The San Francisco 49ers have spent a chunk of their approximately $67 million in cap space on upgrading a number of key positions in free agency. Kwon Alexander brings big-play ability to the weak side linebacker position while Dee Ford provides the explosiveness off the edge that the 49ers have desperately needed. Other notable signings include veteran receiver Jordan Matthews, speedy running back Tevin Coleman, cornerback Jason Verrett, and linebacker/special teams player David Mayo. There is still a month or so until the NFL Draft on April 25th, so the question begs, who else should the 49ers pursue in free agency? Bryan Witzmann - Guard Witzmann has bounced around the league and ended up playing in ten games last year for Chicago...

Popular opinion has been that the 49ers are going to select Nick Bosa with the #2 pick in the draft, if he is available. Bosa is the consensus choice as the best edge rusher coming out of college, something that is tough to argue. Some believe that the 49ers will actually select Quinnen Williams, the defensive tackle out of Alabama, seeing him as possibly someone to pair with DeForest Buckner and the newly signed Dee Ford, and maybe adding Justin Houston, to create a front four that is all but unblockable. Both of these points of view are wonderful to consider, particularly since 49er fans have been starved for a good pass rush for several years, and the thought of seeing Russell Wilson and Jared Goff being swarmed over repeatedly is almost enough to bring tears to the...

The San Francisco 49ers made waves in free agency with the addition of defensive end Dee Ford and linebacker Kwon Alexander. Ford was acquired via trade with the Kansas City Chiefs and Alexander made his own decision to join the 49ers after leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent. While their paths to Santa Clara may be different, they do have one thing in common: they bet on themselves in contract negotiations. Both players signed front-loaded contracts with very little guaranteed money long term. Signing players to team-friendly deals has been how the 49ers have operated for many years. How do they continue to get players gamble on their futures? The most important aspect is clear. The 49ers bring in players who have something to prove in their careers. Bouncing...

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Based on recent moves, the San Francisco 49ers could pass on drafting Nick Bosa with the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Bosa has long been believed to be the best pass rushing prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft and most of the top draft experts consider him the best player in the draft overall. How could general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan pass on the complete package of a prospect in Bosa? Well, they might even have a reasonable reason once you dive into the finer details. The acquisition of Dee Ford would undoubtedly be a very big part of why. It's not just that the 49ers added one of the best edge rushers in the league. It's how they plan to utilize him. Ford played as a linebacker for the...

Free agency is currently in full swing as the 49ers added outside linebacker/defensive end/pass rush specialist Dee Ford to the 2019 roster. They've addressed the position with a long term contract but should be looking to add a second pass rusher in the draft. One who could fit the mold is the University of Kentucky's Josh Allen. In his senior year at Kentucky, Allen posted 17 sacks and 21.5 tackles for losses. He did all that despite playing a fair amount of coverage snaps as an outside linebacker on obvious passing situations, which makes his performances that much more...

The 49ers picked up Tevin Coleman this week, adding a skilled running back who understands and has played in the Shanahan offensive scheme. However, the team already had a number of viable backs on the roster, making the move somewhat puzzling. Aside from Kyle Juszczyk, their lone fullback, Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson carried the ball effectively, with Jerick McKinnon, the anticipated starter in 2018, on IR after tearing his ACL on the September 1. Historically, the team has carried three active tailbacks on the game day roster, which would mean that at least one healthy, startable back (taking Wilson out of the equation) would not suit up. This might not actually be the team's thinking, however, particularly given their lack of proven wide receiver talent....

The 49ers signed Tevin Coleman to a two-year deal worth a maximum of 10 million dollars on Wednesday. Kyle Shanahan will have a familiar face in his running back room as Tevin Coleman reunites with his former offensive coordinator. In 2016, the Falcons scored 540 points en route to a super bowl berth. Coleman finished 2016 with 118 rushes, 520 yards, and five touchdowns but it's the passing game where Coleman excels. Shanahan frequently found ways to exploit mismatches with linebackers for chunk gains. Coleman's receiving line was impressive in 2016 as he finished with 31 receptions, 421 yards, and three receiving touchdowns on 40 targets. In 2018, Coleman finished with 32 receptions, 276 yards, and five receiving touchdowns on 41 targets. The yards per reception...

The San Francisco 49ers elected to re-sign defensive back Jimmie Ward to a one-year deal, giving some experienced depth to their secondary but raising a few eyebrows in the process. It shouldn't be too big a surprise, as the San Jose Mercury News' Cam Inman said, that the San Francisco 49ers elected to re-sign defensive back Jimmie Ward to a one-year "prove it" kind of deal on Wednesday. After all, the Niners front office has repeatedly said positive things about him and even made overtures about bringing him back if the price was right. For a contract worth up to $5 million, according to...

The San Francisco 49ers made another NFL free agency splash, grabbing former Atlanta Falcons running back Tevin Coleman and signing him to a two-year deal. But what does that mean for an already-crowded crop of Niners tailbacks in 2019? It might be one of the most underrated pickups in free agency so far -- the San Francisco 49ers bringing aboard versatile running back Tevin Coleman and signing him to a two-year deal worth $10 million, as ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday. Coleman thrived under head coach Kyle Shanahan, who oversaw the 6-foot-1, 210 pounder's efforts with the Atlanta Falcons back in 2015 and 2016. Splitting time with the Falcons' No. 1 tailback,...

With the news this morning that Earl Thomas signed a big money contract with the Baltimore Ravens, that means that the 49ers missed out on signing a top tier safety in what was a highly talented free agency class. Earl Thomas joins Landon Collins, Tyrann Mathieu, Lamarcus Joyner, Adrian Amos, and Eric Weddle on the list of top free agent safeties that the 49ers missed out on. Now, what was a stacked free agency class is narrowed down to Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Tre Boston as the top remaining safeties. So where should the 49ers shift their focus to now? Before we discuss where the 49ers should shift their focus in free agency, let's take a look at what they did do. Last night, John Lynch made an aggressive move to solidify the 49ers' biggest need by...

