San Francisco 49ers
ILB NaVorro Bowman may not have ranked in Pro Football Focus' Top 101 players of 2015, but he came in at number 61 in the NFL's Top 100 of 2016 list. The list, voted on by players, is in its sixth season on NFL Network.
Bowman, who played at a high level during his first season back after recovering from a torn ACL and MCL, started all 16 games during his 2015 season with the 49ers. It was his first season without
ILB Patrick Willis by his side. During those games, he had 154 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two passes defended and a forced fumble.
The 154 combined tackles were the most of his career and ranked first in the league in 2015. The next closest was
LB D'Qwell Jackson of the Indianapolis Colts with 150 combined tackles.
'Top 100 Players of 2016': No. 61 NaVorro Bowman
"He's going to be a Hall of Famer," said current Washington Redskins defensive end and former 49ers player
Ricky Jean-Francois. "The man had a season that he got hurt, came back, and balled. He did everything he needed to."
"Having a linebacker like him, I know had to be hard for offensive coordinators because they can't game plan," continued Jean-Francois.
"I rarely see lineman get their hands on him," said Cincinnati Bengals
RB Jeremy Hill, who calls Bowman a "beast."
Congratulations to Bowman, who missed last year's list because of his injury, on the ranking.
Below is the ranking so far, which has been revealed as high as the 61st ranked player.
61 - LB NaVorro Bowman, 49ers
62 - WR Demaryius Thomas, Broncos
63 - DT Gerald McCoy, Buccaneers
64 - S Reshad Jones, Dolphins
65 - CB Marcus Peters, Chiefs
66 - S Earl Thomas, Seahawks
67 - T Andrew Whitworth, Bengals
68 - S TJ Ward, Broncos
69 - RB LeSean McCoy, Bills
70 - DE Carlos Dunlap, Bengals
71 - DE Calais Campbell, Cardinals
72 - WR Doug Baldwin, Seahawks
73 - S Harrison Smith, Vikings
74 - WR Emmanuel Sanders, Broncos
75 - RB Jamaal Charles, Chiefs
76 - DT Linval Johnson, Vikings
77 - TE Jordan Reed, Redskins
78 - RB Chris Ivory, Jaguars
79 - C Ryan Kalil, Panthers
80 - LB Derrick Johnson, Chiefs
81 - QB Alex Smith, Chiefs
82 - TE Delanie Walker, Titans
83 - LB Telvin Smith, Jaguars
84 - LB Tamba Hali, Chiefs
85 - QB
Kirk Cousins, Redskins
86 - RB Jonathan Stewart, Panthers
87 - WR Julian Edelman, Patriots
88 - DE Cameron Heyward, Steelers
89 - WR Allen Hurns, Jaguars
90 - RB Matt Forte, Bears
91 - TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs
92 - QB Andrew Luck, Colts
93 - WR Jeremy Maclin, Chiefs
94 - TE Gary Barnidge, Browns
95 - DT Mike Daniels, Packers
96 - WR Sammy Watkins, Bills
97 - G Richie Incognito, Bills
98 - WR Jarvis Landry, Dolphins
99 - DE Cameron Jordan, Saints
100 - QB Derek Carr, Raiders
Deebo Samuel is the NFL's leading receiver through four weeks of play. He has 490 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns on 28 receptions, which puts him on pace for over 2,000 yards through 17 games.
Now, a lot has to happen between now and the end of the season for Samuel to come anywhere close to that milestone. While Calvin Johnson was 36 yards shy of that mark in 2012, no one has reached it. Samuel would have to maintain his current pace and stay healthy to come close, even with the benefit of a 17-game season.
While the receiving record would be a significant challenge, NFL Media researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming shares
The analysts who were clamoring for backup quarterback Trey Lance no longer believe the 49ers are a playoff-caliber team.
When San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans was exposed in Week 3, the young coordinator's incompetence was far from a hot topic of conversation amongst members of the national sports media -- if it was even discussed at all.
After months of fawning over rookie quarterback Trey Lance, the media finally got its wish in Week 4, as the latest future of the 49ers' franchise played the entire second half of the Niners' loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The rookie certainly looked the part during the team's defeat, simply proving what was obvious all along: He's not ready; but who expected him to be?
Although analysts
The San Francisco 49ers hoped quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would be able to take part in today's practice and test whether his right leg was strong enough to play on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Garoppolo didn't, and he has now missed an entire week's worth of practice.
After practice, head coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers are ruling Garoppolo "out" for the Week 5 matchup and that rookie Trey Lance would start in the veteran's place. With Garoppolo sidelined, Lance has received the majority of the practice reps this week.
"The more reps you get, the better you're going to get," general manager John Lynch said this morning on KNBR. "He does things exceptionally well. I think he's taken to our offense well. With every rep, he's going to get
4th Quarter
GAME ALERT: With the 17-10 win, the Cardinals will remain undefeated on the season, with the 49ers moving to 2-3 as they approach their bye week.
QUARTER ALERT: At the 2-minute warning, the 49ers trail 17-10, as the Cardinals have a 1st & 10 at the 50-yard line, while the 49ers have no timeouts.
James Conner gets a four-yard rush on 2nd & 2 to essentially put this game away for the Arizona Cardinals.
SCORE ALERT: After failing to convert on 2nd and 3rd downs, the 49ers settles for a field goal on 4th down, bringing the game to 17-10 with 4:17 remaining in the 4th.
After the touchdown, Trey Lance fires a bullet to Deebo Samuel, who makes the catch for
