My overall take on the team through 7 weeks | Page 5

Luckycharms · 2016-10-25T16:18:11-07:00

Im a die hard 49ers fan and I will watch every game they play whether they suck or are good. First ill start with the Defense. Right now I see a team that has some good young talent but are missing a few pieces that will make DRAMATIC improvements. From a talent standpoint our run Defense is terrible, the worst ive ever seen, but the more I watch of the tape the more convinced I am that the main talent issue we have right now is at the ILB position. I constantly see Bellore, Whilhoite, Hodges making mental and physical mistakes. Sure, at times some of the play calls and some of the schemes might not be the best, but right now need #1 on defense is ILB help. What is the difference with our defense from the first few weeks, where our run D wasn't spectacular but it was mediocre, to now where the past few weeks teams are running on us at a record pace? Answer: its the ILB position, first was Ray Ray, who is a decent run defender, not great then a few weeks later we lost Bowman. Bowman masked a lot of deficiencies that our D has, especially up front. Everyone else has stayed the same, so not only do the stats say, but also the film that the main weakness is ILB play. #2 would be NT help. Buck, AA, Dial, Purcell... none of them should be playing NT, that is not their strength as players. Sure there are several times our young DL gets out leveraged or is out of position but these are expected. I am not saying they are without blame, but if we had a run stuffing NT it would alleviate some of the pressure Buck and AA have in stopping the run. I also think our Pass D has suffered due to our Defense focusing so much on trying to stop the run. I have seen several times we stay in base D when the other team comes out in 3 or 4 WR's because our coach is so afraid of getting gashed in the run game. When your giving up 200-300 yards a game as a defender, it doesn't matter what position you play, subconsciously you will be over playing for the run whether you think they will run it or not. I will just make a quick statement on scheme, I for the most part like JoN's pass D. I like that he has a ton of blitz packages, I like that he mixes up his defenses with man and zone, I like that he presses a lot since I think we have some corners who can do it, and I like that he pattern matches. I HATE how he has his DL play the run. We don't know exactly what he teaches but I think its safe to assume he teaches them too often to split gaps and be aggressive, causing the ILB's to guess which way the DE's are going. In terms of offense, I think this is an area that will need a lot more help. I will start by saying I don't have a ton of issues with Chip and his offense, I would like to see him vary up his run looks a bit. Right now we have a run game that cant break off big runs. All of our big runs have either come from Gabbert or Kap scrambling. I cant remember the last time our RB broke off a 25+ yarder. As a whole, we need better run blocking, but some of that is due to teams not being afraid of our pass game. Obviously our #1 need is a QB... for example last week against the bucs when we were down 14 to 27 in the 4th q, we ran 13 plays for 49 yards that took 6 minutes... that means we are dinking and dunking our way down the field. We don't have near the concistency as an Offense to continually run that many plays and be effective, our qb's aren't accurate enough. Sure we can have 1 or 2 drives a game where we can work our way down the field for some scores but that isn't something we can do concistently. I think that is a big issue Chip is having, we just cant seem to get any big passing plays. #2 need on offense is WR... I would like to see us make a big play in FA to grab Jeffrey, and also take a WR in the first 2 rounds. Chip needs a specific kind of player to run his offense. His offense isn't a universal kind of offense, he cant have massive slow moving OL, he needs big physical receivers who can run block and beat man coverage, he needs a QB with repetitive accuracy in the mid range passing game, passes 5-15 yds down field. all this opens up that opportunity for those deep posts for 40+ yard gainers. Finally, I don't think this is a 4-5 year rebuild, the main thing is we have to find our franchise qb this draft and start to build around him. Like I said in the beginning, we have a lot of talent on D, and some solid young pieces on the OL. We need to be very active in FA grabbing an ILB, NT, WR and we need to focus on offensive skill players this year in the draft. By year 3 of Chip at the helm I can see us competing for the playoffs, maybe even next year if our Rookie qb is able to come in and give us solid play. I know this year sucks, but you gotta stick with your team through the good and the bad.

