Originally posted by Envy:Originally posted by matt49er:Originally posted by Envy:
My opinion is that he is not performing as expected. Other teams are hampered either by a culture of failure (Lions) or by sheer idiocy in the board (Raiders). We have had a bit of both the past few years but Scott has not shown he is capable of using the opportunities he receives to improve upon what is here. For 3 years now we have consistently required upgrades on the lines. This is STILL a massive work in progress with no end in sight. All other issues are peripheral if you cannot go man to man in at the coal face.
The D line looks very good J.Smith is playing pro bowl level, Franklin is close to that and the trio of Ice, Balmer, McDonald have done a good job at RDE.
The problem is with the OL Staley/Heitman have done a nice job. going into this year the franchise had very high hopes for Baas/Rachel and rightfully so both 2nd round picks from major universities that played really well the end of last year still young developing players. The board would have blown up if the 9ers would have given up on these 2 in the offseason no one thought the problem would be OG everyone was screaming about RT which isn't great but isn't near as bad as the OG spots.
Whilst I can understand people's perception that on paper the lines look ok I don't think a GM should be so naive. I don't believe he has to be utterly ruthless but I would rather he showed some sort of leadership in managing the recruitment of the lines much better. Smith and Staley have been positive. I always believed Heitmann could play but suffered from what was around him. Apart from that we have had to wait a few years for experienced Pros like Franklin to finally get "it"...
This is also due to bad coaching and ineptitude with schemes but all teams are built in the trenches. We've had enough money and high draft picks to remedy our ailment here and yet we still have questions.
can you blame the FO or coaching staff for believing that Baas/Rachel would play well this year? the entire zone thought so as well based on what we saw at the end of last year and the fact that both of these guys are young, big prospects. RT was the only position everyone was questioning going into the year and I admit M.Smith was a huge miss.
The DL has played very well, Smith has been great, Franklin has played very well, McDonald/Soap/Balmer combo has been good at RDE also.
Scotty has built a great LB core and an overall very good D no there is not a big time passrusher but as a whole the D is very good
The Offenses problems are all OL related we have playmakers in place at RB/WR/TE in Gore/Davis/Crabtree/Morgan/B.Jones/D.Walker better blocking up front and this team would be at another level.