Official Bill Walsh Thread

Originally posted by Niners816:
Would have loved to see a walsh led niners squad take on jimmy johnsons cowboys teams. I would imagine it might have reversed the record vs them. Especially the 1992 game at the stick.

Cowboy fans are quick to blame the 1994 loss on the switch from Jimmy Johnson to Barry Switzer.. while ignoring that the 49ers themselves had switched from a legendary coach. Of course Seifert was in his 4th year by the 1992 season, but the point stands.

Originally posted by SonocoNinerFan:
I'd like to think Walsh would have found a way to keep Haley in check and prevent that retarded trade to Dallas.

Walsh would have used Haley's insane emotion against him...have him chasing Young all over the field while anyone else was running for a TD.

All you need to know about Quarterbacking....

^^ Thanks for posting those, Jd!

I remember being in awe of that when I first saw it. I make sure and re-watch it at least once a year.

How I Evaluate Each Position

By Bill Walsh

PSX Draft Insider Special



http://www.sportsxchange.com/DS97/walsh/WALSH2.HTM

Originally posted by thl408:
How I Evaluate Each Position

By Bill Walsh

PSX Draft Insider Special



http://www.sportsxchange.com/DS97/walsh/WALSH2.HTM

Nice find! Love how he not only breaks down the physical requirements for each position, but many of the mental and situational awareness needed as well.

Also funny to look at the size requirements back then. A lot of these guys are much bigger now, especially in the trenches.

Originally posted by SofaKing:
^^ Thanks for posting those, Jd!

I remember being in awe of that when I first saw it. I make sure and re-watch it at least once a year.

No prob! Yeah videos are pure gold....

That's awesome to hear how often you watch it..

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by thl408:
How I Evaluate Each Position

By Bill Walsh

PSX Draft Insider Special



http://www.sportsxchange.com/DS97/walsh/WALSH2.HTM

Nice find! Love how he not only breaks down the physical requirements for each position, but many of the mental and situational awareness needed as well.

Also funny to look at the size requirements back then. A lot of these guys are much bigger now, especially in the trenches.

Yeah that's a great link. Reminds me of something similar he did in his book Finding the Winning Edge. Walsh's words are simple, understandable and concise, but so insightful.

Nice read
http://grantland.com/features/aaron-rodgers-mike-mccarthy-green-bay-packers-new-age-west-coast-offense/

Originally posted by jimrat:
Nice read
http://grantland.com/features/aaron-rodgers-mike-mccarthy-green-bay-packers-new-age-west-coast-offense/

Thanks! Was a good read. References to Raye surprised me! But he's been in the league a long time, so he was bound to meet up with McCarthy at some time.

Originally posted by SofaKing:
^^ Thanks for posting those, Jd!

I remember being in awe of that when I first saw it. I make sure and re-watch it at least once a year.

+1. I remember studying these and taking cliff notes for NT in here a while back. GREAT stuff. If you watch these tapes and look at HaRoman and CK, you WILL come away saying, "WTH!?" This is one reason I have always called our offense, the Anti-WCO!

Originally posted by thl408:
How I Evaluate Each Position

By Bill Walsh

PSX Draft Insider Special



http://www.sportsxchange.com/DS97/walsh/WALSH2.HTM

What a great find thl.

Let's review the WR postion since that's the one every thinks we'll be drafting #1 this year. I said for year and years, fans forget that JR and JT were the two biggest WR's in the NFL at the time. Basically, they were the current Bears WR's now. This is why I was so pissed the Panthers, one spot ahead of us, nabbed Kelvin Benjamin. He was our prototype WCO WR. Now the ideal size is probably 6'3"-6'5" 220-230.

X: Anquan Boldin; Brandon Lloyd & Bruce Ellington (Chuck Jacobs)
Y (SLOT): Stevie Johnson; Quinton Patton, Trindon Holiday & Lance Lewis
Z: Michael Crabtree; (Kassim Osgood)

WIDE RECEIVER

Ideal size: 6-3, 210

The critical factor at wide receiver in my mind is agility and body control, the ability to change your body position often off the ground in order to get your hands in position to make the catch, ala Cris Carter of Minnesota. He would be the ideal in that respect. - Anquan Boldin, Stevie Johnson & Quinton Patton fit this requirement nicely. Crabtree does not.

That particular characteristic must be there for the receiver to be considered a Pro Bowl or a Hall of Fame player. You must have that to get to the highest tier of play. - Crabtree, ironically, has never been voted to a Pro Bowl either.

