Good year, so far - how do we become better?

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:

Originally posted by NorthNiner:

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
Get a better offense....

this

Originally posted by VANiner:
Looking at the current starters on the team and some of the impending FAs for next year, where do we stand as far as improving upon this year? I mean, I'm happy with almost all of our players, but what do we need to do to be better next year? NOTE: I am not 100% sure if there are other FAs in our starting lineups, but I think I got most of them. Feel free to note anyone I missed...

Offense:
QB - A. Smith (FA) -SHOULD be back on a new contract. It's not an AS thread, so no discussion. I am just assuming, at this point, he will be back. (No upgrade needed - yet)
RB - F. Gore - Let's hope he remains injury free. (No upgrade needed - we have a solid K. Hunter on standby)
FB - B. Miller - Big surprise. I like him a lot for the next few years. (No upgrade needed)
WR - M. Crabtree -Making progress and I think might be in for a big year next year if he can stay healthy for a training camp. (No upgrade needed)
WR - B. Edwards (FA) -Injuries have killed his year. (Upgrade needed - and the answer might be on the roster with K. Williams)
TE - V. Davis -Step back from last year - still borderline elite (No upgrade needed)
C - J. Goodwin -Good year, under contract - but drafting a potential future C might be a good idea (No upgrade needed - yet)
G - A. Snyder -Fantastic utility player, but is he a starter? (Upgrade needed)
G - M. Iupati -Running mauler, still learning pass blocking. Will be a beast. (No upgrade needed)
T - J. Staley - Injuries are a concern, but one of the better LTs in the game. (No upgrade needed)
T. A. Davis - Learning and made big strides in his sophomore year. (No upgrade needed)

Defense:
DE - J. Smith - Stud. (No upgrade needed)
NT - I. Sopoaga - Doing a good job. (No upgrade needed, especially with I. Williams in the backup)
DE - R. McDonald - Showing he was worth the money. (No upgrade needed)
OLB - P. Haralson - Likely will lose his job to A. Smith next year (Upgrade needed - but already on the team)
OLB - A. Brooks (FA) - SHOULD be resigned. He is having a good year. (No upgrade needed)
ILB - P. Willis - Stud (No upgrade needed)
ILB - N. Bowman - Stud in the making (No upgrade needed)
CB - C. Rogers (FA) - Great year to date. This guy SHOULD be resigned. (No upgrade needed)
CB - T. Brown - IMO, not what we need. C. Culliver might take his spot, but this is an area of concern (Upgrade needed)
SS - D. Whitner - Hasn't been great, but very good. (No upgrade needed)
FS - D. Goldson (FA) - IMO, must resign. I love his play, though R. Smith is starting caliber. (No upgrade needed - if Goldson is resigned)

Special Teams:
PK - D. Akers - Stud (No upgrade needed)
P - A. Lee - Stud (No upgrade needed)
KR - T. Ginn (FA) - Good return guy and I welcome him back, unless someone more dynamic is available. (No upgrade needed)


Thoughts?

Good overall analysis. I like where the team is going and the overall potential of it, even though it may appear to be headed down. In order for Alex Smith to improve, two things have to happen, one is play calling and the other is Alex Smith getting rid of the ball quicker to counter the blitzing. We don't need him to be Aaron Rodgers, but if he can find the hot reads and Harbaugh/Roman put in more plays the slow down the pass rush, our offense should be able to sustain more drives. Those issues along with our inability to come away with TDs in the redzone will kill us in the playoffs. I'd say that this is where VD has to earn his money. I would've like to have seen more blowouts just so Colin could've gotten more meaningful snaps this season.

At running back, we appear to be set. I can see us picking up a RB in the 6th/7th or as an undraftred FA because I don't see Anthony Dixon making it to next season.

At the receiver position, if we had a receiver that would fight for every ball, believes he owns every ball that is in the air, and could be a redzone target would be a God-send. This HAS to be the priority in the offseason, even over CB ( by virtue of the fact that as it stands right now, we have a championship caliber defense. Any upgrades would simply be a bonus).

I hope Ted Ginn isn't being undervalued by the team or 49ers fans. Unless we can Devin Hester (and we won't), he HAS to be resigned. I'd rate his resigning right behind resigning Carlos Rogers and Alex Smith.

