49ers Offensive Line

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

I didn't watch the game last night...was Thomas with the starters at all at RG?

Sounds like he's doing better than MM there, I still think MM belongs at center.

Originally posted by NCommand:

I just realized how much I missed these posts WRATH! Thank you!

Great objective post as always...

Agreed with the poster above (and you), that communication is still being worked on which makes sense (Looney leading new line calls in a combo power/ZBS) and M.Martin learning the RG position, I'd expect more mental errors there for sure. The season'd veterans in Staley, Boone and Pears we're less worried about.

I like the combination of Looney - Thomas better than Looney - Martin right now. But TBH, that is on a small sample size. That said, I don't think Martin is ready for C either and Kilgore will be back at some point but then has a long ways to go to get into football shape.

We'll have to see this C- RG combination next game closely...like with Reaser, are they going to tryout Looney - Thomas?

Oddly enough, Thomas entered the game with the THIRD string line. Not sure why, maybe the REALLY wanted to see Tiller again, or they wanted to give Thomas reps on the left side, and he was rusty there so they wanted to build his confidence against scrubs.

He looked good, but that basically means nothing for a guy that talented against guys who won't be playing football in a week or two.

Hmmm, well I'm all for Thomas as starting RG. Hoping they have the depth chart in check for the 3rd preseason game-thanks!

sure we had a couple sacks last night but it sounds like this o line is better than what they were two weeks ago and in two weeks they will better than what they are now. thats good enough for me. of course i did not see it. did we see anything at all from the guy we got last week from the pats?

Farrell played 48 snaps!

He's come along pretty well.

I think Trent will take a full season to get the RT position down comfortably. What a find!

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Farrell played 48 snaps!

He's come along pretty well.

I think Trent will take a full season to get the RT position down comfortably. What a find!

Dillon was our dark horse last year. He helped open us some big holes this game too.

All well and good with the starters, but I'm very concerned re the backup O-line. So far, this preseason, the opposing teams' backups seem to own ours. Not much in the way of pass protection or running lanes. Heaven forbid we have any significant injuries to our number ones, whoever they may be. And Kilgore can't come back soon enough!

Originally posted by 4evrfan:
All well and good with the starters, but I'm very concerned re the backup O-line. So far, this preseason, the opposing teams' backups seem to own ours. Not much in the way of pass protection or running lanes. Heaven forbid we have any significant injuries to our number ones, whoever they may be. And Kilgore can't come back soon enough!

Remember though, the starting line has been practicing with a fairly set unit for a couple of weeks. Staley, Boone, Looney and Pears have recieved most of the snaps, with Thomas being in there quite a bit. The backups have been shifting around all preseason playing with different people everyday. The first unit should be in better sync. Brown, Silberman and Miller are rookies, then they have a couple of 2nd year guys...just not going to be as consistent yet. They key will be...can a backup come in and meld with the starters quickly when/if there is an injury? The more in sync the other starters are the better for replacements.

I hope they have settled on Staley/Boone/Looney/Thomas/Pears so they can get more work in before the season. Then Martin and the other young guys can spell starters in practice and the last two preseason games to develop chemistry.

Edit: This line is so much further along that I anticipated it is a very positive aspect of the team!

Anybody have the PFF grades for game 2?

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by 4evrfan:
All well and good with the starters, but I'm very concerned re the backup O-line. So far, this preseason, the opposing teams' backups seem to own ours. Not much in the way of pass protection or running lanes. Heaven forbid we have any significant injuries to our number ones, whoever they may be. And Kilgore can't come back soon enough!

Remember though, the starting line has been practicing with a fairly set unit for a couple of weeks. Staley, Boone, Looney and Pears have recieved most of the snaps, with Thomas being in there quite a bit. The backups have been shifting around all preseason playing with different people everyday. The first unit should be in better sync. Brown, Silberman and Miller are rookies, then they have a couple of 2nd year guys...just not going to be as consistent yet. They key will be...can a backup come in and meld with the starters quickly when/if there is an injury? The more in sync the other starters are the better for replacements.

I hope they have settled on Staley/Boone/Looney/Thomas/Pears so they can get more work in before the season. Then Martin and the other young guys can spell starters in practice and the last two preseason games to develop chemistry.

Edit: This line is so much further along that I anticipated it is a very positive aspect of the team!

I hoping so far so good.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Tomsula mentioned last week that the line would be shuffled around for this 2nd game and I agree with NC that they need to evaluate backups, so I see Thomas as a lock (not that there was much question).

Now I wonder how much age will play into their roster decisions. Martin (21) is still so young that it may give him an edge, even if Tiller (26) plays a bit better. Looney, Farrell and Thomas are all 24, So, if they go young the line could be extremely young. I would still like to see the middle of the line as Thomas/Martin/Looney, which could be stable for years to come.

Last question--is Kilgore injury prone or just a bit unlucky? Sometimes the over acheivers are maxed out and can't hold up as starters, while a guy like Martin is naturally more stout and able to take the pounding.

Staley--lock (30)
Boone--lock (28)
Kilgore--lock (27)
Thomas--lock (24)
Pears--lock (33)
Martin--almost lock (21)
Looney (24)
Farrell (24)
Tiller (26)
Brown (22)
Devey (27)
Miller (22)
Renfrow (25)
Silberman (22)

Martin is suppose to be an exceptional line leader and that makes center a difficult decision...accept the growing pains of a 21 year old? Or go with older guys (edit-not difficult for me as I believe Martin is a lock and will start at center sooner than later).

According to mm today martin will be starting center week 1... so he's a lock. And that's what we drafted him for anyways

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Remember though, the starting line has been practicing with a fairly set unit for a couple of weeks. Staley, Boone, Looney and Pears have recieved most of the snaps, with Thomas being in there quite a bit. The backups have been shifting around all preseason playing with different people everyday. The first unit should be in better sync. Brown, Silberman and Miller are rookies, then they have a couple of 2nd year guys...just not going to be as consistent yet. They key will be...can a backup come in and meld with the starters quickly when/if there is an injury? The more in sync the other starters are the better for replacements.

I hope they have settled on Staley/Boone/Looney/Thomas/Pears so they can get more work in before the season. Then Martin and the other young guys can spell starters in practice and the last two preseason games to develop chemistry.

Edit: This line is so much further along that I anticipated it is a very positive aspect of the team!

They gave up on looney at center. Martin is day one starter... per mm

Originally posted by fan49:
They gave up on looney at center. Martin is day one starter... per mm

That's great! If he's better than Looney and Kilgore will be back...all good!

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Thanks for posting this!

Originally posted by NinerGM:
I haven't been able to find a MM source on this .....

He didn't say it. That one poster is confused. TODAY they lined up Martin and Silberman with the 1st team. Doesn't mean they're locked in at those spots. As we've seen all training camp, the coaches are constantly testing out different combinations.

Originally posted by NinerGM:
Yeah, I think we figured out the mystery....

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/178386-marcus-martin-round-pick-70th-overall-49ers-selects/page45/#post661

Mystery solved lol. Well done.

Seems like a guess on Cohn's part. We could very well open the season with Martin at center, but it hasn't been settled yet.