I'm still proud of our team......

Originally posted by crabman82:
if any yr was 8 or 9 it was this past one. a hangover from a long season and short offseason, lots of guys having offseason surgery etc. we hit the grind and got 12 wins, we can do it again

minus our #1 wide receiver, minus #52 for 3 games, minus VD for most of -VS- Carolina *AND* the worst call of the year going against in the Saints game. 5-1 in the BEST division in the NFL. All while incorporating Vance McDonald and a starting rookie safety.

Originally posted by enchantedskillz:
minus our #1 wide receiver, minus #52 for 3 games, minus VD for most of -VS- Carolina *AND* the worst call of the year going against in the Saints game. 5-1 in the BEST division in the NFL. All while incorporating Vance McDonald and a starting rookie safety.

I knew we were going to lose that game when on the very first play Wilson fumbled and we failed to punch it in for a TD , you know , what's going to change. The only thing we had going for us this year was a great field goal kicker.

Originally posted by theduke85:
This is what it boils down to for me: Kaep has been making peanuts for far. Soon, he will be making $15-20m. When his salary is low, we have the luxury of surrounding him with more talent. Surrounding him with more talent means that we can mask some of his inefficiencies or weaknesses; the rest of the team can pick up the slack that he leaves. Well, when his salary skyrockets, we're going to have to clear cap space to retain him. Maybe that means letting go of someone like Boldin. Maybe it means losing someone like Iupati. Maybe it means losing Crabs.

Anyway, whether or not our window closes hinges a lot on Kaep's development. The roster will get weaker, in all likelihood. The question is, can Kaep develop to compensate for that? If he becomes, say, a better pocket passer that's better at going through progressions, we don't need three star receiving threats like Crab/Boldin/Davis -- we'll be able to get by with less (sort of like how Russell Wilson put up comparable numbers to Kaep with good-but-mediocre weapons).

However, if Kaep does not develop, or he stagnates a little bit, then we might be in trouble. Then the roster gets weaker, but quarterback play remains largely the same. That's a recipe for trouble. We might be closer to an 8-10 win team instead of a 10-12 win team.

If Kaep develops... we're fine. If not... then, sadly, I think our window may have closed. At least our window of being a clear-cut juggernaut. Not saying that if Kaep keeps playing like this that we'll be a 4-win team or something.

its going to come down to drafting and letting those guys play and not just the 1st rounder. wont be able to red shirt these guys just cus we can type of thing.

Originally posted by 4eninder:
I knew we were going to lose that game when on the very first play Wilson fumbled and we failed to punch it in for a TD , you know , what's going to change. The only thing we had going for us this year was a great field goal kicker.

hopefully we re-sign him

Originally posted by socalniner:

You can tell he's not a fan when he refers to the niners as "they", where real fans refer to their team as "we". Pretty easy to sniff this troll out.

Sorry, but this is BS. I often refer to the Niners as they, because I don't play for or own the team I love. I refer to Niners FANS as we, because I am a part of that group.

Admittedly, I do sometimes refer to the team as we, but that's usually when I'm arguing with fans of some other team.

I say to each their own. If you wanna say they or we, it in no way makes you a better or worse fan.

Originally posted by Empire49:

Originally posted by socalniner:
You can tell he's not a fan when he refers to the niners as "they", where real fans refer to their team as "we". Pretty easy to sniff this troll out.

Sorry, but this is BS. I often refer to the Niners as they, because I don't play for or own the team I love. I refer to Niners FANS as we, because I am a part of that group.

Admittedly, I do sometimes refer to the team as we, but that's usually when I'm arguing with fans of some other team.

I say to each their own. If you wanna say they or we, it in no way makes you a better or worse fan.

sometimes i say they in one sentence and we in the next one.

Originally posted by 4eninder:

Have you seen next years schedule? AFC West and NFC East . It will only be tougher a lot tougher

First of all, the NFC East is a huge joke. How you just used that sorry division as an example of how difficult our season will be is beyond me. I mean, really?

As for the AFC West... Denver will be trouble unless Peyton decides to retire, which isn't happening. KC is overrated as hell and rode an ultra easy schedule to a good record. Did they ever beat a team above .500 this year? San Diego is mediocre. And Oakland is absolutely pathetic. I see maybe one loss coming from this division, and even that may not happen.

Obviously, any of these teams can turn things around and be trouble for us next year (except Oakland, really), but based on what they did this year (which is currently your only measuring stick) there is no reason to think we will have trouble playing these 2 divisions next year.

