2) Tank Carradine: Cautiously optimistic with him. Maybe he's the pass rusher we've been looking for? We'll see. Promising so far. MUCH better as OLB than 3-4 DE.
3) Hyde: Sigh. Very Carlos Hyde game. Great run. Two or three offensive snaps later, hurt. Ugg.
4) O-Line: This game notwithstanding, I think there is potential here to be among the best lines in the NFL. Pears and Devey...GONE. Jonathan Martin...GONE. Could the nightmare be over? Not only do the starters look to be talented, but they might even have (gasp) depth.
5) WR: Everything I just said about the O-Line? Yeah...not so much at WR. Huge need area and likely will be going into next offseason.
6) Ronald Blair: Love that kid. Looks like a steal so far. So quick and strong.
7) DeForest Buckner: Someone who understands the defense better than I do might be able to say whether or not I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing, but it appears to me there are times he's playing too high and there are others where it seems he's not sticking too his assignment. On the first play off the game he was flowing with the play and ended up throwing his man outside to try and cut inside and make the play. The back simply bounced outside of him and would have gone for a big gain had Brock not drilled him in the hole.
My guess is that wasn't what he was supposed to do. Seemed there were a few other occasions when that happened but without knowing exactly what he was supposed to do its hard to say. He's a very young player so mistakes are to be expected, just wondering if this was in fact a mistake.
8) Jimmie Ward: The guy has barely been tested but when he is he always seems to be in position. Is it possible that we may have found a damn good corner lost in the depths of the deep safety position? To early to say, but its encouraging.
9) Tartt: I saw something on Friday that stunned me a bit. I saw a 210lb-220lb SS chase down a WR from behind. A WR taken fairly high in the draft as well. Really looking forward to seeing how this kid plays in the future.
10) Elephant in the Room: Sigh. It would be really nice to go a significant amount of time with no drama. I am so tired of Kaps name coming up in some conversation about a hat he shouldn't have worn, Tats he shouldn't have, an accusation of something he shouldn't have done, a rumor of wanting to be traded, discussion about his attitude in front of the media, etc, etc, etc. I'm just so damn tired of it. I'd just like for a chance for there to be an aura of optimism and hope around the team and not a continued spiral into the abyss. I am a political person and I pay attention, but I like my sports to be separate. An escape if you will.
However.
I was offended by Kap not standing for the anthem. I didn't even notice it till it was reported afterward. I didn't and don't agree with his stance.
Here's the rub tho for me. Players aren't robots. They are human and see the same social injustices we all see (or many of us anyway). When an athlete does something to call attention to something its kinda hypocritical IMO to blast him for standing up for what he thinks is right. It doesn't always take the form we'd like and it is sometimes easily misconstrued, but his presser yesterday went a long way into understanding what his thought process is.
I would rather he didn't do this, but the reality is that the social injustice he's bringing attention to is SOOOO much bigger than what I'm comfortable with, the 49ers, or football in general.
Some of the stuff I've read in the past few days has made me sick. "He sucks, he shouldn't have an opinion". "He makes 12 million dollars, he shouldn't say a damn thing". "He's only half black and from an adoptive white family. He's never even been in those situations. He needs to shut up".
Really? He's not black enough? He's not poor enough? So essentially the only people who are allowed to have a voice in the discussion are people who have no voice to be heard?
Anyway, while I don't like the form his protest took, I find it difficult to quarrel with why he is protesting.
From a football perspective, what concerns me is this: The 49ers may very well have planned to release him on his play alone. This stand puts them in a really awkward position. If he gets released, there are many people who don't bother to research facts that will say he was released BECAUSE of his protest. They will be entirely incorrect, but it will serve as just another reminder of the racism charge that stuck to Chip Kelly in Philly. It may cause Free Agents to cross SF off their list of destinations.
I don't fault Colin for feeling he had to do SOMETHING as so many of us have done little besides saying "ah man, that sucks". He's decided to pay a price to make his statement and that has to be respected, but damn...really awkward for the 49ers.
[ Edited by Marvin49 on Aug 29, 2016 at 12:19 PM ]