Off Season Thoughts

Jeremy Maclin is going to be available.

With all this frustration over the game, people need to recognize this is a team that came within a couple of inches of winning that game, too, and that counts for something. If I was to say anything that may have slowed us down a bit I'm going to argue that our draft this year wasn't real productive for us. We netted essentially 1 useful player this season and the rest were under-whelming. I sincerely hope that Dial and Carradine can do something next year because this team sure could use some new blood on the field.

I'll also echo the prevailing sentiment on the board and say the 49ers should consider some turnover at CB following the season. The guys we have are good but the salary to production ratio is high for me and I think a couple of the guys back there are getting more money because of what the production of our front 7 does for them. As a personal preference, I'd like to see more physicality at the CB position than is currently on the roster.

Few things about what positions I think we need to address...

CB: Culliver is back next year. And we have Brock signed long term. Culli Brock Morris and a CB drafted relatively early should work fine. I am not sure we need to commit long term to Tarell Brown. Rogers should go.

WR: Crabtree will be extended more than likely. Resign Boldin for 1-2 years if its feasible and not overly expensive. Let him walk if he wants to much. We need a TY Hilton type WR. We DO NOT need another possession WR, more so if we sign Boldin, If we don't sign Boldin I could see us drafting 2 WR's

OL: Let Iupati walk next year. Draft a guard late with potential

DLINE: I am worried if Tank is the answer. I think they draft a DE late

SS: Not sure here. I am not a huge Whitner fan. Maybe sign cheap if possible, or draft either a SS or a CB that we can morph into a SS.

RB: Reduce Gore's workload. Give Hunter more carries. Is Lattimore the answer? Not sure. I do think Hunter can ball with an extended role.

Overall I would say the future is VERY bright. Kap made some mistakes but he is very young. We have people in key positions signed long term. We outplayed the Hawks for basically 3 quarters and I expect minor changes that could have a big impact.

I have a feeling Harbaugh is quietly praying that Cleveland calls and Roman accepts... he is probably finding it difficult to tell Roman, "sorry Pudgy, The Pizza maker, but uh, we gots to let you go, homie"

But then again, Harbs is probably wondering who (MUCH better could/would replace him)....

I was actually pleasantly surprised with the designed runs against the Seahawks in the 1st half. We took what the defense was giving and made the most of it. We stalled when they adjusted in the 2nd half tho.

I do feel as though we've had enough weapons to really spread it out, but either watered down the offense to play smashmouth or can't be creative during games to take full advantage. No reason why Gore/Hunter/James aren't being thrown out to in the flat for some screens. No WR screens yesterday, no TE fades...

Originally posted by susweel:
Better CBs
replace Goodwin
Get another work horse RB
get a legit #1 WR


oh yah and fire Roman

1. I like our guys, but get rid of Roman and get a big mauler in the draft.
2. I think one of our younger lineman will have a shot to do that next season.
3. Bring in more RB's to compete, I tihnk Lattimore won't disappoint us though... just have a good feeling about the kid.
4. Agreed, Michael Crabtree is my favorite player, but I have a feeling he's going to find "greener pastures$$$"

oh yah, and f**k yes.

i really don't get the roman hate, we lost cause kaep made bad decisions towards the end and even then we still had a chance to win, gore's best days are behind him, most of the season he wasn't really a beast like he use to be, hunter is not the answer lol we need a big physical back like lacy.

Originally posted by hofer36:

i dont see a deep threat receiver as a real need...right now kaepernick doesnt throw a real good deep ball (by my defintion, or way of thinking, 40 yards more is a deep ball)...he puts the ball too much on the line....he showed last year he can hit the intermediate passes (20-25 yard range), but as one of the fox crew said today he doesnt like to throw into tight windows...

That last pass to Crabtree looked like a tight window to me. He just needs to work on how he reads coverages. Once he can do that, he figure out what he has to put on a pass for it to get completed. He doesn't trust his eyes.

Originally posted by ace52:
I was devastated by this loss, so much so that I didn't/couldn't post anything yesterday after the game. I was just too stunned by another heart-wrenching loss.
However, with some time to reflect, I think we are going to be OK next year. Our team still has a lot of talent, and our players play with a passion and intensity that will win most of the games that they will be in.

Still, to take the next step up toward becoming a SB champion, the Niners will need to work on a few areas. I would like to see the team do these things in this coming off-season:

1) Kap must improve: I don't want to see him go to Atlanta to work on his strength/athleticism. His athleticism is off the charts (for a QB) already. I would like to see him stay right here in the Bay Area, and I would like to see JH work with him in a QB clinic, if you will. During the season, a head coach has to divide his time between so many other things, so he probably won't have the time to do significant 1:1 work with his QB. Time should not be an issue in the off-season. Also, I think that JH should invite another expert to come to this "clinic" to work with him and Colin, because another set of eyes may bring a more objective view that JH himself may lack. Heck, I would like to see Jim reach out to Steve Young, who still cares enough about the team that if the Niners ask nicely, and pay him well for his time, will probably agree to come and help out the young 9er QB. Jim and Steve can really work with Colin on developing his pocket presence, more touch on his passes (he still throws the ball too flat sometimes, with not the right amount of arc to beat tight coverage). They should work with him on reading defenses, throwing under pressure, and throwing in the red zone with pressure in his face.