Oct 30, 2016 at 9:41 AM

#61

theninermaniac
Veteran
Posts: 3,430

Originally posted by NCommand:
My take is that whether we have $50-$100M in cap space, no free agent is coming here and he certainly isn't coming here making more than Bowman.

This team will be forced to be a draft and development team the next three years.

Hopefully by then we'll have hit on some impact players at the key positions (GM, HC, DC, OC, Scheme/Philosophy, QB, ZWR, ILB, OLB)...and signed some core starters.

Am I detecting some cynicism? What took you so long?

Oct 30, 2016 at 9:48 AM

#62

LasVegasWally
Veteran
Posts: 24,872

Originally posted by NCommand:
My take is that whether we have $50-$100M in cap space, no free agent is coming here and he certainly isn't coming here making more than Bowman.

This team will be forced to be a draft and development team the next three years.

Hopefully by then we'll have hit on some impact players at the key positions (GM, HC, DC, OC, Scheme/Philosophy, QB, ZWR, ILB, OLB)...and signed some core starters.

Very good and concise post!

I'll feel a lot more confident - As long as Trent isn't drafting!

Oct 30, 2016 at 10:11 AM

#63

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by theninermaniac:
Am I detecting some cynicism? What took you so long?

Lol. Yeah, I guess you could say that. I think big picture I was trying to remind fans it took eight years to build the last Championship run we had. We're into year two now.

I think what tempered my expectations was in reviewing other teams and top GM's and how long it took them to build up a Championship roster. Most were in the 3-6 year range before maintenance.

The other was in reading about why Sean Smith didn't come here. That should have been a HUGE red flag to fans and their unrealistic expectations for acquiring free agents. It's not happening. Even if we COULD buy every free agent, look to the Redskins, Raiders, Jaguars, etc.

Right now my biggest concerns are around lacking a FQB, impact players at the key positions (OLB, NT, ZWR, ILB), poor offensive and defensive schemes, HC, only being able to acquire players via the draft, FO structure, drafting, etc...this is why it takes so long to build up a football team.

You need all of these pieces in the ultimate team sport.

Oct 30, 2016 at 10:11 AM

#64

NCommand
Hall of Fame
Posts: 123,365

Originally posted by LasVegasWally:
Very good and concise post!

I'll feel a lot more confident - As long as Trent isn't drafting!

Lol. Understandable.

Oct 30, 2016 at 12:06 PM

#65

theninermind
Veteran
Posts: 535

My take, the 49ers have ignored the offense for the last three years. 2013 the team scored at least 30 points in half their games. Since then, they have scored 30 points just once - and that was over two years ago. They used to have 1st round investments at the skill positions. Vernon Davis was picked #6 overall, Crabtree #10 overall, Alex Smith #1. They supplemented with free agency. They got legit money invested in free agents on d- Justin Smith, Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers, Ahmad Brooks etc.

Now we only draft on defense. Why are we bereft of talent? Maybe it has something to do with the fact we eliminated an entire avenue for acquiring talent - free agency - and now we can only fill openings via the draft.

Oct 30, 2016 at 12:16 PM

#66

dtg_9er
Veteran
Posts: 33,204

Originally posted by NCommand:
My take is that whether we have $50-$100M in cap space, no free agent is coming here and he certainly isn't coming here making more than Bowman.

This team will be forced to be a draft and development team the next three years.

Hopefully by then we'll have hit on some impact players at the key positions (GM, HC, DC, OC, Scheme/Philosophy, QB, ZWR, ILB, OLB)...and signed some core starters.

This is likely the case unfortunately! They may get lucky however in a trade or a FA who is not turned off by the lack of clarity in the management of the team. I don't see them getting Jeffrey or Von Miller but those two guys would certainly shift this team into a new category. But overpaying for anyone short of these guys (or similar) would be unwise. I hope they lock up some of their better young players through extensions.

Who ever the GM is I would hope he would not panic or make a big splash for PR value only. Some really terrible free agents next offseason!