Secondly is strength. That is somewhat related to girth. You need to power through players. When you are bounced into players you must be able to keep your feet, regain your balance and move into position and continue your pass route. So there has to be a certain amount of strength, as Jerry Rice or John Taylor demonstrated so often with the 49ers. - Anquan Boldin & Michael Crabtree are currently, the only two on our roster who possess this ability and this weakness is magnified more against jam-press/press coverage.

Hands are vital, but you almost have to assume that anyone you are considering is going to have outstanding hands. The difference between players is the agility and strength that was mentioned. That allows them to get into position to make the catch, to use their hands. - Stevie Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Michael Crabtree, Quinton Patton & Bruce Ellington. This is the order of our hands team.

We can have drills where the receiver is running under the ball and making great catch after great catch. So people would assume that he has outstanding hands. But in reality, most catches are made with the ball and the defender closing at the same instant and the receiver having to reverse his body into a totally different position, get your hands up and catch the ball and be hit at the same moment. That is the key element in greatness -- agility and strength together. - Anquan Boldin is the only one who fits the bill here

Focus is critical here. The ability to find the ball, focusing on it and isolating it from everything else that's happening. When you are evaluating the tapes, you look for those plays that demonstrate those situations. You make a evaluation tape of those plays. - Anquan Boldin, Bruce Ellington, Stevie Johnson & Quinton Patton. Fair to say every WR seems not to be focused this year but usually, these are the most focus for different reason. Boldin, b/c he's a professional and a primary target. Ellington, Johnson and Patton b/c they were rarely used so when they were on the field, they were schemed too. Also, Michael Crabtree is probably the least focused IMHO.

You establish the criteria that you require. Then you have a tape that demonstrates those requirements.

Pure speed is helpful, but full-stride speed becomes important. You would like a receiver with the ball in the open field to be able to keep the separation with the closing defenders until he gets over the goal line. He doesn't have to outrun them. He doesn't have to gain ground on them. He just has to get there before they do so he scores. So it doesn't have to be sprinters' speed, but full-stride speed. - Maybe Bruce Ellington, Stevie Johnson & Quinton Patton?

A good example of that was Mike Quick when he was at Philadelphia. He had just an average 40 time, but once in the open field the long strides gave him the functional speed to stay away or get away from defenders. Dwight Clark, believe it or not, was never caught from behind once he got into full stride. Now he used the field to weave and bend, but he was never caught. And Jerry Rice will never be caught from behind by anyone if they both have the same, basic starting point.

Now there have been other people who have been Olympic sprinters who get tangled up and can't get back into full stride quickly enough and somebody just comes up and overwhelms them from out of nowhere. If they catch the ball and there is any contact at all, by the time they get back in running stride, the people have closed on them. Full-stride speed is the key.

Coaching becomes a factor in regards to their ability to evade at the line of scrimmage and their ability to read the form of coverage and their ability to change a pattern accordingly. That all comes through coaching, training and their focus in a game. - Anquan Boldin, Bruce Ellington & Stevie Johnson are it for me.

Durability is a factor because they are going to be hit a lot. And they are going to be hit when they are in a vulnerable position at times. And they are going to be hit by much bigger men when they catch a hook pattern against a linebacker. - Anquan Boldin is it, sadly. Maybe Ellington.

Injuries are key because at this position injuries impair their ability to function at a high level, especially when compared to, say, an offensive lineman who can play damaged. Wide receivers are finely tuned athletes who need to be in top condition to perform well. If they are in any way damaged, it is difficult for them to function at a high level.

^^^ This should give us a great gauge of the types of qualities we'll need in the draft and FA.

Thanks NC...great post! I think that Walsh link shoud be pinned somewhere on this forum...preferably on the Niners thread page. I've had it bookmarked on my various computers for years.

I often forget the importance of full stride speed and want guys with quick starts. But if the receiver is strong enough to get off the LOS then he has the upper hand as he knows what route he's running. I've been looking at prospects for my next mock in the late rounds who are strong enough to get off the line but might be a bit shorter or slower than the optimum...found some 6'0 225 guys with good college productivity. Ellington actually fits this criteria but is also fast...5'9" and 197 is a pretty stout guy.

My list of current players all around games: 1) Boldin, 2) Ellington, 3) Johnson, 4) Patton. I expect Lloyd and Crabtree to be gone unless a new coach wants to go WCO, in which case they may want to keep Crabtree at the right price.

I was equally disappointed they lost out on Benjamin but not sure they weren't targeting Ward all along. He may turn out to be a swiss army knife for the defensive backfield.

Read Walsh's QB assessment first. I still believe in Kap, but I think some of the problems lie there too.