Do you have faith in Brandon Thomas & Marcus Martin to step it up?

fairly confident they can step up and be starting caliber lineman

I'm going to be a little quirky here, and wait to see Thomas play against pros first......so I'll say no at this time

Originally posted by CullyInTheHouse:
Kilgore is overrated? Oh boy, our OL started to fall apart once he got injured.

Staley Thomas Kilgore Boone Davis

That should be our starting OL and it is a DAMN good one. Then after Boone leaves, Martin steps right in.

Don't think hard, just study this post.

How is Brndon thomas run blocking? I know his pass blocking at Clemson was very decent.

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:
How is Brndon thomas run blocking? I know his pass blocking at Clemson was very decent.

From NFL.com draft profile--he's had a year in the NFL to work and refine:

STRENGTHS Good size with very long arms and big hands. Quick out of his stance. Knee bender with good balance and body control. Solid base. Places his hands inside and can pop and recoil. Strong-handed puncher with good grip strength once he latches on. Athletic, efficient mover. Light on his feet to step to the second level or pull. Can maneuver and throw his hips in the hole. Climbs to the second level. Three-year starter who played tackle (two-time first-team All-ACC at LT). Held his own against Jadeveon Clowney without help.

WEAKNESSES Power element missing. Limited hip snap -- not a road-grading mauler. Susceptible to bull rush when he sets tall. Could stand to improve lateral slide and inside punch to shut down strong inside moves. Inconsistent second-level sustain. Is better with simple assignments and effectiveness wanes in space. Can do a better job playing with his head on a swivel. Still learning what it means to prepare like a pro.

BOTTOM LINE Strong-bodied, dependable gap blocker who played left tackle in college but will likely slide inside in the pros. Showed improvement as a senior and has the potential to be a long-term fixture at left guard. Ability to play tackle in a pinch adds to value.

Thomas hasnt played a down nor practice. I hope he shows something but people thinking he is going to step in and be a starter is absurd,

Originally posted by CityKing415:
Thomas hasnt played a down nor practice. I hope he shows something but people thinking he is going to step in and be a starter is absurd,

Your right...they should leave the spot open. Playing with no LG will be an interesting experiment.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by CityKing415:
Thomas hasnt played a down nor practice. I hope he shows something but people thinking he is going to step in and be a starter is absurd,

Your right...they should leave the spot open. Playing with no LG will be an interesting experiment.

Really smartass. Joe Looney, Kilgore, Martin, Pears. So your saying none of these guys can play LG. Wow. Nothing changes in the zone I see.

Originally posted by 9moon:
Kilgore is overrated.. he's best suited as a backup interior linement..

not a starter in my opinion..

Up until now I thought that the only things that you could count on in life were death and taxes but 9moon stating things that have no actual basis in reality is getting up there.

Originally posted by CityKing415:
Really smartass. Joe Looney, Kilgore, Martin, Pears. So your saying none of these guys can play LG. Wow. Nothing changes in the zone I see.

I think you need to do some PMCS on your sarcasm detector.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by CityKing415:
Really smartass. Joe Looney, Kilgore, Martin, Pears. So your saying none of these guys can play LG. Wow. Nothing changes in the zone I see.

I think you need to do some PMCS on your sarcasm detector.

Having a bad day my apologies

Originally posted by CityKing415:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by CityKing415:
Thomas hasnt played a down nor practice. I hope he shows something but people thinking he is going to step in and be a starter is absurd,

Your right...they should leave the spot open. Playing with no LG will be an interesting experiment.

Really smartass. Joe Looney, Kilgore, Martin, Pears. So your saying none of these guys can play LG. Wow. Nothing changes in the zone I see.

Gee, I agree with you and you start calling me names. I feel...so...ahh...sad. Your jumping on people for their conjecture, but you add nothing except your conjecture. That doesn't really sell well. Thomas may be a great starter at LG this year...or not. Looney might compete, Farrell might compete. But given Thomas' drop in the draft due to an injury and that he may have been a late first or early second, I think he has a better chance than Looney or another to win the starting job.

