*Projected* Niners Depth Chart (Updated 9/5/09)

I'm not big on quoting whole sections, nannite, so I won't.

Stats simply don't tell the full/real story in this case. Remember back to the New Orleans game. What would you say was a huge factor in that game? Most might say Drew Brees, and while that's not untrue?

Deuce McAllister. Why? Because he's a big and powerful back. He doesn't necessarily average big yards... but what he does is very damaging. He chews.... and chews... the little yards. So if teams are able to pound us for 3-4 yards a pop? It puts our D in a very tough spot. We can look at the numbers, but the reality (for me) is that Franklin loses the line of scrimmage FAR more than he wins it. Lucky for him that we have 2 stud ILBs to keep gains shortened much of the time. While they do keep things shortened, it gives both of them less room to roam for other responsibilities. It also puts immediate pressure on the DEs... keeping them further inside... which means they can't as easily dispatch the OTs from the 5-tech (like Hampton allows the Steeler DEs to do), therefore making things more difficult for our OLBs in rushing.

Looking at those stats begs the questions... are we really that strong up the middle? Many of the teams late in the year were pretty lousy at rushing to begin with.

AZ (ranked 32 in rushing) - held their rushing to 46 yards, but AZ was lighting us up in the air (42 attempts 328 yards)
STL (ranked 25 in rushing)- With Steven Jackson out, backup Antonio Pittman gauged us for a 6.8 yard average as they had a 100+ yard day on the gound
Dal (ranked 21 in rushing) - We did well to stop them to 77 yards on the ground, but at great expense to the pass game (341 yds)
Buf (ranked 14 in rushing) - Marshawn Lynch gutted us for 134 yards and a 8.4 average (with an awful pass game)
NYJ (ranked 9th in rushing) - Thomas Jones hit us for a 5.6 yard average
Miami (ranked 11th in rushing) - Ronnie Brown ripped us for a 6.7 yard average
STL (ranked 25 in rushing) - Steven Jackson hit over 100 yards on us... though on 32 carries
Was (ranked 8th in rushing) - Had 126 yards on the ground against us

We have only really watched Sopoaga play 2-gap. As a 2-gap NT, he failed thus far because he read the plays too slowly to act on them. I want and hope that he can excel more in the 1-gap role, and he should.


I'm not gonna keep this going though... this thread was about overall roster predictions. I'll leave it alone by finishing with this... I repeatedly watched Franklin all year... every snap... played over and over on my DVR. He is a liability on our D, and the 3-4 must have a good NT.

Originally posted by oldman9er:
I'm not big on quoting whole sections, nannite, so I won't.

Stats simply don't tell the full/real story in this case. Remember back to the New Orleans game. What would you say was a huge factor in that game? Most might say Drew Brees, and while that's not untrue?

Deuce McAllister. Why? Because he's a big and powerful back. He doesn't necessarily average big yards... but what he does is very damaging. He chews.... and chews... the little yards. So if teams are able to pound us for 3-4 yards a pop? It puts our D in a very tough spot. We can look at the numbers, but the reality (for me) is that Franklin loses the line of scrimmage FAR more than he wins it. Lucky for him that we have 2 stud ILBs to keep gains shortened much of the time. While they do keep things shortened, it gives both of them less room to roam for other responsibilities. It also puts immediate pressure on the DEs... keeping them further inside... which means they can't as easily dispatch the OTs from the 5-tech (like Hampton allows the Steeler DEs to do), therefore making things more difficult for our OLBs in rushing.

Looking at those stats begs the questions... are we really that strong up the middle? Many of the teams late in the year were pretty lousy at rushing to begin with.

AZ (ranked 32 in rushing) - held their rushing to 46 yards, but AZ was lighting us up in the air (42 attempts 328 yards)
STL (ranked 25 in rushing)- With Steven Jackson out, backup Antonio Pittman gauged us for a 6.8 yard average as they had a 100+ yard day on the gound
Dal (ranked 21 in rushing) - We did well to stop them to 77 yards on the ground, but at great expense to the pass game (341 yds)
Buf (ranked 14 in rushing) - Marshawn Lynch gutted us for 134 yards and a 8.4 average (with an awful pass game)
NYJ (ranked 9th in rushing) - Thomas Jones hit us for a 5.6 yard average
Miami (ranked 11th in rushing) - Ronnie Brown ripped us for a 6.7 yard average
STL (ranked 25 in rushing) - Steven Jackson hit over 100 yards on us... though on 32 carries
Was (ranked 8th in rushing) - Had 126 yards on the ground against us

We have only really watched Sopoaga play 2-gap. As a 2-gap NT, he failed thus far because he read the plays too slowly to act on them. I want and hope that he can excel more in the 1-gap role, and he should.


I'm not gonna keep this going though... this thread was about overall roster predictions. I'll leave it alone by finishing with this... I repeatedly watched Franklin all year... every snap... played over and over on my DVR. He is a liability on our D, and the 3-4 must have a good NT.

Franklin is a liability for this defense. You can watch the season before last also to see that

qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

carry 4 qbs? more than likely we will cut Huard

Originally posted by dgoldson38:
qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

Very close but i think Jennings is done at te and battle may be out this year.

