Drafted All Injured Players...Carradine, Lattimore,Dial,Bykowski

This is a Bill Walsh strategy, you get talented players who drop in the draft due to injuries.

Most rookies do not contribute, so this is a good strategy when the team has starters established.

Carradine- Justin Smiths replacement
Lattimore- Gores replacment
Dial- rotational NT
Bykowski- swint OT

Lattimore would have been a first rounder, so good value.

Luke Marquardt as well.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Hopper:
Harbs just said Tank had a procedure after the season to clear out scare tissue in his knee. He said he couldn't straighten out his knee before the surgery.

Well that's reassuring. ...There is a reason many of us are not convinced our DL is as "set" for the years to come.

* Justin Smith is 35 and said himself he's not sure he'll be able to do this anymore after this coming season.
* McDonald is rock solid, but he turns 30 this year himself and has been nicked up fairly often.
* Carradine has yet to even step foot on the field for a game -- no one should assume how good he'll be, if any, until we see him play.
* Dial dressed for only three games. He made 1 tackle. 1. He's the 4th string NT/DE. Totally unproven.
* Jerrod-Eddie showed a fair amount of both promise and versatility, but he's still developing and the drop-off was still obvious when he was in, as opposed to the regular starters.

So after our aging starters, all we have really is one big clump of question marks. I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to go into the season with all those eggs in one basket. It's my opinion we must draft a DL in case Carradine isn't healthy. TJE showed promise, but there was still a noticeable drop-off between him and the starters. If McDonald or Justin get hurt, I want a player in there who gives me more assurance than our current backups.

These are fair points and IMHO, the type of move this FO makes (and shocks everyone - LOL).

That said, the strategy for this FO has also been UDFA, cast-off FA's and injured red-shirted players. They obviously don't put a premium on high, healthy DL draft picks. And in this system, b/c we only need 3 DL to occupy 5 OL and the mere fact we have the best DL coach in the game in Tomsula, the FO leans heavily on developmenting players...from Ian Williams (UDFA), to Dorsey (cheap FA cast off) last year, to TJE (where'd he come from?) to Dobbs (developed) and even current developmental players in Dial (NT/DE) and Okoye and more. Carradine is the only high pick thus far so my best guess is that the FO feels they can DEVELOP the DL even after letting guys like Sopoaga and his backup walk w/o a thought about it (for more $). If we go par for the course here, I wouldn't expect a high 1-2 round DL draft pick. I'd expect an upside FA brought in or a 3rd-UDFA pick brought in. The developmental emphasis this year, even minus the FA and draft, will be to develop Carradine, Dial, TJE and Okoye...and the continued upswing of Ian Williams at NT.

McDonald, Dorsey and Smith will remain focused on a snap-count and health via rotation.

Tank will get the time he needs to fully heal...there's no need to rush that. Our DL's deeper now than it's been in years...Dorsey was a Godsend at NT when Williams went down...he can also play DE. Ian will be back. TJE made huge strides last year and should be even better next season. Depending on Tank's timeline, they may opt to keep Dobbs around...he played well last season, too. Dial's a huge (pun intended) unknown...just based on the limited snaps I saw him play, he needs to learn to use leverage and not just brute strength, but I'm sure Coach JT will straighten him out. All that said, I'd love to see Baalke grab a couple of stud DL to prepare for JS and Ray Mac's inevitable retirements. My choices would be Tuitt and Easley, but there are likely other combos that would keep our DL potent and deep. Can't think of better insurance to keep the team a viable SB contender.

Originally posted by Pillbusta:

Originally posted by ninerfan52:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Hopper:

Harbs just said Tank had a procedure after the season to clear out scare tissue in his knee. He said he couldn't straighten out his knee before the surgery.

Well that's reassuring. ...There is a reason many of us are not convinced our DL is as "set" for the years to come.

* Justin Smith is 35 and said himself he's not sure he'll be able to do this anymore after this coming season.
* McDonald is rock solid, but he turns 30 this year himself and has been nicked up fairly often.
* Carradine has yet to even step foot on the field for a game -- no one should assume how good he'll be, if any, until we see him play.
* Dial dressed for only three games. He made 1 tackle. 1. He's the 4th string NT/DE. Totally unproven.
* Jerrod-Eddie showed a fair amount of both promise and versatility, but he's still developing and the drop-off was still obvious when he was in, as opposed to the regular starters.

So after our aging starters, all we have really is one big clump of question marks. I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to go into the season with all those eggs in one basket. It's my opinion we must draft a DL in case Carradine isn't healthy. TJE showed promise, but there was still a noticeable drop-off between him and the starters. If McDonald or Justin get hurt, I want a player in there who gives me more assurance than our current backups.

We have Ian coming back

And miraculously we've still got Tomsula!!

Ian is a solid player, like Dorsey, and was playing well. Those two are not really concerns. The only minor concern would be Ian's ankle but it should be completely healed well before the season.

