Preseason 3 - The Good, the Bad, The Ugly

Originally posted by okdkid:
When you can't make the Titans roster -- you should just hang it up. We need to pass on Levitre. He is no better than any UDFA currently on the roster. A total failure.

He is a zone blocking guard playing in Whisenhunt's power man blocking scheme, like a fish out of water. Notice that teams running zone schemes are reportedly very interested in him.

Imagine Iupati trying to play in Shanahan's blocking system.

The Truth.
The O line Can Be Fixed.
The Bad.
no OLB pass rush.
That's going to sting all year long.
D-Line got stud up all game.
Its early.

Originally posted by Elric:
The Truth.
The O line Can Be Fixed.
The Bad.
no OLB pass rush.
That's going to sting all year long.
D-Line got stud up all game.
Its early.

I've actually been impressed by Harold, I think he can do a good job there, plus you have Lynch but if they can go get a vet like Freeney, I say they do it.

The Good - Bowman

The Bad - Our WR's dont seem to like running up the field, regardless of the situation.

The Ugly - O-line

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
I've actually been impressed by Harold, I think he can do a good job there, plus you have Lynch but if they can go get a vet like Freeney, I say they do it.

Wouldn't mind Freeney. I don't know how much he could provide anymore in terms of sacks, but he's a pro and we could use a guy like him in the OLB core.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by okdkid:

When you can't make the Titans roster -- you should just hang it up. We need to pass on Levitre. He is no better than any UDFA currently on the roster. A total failure.

He is a zone blocking guard playing in Whisenhunt's power man blocking scheme, like a fish out of water. Notice that teams running zone schemes are reportedly very interested in him.

Imagine Iupati trying to play in Shanahan's blocking system.

Wasn't Pears supposed to be better in zone....and at OT?

Originally posted by jreff22:
Wasn't Pears supposed to be better in zone....and at OT?

That's where he's played best in his career, but he's been crap so far. Was willing to give him a shot and haven't liked what I've seen.

He'll probably start the year, but I'm counting down the days until Brown takes the job.

good:
1. Bow. Beast. Monster. Standing out on this defense. ELITE.
2. Hyde. some nifty power running and tackle breaking. I like.
3. Pinion. good punts all around again
4. Manginis blitzes for most part.
5. DBs were better than expected
6. Gabbert was gain suprisingly solid

bad:
1. no pass rush from front 3/4. most of pressure had to come from blitzes
2. delay of game penalty. really ?
3. could be considered nitpicking, but Torrey not getting the first down for no reason (even though penalty nullified it) I really didn't like. seems like a 'lack of awareness' move that should not under circumstances happen on third down in regular season.
4. no screens (more below). first and only designed screen came towards the end of the game.

ugly:
1. playcalling. yes, playcalling. when oline under siege, teams turn to screens, dumpoffs and hot reads to counter an overly aggressive defense. we did not. moreover, our coaches called a pass in our endzone with the oline sucking. shades of last year, really. osweiler would dump the ball off at some point when mangini brought the heat with ILBs for good gains. find outlets. NOW.
2. oline pass pro, obviously

Good:
1. Bowman is back
2. Speed of our cornerbacks (fyi Peyton looks like he's lost quite a bit of arm strength).
3. Blaine Gabbert - he looks comfortable in the offense and didn't at all last year.
4. Shayne Skov - has improved every week the last 3 weeks.
5. Carlos Hyde - I watched Melvin Gordon earlier and Carlos looks so much more decisive when he gets the ball in his hands.
6. Pinion - Andy 2.0
7. Arik Armstead - actually set the edge a few times and has looked better in each game. I'll bet Trent would like to have that one back as our d line is our deepest position and the oline is thin. But for what he is I think he shows some promise.
8. Andrew Tiller - wouldn't be surprised if this guy makes the team. He shows promise.
9. Quentin Dial - this guy is a bad ass. Period.
10. Bruce Ellington - if he's not our 3rd receiver yet he should be

