Harbaugh's strategy re; the NT position and injured rookies, FA's, and Vets..

I would bet that we won't be seeing too much of the 3-4 defense this week. Aldon seemed to get exposed when Lynch came out of the back field all alone this past weekend. Since AS can't coverage he is almost a liability when teams send backs out of the back field to his side.

Harbaugh has mentioned Tony Jerrod - Eddie as the back up NT behind Dorsey. I have a hard time believing that a team competing to win a super bowl would stick with Dorsey & Jerrod - Eddie as the starters in the middle at the NT position. Our scheme was exposed when Seattle spread us out and had Lynch sneak out on Aldon's side. A way to counter this would be to run a 4-3 defense where Aldon can concentrate on rushing the passer and I believe this is what JH and Fangio will do this week.

What's with drafting all of the injured rookies? I wonder if JH and Baalke just figure it gives them more time to study the playbook and get mental reps? We drafted three guys that can't suit up until after week six or next year, is our roster so stacked that we don't need draft picks to play right away?

We even picked up FA's that are injured and can't play until week six. I'm hoping JH is breeding competition! Meaning that after week 12 we will probably have Crabtree & Manningham pushing 2 WR's off the roster which means they will need to fight to hold onto a roster spot. Same with Dial & Tank in regards to the D-line and the CB from Tampa regarding Namndi (SP).

In short, JH has put the team in competition for roster spots through the entire regular season. I hope this works because it's SUPER BOWL or bust!

Your thoughts?

After the Crabs fiasco I really didn't want to draft another injured player. I am a big fan of Tank and wanted to draft him but taking that many hurt guys is risky. I understand the "we will red shirt them" idea but we run the risk of having no depth in the now.

But to possibly counter that position we have good backups that aren't getting on the field enough IMO. Lemon, Patton, Hunter, even Baldwin should be having a chance to show something in decent rotation. When it comes to QB (the Alex-Kap dilemma) I think giving the player time is good, at OLB or WR....let the guys play now.

I think this year's draft was definitely a sign that the team is planning on filling some major holes next year. Carradine is just one example. Another big example is Marcus Lattimore. The dude would have been a high 1st round pick had he not been injured last season.

But with Frank Gore now starting to show some wear and tear, and in the final year of a three-year contract extension, the plan might be to sit Lattimore, let him recover, and then open the position up for competition next season.

I remember when the decision was made to part ways with Roger Craig so Rickey Watters could get more playing time. Craig was still playing at a fairly high level, but his best days had come and gone. It hurt more than anything to watch Roger walk, but it was pretty obvious that Rickey was the future of this team back in the day.

You might be seeing some of this now.

Originally posted by jreff22:
After the Crabs fiasco I really didn't want to draft another injured player. I am a big fan of Tank and wanted to draft him but taking that many hurt guys is risky. I understand the "we will red shirt them" idea but we run the risk of having no depth in the now.

But to possibly counter that position we have good backups that aren't getting on the field enough IMO. Lemon, Patton, Hunter, even Baldwin should be having a chance to show something in decent rotation. When it comes to QB (the Alex-Kap dilemma) I think giving the player time is good, at OLB or WR....let the guys play now.

Yup. We could have gotten some contribution from those high picks this year, but instead we are scraping around the waiver wire to fill roles. What a shame.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by jreff22:
After the Crabs fiasco I really didn't want to draft another injured player. I am a big fan of Tank and wanted to draft him but taking that many hurt guys is risky. I understand the "we will red shirt them" idea but we run the risk of having no depth in the now.

But to possibly counter that position we have good backups that aren't getting on the field enough IMO. Lemon, Patton, Hunter, even Baldwin should be having a chance to show something in decent rotation. When it comes to QB (the Alex-Kap dilemma) I think giving the player time is good, at OLB or WR....let the guys play now.

Yup. We could have gotten some contribution from those high picks this year, but instead we are scraping around the waiver wire to fill roles. What a shame.

The complete failure of 2012 is a massive reason why we have some holes.

Harbaugh thinks Tony Jerrod-Eddie is going to be our backup NT and feels good about it? I don't even feel good about this guy as a DE (decent)! He's barely 300 pounds...(no, weight isn't everything but he hasn't played NT at all with us).

