Justin Smith, one of the all-time best 49er defensive linemen appreciation thread.

I think its kind of a d*ck move on his part on leading this team on this long. Either u want to play or you dont plain n simple. You have Baalke saying earlier this week a decision will probably come this Friday & then you have Tomsula saying no one has still met with him. What gives, I have a feeling he's not even going to come back so why not already just come out say it i am done. No need to keep us in suspense.

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

I think its kind of a d*ck move on his part on leading this team on this long. Either u want to play or you dont plain n simple. You have Baalke saying earlier this week a decision will probably come this Friday & then you have Tomsula saying no one has still met with him. What gives, I have a feeling he's not even going to come back so why not already just come out say it i am done. No need to keep us in suspense.

That's if you believe what the team tells the media is the truth. I personally believe they have known the answer for sometime and are just having fun with the people who talk s**t about them in print.

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:
I think its kind of a d*ck move on his part on leading this team on this long. Either u want to play or you dont plain n simple. You have Baalke saying earlier this week a decision will probably come this Friday & then you have Tomsula saying no one has still met with him. What gives, I have a feeling he's not even going to come back so why not already just come out say it i am done. No need to keep us in suspense.

It's only f**king May. Get over your self.


What this team need to do is to prepare for the 2015 as if he's not going to be there. I think we all know that he's not coming back, and I don't blame him. After seeing how this 49er brass handled a championship coach, and with star players like Willis and Boreland retiring, what would he benefit for coming back for one more year, to help groom a rookie? He aint got time for dat!

Originally posted by pdizo916:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:
I think its kind of a d*ck move on his part on leading this team on this long. Either u want to play or you dont plain n simple. You have Baalke saying earlier this week a decision will probably come this Friday & then you have Tomsula saying no one has still met with him. What gives, I have a feeling he's not even going to come back so why not already just come out say it i am done. No need to keep us in suspense.

It's only f**king May. Get over your self.


What this team need to do is to prepare for the 2015 as if he's not going to be there. I think we all know that he's not coming back, and I don't blame him. After seeing how this 49er brass handled a championship coach, and with star players like Willis and Boreland retiring, what would he benefit for coming back for one more year, to help groom a rookie? He aint got time for dat!

with Justin Smith we could have the D line in football by a wide margin. Having a better D line can be a catalyst to having a #1 defense. If kaep improves, we could have a superbowl team on our hands. i dont believe all that rebuild nonsense, we are reloading. So pretty much what i am saying is that it wouldnt be a waste of a year

I think he wants to go 1 more year. If he's on track to retired he would have made the announcement long ago. I think he waits after camp to get back on the roster. Call it long toothed vet exemption.

I think he retires. No point to come back to a rebuild.

He will come back and walk out on top after we win Super Bowl 50

I think Justin might be one of the most under-rated players ever. If was a Reggie White talent.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
I think he retires. No point to come back to a rebuild.

a rebuild is where you get rid of everyone on the team with new starters at every spot and low expectations. maybe you think this is the case this year but i do not. they are retooling which is much different than the doom and gloom rebuild. after 2-14 you rebuild,, after 8-8 you retool, in my opinion

One of the last of a dying breed.

I think if gore, and willis are here it weighs on his decision.

This is not a d**k move as others had said. All workouts and team activities are voluntary at this point. The team is prepared to move on without human and if he stays we have more depth.

He has been a leader on defense, and off the field and in the weight room. I don't feel like hes being selfish at all. I would rather he take his time to make a decision because if he is coming back he knows it will require everything he's got for this defense to be good.

I'm fine if he retires but it would be cool to have him one more year.

"this will be my last year, and I'm giving it everything I've got" we could honor him and give him a farewell tour

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

I think he retires. No point to come back to a rebuild.

a rebuild is where you get rid of everyone on the team with new starters at every spot and low expectations. maybe you think this is the case this year but i do not. they are retooling which is much different than the doom and gloom rebuild. after 2-14 you rebuild,, after 8-8 you retool, in my opinion

I would call new coaches, new system, new playbook, a bunch of players gone a rebuild.
There isn't anything doom and gloom about calling a spade a spade.

You're right about one thing. You don't rebuild after an 8-8 season.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
I think he retires. No point to come back to a rebuild.

a rebuild is where you get rid of everyone on the team with new starters at every spot and low expectations. maybe you think this is the case this year but i do not. they are retooling which is much different than the doom and gloom rebuild. after 2-14 you rebuild,, after 8-8 you retool, in my opinion

I would call new coaches, new system, new playbook, a bunch of players gone a rebuild.
There isn't anything doom and gloom about calling a spade a spade.

You're right about one thing. You don't rebuild after an 8-8 season.

I don't see it as a rebuild like the way Baltimore rebuilt themselves after their SB win, or Seattle in recent years after Carroll took over.

