Final PFF grades - good and bad, look ahead

GOOD:
-Gabbert almost got a starter grade depsite not playing some games.
-We might have one of the best backfields next year with Hyde and Harris.
-Boldin was usual. Patton got a good grade depsite playing limited snaps. Can he develop in a number 1 receiver next year?
-Joe Staley was just Joe Staley.
-Andrew Tiller was 6 points shy from receiving an pro bowl grade depsite playing few games.
-Brock and Johnson are solid. Ward has improved(breakout candidate to next year).
-Reid had a good second half of this season.
-If we can get a guy(Wolfe? Buckner? Wilkerson?) to pair with Williams and Armstead we may have one of the best DL in all football. Carradine and Dial were good.
-Lynch is great.

BAD
-Miller got a pretty average grade. I was expecting at least a top-10 grade.
-Smith receiving a backup grade is bad. When you pay what we paid him you expect at least a starter grade.
-McDonald is really bad.
-Boone is better at the right side. Trying him as LG was a failure.
-Bowman can't cover
-Lemonier is not bad. He is very bad.

UGLY
-How did Kilgore got this bad? Was he thrown under fire early?
-Johnson should have got more starts than Acker.
-Bethea and Tartt(he is coming off college division II so he should have sitted this year) sucks in coverage.
-Hodges was terrible(I hope he just didn't got the scheme).
-Brooks is underplaying his contract too damn much.

Originally posted by joaosoarrs99:
GOOD:
-Gabbert almost got a starter grade depsite not playing some games.
-We might have one of the best backfields next year with Hyde and Harris.
-Boldin was usual. Patton got a good grade depsite playing limited snaps. Can he develop in a number 1 receiver next year?
-Joe Staley was just Joe Staley.
-Andrew Tiller was 6 points shy from receiving an pro bowl grade depsite playing few games.
-Brock and Johnson are solid. Ward has improved(breakout candidate to next year).
-Reid had a good second half of this season.
-If we can get a guy(Wolfe? Buckner? Wilkerson?) to pair with Williams and Armstead we may have one of the best DL in all football. Carradine and Dial were good.
-Lynch is great.

BAD
-Miller got a pretty average grade. I was expecting at least a top-10 grade.
-Smith receiving a backup grade is bad. When you pay what we paid him you expect at least a starter grade.
-McDonald is really bad.
-Boone is better at the right side. Trying him as LG was a failure.
-Bowman can't cover
-Lemonier is not bad. He is very bad.

UGLY
-How did Kilgore got this bad? Was he thrown under fire early?
-Johnson should have got more starts than Acker.
-Bethea and Tartt(he is coming off college division II so he should have sitted this year) sucks in coverage.
-Hodges was terrible(I hope he just didn't got the scheme).
-Brooks is underplaying his contract too damn much.

Of all the position on the team, the hardest for me to evaluate is QB. Reason being the offensive scheme and play selection was just bad. The offense had some of the pieces needed to make it work but critical ones were missing.

Smith is a good speed guy but marginal route runner.
Boldin is good when healthy but is not what he once was.
TE was lacking in most games.
2/5 of the OL was generally stable but the rest was junk. Got better when Tiller started but...
The route design and sequencing was just bad all year long.

I went as crazy as many others over all the short checkdowns. I do not believe it is just the nature of Gabbert. He has a strong arm as he showed on multiple occasions. Why not use it?

It is my opinion that Chryst/Tomsula became so "ball security" conscious that they limited the offense to such a degree that we never saw what this offense might be able to do.

Would appreciate if someone has the time to correlate the rating and/or ranking to average contract value to determine cost effectiveness
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/

Brooks and Smith are two of our highest paid players, and didn't rate so well. I don't see how we can even think about bringing Brooks back. I'd give Smith another chance or two before cutting him. It's also interesting how Boone rated as a backup, while he's looking for a big payday. Hopefully Tartt turns it around and can be a good SS to replace Bethea. I think he has it in him.

How did Kap rate compared to Gabbert?

Thanks for posting!

Originally posted by Marty:
Would appreciate if someone has the time to correlate the rating and/or ranking to average contract value to determine cost effectiveness
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/

Pretty easy to find guys on the "cut bubble" based on salary and performace. Brooks, Kap, Smith, Dorsey, Pears.....

About right. 25-30+ legit starters compared to their peers. That's a great foundation to build from when the core is barely only a season's worth (1.3) into their careers.

Even the bad/ugly is somewhat deceptive.

BAD
Miller - We all know Miller is probably the best FB in the game who's never used.
Smith - T's worth to this offense is not measured in stats per se.
McDonald - Best blocking TE especially out in space and showing flashes of catching. Maybe next year he puts it all together?
Boone - Kind of an average G to me and not consistent. Tiller next to Staley is opening up massive holes that I didn't see as much with Boone.
Bowman - pro bowler coming into form but struggling in coverage in Mangini's scheme.
Lemonier - blows

UGLY
Kilgore - Still a ways to go to get 100% into football shape.
Johnson - Should have got more starts than Acker.
Bethea and Tartt - Since both grade out the same, speaks to scheme struggles and learning on the fly but a high ceiling for Tartt. Bethea was a pro bowler.
Hodges - #1 or 2 in team tackles since starting. Like Bowman, brutal scheme to play in.
Brooks - leading the team in sacks but on his way out.