Originally posted by Empire49:

Originally posted by 4eninder:
Have you seen next years schedule? AFC West and NFC East . It will only be tougher a lot tougher

First of all, the NFC East is a huge joke. How you just used that sorry division as an example of how difficult our season will be is beyond me. I mean, really?

As for the AFC West... Denver will be trouble unless Peyton decides to retire, which isn't happening. KC is overrated as hell and rode an ultra easy schedule to a good record. Did they ever beat a team above .500 this year? San Diego is mediocre. And Oakland is absolutely pathetic. I see maybe one loss coming from this division, and even that may not happen.

Obviously, any of these teams can turn things around and be trouble for us next year (except Oakland, really), but based on what they did this year (which is currently your only measuring stick) there is no reason to think we will have trouble playing these 2 divisions next year.

plus we get the bears and saints while the hawks get the packers and panthers. i cant look at our 2014 sched and say its harder than what we got this year

I'm actually more positive about our chances next year. And here's why:

The redshirts:
I'm really excited to see Lattimore, Carradine, and Dial play next season. I have nothing to back this up but I have a really good feeling about those two (the same way I felt about Kaep). I see Lattimore as a starter and Carradine making a huge impact in the rotation game along the D-line.

Unlike many I don't think HarBaalk had an off draft the previous two seasons. Ok, Ok, 2012 wasn't HarBaalk's best, I admit. But we did get good value from LMJ, Looney, and Moody (on ST). However, that 2013 draft is gonna prove one of our more productive in decades. Reid starts. Lattimore will start next season. Tank will likely start when Cowboy retires. Patton has starter potential I think (if he's thrown to more). Dial will provide no worse than serious depth on the D-line. Moody is excellent on ST. We all seen what McDonald brings as a 2nd TE. Lemonier is seriously gonna push Aldon I believe. Only Daniels and Cooper aren't on the roster from that draft.

The 2014 picks:
We have 6 picks in the top 3 rounds That's a huge retooling advantage. I'm begging that HarBaalk don't trade any of those picks - pick all of them!! We have 13 picks total in this upcoming draft and I really hope we don't get drunk on the BPA, but pick BPA where we're weakest. I think we should draft ALL 13 pick, though I doubt that'll happen. Just too many picks to resist a trade deal somewhere. But with that many picks we're gonna hit on more than few.

But I think that the fist pick needs to be a starter, preferably at the CB position - a big CB nasty & physical at the LOS. Justin Gilbert in the 1st, Marcus Roberson in the 2nd, or Victor Purifoy, Aaron Colvin, Victor Hamilton, Keith McGill, Pierre Desir all in the 2nd or 3rd. I also think we can get FS Ed Reynolds of Stanford in the 2nd or Calvin Pryor FS of Louisville in the 2nd and seek to convert both to CB. But we should get at least 2 CB's, one WR (Jordan Matthews - cousin of Jerry rice - Donte Moncrief, Brandon Coleman), an ILB (Christian Jones of Florida St., Shayne Skov of Stanford, Chris Borland, Wisconsin) and maybe a SS (Craig Loston of LSU in the 3rd) somewhere in those 1st 6 picks.

We also need to get a QB out of this draft (Tajh Boyd in the 5th, Zach Mettenberger in the 4th, or Tom Savage in the 7th). Kaep has earned a franchise QB contract and will get it, but he needs to be pushed by real potential.


JH & Co. player development:
I predict that JH & Co. will be proven to be player development aces next season. Ian Williams, Tony Jerod-Eddie, Demarcus Dobbs, Vance McDonald, are all testements to the player development skills of this staff. And overall, they've done a masterful job with Kaep. (And the scary thing is that he's still growing.) I honestly think that RB coach Tom Rathman cannot wait to get his hands on a healthy Marcus Lattimore. I love Gore, but I predict that his days as a starter are done. Hunter is good, but I don't see him as the bell-cow of the future. If Lattimore proves decent in the passing game as a blocker and catcher (which he was at S. Carolina) I see him earning more touches and time on the field than either of the three backs. With looming promising players like Cory Lemonier, Daniel Kilgore, Joe Looney, Quinton Patton (who I think is gonna be huge next season), Quinton Dial, being developed by JH & Co. we have the youth and talent to be a playoff team for a long time.

