All-Time 49er 53-man Roster

Merry Christmas Webzone! I posted this several years ago but I wanted to update and revisit the discussion. The last time I did this I learned a lot about vintage 49ers and history of our franchise. Here is my opinion of the "All-Time 49er 53-man Roster." Differing opinions are welcome.
*Hired guns were not included (ie. Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, Rickey Jackson etc.)
**For the sake of discussion a 3-4 defense will be used to assign starters.
***NFL Hall of Fame & 49er Franchise retired numbers were given precedence.

All-Time 49er 53 Man Roster

QB - Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Brodie
RB - Frank Gore, Hugh McElhenny, Roger Craig
FB - Joe Perry, John Henry Johnson
WR - Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, Gene Washington, Billy Wilson, Dwight Clark, John Taylor
TE - Brent Jones, Ted Kwalick, Vernon Davis
OT - Bob St. Clair, Joe Staley, Harris Barton, Keith Fahnhorst
OG - Guy McIntyre, Mike Iuapati, Howard Mudd, Randy Cross
OC - Forrest Blue, Bruce Bosley

DE - Fred Dean, Justin Smith, Cedrick Hardman
DT - Leo Nomellini, Bryant Young, Charlie Krueger
OLB - Dave Wilcox, Charles Haley, Julian Peterson, Keena Turner
ILB - Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, Ken Norton Jr., Matt Hazeltine
CB - Jimmy Johnson, Eric Wright, Eric Davis, Kermit Alexander, Abe Woodson
FS - Ronnie Lott, Merton Hanks, Dwight Hicks
SS - Tim McDonald, Carlton Williamson

K - David Akers
P - Andy Lee
KR - Abe Woodson
PR - John Taylor

Head Coach - Bill Walsh
Offensive Coordinator - Mike Holmgren
Defensive Coordinator - George Seifert

Excellent thread. Don't have time to go through it in detail, but no love for Jesse Sapolu, Tom Rathman, Jeff Fuller, Ray Brown, and why Iupati?

All great suggestions and I could be talked into each as they were all in my final cuts. Rathman is one of my all-time favorite 49ers.

I went with Iupati because he was widely mentioned as dominant at his position. I grew up watching Sapolu and don't remember that discussion about him even though he was very good.

I like a lot of the picks. Not Iupati though. One dimensional guy.

Rathman deserves a spot too as the other guys were essentially RB's in todays league. Makes for some tough cuts but I probably go with 9 OL instead of 10.

I'd also include Deion even if his time was short.

Will go through later. Merry Christmas all.

Can we squeeze Mike Shanahan in as a QB coach or something

Seriously though, it looks pretty spot on IMO. Would've loved to find a way to get Hearst on because his '98 season was so dominating, but you can't put him above the others listed.

Can we get Beasley as a 3rd fb.

Originally posted by CityKing415:

Can we get Beasley as a 3rd fb.

5th behind Rathman and Floyd.

Even though I dislike the guy and he was here for a year I would put Deon Sanders as a top CB

Rathman on the ps?

Here's the rule to this game. If you suggest someone for the team you have to suggest who you would take off. It gets REALLY difficult!

I know some of our beat writers visit the Webzone from time to time. I'd love to get input on this list from some that have closely covered the team. They could provide great perspective.

Grant Cohn?
Matt Maiocco?
Matt Barrows?
Others?

Originally posted by ArmchairQB:
Here's the rule to this game. If you suggest someone for the team you have to suggest who you would take off. It gets REALLY difficult!

This. It's essentially the reason why Rathman was left off. Although going by modern football, Rathman could make the team as a FB in that regard, but it just seems to wrong to leave The Jet and JHJ off. One guy that I think would be held in higher regard had he stayed or gone to Denver instead of Philly would be Ricky Watters. He was a pretty potent weapon on those 1992-1994 teams. I'd actually take him over Roger Craig as a pass catcher, but Craig blows him out of the water as a runner.

My favorite 49er oline consisted of Deese, Gogan, Dalman, Brown and Scrafford. And I always felt Brown was the most dominant. I would put Brown on the guard list.

John Ayers replacers Mike Iupati and it isn't close. Ayers never got the recognition from the Eastern press but he was the best pass protector on that team and excellent pulling. Shut down Randy White and Lawrence Taylor. No one got past him. Bobb McKittrick called him a "great technician" in pass blocking. Played from 1976-86.

From the den of antiquity; Hardy Brown replaces Julian Peterson at OLB. Brown played in the '50s. His favorite weapon was The Shoulder. He broke more cheekbones than he could count. One writer called him the "most dangerous player to ever play the game." Another said the Jack "the Assassin" Tatum sold Girl Scout cookies compared to Brown. Of course his style of play would not work now but at the time, opponents feared him more than the Turk.

Originally posted by dj43:

John Ayers replacers Mike Iupati and it isn't close. Ayers never got the recognition from the Eastern press but he was the best pass protector on that team and excellent pulling. Shut down Randy White and Lawrence Taylor. No one got past him. Bobb McKittrick called him a "great technician" in pass blocking. Played from 1976-86.

From the den of antiquity; Hardy Brown replaces Julian Peterson at OLB. Brown played in the '50s. His favorite weapon was The Shoulder. He broke more cheekbones than he could count. One writer called him the "most dangerous player to ever play the game." Another said the Jack "the Assassin" Tatum sold Girl Scout cookies compared to Brown. Of course his style of play would not work now but at the time, opponents feared him more than the Turk.

I love this post. I'm going to read about both players now.