The future looks bright for this team. We are in a position where we can draft guys that do not have to come in and immediately start (although it would be preferred at WR and CB).

game changer reciever...and improve the oline

Stay healthy.

I get laid while watching the 49ers on MNF beat/destroy steelers !

Our priority's have to be OL, WR, CB (draft/FA) The list I made are guys that I would either try and draft or go after in FA.

OL: Peter Konz if he enters the draft. David DeCastro, Cordy Glenn, Kelechi Osemele (could play LT as well)

WR: Malcom Floyd if availible, Dwight Jones, Tommy Streeter, Mohamed Sanu.

CB: Alfonzo Dennard, Janoris Jenkins, Stephon Gilmore

FA list WR: Dwayne Bowe,Marques Colston,Steve Johnson,Vincent Jackson

OL: Carl Nicks,Ben Grubbs,Chris Myers,Nick Hardwick

CB: Brandon Carr ,Brent Grimes,Terrell Thomas,Cortland Finnegan

Originally posted by kemp_j:

Originally posted by NinerNation:
we need a wr to compliment crabs kind of like how the cards had with boldin and fitz couple yrs back williams is good 3rd wr but nothing more cb is must and a nt maybe the lb core is set the only one i see replacing is parys the qb postion will be alex as long as harbaugh doesnt do a dikta and draft luck

Not saying that Morgan is Boldin or Fitz, but, losing him really hurt the passing this year.........

Ya I was gonna say (to NinerNation), what about Joshua Morgan? He is still a viable WR compliment (or threat, :)) to Crabby, so hopefully he doesn't come back in the playoffs (I understand that you can bring in IR players if they are good to go in the playoffs, am I mistaken?) looking as rusty/crappy as Braylon Edwards...

Originally posted by dmax:
game changer reciever...and improve the oline

One of those guys like Fitzgerald who treats every ball in the air as his and if he can't catch it makes sure no one on the defense does.

QB=upgrade needed
HB=trade Gore
FB=ok
TE=trade Davis and sign a TE who can read coverages
Line=ok
WR=upgrade needed
DLine=ok
LBs=need OLB opposite Smith
DBs=need a shutdown corner

Originally posted by bwalsh:
QB=upgrade needed
HB=trade Gore
FB=ok
TE=trade Davis and sign a TE who can read coverages
Line=ok
WR=upgrade needed
DLine=ok
LBs=need OLB opposite Smith
DBs=need a shutdown corner

lol

Originally posted by RonMexico:

Originally posted by bwalsh:
QB=upgrade needed
HB=trade Gore
FB=ok
TE=trade Davis and sign a TE who can read coverages
Line=ok
WR=upgrade needed
DLine=ok
LBs=need OLB opposite Smith
DBs=need a shutdown corner

lol

Originally posted by bwalsh:
QB=upgrade needed, Maybe not NEEDED, but we would be dumb not to look.
HB=trade Gore, No need to trade him, but we do need to look for his replacement, his days in this league as a productive back are numbered, and he is fairly one dimensional, not really the pass catcher we need for a good screen game.
FB=ok, No we need depth, Miller is a nice player but I think we need a more dynamic player here.
TE=trade Davis and sign a TE who can read coverages, HMMMMMMM WTF, Davis is pretty good, really...
Line=ok, Need to look for guard and center upgrades, not bad serviceable group, low rarity on upgrades, except Rachel, we could let him go.
WR=upgrade needed, YES! Maybe one who can get separation from the DB!!!!!
DLine=ok, Okay, but one depth for a rotation wouldn't kill us.
LBs=need OLB opposite Smith, WTF we seem pretty good at LB

The one thing I would add to my christmas list is a Corner or Safety that can blitz! The few time we called for a DB to blitz they have been late, bad timing.
DBs=need a shutdown corner

Originally posted by bwalsh:
QB=upgrade needed
HB=trade Gore
FB=ok
TE=trade Davis and sign a TE who can read coverages
Line=ok
WR=upgrade needed
DLine=ok
LBs=need OLB opposite Smith
DBs=need a shutdown corner

Hell, let's trade Willis while we're at it!