Bad

1. Dontae Johnson is too big to play the slot against quick receivers. He's fast but not quick enough to handle these jitterbug types.
2. Kaep looked like the O-line situation was in his head space. This is what torpedoed Gabbert in Jacksonville.
3. Garrett Celek and Blake Bell - Celek looks like he forgot how to block. Totally whiffed to get Kaep sacked and was slow on a block a few plays later. With Vance I think they value the blocking more than the receiving and Blake Bell needs some major work on his feel at the line of scrimmage.
4.Kendall Hunter - looks rusty no burst. I know it's his first game back but Davis looked like the superior runner and he's also a good pass protector.
5. Ian Silberman - he actually didn't play as bad as he is getting blamed for. He was starting his first game against one of the best pass rushes in the league. The worst play I saw him make was actually the screen pass we tried when he didn't even try to slow down his pass rusher. That's just inexperience and to me he actually shows some promise. If the right tackle position had been played better it would have helped him immensely.
6. Michael Wilhoite - he can't cover like Navorro and he can't shed blocks like Skov. If Nick Moody or Shayne Skov could cover even a lick they would start over him. He's a liability.
7. Mike Purcell - couldn't get off a block and was pushed around all game. I like him but he needs to be more consistent.
8. Tank Carradine - it worries me that he can't abuse 2nd and 3rd team offensive players. He was washed out of a lot of plays. Armstead out played him against the twos and threes on a bunch of plays.
9. Eli Harold - looked like he gave up on some plays and was washed out on some others. Not any better than Lemonier this game.

Ugly

1. Erik Pears - the problem is the 49ers can either have the best left side o line in football or two mediocre sides. The reason Boone is over there is because 70% of our runs this year will be zone left. It kills us in pass pro though. I wonder what would happen if we switched Boone and Pears. But I concur he is tough to watch when he moves backward.

Random thoughts and predictions
1. Our secondary is rank. We will not have a pass rush this year and by the end of the year these guys are going to be gassed but they'll hold up. Has the potential to be great.
2. Wouldn't be surprised if Baalke traded a Tony Jerod Eddie away for a good o lineman or something like that. I really like our d line players, including Garrison Smith and Kaleb Ramsey. We can't keep them all.
3. Ian Silberman will get better. He's not the problem. If he had some stability to lean on next to him I think he could be a serviceable guard.
4. Kendall Hunter, Joe Looney, Nick Bellore, Marcus Cromartie, Trey Millard, all are on the border of being cut. I wouldn't bring up Bellore except that we have so many offensive guys playing special teams that look really good doing it. If we had another decent corner Shareece Wright would be on this list too.
5. Other than Bowman we don't have an inside linebacker that can cover a bit. This is why we have drafted tartt. By the end of the year he is going to play more snaps at the hybrid Ilb/safety position than anyone is expecting.
6. Shayne Skov, Arik Armstead, Quentin Dial, Ackerman and Reaser, Mike Davis, Blaine Gabbert, Andrew Tiller, Ian Silberman, Jarrad Hayne. These guys all seem to be getting better. That's a good thing and it shows we could end up with some modicum of depth this year.
7. The panic over the offense is overblown. We have Reggie Bush not to mention two bad ass blocking tight ends to help out while the o line figures itself out. Not to mention the fact that this o line today is Very Good at run blocking. Yes we have to pass the ball, but between Kaeps legs and Bush's hands we should give some pause to continual pass rush.
8. To that point if you want to be worried about an aspect of this team be worried about our pass rush. Eli Harold is no Aldon Smith and he's not even an Ahmad Brooks at this point. Aaron Lynch came to camp out of shape and was not reliable in college. We NEED an outside linebacker. Many of the sacks we get this year will be coverage sacks. Peyton's arm is jello. Russ Wilson will pick us apart of we give him the kind of time we have Peyton. However I will say our interior d line was getting major push all game. TJE looked awesome (although he can't shut down the run game like Justin Smith could), and Armstead was abusing dudes with his bull rush as week. Not to mention Dial. Nice to see.
9. Our special teams look strong and the guys seem to enjoy it. That's big time.
10. We seem to be playing nickel more than in the past and that is why we are drafting the Carradines and Dials and signing guys like Darnell Dockett. To donate two roster spots to Ian Williams and Mike Purcell is kind of hard to swallow seeing how little they actually play. Not all do these good d linemen are going to make the team. I still am trying to see what everyone loves about Ian Williams so much. He's good not great and Purcell was pretty bad this game. Paradis had his way with him.
11. The Darnell Dockett signing, to me, shows the lack of faith the staff has in Tank Carradine. We already had Dial and TJE and they draft Armstead first round and sign Dockett? If I'm Tank I'm nervous and he's been playing better as of late but still can't cary Dials jockstrap.
12. Carlos Hyde and Reggie Bush are what we need at running back. This, d line, and secondary are in really good shape.
13. As tough as a game as that was to watch, imagine how bad it would be if our defense sucked. These defensive coaches have been together for a long time.
14. Chris Foerster was brought here to fix the running game. He is doing that. Let's give the offense some time and I think they'll get better. They certainly have the weapons to do it.

