Originally posted by Giedi:
Originally posted by Ensatsu:
Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
Most of us fans overrate the value of having an elite wide receiver. It's much more important to have a strong O line and a good QB. I posted this before but go back and look at the last 15 SB winners. None of them had an elite receiver. Good receivers yes but not elite. Calvin Johnson, A. J. Green, Randy Moss, Julio Jones, Beckham and Brown all have ZERO rings. NE has never won a title because of elite receivers. Great QB and an O line that keeps him upright have been their keys. I say we look for a DB or O lineman.
Don't need elite, but you need a lot better than what we are getting right now.
Ranked dead last in red zone efficiency in 2018. Part of that is running a zone scheme with lighter offensive linemen that can't punch it into the end zone when you're inside the 5. The other part of it is having small receivers that can't beat press coverage.
I don't think running the zone run means you can't run gap blocking and man blocking plays and schemes in the red zone. But in a sense I agree with the overall premise that a zone run philosophy is different from a gap blocking philosophy. Sorta like the difference between a fast break warrior basketball with 3 pointers vs a post up heavy in the paint one on one, layup, kind of basketball.
As for WR's, I agree, they do need a big red zone WR. But Kyle's been on record to say that he just doesn't like one dimensional WR's. It's not enough that a WR is good in the Red Zone. That WR has to be good in the middle of the field and also when backed up on your own goal line. A younger guy similar to Jordan Matthews in the draft would be somebody that I'd love the 49ers to pick up in the 2nd round.
You can definitely run different schemes, but the scheme we run primarily requires lighter offensive linemen that can move sideline to sideline quickly who are more agile. They're not going to be well suited to power their way into the end zone. The scheme itself isn't really the issue, IMO. I've seen Belichick use zone concepts in the red zone effectively. But he isn't really tied or rigid with his height/weight/speed on his linemen, which is why he was okay with getting Trent Brown.
I know what Kyle has said. But so far, all I see is that we have a bunch of guys who are great in between the hashes who can rack up a bunch of YAC. When things start to get tight in the goal line, its harder to scheme things open.
And I know people will call me "size queen" and this and that. Look...bottom line is....if we suck again in the red zone this year, I'm going to be on here b***hing about the same thing anyways. So nothings going to change.
I think Jordan Matthews is an okay start, but to be honest, I have my doubts if he is even going to make it through preseason cuts. I feel like Kyle would value Kendrick Bourne over him because he just values different things.
[ Edited by Ensatsu on Mar 22, 2019 at 2:37 PM ]