2) Baalke is a frugal GM, and that is good in general. However, if there is a stand-out WR with deep threat speed, and/or CB in the free-agent market, I hope that he will not hesitate to go after them even if they may be expensive, as long as they don't break the bank, so to speak. SEA made some free-agent signings this year (Avril, Bennett) that ended up helping them out a lot. Draft picks are great, but sometimes even outstanding rookies will make mistakes that a good vet won't make (see Reid whiffing on Lynch yesterday, for example).

3) I love Bowman, but I'm not sure if/when he can be back at 100% after that horrific injury. We need to keep Wilhoite (a very good LB, IMO), and go after a stud LB in the draft as an insurance policy in case Bowman can't return as the Bowman that we all know and love.

4) Let Lattimore gradually work himself into the starting RB role. I love Frank, but I think he is in the twilight of his career. Let him tutor Lattimore this coming season while splitting the carries with him, and later on, hopefully Frank will become a RB coach with the Niners.

5) The OL needs some upgrades. They have never been that good in pass protection, and for a line that is supposedly great at "mauling people" in the run game, they have not been able to consistently open holes for our RBs when going up against good defensive fronts. I would definitely keep Staley and Boone. The Niners should consider upgrading the other positions along the line, or at least have an open competition for them.

6) Try to keep Boldin. Enough said.

I think you have covered the bases pretty well. I agree that Kaep needs to go to a clinic to learn how to put touch on a ball and better reading of defenses. Still he is good enough to get us to the championship and to the Super Bowl. He needs to keep growing and improving.

We need improvement on our backfield as well. Rogers needs to go and we need an infusion of blood and size and speed to the backfield. I hope we keep Culliver, Brock, Cox, and Rogers. I think we need a free agent CB and a good draft of 1-2 CBs and one SS.

Dline seems to be doing well, and our LBs are very productive. Hope Bowman can come back in good health. We have a good backup in Wilhoite.

I think your views of the oline are good as well. Goodwin's time has come and Iupati is another man who has to come back from a significant injury. So perhaps our first draft priority will be David Yankey from Stanford who could step in to Iupati's position.

We also need Lattimore to step up and I think we could use another big back to do some grinding work for us.

Then of course there is the ever lingering question of whether Roman tends to freeze up in tight games. Is it time to change up the OC position?

It should be an interesting offseason for us.

CK is young and certainly can still use his legs to carry the team when the passing game is not there, BUT it's risky and it also hampers his passing game growth. There is no greater growth/experience than in-game experience. And every time he decides to tuck the ball and go off running although may make the bigger play that game, I believe hampers his passing game growth in the long-run. If you guys and the org are willing to deal with some hard games and even risk being in a missing the playoffs scenario for his growth. Forcing CK to be a pocket QB or only run to pass vs run to run type of QB may be the way to go.

It may also be time to start slowly taking Gore out of the starting role. He's amazing, but he's declining slowly. Father time takes its toll on everyone.

You have one of the best pass rushers in the league, maybe some more strength to the secondary.

As for WRs?!? REALLY?!? You have Davis, Crab, and Boldin. The Hawks would kill for any one of those guys, yes I counted Davis as a WR.

Resign the guys we want and need and let go of what we don't. Be creative with the cap and the draft and keep reloading an amazingly talented roster. Do some self scouting and make our offensive game planning more creative.

In the draft I might try to get a starting corner although I'd be ok with Brock and Culliver. If Rogers wants to come back he needs to give up money otherwise there is Wright.

A burner receiver would be a luxury but I'd be ok with just bringing Q back. I think Patton will continue to develop and eventually replace him.

We need a swing OT, and maybe another stout ILB in case Bow isnt ready. The Borland kid from Wisconsin can flat out ball. (NCAA record for forced fumbles)

Resign Dawson and let him kick till his skills diminish or his legs falls off.

Regardless of how I feel about Roman I'd like to see the staff stay largely intact. I love Fangio when he lets it "hang out" a little more and with Roman, the devil you know is better than the one you don't. I love coach Tomsula and hope he stays but he is due for better things and deserves it.

I think Frank is slowing down but I'm excited about Lattimore. I think he will push Boobie Dixon out of the picture and that is too bad because he is one of those grinders that just loves the game.

There isn't alot to fix. Just get healthy and be smart.

Originally posted by NinerGM:
Phoenix ITA with you however ....

