49ers fans giving up on injured players

Something I see as a sports fan all the time are fans being over dramatic & flipping the switch on players way too quick. This happens with players that under perform for periods or get hurt and conversely falling in love with a player who over performs in a short period of time. It's happening this season with the 49ers A LOT, even with our best players and it's laughable how insane it is in some instances.

Extreme Examples

Patrick Willis: Willis is a 7 time pro-bowler, 6 time all-pro. The guy has been a top 2-3 ILB pretty much his entire career, he's the leader of the defense, the guy who hypes the team up in the huddle before games. He's been playing on a bum toe for years and now this years toe injury is just too much to comeback from w/o surgery and the guy has to go on IR, sucks & I was shocked that after a couple games, people think that we should trade him because he makes elite ILB $$. This D is centered around our ILB's playing great football, that's why we, despite being very smart about how we spend our cap $$'s gave both Willis & Bowman big $$ extensions. Bow had one of the nastiest knee injuries I've seen in a long while last year, he might not play at all this year & yet some fans are talking about dumping Willis? This is the most ridiculous example of them all.

Vernon Davis: VD is getting a ton of hate this year & I can sorta understand a little bit of it, but a lot of fans aren't looking at this situation objectively. He really didn't hold out, he missed voluntary mini-camp, then showed up when it was mandatory, that is not a hold out by definition. Sure he wants a bigger deal, can you blame him? He's a vet, why wouldn't he want to cash out one last time? VD looked real good week 1, then he got banged up in either week 2 or 3, I can't remember and don't feel like looking it up, point is, it was early in the year. He doesn't have his burst, he's not even beating ILB's down the field, he's never been a run you over guy but he's downright avoiding contact at all costs it seems like this year he's playing scared, he's hurt people, it's obvious. Yet the majority of fans on here and twitter talk about him not caring, him being lazy, unfocused. For those that actually believe that mess, I ask you this, when has that ever been VD? Even when he was a punk before Singletary set him straight, the kid played hard & wanted to win, he's never been a guy that simply doesn't care. Another poster made a great point in another thread. VD looks like Gates did a few years back when he was hurt & everybody said he was washed up, the Chargers stuck by him & now he's killing it. Don't get it twisted, I'm not saying the 49ers should have such blind faith that they reward him with a raise/extension in the off season, but no way they should give up on him & trade or waive him like others. Show some faith in a guy that has been one of the best TE's in the history of the NFL.

Michael Crabtree: Crabs has always been a love/hate guy for 49ers fans due to his rookie season holdout and annual training camp injuries and I understand that. But the sudden hatred for the guy is ridiculous. I agree that Stevie Johnson has outplayed him & should see the field more & get more passes thrown his way. I hate the stupid comments he made after last weeks game and no I do not want the 49ers giving him some ridiculous contract after this year. BUT, the guy has been a very good WR for us, he cameback very quickly from a major injury to provide a big boost to the offense last year. He blocks hard, he has great rapport with Kaepernick, he's not suddenly some POS. Like VD, I don't think Crabs is 100%, somethings off about him this year. Again, I'm not saying #15 should be anybodys favorite player, but the hate he's being shown by a pretty large portion of the fan-base is insane to me.

Chris Borland: See the Willis post, Borland has been great the last 2 games after Willis got hurt, but he's not the next Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis or Navarro Bowman. This is a prime example of a player whom teams haven't been preparing for, his out of this world performances over the last cpl weeks are not sustainable, I believe Borland is a guy who can be a good starter in this league, but he's not a guy we should be thinking about replacing Willis with right now.

Less Extreme Examples

Ian Williams: This is a guy I think is very undervalued. Williams has been one of the best 3-4 NTs in football this year and most fans barley blinked when he suffered an injury last week & we learned he was gonna be out at least a few weeks. Most simply pointed to Dorsey coming back ignoring that Dorsey will be rusty, coming off an injury himself, and most importantly that Dorsey wasn't nearly as good last year as Williams has been this year. Ian Williams is a huge reason why the run D has been as good as it's been & a big reason why the replacement ILBs Borland and Wilholte have played so well this year.

Tramaine Brock: Brock was a huge surprise last year, went from potential cut to a starter and got himself an extension after becoming our top CB last year. This year he's struggled with some injuries and because of the great play of Cox and the solid play from Culliver & underrated play of Ward as the nickle back, we haven't really missed him a whole lot. Still, when healthy, the guy is fantastic and I'd love to see what a 100% healthy duo of Brock/Cox could do out there for our D. Sadly man fans have already written him off & are actually stating that we should just IR him (despite that his most recent injury isn't all that serious) since he's "soft" now that he got his extension. I subscribe to the philosophy that you can never have too many good CBs, the injury report this week proves that & acting like Brock isn't a big piece of this D is amazingly shortsighted.


In closing, I understand that it's hard not to get frustrated at players, especially when they're play is far below what we're used to seeing. I'll openly admit that several times this season I've yelled "God you suck this year VD (Crabs too)". And I've gleamed "Borland you are the man"! But those are snap reactions while a game is on when emotions are at their highest level. To actually sit and think about it on an non-gameday and actually come up with the opinions many have expressed about our players, whether it's giving up on a great player too soon due to injury/under performance or labeling an inexperienced player great after just a couple games of great play is infuriating to me.

