Do you want Gore to continue to be the focal point of the offense?

Gore has been the focal point for what 6 years now. Not really going to change any time soon.. Now do I think we need a second runing back to share the load,sure. Maybe it's Dixon,free agent,or draftee who knows,but I do know Gore will always be the person other teams target.

Moran Norris needs to be the focal point.

Originally posted by susweel:
Moran Norris needs to be the focal point.

No, no, no. We need to move Sopoaga to FB and have HIM be the focal point. Could you imagine having one Samoan beast running right behind the other!?

Originally posted by gage:

Originally posted by susweel:
Moran Norris needs to be the focal point.

No, no, no. We need to move Sopoaga to FB and have HIM be the focal point. Could you imagine having one Samoan beast running right behind the other!?

Beast

Originally posted by NCommand:
I voted no b/c he's too one-dimensional. He's is way to slow to bounce it off tackle (outside). He is a down hill runner only with great vision; best blocking RB in the league but we need a RB who can run inside AND outside, catch the ball and pick up the blitz and who has "it" - big game production! Gore ain't it...

Your opinion is dumb

Originally posted by SWAGG-ER:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by SWAGG-ER:

Originally posted by MadDog49er:
Gore is on the down side of his career, and is simply a mid-level starting RB in the NFL. Such is the nature of a RB in the league for 6 years. The focal point is the QB.

Um, Gore led the NFL in yards from scrimmage before his FLUKE hip injury. Not to mention he's the best blocking back in the NFL.

Such is the nature of a RB in the league for 6 years.

I wouldn't call it a fluke. It's because of the pounding he's taken over the years. He's wearing down.

Pure speculation. And completely wrong.

Hips don't fracture because of years of physical pounding like you're suggesting. That's medically not how the hip fractures. They fracture from single blunt impacts like a fall, a car accident, a large heavy object (like a d lineman) falling on it.

Also, Gore's hip fracture was only of the hairline variety. SO, no biggie. If we were in the playoffs and he wasn't placed on IR, he'd play this week.

Um....No he wouldn't. Playing with a "fractured" hip 2 months after the injury??? Not a running back. Regardless of the severity of the issue, a hip or knee injury is this worst thing that could happen to a running back. Especially one like Gore who is well over 50% of our offense, there would be no way in hell the staff would've rushed him back onto the field this season if they had his best interests to heart. A similar case. Reggie Bush took nearly 3 months to come back from his leg injury he suffered in week 2. If you assume that the medical staff didn't withhold any info regarding Gore's injury and you recall their statement saying "barring any set backs he should be ready to go for the 2011 spring practices"...Yea like he would've played in the playoffs my ass.

Yes. Easily still one of the top-5 backs in the league.

In my opinion, Gore is the best tailback in 49ers history. But starting 2-3 seasons ago(especially this last one). Gore should have been in a 2-3 back rotation. Emphasis on the fact that we have 2 other very good dementions in Dixon and Westbrook. So start the 3 man rotation; if Gore doesn't like it, cut him off our team!

We are going to need a new RB. I'm not sure Gore can hold up anymore.

The focal point of this offense should shift on a week-to-week basis depending on the match-ups that present themselves. That was a basic, underlying tenet of the WCO: Attack where the opponent is weak.

That being said, I don't understand this assumption that Gore is not suited to the WCO. He's a solid runner, good vision, great in blitz pickup, and can catch the ball out of the backfield. These are all qualities valued in a RB in the WCO. The idea that he only performs well against bad teams is a weighted statement. Most of anything good that the Niners have done for the past several years has been against bad teams.

I sincerely doubt that Westbrook returns to the Niners next year. Harbaugh may try to convince him that he'll be used more, but that's only a guess.

Harbaugh's version of the WCO features power running. We have a runner that, in my opinion, is built for this offense.

Let me think about this a minute.

Frank Gore is the most talented player on the 49ers offensive platoon... on the roster, save Patrick Willis.

Frank Gore is the best runningback in franchise history.

Frank Gore is the best inside runner in the NFL.

Frank Gore breaks more open field tackles than any other back in the NFL besides maybe Adrian Peterson.

Frank Gore is ten times the blocker Adrian Peterson will ever be. Not to mention receiver.

Someone outright said he was "one dimensional" in this thread. Someone else said he wasn't good enough to be the focal point. Are you kidding me?

Frank Gore is the best offensive player the 49ers have had since 2000. In my opinion, he is the best all-around back in the NFL. Think of all of the better receiving backs... can any of them run like Gore? All the best runners, can any of them block as well as Gore? All the best blocking backs, can they do either of the other two as well as Gore?

Yes, Westbrook looked good for a while once Gore was out... because the coaching staff actually had to design a game plan for their back because they knew they couldn't ask him to simply hammer his way through the defense. The coaches were flat lazy about gameplanning for Gore.

Strong I, motion flanker to pick up the backside, zone run to the guard-tackle gap...sound familiar? About 17 times a game. Same. Damn. Play. Hell, it's even in Madden as "Niners Zone". What's worse, they almost never ran anything else out of that formation/motion combination, so you ALWAYS knew it was coming.

What's worse is they blocked down on the play, 1980s style power running. You guys already know Singletary was outdated... does it shock you so much to know he was running plays that have been obsolete since the late '80s?

Frank Gore was supposed to be Singletary's Walter Payton... and that's fine, he can fill the role... but not running the same crap Walter Payton ran when Refrigerator Perry's 295lb ass was considered massive and every team ran a 1-gap 3-4 front.

Originally posted by darkknight49:
Do I want Gore to continue to be the focal point? No.

Honestly, I don't want a focal point.

The element of surprise would do wonders against the defense of other teams.