No new weapons until something is done with the play-calling and offensive player development. You simply can't develop players unless they actually get chances. This offense is myopically focused on three receiving options period. Why waste a high draft pick on a player who's just going to run go-routes as a decoy with maybe one or two occasional bombs thrown his way. BS. We watch endless tape of an offensive players ability on college only to come to the 49ers to ride the pine or be inactive. If Harbaugh is going to develop his young QB, he needs to either teach him to open his view or the plays need to involve more than one bootleg pass to McDonald per game. I think it's absurd that people have already made judgements about James and Hunter in an offense that seems like it can only use it's RBs off tackle. Why draft these players with those skill sets? Possible big disconnect between coaching and drafting?

And let's talk about the 49ers RUNNING GAME. When we've needed it this season to help us get back into games it was simply not there. And particularly this game the answer? Use the QB as the runner. Really? No imaginative scheme? Nothing more than off tackle? Nothing the Hawks haven't seen before? Nope. Oh I get it the James toss back to Kap for another run ... THAT was supposed to work.

The Stanford offense is dead in the NFL.

Problem is we're not seeing any evolution past it - at least not this year.

Totally agree.

Take action on all the players below:

Whitner leaves via FA
Jonathan Goodwin Retires
Mario Mannigham FA
Tarell Brown FA
Colt McCoy FA
Carlos Rogers Cut
Frank Gore reduce salary & demoted to 2nd stringer
Jonathan Baldwin Cut

Originally posted by bzborow1:
Jeremy Maclin is going to be available.

With all this frustration over the game, people need to recognize this is a team that came within a couple of inches of winning that game, too, and that counts for something. If I was to say anything that may have slowed us down a bit I'm going to argue that our draft this year wasn't real productive for us. We netted essentially 1 useful player this season and the rest were under-whelming. I sincerely hope that Dial and Carradine can do something next year because this team sure could use some new blood on the field.

I'll also echo the prevailing sentiment on the board and say the 49ers should consider some turnover at CB following the season. The guys we have are good but the salary to production ratio is high for me and I think a couple of the guys back there are getting more money because of what the production of our front 7 does for them. As a personal preference, I'd like to see more physicality at the CB position than is currently on the roster.

Except for Brock and Reid, the whole secondary needs to be revamped, and what shape will Culliver be in next year, and is he the answer?

Excellent post!

A). Totally agree that Kap needs a Steve Young type of mentor/coach to take his game to the next level. Kap has the work ethic and all the necessary tools. Not sure if ESPN would feel a conflict of interest w/Steve announcing and him doing consulting work. Jaworski would also be a good teacher.

B). I think Baalke would make the move. We, IMHO, need a fast and big enough receiver to play against the type of defensive secondaries like Seattle.

C). Agree on Bowman and our other injured guys [Iupati, Ian] This draft will be huge in moving forward.

D). Nobody will know jack about Lattimore until he actually plays. Still, finding a Big bruiser that can actually run would be a plus.

E). The O-Line will be a question depending on philosophy. If Trent/JH want to continue to e a run first team then the maulers make sense. But it is apparent that teams like Seattle are built to shut it down.

To me it's like combination punching in boxing. You need jabs, hooks, uppercuts and you nee to be able to dance.

We MUST get faster at WR and have a Red Zone Target that is big enough to go up, get the ball and bring it down.

It will be a VERY interesting off season.

Had a long post but my smart decided to delete it... Briefly:

It looks like most people agree on the changes.

- Kaepernick needs to get better going through his reads. He doesn't see the field well. He's our franchise guy though and he has the talent to win. We need to draft a QB though. Colt is garbage. There's no depth at the position. I like Henne or Hoyer as FAs.

- Gore: warrior. He's a grinder. He just has no speed and lacks the home run plays. Lattimore can fill his role. Hunter is good enough to start as well. Dixon isn't safe either. A big bruiser is what we need and the team doesn't seem to trust him in that role. LMJ is on the fence too. James has excelled as a returner, which is what keeps him on the roster. I'd be surprised if both LMJ and Dixon were on the roster next year (LMJ has the edge).

-WR: Boldin is the priority resign for the team. I doubt Crabtree stays with us. He's visibly angry with Kaepernick on a weekly basis. That said, we need to draft a guy that can compete in the NFC West. That means speed or size, hopefully both. Watkins will cost too much. Benjamin is intriguing. We'll see. Patton is really all we have beyond Boldin/Crab.

-TE: Vance? Where are you?

-Dline: fine. I liked the Carradine pick. He's a big pass rusher with 1st round talent. Tomsula will mold him. Ian coming back help and TJE is developing nicely.

-LB corps: best in the game. Wilhoite and Skuta played great this year. Bowman will be back and Aldon needs to fix his life.

-CB: Brock is the only projected starter. I think Brown follows the money, even though the team will will try hard to keep him around. Rogers will either restructure or be released. Wright and Culliver will battle in training camp, as will Morris and Cox for the slot. Rookie/FA help is a must.

-SS: Whitner had a fantastic year... if you can ignore all the penalties. Unfortunately, he gets called for every big hit, illegal or not. I really think we need him back. We definitely need to draft another safety though.