Great work dj!

Originally posted by Trath44:

How did Kap rate compared to Gabbert?

Thanks for posting!

Kaepernick's overall grade was 49 which ranked him as the #38 QB in the league. His pass grade was 46, which placed him just below Matt Cassell and above Johnny Football. Run grade was 72, which put him below Matt Ryan and above Kirk Cousins.

Gabbert overall 67 good for #29 in the league. Pass grade 65, below Alex Smith and above Josh McNown. Run grade was 90, just below Cam Newton and above Teddy Bridgewater.

There were 20 QBs ranked between Gabbert and Kaepernick in passing grade. Those include all QBs that threw at least 20 passes.

Clearly the best 49er QB was the one that played the final 8 games of the season.

Was with agreement with the scores until they said Tank and Dial were starter-like material. SMH.......

Originally posted by NCommand:
About right. 25-30+ legit starters compared to their peers. That's a great foundation to build from when the core is barely only a season's worth (1.3) into their careers.

Even the bad/ugly is somewhat deceptive.

BAD
Miller - We all know Miller is probably the best FB in the game who's never used.
Smith - T's worth to this offense is not measured in stats per se.
McDonald - Best blocking TE especially out in space and showing flashes of catching. Maybe next year he puts it all together?
Boone - Kind of an average G to me and not consistent. Tiller next to Staley is opening up massive holes that I didn't see as much with Boone.
Bowman - pro bowler coming into form but struggling in coverage in Mangini's scheme.
Lemonier - blows

UGLY
Kilgore - Still a ways to go to get 100% into football shape.
Johnson - Should have got more starts than Acker.
Bethea and Tartt - Since both grade out the same, speaks to scheme struggles and learning on the fly but a high ceiling for Tartt. Bethea was a pro bowler.
Hodges - #1 or 2 in team tackles since starting. Like Bowman, brutal scheme to play in.
Brooks - leading the team in sacks but on his way out.

Great work dj!

You're right. When one sets aside all the emotions and look at the way the pros grade players, there is a good core here.

The major holes are obvious. In this league built for parity, 2 or 3 good FA signings along with 2 or 3 rookie starters and this team when healthy can compete with 2/3 of the rest of the league, or better.

Originally posted by pdizo916:
Was with agreement with the scores until they said Tank and Dial were starter-like material. SMH.......

Carradine does not actually qualify due to a very low number of snaps. In fact, he actually isn't listed in the main list. I just fitted his grade into the slot he would be if he had more snaps. I did note his limited number of snaps.

Dial's grade puts him at the very bottom of "starter" grade. That means that out of the roughly 62 players around the league that play his position and start and a few more who rotate in, he is #67. A fringe starter at best, more likely a rotation guy than a starter.

We both agree they need to take a big step up next year or be replaced with an upgrade.

Again, the defensive scheme this year was quite complicated, not very easy to learn even for a veteran player. For these two guys coming from Fangio's system to Mangini's schemes, it was a bit of a change.

So much of what was wrong with this team comes back to poor coaching/teaching it is hard to be too critical of some of these guys.

Eric Johnson was our last good TE??

Originally posted by btthepunk:
Eric Johnson was our last good TE??

In terms of a pass receiver? Yes. He was not a great blocker. Vernon Davis was a better blocker, however, for the role that a QB needs, a quick release while under pressure and reliable hands, Johnson was much better.

In 2004, Johnson had 82 receptions for 825 yards. He was the heart of that offense.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by btthepunk:
Eric Johnson was our last good TE??

In terms of a pass receiver? Yes. He was not a great blocker. Vernon Davis was a better blocker, however, for the role that a QB needs, a quick release while under pressure and reliable hands, Johnson was much better.

In 2004, Johnson had 82 receptions for 825 yards. He was the heart of that offense.

In 2009, Davis had 78 catches for 965 yards and 13 TD's.

I loved Johnson and he was the only good offensive player we had for a couple years. Vernon Davis was all around better at everything.

Originally posted by btthepunk:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by btthepunk:
Eric Johnson was our last good TE??

In terms of a pass receiver? Yes. He was not a great blocker. Vernon Davis was a better blocker, however, for the role that a QB needs, a quick release while under pressure and reliable hands, Johnson was much better.

In 2004, Johnson had 82 receptions for 825 yards. He was the heart of that offense.

In 2009, Davis had 78 catches for 965 yards and 13 TD's.

I loved Johnson and he was the only good offensive player we had for a couple years. Vernon Davis was all around better at everything.

To me, Davis was better used as a 3rd WR than a TE. He just did not have the flexibility in his hips to make the kind of catches the team needed from a TE. Also, he never developed the ability to read defenses and find the open spots in the zone. He was a threat on seam routes but was held in to block too much of the time - a result of Harbaugh's Bo Schembechler offense.

However, I won't quibble over the difference. Davis was a very good blocker and deep threat that was never utilized to our best advantage. I will forever believe he should have had a better career here. Not his fault.

The point is, we need more depth at TE if we are to compete at a high level. We are not close to being on par with the better passing teams around the league.