Thanks let me know if any of you agree/disagree

Yep, Eric Mangini can only scheme pass rush so much. That's why the loss of Aldon Smith is the one the 49ers won't be able to overcome.

Originally posted by jonesadrian:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Personally, I think we got a LOT of answers tonight. Coming in, I was looking at specific things and I found answers to a lot of them (if not all of them). But I'll leave it up to you guys to figure them out (after the emotions wear off).

tonight was a lot of people's shot to show they can do it or they don't belong.

we learned that the right side of the line doesn't belong. they won't be the right side of the line.

we learned that dontae and acker are starting cornerbacks in this league.

we learned that lemoneir has had every opportunity to flash any sort of impact on the game and he is simply not an impact player.

we learned that magini is a genius. lol. i never doubted it but i hope people see it now. he rotated in backups and 3rd string players and still kept peyton manning out of the end zone. he put the defenders in positions to make plays regularly. i mean. it was amazing he was manipulating peyton manning. they missed tackles but the coach can't make the tackle for you.

im only worried about the right side of the offensive line. tonight they just wanted to see if they could block and they can't.

people will try and stir up mess with gabbert but with gabbert they were trying to evaluate the other players. so they moved the pocket. ran option reads, ran other stuff so those guys could get opportunities. everything they didn't do and could've easily done with the 1st team.

i believe we see the final line that includes boone and staley at the tackles. thomas at guard

we're going to be alright

You sir are an optimistic person.

You could very much say the coaching staff has no idea what they are doing with the oline. It could 2nd up being the worst in the league. Also kap appears to be the some Ole QB. No pocket presence at all and extremely skidding as well as iffy accuracy.

Hopefully the staff knows what they are doing and Kap comes around. They are the difference between going 2-14 or 10-6. With the season being right around the corner I'm leaning toward the begging.

Originally posted by SofaKing:
Good

1. NaVorro Bowman

2. Kenneth Acker, minus the ball flip when he channeled his inner Quinton Patton

3. Running game early was decent. Hyde is a stud, Bush still has some juice.

Bad

1. O-line

2. Kap. To be clear, he had ZERO time on most dropbacks. He was still skittish and I felt there were a few plays he could have gotten the ball out.

3. The f**king o-line

4. D-line got pushed around

5. 3rd down defense

Ugly

1. Pears
2. Silberman
3. Martin
4. The whole f**king o-line
5. You get the picture.

Martin played center. I didn't see an issue there. Or with staley or boone. Just the right side of silberman devy and pears.

John Lynch: "A lot of people see the 49ers as a 3-win team because of the offseason losses. No way. At minimum this is a .500 team. There is still a lot of talent on this roster."

When Kap had a clean pocket he moved up in it. Throw to Torrey showed pocket presence.

Originally posted by jimrat:
Rather have Thomas in there then Martin/Looney/Silberman

Again martin is the starting center day one where he is natural. He was drafted for center not guard.