7 LB's for a team running a 3-4 ? I think there should be at least 8 LB's. I think Marquis Harris makes the team.

Looks about right. I think we go with 5 WR's and 8 LB's.

And could we possibly try ro stash Nate Davis on the PS?

I thought I read that when a team claims a player off the PS of another team, the players current team has first shot of adding the player to their own 53 man if they want to keep said player.

It would be nice to keep an experienced #3 QB (Huard) for as long as possible.

I don't think Clayton will make it..and i doubt we keep 4 TEs

[ Edited by WillisWillKilYou on Jun 17, 2009 at 23:29:53 ]

Originally posted by dgoldson38:
qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

Why are people so upset that Mark Roman is going to be a back-up? We NEED him as a back-up.

Add Roman, drop Thomas Clayton.

Add Ziegler, drop Battle.

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by dgoldson38:
qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

Why are people so upset that Mark Roman is going to be a back-up? We NEED him as a back-up.

Add Roman, drop Thomas Clayton.

Add Ziegler, drop Battle.

Why do we need Roman as a back up?? I think we have two capable Safeties in Curtis Taylor and Reggie Smith that can get the job done if Goldson goes down. Sure hes decent back up, but his play has been average, time to give our draft picks a shot.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by dgoldson38:
qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

Why are people so upset that Mark Roman is going to be a back-up? We NEED him as a back-up.

Add Roman, drop Thomas Clayton.

Add Ziegler, drop Battle.

Why do we need Roman as a back up?? I think we have two capable Safeties in Curtis Taylor and Reggie Smith that can get the job done if Goldson goes down. Sure hes decent back up, but his play has been average, time to give our draft picks a shot.

If you are right, I'm all for it. It just seems like the Reggie Smith movement kind of slowed a bit. I haven't heard the praises out of OTA's about Smith that I expected to at this point. This guy was supposed to be a "draft steal," right?

And Taylor probably needs some more experience before we throw him in there, no?

i think this is the year Battle gets cut.

Originally posted by elguapo:

Originally posted by dgoldson38:
qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

Very close but i think Jennings is done at te and battle may be out this year.

well Jennings is jus a LS, and battle has one more year in his contract, so i say we'll keep him this year.

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by dgoldson38:
qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

Why are people so upset that Mark Roman is going to be a back-up? We NEED him as a back-up.

Add Roman, drop Thomas Clayton.

Add Ziegler, drop Battle.

Why do we need Roman as a back up?? I think we have two capable Safeties in Curtis Taylor and Reggie Smith that can get the job done if Goldson goes down. Sure hes decent back up, but his play has been average, time to give our draft picks a shot.

If you are right, I'm all for it. It just seems like the Reggie Smith movement kind of slowed a bit. I haven't heard the praises out of OTA's about Smith that I expected to at this point. This guy was supposed to be a "draft steal," right?

And Taylor probably needs some more experience before we throw him in there, no?

I wish I could tell you a reason for Reggie Smith's development, but to tell you the truth, I'm nowhere near watching them practice so I can't. But what I can tell you is that Reggie Smith plays faster than what his 40 says, looks like a very physical DB who looks much better in zone than what Roman has shown (hey that rhymes), from what hes shown in college. Sooner or later we gotta find out what Smith and Taylor can do in real game situations. I'm tired of a FS playing too far back because hes afraid to get burned. I'm tired of a FS who won't take a chance and gamble on a pass. Roman is the perfect example of a Nolan player, a bend but don't break player, not a hard nose Singletary meat and potatoes kind of guy.

Watch at the 1:00 mark of this video and this is what a safety SHOULD be doing.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by NickSh49:

Originally posted by dgoldson38:
qb (4)- shaun hill, alex smith, damon huard, nate davis
hb (4)- frank gore, glen coffee, michael robinson, thomas clayton
fb (1)- norris
wr (6)- captain morgan, crabtree, bruce, jones, hill, battle
OL (9)- staley, baas, heitmann, rachal, smith, snyder, wragge, wallace, boone
te (4)- davis, walker, pascoe, jennings
DL (6)- evans, balmer, franklin, sopoaga, smith, RJF (with mcdonald on IR...if not then RJF to the p-squad)
LB (7)- fittytwo, spikes, haralson, lawson, brooks, ulbrich, mckillop
cb (5)- clements, bly, brown, spencer, hudson
S (4)- goldson, lewis, smith, taylor
K (1)- nedney
P (1)- lee
RS (1)- rossum

PS (8)- zeigler, sheets, toledo, washington, bender, baker, price/spurlock, jay moore

but unfortunately mark roman is gonna get a roster spot which is gonna take the place of a talented player i.e. putting nate davis on the practice squad and risking losing him..

Why are people so upset that Mark Roman is going to be a back-up? We NEED him as a back-up.

Add Roman, drop Thomas Clayton.

Add Ziegler, drop Battle.

Why do we need Roman as a back up?? I think we have two capable Safeties in Curtis Taylor and Reggie Smith that can get the job done if Goldson goes down. Sure hes decent back up, but his play has been average, time to give our draft picks a shot.

average means he's better than half the safeties in the nfl...theres no way theres a single safety out there who i'd rather have less than roman let alone half in the nfl