I don't want something to happen like with some teams last year, after losing one or two players, their rushing defense collapsed.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Hopper:

Harbs just said Tank had a procedure after the season to clear out scare tissue in his knee. He said he couldn't straighten out his knee before the surgery.

Well that's reassuring. ...There is a reason many of us are not convinced our DL is as "set" for the years to come.

* Justin Smith is 35 and said himself he's not sure he'll be able to do this anymore after this coming season.
* McDonald is rock solid, but he turns 30 this year himself and has been nicked up fairly often.
* Carradine has yet to even step foot on the field for a game -- no one should assume how good he'll be, if any, until we see him play.
* Dial dressed for only three games. He made 1 tackle. 1. He's the 4th string NT/DE. Totally unproven.
* Jerrod-Eddie showed a fair amount of both promise and versatility, but he's still developing and the drop-off was still obvious when he was in, as opposed to the regular starters.

So after our aging starters, all we have really is one big clump of question marks. I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to go into the season with all those eggs in one basket. It's my opinion we must draft a DL in case Carradine isn't healthy. TJE showed promise, but there was still a noticeable drop-off between him and the starters. If McDonald or Justin get hurt, I want a player in there who gives me more assurance than our current backups.

I agree that we should draft a defensive end.

I am not really convinced that we have one big clump or question marks.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by Hopper:

Harbs just said Tank had a procedure after the season to clear out scare tissue in his knee. He said he couldn't straighten out his knee before the surgery.

Well that's reassuring. ...There is a reason many of us are not convinced our DL is as "set" for the years to come.

* Justin Smith is 35 and said himself he's not sure he'll be able to do this anymore after this coming season.
* McDonald is rock solid, but he turns 30 this year himself and has been nicked up fairly often.
* Carradine has yet to even step foot on the field for a game -- no one should assume how good he'll be, if any, until we see him play.
* Dial dressed for only three games. He made 1 tackle. 1. He's the 4th string NT/DE. Totally unproven.
* Jerrod-Eddie showed a fair amount of both promise and versatility, but he's still developing and the drop-off was still obvious when he was in, as opposed to the regular starters.

So after our aging starters, all we have really is one big clump of question marks. I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to go into the season with all those eggs in one basket. It's my opinion we must draft a DL in case Carradine isn't healthy. TJE showed promise, but there was still a noticeable drop-off between him and the starters. If McDonald or Justin get hurt, I want a player in there who gives me more assurance than our current backups.

These are fair points and IMHO, the type of move this FO makes (and shocks everyone - LOL).

That said, the strategy for this FO has also been UDFA, cast-off FA's and injured red-shirted players. They obviously don't put a premium on high, healthy DL draft picks. And in this system, b/c we only need 3 DL to occupy 5 OL and the mere fact we have the best DL coach in the game in Tomsula, the FO leans heavily on developmenting players...from Ian Williams (UDFA), to Dorsey (cheap FA cast off) last year, to TJE (where'd he come from?) to Dobbs (developed) and even current developmental players in Dial (NT/DE) and Okoye and more. Carradine is the only high pick thus far so my best guess is that the FO feels they can DEVELOP the DL even after letting guys like Sopoaga and his backup walk w/o a thought about it (for more $). If we go par for the course here, I wouldn't expect a high 1-2 round DL draft pick. I'd expect an upside FA brought in or a 3rd-UDFA pick brought in. The developmental emphasis this year, even minus the FA and draft, will be to develop Carradine, Dial, TJE and Okoye...and the continued upswing of Ian Williams at NT.

McDonald, Dorsey and Smith will remain focused on a snap-count and health via rotation.

With the amount of firepower we have now in the draft, I think we will at least take a slightly more aggressive approach as far as getting impact playmakers. We need to make our roster better both immediately and for the future, and there are plenty of areas we can IMMEDIATELY improve now.

he is very valuable to us, being Justin Smith's eventual replacement.

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Word at the draft was his knee ain't right.

Well, that knee ain't right. I'm against drafting injured guys, especially the knees and especially that high.

Those things rarely heal right, especially on a big man.

many teams had removed him from the their draft boards.

Yeah i remember hearing that. I don't mind the risky pick, but it was such a high round pick for a guy you don't even expect to suit up. Now he is having knee issues. Even if he does become great, how long will he last?

Does anybody else think tank looks like Kevin hart?

Was always a risky pick. Hope it pays off in a big way.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Word at the draft was his knee ain't right.

Well, that knee ain't right. I'm against drafting injured guys, especially the knees and especially that high.

Those things rarely heal right, especially on a big man.

many teams had removed him from the their draft boards.

Yeah i remember hearing that. I don't mind the risky pick, but it was such a high round pick for a guy you don't even expect to suit up. Now he is having knee issues. Even if he does become great, how long will he last?

That is a reasonable concern, but if we took that approach, there are some pretty good players on our team that we would pass on. Michael Crabtree had his foot issues coming out of college, Ray McDonald had bad knees, and we all know the story of Frank Gore.

I like the strategy of taking 1st round players that fall due to injury and hope we continue, just not with 2nd round picks.