Originally posted by LowerTheBoom:

Originally posted by jacklegniner:
IDK... Most seem to say we need to let the players we have in Martin and Thomas develop. I agree they need time, but you also have to balance the whole team. It's all about getting to the post-season(sorry Jed). If you win your division it is an automatic trip to the dance. If not you have to hope for a wild card but we have seen how hard it is having a good team try to run the table as a wild card. It's better to win your division and have home games or a week off.

With that said... the longer we wait for players to develop, we waste the other players who are in their prime or just starting to get it together. Like Boldin, the longer we wait, we will just have to replace him in a year or 2. Then we will wait for someone to help out Torrey, etc...

The Oline is the one area that I feel like you shouldn't mess around. I think Kilgore and Thomas and Martin are all ????? They might turn out to all be studs but that's saying that we will hit on all 3. If we don't, and say Martin turns out to be ok, we will probably blow another season, maybe 8-8 or 9-7 or even 10-6. But in our division, that's not good enough. So the following year we will be right back at trying to replace Martin or someone else from injury or poor play. And Boone is in a contract year.

I know people want to draft other spots. But a good Oline allows you to have a successful season. You can win a lot of games and still make a run in the playoffs. Kap getting sacked a ton or the line not dominating will not get us there.

I say if there is a problem with the line, you fix it now and the whole team benefits. We won't have to worry about it this year or next. Even if we drafted Leo Williams and had a dominate D, what would that do for us? We had a top 5 D last year and we couldn't win. 5 int's against the Giants and we scored 16 or 13?

Why are you assuming there is a problem with how Martin or Thomas will fare next year?

Or the assumption that over-drafting a G in the 1st round will mean they are any better than Martin or Thomas?

Part in bold... you're a little late to the party, even though you're right. Baalke did EXACTLY that last year- he addressed the interior OL 1 year before we needed to(when Iupati was still under contract)... for the very purpose that we don't have to worry about it this year.

I am not saying they will be bad. But we are talking about odds here. I have a good amount of faith that A. Davis and Staley return to being dominate. And if Boone is one of the guards, I have faith in him as well. But IMO, Thomas, Martin and Kilgore are all new. Yes they got some playing time, but the line works as a unit, and that is something they have not done together. I am doubtful that all three turn out to be studs. Thomas hasn't played a down and has 2 ACL's under his belt at 24. Everyone says Martin can play guard or center. At Center he sucked. Not hating, it just is what it is. Hopefully he will get better. Kilgore played well but I think is ceiling is ok. I don't think he will ever be dominate.

I hope i'm wrong, but when I look at that group on paper, I don't see a dominate line.

And yes I think that if we drafted a guard, Scherreff or Collins, etc... they would be an upgrade over Martin and maybe even Thomas. And don't agree that it's over drafting...

And not late to the party. Boone's contract will be up after this year. If Martin is supposed to replace Boone, then I think you need to find a dominate center over Kilgore. If Martin takes over Kilgore then you need to replace Boone. If one guy gets hurt this year then we start band-aiding the line again.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2428794-why-brandon-thomas-is-the-san-francisco-49ers-most-overlooked-2015-starter

I know I know, Bleacher Report blah blah blah...

Good article though and I agree.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by elguapo:

Thomas will be an upgrade in pass pro and a downgrade in run blocking. However, due to the bigger concerns in the passing game......our offense will improve more if we have better pass pro than run blocking.

He's only a downgrade in run blocking if we stick with the Power scheme. Iupati had some massive down blocks and pulls on power/counter/KIK, but he sucked in zone, and I think we're looking at a lot more zone this year.

I agree but for arguements sake.....lets just say iupati in general is the better run blocking guard but I know Thomas will be a much better pass protector. He did well as a tackle so I believe he will do even better as a guard. M Martin can take over for Boone next year and this year be a backup center and backup both guard positions.