Let's look at things one by one:

Head Coach - So you drop Harbaugh because legitimate or not he has to go. People debate Tomsula as the real choice, but keep in mind that a top winning head coach was fired after 8-8 season -- it raises a lot of questions about the FO as much as Harbaugh. Can you really just woo anybody to come to SF after that? Remember pre-retirements, our roster was still universally respected as elite (and I still feel that way, but definitely nobody questioned it in January).

Offensive coaching staff -- had to be replaced because of Harbaugh/Roman departure (I don't think anyone debates this need/desire). Yet the OC of all people was the existing QB coach who has been here all along, the last standing Harbaugh guy. What does that say about continuity or rebuild?

Defensive coaching staff -- this one had me puzzled. But if Tomsula HAD to be the coach, and you force the hand of Fangio....I dunno. I was hoping we'd keep position coaches at least, but maybe that can't be done.

Special Teams coaching staff - I agree this could have been revitalized.

Most would agree, defense we could have left alone. But I wouldn't panic either because since 2009, the 49ers have fielded a top 10 defense in this league under various DCs and position coaches. I don't foresee a drop off in this team's defensive performance or defensive identity. Kaepernick and the offense can have a breakout season and this is still a defensive team, IMO.

There could have been a bit of an overreaction by the FO to clean house to the extent they did, but there were some undeniable changes that had to be made that had a ripple effect.

Glass half full baby.

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
I think he retires. No point to come back to a rebuild.

a rebuild is where you get rid of everyone on the team with new starters at every spot and low expectations. maybe you think this is the case this year but i do not. they are retooling which is much different than the doom and gloom rebuild. after 2-14 you rebuild,, after 8-8 you retool, in my opinion

I would call new coaches, new system, new playbook, a bunch of players gone a rebuild.
There isn't anything doom and gloom about calling a spade a spade.

You're right about one thing. You don't rebuild after an 8-8 season.

I don't see it as a rebuild like the way Baltimore rebuilt themselves after their SB win, or Seattle in recent years after Carroll took over.

Let's look at things one by one:

Head Coach - So you drop Harbaugh because legitimate or not he has to go. People debate Tomsula as the real choice, but keep in mind that a top winning head coach was fired after 8-8 season -- it raises a lot of questions about the FO as much as Harbaugh. Can you really just woo anybody to come to SF after that? Remember pre-retirements, our roster was still universally respected as elite (and I still feel that way, but definitely nobody questioned it in January).

Offensive coaching staff -- had to be replaced because of Harbaugh/Roman departure (I don't think anyone debates this need/desire). Yet the OC of all people was the existing QB coach who has been here all along, the last standing Harbaugh guy. What does that say about continuity or rebuild?

Defensive coaching staff -- this one had me puzzled. But if Tomsula HAD to be the coach, and you force the hand of Fangio....I dunno. I was hoping we'd keep position coaches at least, but maybe that can't be done.

Special Teams coaching staff - I agree this could have been revitalized.

Most would agree, defense we could have left alone. But I wouldn't panic either because since 2009, the 49ers have fielded a top 10 defense in this league under various DCs and position coaches. I don't foresee a drop off in this team's defensive performance or defensive identity. Kaepernick and the offense can have a breakout season and this is still a defensive team, IMO.

There could have been a bit of an overreaction by the FO to clean house to the extent they did, but there were some undeniable changes that had to be made that had a ripple effect.

Glass half full baby.

When you look at the players we are returning, if by chance Cowboy returns, you are only changing out 8 players from 2 years ago. Some of these guys we have already had in place, or been able to see what they can do.

Gore for Hyde, Bush, Hunter , and Davis (Still not sure how this group is going to operate together functionally, we shall see).

Iuptai for Brandon Thomas, Marcus Martin, or Pears. (Now this group has me the most worried but still some talent here)

Crabtree for Torrey Smith (I think this is an Improvement).

Jonathan Martin for Kilgore or Marcus Martin (We have already seen this is an adequate replacement).

Ray Mac for Tank, Dockett, armstead or Dial. (With this much talent competing I see an improvement).

Willis for Wilhoite or maybe moody (No doubt a downgrade, but you cant expect to just replace a player of this caliber).

Carlos Rogers/T. Brown (Tramiane was a starter by the end of 2013) for Dontae Johnson, Chris Cook, Shareece Wright, Acker, and Reaser. ( This group worries me a tiny bit but their is a large sum of talent and Baalke is a boss at finding defensive backs).

Whitner for Bethea (This is an upgrade, better in coverage and less flags).

We aren't walking into this system blind like other years. Any questionable position has been overloaded with talent other than maybe LG. ILB will have some fans worried but we are returning a 16 game starter from a top 5 defense. They have 5 position coaches who have been former coordinators, and both coordinators are entering their second stints as OC and DC. This This staff has a ton of experience on it there is no rookies other then a couple assitants, our players are in pretty good hands. The only thing that really worries me is how Geep Chryst will do, I could see that being a problem.

Carlos rodger/T.Brown ?