Rachal: Slump, Bad Coaching or Bust?

I haven't broken down "film" on the guy, but we all know he's been getting beat regularly and Singletary is not happy. He's whiffing on his assignments and he's been losing battles physically.

My question to the zone is do you think he's slumping, the victim of poor coaching, or on his way to 2nd round bust status?

Spare us all the McClueless, Desean Jackson takes . . . . we've covered that . . . what do you think will become of Rachal?

Coming out of college he was considered very talented, but raw. I think it was a mistake to throw him out there that early, considering his techniques weren't good. He has blown assignments and has been between by lineman before anybody else even got their feet set.

He needs to watch more film and just work harder and he will be fine.

He came out early and they knew he was raw but physically gifted. So they did leave him at one position to learn, but he needs some time.

Originally posted by ninergold:
He came out early and they knew he was raw but physically gifted. So they did leave him at one position to learn, but he needs some time.

Yup, he came out as a Junior out of USC and really only started for one year. I think he still has a chance to be a very good player but this is a setback but also not the end of the world. I do kind of worry a little about his attitude/mentality....He seems kinda soft for an offensive lineman when I hear him talk and out there he certainly doesen't look he has a killer attitude out there on the field.

its a slump mostly but also its something about coaching, not that the coaching is bad (how would I know?) but that it hasn't sunk in yet. He just needs some time for the light to come on.

he was doing pretty good at the end of last season so its just a slump

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:
Coming out of college he was considered very talented, but raw. I think it was a mistake to throw him out there that early, considering his techniques weren't good. He has blown assignments and has been between by lineman before anybody else even got their feet set.

He needs to watch more film and just work harder and he will be fine.

couldn't agree more, seems odd to me that the 9ers threw Rachel in there right away our 2nd round pick yet have slowly developed the 1st round pick Balmer.

I agree we need to just give him time... did anybody concider he doesnt know the offense very well... hence blowing assignments... he kinda looks lost on some plays aswel

Coaching. Its a coaches responsibility to have a player prepared and placed in a position to succeed. Wragge is a functional guard. If Rachal is not ready to handle the various looks or different types of blocks he is asked to do then the coaches should play wragge.

Im just gonna go ahead and say he is a bust. Guards usually can or can't play coming straight from college. Tackles tend to take more time to develop.

Originally posted by SonocoNinerFan:
I haven't broken down "film" on the guy, but we all know he's been getting beat regularly and Singletary is not happy. He's whiffing on his assignments and he's been losing battles physically.

My question to the zone is do you think he's slumping, the victim of poor coaching, or on his way to 2nd round bust status?

Spare us all the McClueless, Desean Jackson takes . . . . we've covered that . . . what do you think will become of Rachal?

I think its a combination of being RAW and coaching. He might just not fit the scheme, but idk.

I'd like to see Wragge in there then watch this OG's struggle so much.

maybe shift Snyder to G with Wragge and Staley and Pashos at OT and Heitmann at C.

Originally posted by 228niner:
he was doing pretty good at the end of last season so its just a slump

Possible slump but he needs to get nastier. He says Larry Allen was his favorite player growing up so if I were the 49ers in the film room, I would have some vintage Larry Allen in Dallas on a constant loop and tell him to watch the technique and get some of Allen's nastiness. He looks like he is thinking too much. He is too physically gifted to be thinking so much when a lot of this is instinctive unless he doesn't know the playbook that well.

I have watched him fairly closely in games and I may say something that seems a bit odd -- the way he plays and his physical skills and attributes strike me more at a RT than a RG. To me he seems to play "taller" and reaches with his arms to engage. He has good feet, and when engaged in movement he seems to have power. He seems pretty good at pulling and engaging blocks in space. But when he is asked to play "low" and plow people he seems to struggle -- letting people get by him on slants, etc.

Given that, he may make more sense after this season as a RT. I could be totally off, but that is my perception of his play.

Considering that he hasn't even started a full season worth of games yet, I'm gonna give him some time before I declare him a bust. Maybe a couple of games on the bench will do him some good.