Aldon I thought played well against the run. He is improving in that area.

Originally posted by SportsFan:
Aldon I thought played well against the run. He is improving in that area.

I agree...only got fooled a couple times on the edge by Wilson and he "may" have had assignment on Lynch on the 30-yarder.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Harbaugh thinks Tony Jerrod-Eddie is going to be our backup NT and feels good about it? I don't even feel good about this guy as a DE (decent)! He's barely 300 pounds...(no, weight isn't everything but he hasn't played NT at all with us).

Exactly my frustration right there. I do think, its a wait-and-see with the NT position. I'm just speculating, but Marcus Dixon, Antonio Dixon and Frank Okam worked out for Tennessee almost the same time Love worked out for the 49ers, maybe they wanted to wait and see what happens with that situation. Then pounce on the one that doesn't get signed. I would've been happy with Kyle Love though.

Originally posted by Kolohe:
Exactly my frustration right there. I do think, its a wait-and-see with the NT position. I'm just speculating, but Marcus Dixon, Antonio Dixon and Frank Okam worked out for Tennessee almost the same time Love worked out for the 49ers, maybe they wanted to wait and see what happens with that situation. Then pounce on the one that doesn't get signed. I would've been happy with Kyle Love though.

Agreed...Harbaugh just praised him so he should be cut any day now. LOL. I'd be happy with Love too. The Patriots run a more traditional two-gap alignment and that is the mentality I think we need coupled with some A-gap slashes as well (so bummed Williams went down). I don't think with a healthy Wilfork, Love was going to get many snaps but does anyone know the story why he was released?

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Harbaugh thinks Tony Jerrod-Eddie is going to be our backup NT and feels good about it? I don't even feel good about this guy as a DE (decent)! He's barely 300 pounds...(no, weight isn't everything but he hasn't played NT at all with us).

Exactly my frustration right there. I do think, its a wait-and-see with the NT position. I'm just speculating, but Marcus Dixon, Antonio Dixon and Frank Okam worked out for Tennessee almost the same time Love worked out for the 49ers, maybe they wanted to wait and see what happens with that situation. Then pounce on the one that doesn't get signed. I would've been happy with Kyle Love though.

So could you see us going with a 4-3 that looks like this:

Brooks Dorsey J. Smith A. Smith

Lemon/Scuta Willis Bowman

^^^ Fangio is way too stubborn to consider this alignment. If he doesn't go big (2-gap NT or 4 DL) against a power running team like Seattle, esp. in 4Q, why would he change now?

Note to fans we are not going to a 4-3 anytime soon. We have two of the best ILB in the NFL and two great OLB's so get use to lots of 3-4 Dorsey will be just fine at NT with plenty of help from Ray Mac and Eddie. I would not be surprised if they find some one in the next week or so and cut Stupar to make room for another DT

Originally posted by leakyfausett:
Note to fans we are not going to a 4-3 anytime soon. We have two of the best ILB in the NFL and two great OLB's so get use to lots of 3-4 Dorsey will be just fine at NT with plenty of help from Ray Mac and Eddie. I would not be surprised if they find some one in the next week or so and cut Stupar to make room for another DT

in my opinion they should fine someone in the next 24 hours to back up dorsey. i have tried to keep calm from this as posters have assured me they will sign someone this week in this glaring area of need. of course i like the coaches and front office but sometimes they do s**t that just defies logic.

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by leakyfausett:
Note to fans we are not going to a 4-3 anytime soon. We have two of the best ILB in the NFL and two great OLB's so get use to lots of 3-4 Dorsey will be just fine at NT with plenty of help from Ray Mac and Eddie. I would not be surprised if they find some one in the next week or so and cut Stupar to make room for another DT

in my opinion they should fine someone in the next 24 hours to back up dorsey. i have tried to keep calm from this as posters have assured me they will sign someone this week in this glaring area of need. of course i like the coaches and front office but sometimes they do s**t that just defies logic.

cciowa, if we don't sign someone by Friday morning (and we probably won't), we give you full permission to go ape-#$^&*.