Have some faith in our players guys, no, they won't be great forever, decline is inevitable at some point. But let's calm it down with the conspiracy theories that players aren't playing hard (esp one's in a contract year, that's just stupid) and think before you actually say out loud (or post) that a HOF guy under 30 like Patrick Willis should be replaced by an undersized guy like Chris Borland. Some of you are embarrassing yourselves and by extension, 49er fans as a whole.

Willis is AND HAS BEEN Overated for a LONG time. Willis gets to the pro Bowl on reputation. You cannot tell me that Willis has been better then Bowman from 2011 and on not even close. And I do venture to say that Boreland has BETTER closing speed then Willis. I've never been a huge fan of Willis. He rarely has game changing plays and yet is so hyped.

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:
Willis is AND HAS BEEN Overated for a LONG time. Willis gets to the pro Bowl on reputation. You cannot tell me that Willis has been better then Bowman from 2011 and on not even close. And I do venture to say that Boreland has BETTER closing speed then Willis. I've never been a huge fan of Willis. He rarely has game changing plays and yet is so hyped.

Well apparently Willis has been dealing with a lingering toe injury the past three years and has been fighting through it until he injured it even more @ St. Louis?

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:

Willis is AND HAS BEEN Overated for a LONG time. Willis gets to the pro Bowl on reputation.
You cannot tell me that Willis has been better then Bowman from 2011 and on not even close. And I do venture to say that Boreland has BETTER closing speed then Willis.

I've never been a huge fan of Willis. He rarely has game changing plays and yet is so hyped.

Why I am not surprised?

Oh well, to each his own.

Hate to agree on the Willis point but it's true. He's very overrated by 9er fans and media alike. He's aa very good player but doesn't have a dramatic impact on games. He's solid but hasn't been spectacular in many years.

We're not going to keep Bowman AND Willis if draft picks like Borland are seizing opportunities. One of them will have to go.

Fact is, you don't need more than 3 elite LBs to win a championship.

Nice thread, but welcome to reality!

Originally posted by verb1der:
We're not going to keep Bowman AND Willis if draft picks like Borland are seizing opportunities. One of them will have to go.

Fact is, you don't need more than 3 elite LBs to win a championship.

Nice thread, but welcome to reality!

Why will one of them have to go? Borland won't be costing the team anything for some time now. And, keen as I was on the pick, two or three games are simply not enough to anoint him as elite.

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by verb1der:
We're not going to keep Bowman AND Willis if draft picks like Borland are seizing opportunities. One of them will have to go.

Fact is, you don't need more than 3 elite LBs to win a championship.

Nice thread, but welcome to reality!

Why will one of them have to go? Borland won't be costing the team anything for some time now. And, keen as I was on the pick, two or three games are simply not enough to anoint him as elite.

Exactly! And we've been fine salary cap wise keeping both thus far, the cap rises each year, we can keep both of them fine.

Originally posted by English:

Originally posted by verb1der:

We're not going to keep Bowman AND Willis if draft picks like Borland are seizing opportunities. One of them will have to go.

Fact is, you don't need more than 3 elite LBs to win a championship.

Nice thread, but welcome to reality!

Why will one of them have to go? Borland won't be costing the team anything for some time now. And, keen as I was on the pick, two or three games are simply not enough to anoint him as elite.

U can't put all your eggs in one basket. We're practically hoarding LBs. Just look at Willis and Bowman's contracts. They make MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS. Imagine what we can do if we trade one and spread the wealth to other areas of need.

I love the players but I love the team more. And it only makes sense to diversify the roster. Why would anyone feel sorry for players!? No one is saying they should be dumped on the street. These guys wo continue to make millions elsewhere.

You have to think "team" here folks, what's best for the "team"?! If you ask me it's definitely not best to hoard linebackers.

Willis and Bowman are much better than we have out there currently:
Run Defense has been way better
Pass Defense in the middle range is vulnerable - example would be St Louis Touchdown

The defense this year could have been special if we had Willis and Bowman out there. Can you imagine our impressive secondary, plus Smith+ Lynch rushing, plus Willis and Bowman cleaning up?

A good example is what the Patriots do. They never get attached to a player (except Tom Brady). They allow draft picks to develop and the cut the ones who reached max potential. The Patriots have made so many "WTF moves" in the past like letting go of established players Ty Law, and Richard Seymour, Adalius Thomas, but it worked out for them and they're constantly competing for championships with no namers.

Replenish through the draft. This has been Baalkes MO since day one, so don't be surprised and heart broken if our vets end up elsewhere next year.

Trade trade trade Willis for a 4th rounder, clear up 8 mil

49er "fans" don't even know when to cheer and when to stfu

Willis is wearing down, part of life and the game has taken its toll.

Not sure if he'll retire after next season but I feel that will be about it for him.

If he wants to hang on like way too many players do. he'll be doing it on another team.

I really like him but we need to move on sooner than later.

Originally posted by verb1der:

A good example is what the Patriots do. They never get attached to a player (except Tom Brady). They allow draft picks to develop and the cut the ones who reached max potential.

Replenish through the draft!!

I agree, it's a business. With traumatic hits or the cumulative injury factor, keeping a player too long is not cost effective. I can't see paying any player (except a QB) with over 5 years in the league big bucks. Belichick has the system but hasn't won in 10 years. His teams won in 2001, 2003 and 2004. I guess Coach Walsh's philosophy of getting rid of a player a year sooner rather than a year later is the toughest decision for an organization to make.