Returning health & depth:
. . . .Which brings me to this. The injury demon really kicked our a$$ and the injury gods really hated us this season. When you look at it we really suffered a tone of injuries, probably more starters than any team in the league at very key positions. Crabs, Miller, Williams, Iupati, Cully (nickle), Manningham, Fleming (ST). Loosing that much starting firepower would have finished 95% of the teams in the league well before the playoffs. This speaks to the depth and versatility we have. If next season we suffer the type of injuries as we did last season I have no doubt that we have enough talent to carry us into the playoffs again. A healthy 49ers is a bad thing for NFL teams to deal with.

Coaching:
I know offensively we need to seriously change some things, in particular playcalling, predictability, and creativity. Someone said that Kaep needs to go to QB school, and I agree. JH and Kaep need to move in together until training camp. Far too often this season defenses knew what was coming by formation. But I think JH & Co. did a marvelous job considering all the key injuries.

I just think that our chances next season could actually be better. We're gonna have even better rotation at the D-line, which gives us another year with Cowboy. Kaep has been to the NFC Championship his whole career, that has to count for something. I honestly think the coaching staff has learned some things about playcalling this season and relying too heavily on our defense. I have all the faith that they'll come up with a scheme that'll score the points we need for the 2014-15 season. ST and the D needs to change nothing (though I think we can blitz a tad bit more, and I do think we should draft a return specialist). Unlike many I do not think that our "window" is closing. We're still young at most spots but are experienced in big games, not to mention we have 13 picks to retool. But our offensive philosophy has to evolve.

I think we are real good position for years to come. Thought?

with this team i'm totally confident, will be even more so when denver wins the sb

Hard to tell how next season will shake out...lots of variables in play, but if you base it upon this year's performances, our schedule looks easier next year. Shouldn't matter as much though because we will still have 6 tough division games to win. I think the entire NFC West will be great next year, and our margin for error will be tiny again.

We can't afford to drop games like Indy, Carolina and New Orleans...the non-divisional sched should help matters in that regard though.

Originally posted by crabman82:
with this team i'm totally confident, will be even more so when denver wins the sb

Yeah. We're gonna lose some expensive vets but I think we have the talent to fill those gaps.

Originally posted by crabman82:

Originally posted by Empire49:

Originally posted by socalniner:
You can tell he's not a fan when he refers to the niners as "they", where real fans refer to their team as "we". Pretty easy to sniff this troll out.

Sorry, but this is BS. I often refer to the Niners as they, because I don't play for or own the team I love. I refer to Niners FANS as we, because I am a part of that group.

Admittedly, I do sometimes refer to the team as we, but that's usually when I'm arguing with fans of some other team.

I say to each their own. If you wanna say they or we, it in no way makes you a better or worse fan.

sometimes i say they in one sentence and we in the next one.

It's a compilation of what he's saying and how he's saying it. And maybe, you should be referring to the niners as "we" since we do live and die with the team, with all the time, effort, and money spent supporting "our" team.

Originally posted by socalniner:

Originally posted by crabman82:

Originally posted by Empire49:

Originally posted by socalniner:
You can tell he's not a fan when he refers to the niners as "they", where real fans refer to their team as "we". Pretty easy to sniff this troll out.

Sorry, but this is BS. I often refer to the Niners as they, because I don't play for or own the team I love. I refer to Niners FANS as we, because I am a part of that group.

Admittedly, I do sometimes refer to the team as we, but that's usually when I'm arguing with fans of some other team.

I say to each their own. If you wanna say they or we, it in no way makes you a better or worse fan.

sometimes i say they in one sentence and we in the next one.

It's a compilation of what he's saying and how he's saying it. And maybe, you should be referring to the niners as "we" since we do live and die with the team, with all the time, effort, and money spent supporting "our" team.

Well that's bold, telling fans which pronoun they should use when referencing the 49ers...I've lived and died with this team since the mid-70's, STH for 20+ yrs, and and have bought enough s*** with 'SF' or '49ers' on it to fill a warehouse. I don't say "we". I don't begrudge anyone else who does, but please don't be so cavalier as to tell me or any fan the words we should use.

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:

Originally posted by crabman82:
with this team i'm totally confident, will be even more so when denver wins the sb

Yeah. We're gonna lose some expensive vets but I think we have the talent to fill those gaps.

the chruning of a roster thats what happens. seattle better win this ring because they are in for it down the road. a lot of guys need to be paid and most of them make under a million as mid to late rounders. its going to be a tough squeeze for them.