When Kyle Shanahan expressed that the 49ers planned to be aggressive in free agency, many fans began to imagine the team improved by the acquisition of one or more edge rushers, a dominant single-high safety, or a dynamic wide receiver. As promised, the 49ers came to an agreement on a big deal on the first day of legal tampering. Surprisingly, that deal secured the services of a WILL linebacker, Kwon Alexander, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While the move, and the money assigned to the acquisition, puzzled many fans, the 49ers managed to replace the loss of former first-round pick Reuben Foster with a Pro Bowl alternate who is actually four months younger than Foster. Foster's dismissal from the team left a unit that was low on talent in dire straits, and his...

The start of the NFL's legal tampering has been action packed through the first two days. Outside of taking care of their own by extending Mike Person and Kyle Nelson, the 49ers have been relatively quiet at the start of free agency, only signing inside linebacker Kwon Alexander. There are still plenty of big names available that the 49ers should remain interested in (Earl Thomas, Ha Ha Clinton Dix, Justin Houston, Ezekiel Ansah, Steven Nelson, and Jason McCourty) so the 49ers may not be done. Where the 49ers have been active is on the trade rumor mill. There has been so much chatter linking the 49ers to trading for Odell Beckham Jr. Fox Sport's Colin Cowherd broke down the situation earlier this...

This is part two in a two-part series looking at Dante Pettis' rookie season. The first one can be found here. In the previous article, I showed how Pettis is effective at getting open and creating separation against man and zone coverage, the variety of routes he can run against those coverages, and how he creates separation on each one. Today, we look at other aspects of his game, specifically how he creates separation on out-breaking routes, how he can be used as a red zone target, his open field runner ability, and where he can improve. In both articles,...

As of today, NFL teams can now negotiate with prospective free agent players with plenty of sports news talk in between. NFL free agency officially begins on March 13th at 1PM PST and already, the San Francisco 49ers made headlines. NFL Network Ian Rapoport reported the 49ers reached an agreement with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers LB Kwon Alexander on a four year/$54 million deal. There are also rumors swirling that the 49ers are still looking into trading for New York Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. With an estimated $65 million in cap room to spend, let's preview another potential 49ers' target in Los Angeles Chargers WR Tyrell...

In this two-part series, we'll look at Dante Pettis' rookie season and why he's going to be an effective receiver for years to come in Kyle Shanahan's offense. Part one looks at his skill set against man coverage and zone coverage. Part two will look at the rest of the route tree as well as usage in the red zone, the open field, and where he'll need to improve. In both articles, we'll compare his college film to his pro film to see if anything translated to the NFL and how. Dante Pettis was selected by the 49ers in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft, 44th overall, out of the University of Washington. In four seasons with the Huskies, he totalled 2256 receiving yards and 24...

The 49ers need to improve their defense by increasing production from the edge rushers. Free agency officially opens on Wednesday, and it offers the team an opportunity to get better on the edge before the start of the NFL draft. While a lot of attention has been paid to the edge talent in the draft, the 49ers only project to have six selections in this draft and they will need to add more than one edge rusher to make the position one of strength. While the team could still double up on edge rushers in the draft, there are some interesting veteran options that could be available in free agency. Last Friday, we looked at Za'Darius Smith, a productive DE/OLB from Baltimore, and analyzed how well he could complement the 49ers roster. You can view that article...

There's no question the San Francisco 49ers pass rush from the edge has been a problem. GM John Lynch should sign recently released linebacker Justin Houston to solve that problem. To be clear, Houston should be the first step in solving the problem with the second step coming in the draft next month. Houston was officially released by the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. They chose that route rather than paying him the $15.25 million base salary he was due. Of course the Chiefs attempted to trade Houston prior to releasing him. The 30-year-old isn't quite the same player he was when he came within a half sack of the single season record in 2014 with 22. No team was going to give up a draft pick just to pay him like he is still the player he was when he signed a...

There's no question that the 49ers need to improve their defense by increasing production from the edge rushers. While a lot of attention has been paid to the edge talent in the draft, the 49ers only project to have six selections in this draft (the team is expected to receive a sixth-round compensatory selection), and they will need to add more than one edge rusher to make the position one of strength. While the team could still double up on edge rushers in the draft, there are some interesting veteran options that could be available in free agency. While free agents don't offer the same optimism or affordability as a draft pick, they have already demonstrated what they can do in the NFL, which can make them seem like less of a gamble, even though they come with a much higher cap hit...

We are just mere days away from the start of NFL free agency. If you're not excited about it, be happy some of the endless guessing and wild fantasies that each free agent is the supposed savior of the San Francisco 49ers will soon cease. As stated in two previous commentaries, the 49ers need high-end free agent talent to fill gaps in nearly every position group. Again, an edge rusher is the first priority, though it seems more likely general manager John Lynch will fill that need through the draft rather than skim the free agent pool. Two years ago, the 49ers began to rebuild the linebacker...

A look back at San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's Week 3 performance against the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2018 season. The 49ers were fresh off their first victory of the season and headed into noisy Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs in their home opener. A shootout was expected given how good the offenses were and how bad the defenses were. The 49ers would surely have to throw to keep up so this would be a great test for Jimmy Garoppolo. In his first four road starts with the 49ers, Garoppolo threw four touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Chiefs were the talk of the league and scored 80 points combined in the first two weeks. Patrick Mahomes was spectacular to open the season and...