QB: Cousins, Fitzpatrick, Keenum, Schaub...yuck!

OLB: Of the top ten available, seven are 30 or older. That leaves three possibles--Von Miller, Nick Perry, B Mingo. Will Denver or GB let their top players leave? Mingo's playing in a 4/3...would he translate well? Started 16 games over four years with Cleveland and NE.

WR: FAs under 30--Jeffrey, D Jackson (not likely!). This may be a position where a top WR over 30 is looking for one last big payday. Never know.

NT: Don't know these guys well enough. Would a 4/3 DT like Short be able to fill the middle in the 3/4? Carolina's in decent cap shape so they will likely resign. Poe is a dream and KC is not in great cap shape...

The only other positon of greatest need is ILB and there are some interesting FAs out there but not many guys in the draft.

Argh! So many ifs ands or buts! Should make next offseason exciting though!

[ Edited by dtg_9er on Oct 30, 2016 at 1:21 PM ]

Oct 30, 2016 at 12:20 PM

#67

Ninerjohn
Veteran
Posts: 67,435

Originally posted by KeepRabbitsOut:

Originally posted by Goatie:
Sounds about right.

There is a lot to recover from from last year. I am still optimistic things will get significantly better in the second half of the year

I truly believe most of us want that........except the ones that want us to tank to get a high draft pick.

There is a difference between wanting the team to intentionally tank and wanting the team to lose games in order to get the first pick. I dont want the players to quit or not give effort. I want them to play hard and if they win fine. But, I would rather have them play hard , finish 2-14, and get the first pick than finish 3-13 or 4-12 and get a lower pick. The path to being a contender will be sped up if we get Garrett or can move the first pick for a bundle. (assuming Baalke doesnt make the picks). I mean.. a year from now will anyone really care if the Niners win one more game? Or will more people wish we had the first pick?

All I want for this team is for Baalke to be fired, for the team to get impact players, and give Chip the players he needs to get back to prominence. That isnt too much to ask is it?

Oct 30, 2016 at 1:20 PM

#68

Goatie
Veteran
Posts: 18,502

Originally posted by Ninerjohn:

Originally posted by KeepRabbitsOut:

Originally posted by Goatie:
Sounds about right.

There is a lot to recover from from last year. I am still optimistic things will get significantly better in the second half of the year

I truly believe most of us want that........except the ones that want us to tank to get a high draft pick.

There is a difference between wanting the team to intentionally tank and wanting the team to lose games in order to get the first pick. I dont want the players to quit or not give effort. I want them to play hard and if they win fine. But, I would rather have them play hard , finish 2-14, and get the first pick than finish 3-13 or 4-12 and get a lower pick. The path to being a contender will be sped up if we get Garrett or can move the first pick for a bundle. (assuming Baalke doesnt make the picks). I mean.. a year from now will anyone really care if the Niners win one more game? Or will more people wish we had the first pick?

All I want for this team is for Baalke to be fired, for the team to get impact players, and give Chip the players he needs to get back to prominence. That isnt too much to ask is it?

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. GM must take ultimate responsibility for the team.

Oct 30, 2016 at 2:28 PM

#69

SmokeCrabtrees
Veteran
Posts: 15,580

Y'all overreacting like a mother trucker lol. You might have to over pay to get someone here to make it worthwhile we're not a contender... but if we're the highest offer out there , still would have a lot of money after signing that player and with great draft positioning; well have a shot.

Oct 30, 2016 at 2:57 PM

#70

Ninerjohn
Veteran
Posts: 67,435

Originally posted by SmokeCrabtrees:
Y'all overreacting like a mother trucker lol. You might have to over pay to get someone here to make it worthwhile we're not a contender... but if we're the highest offer out there , still would have a lot of money after signing that player and with great draft positioning; well have a shot.

Overreacting? Because people want Baalke fired? Because fans are disgusted with this team's roster? Because it looks like the Niners are not going to be close to contending for quite some time?

You can have all the money in the world but it wont do you any good if elite players do not want to come to SF. Players know that the 49er organization is a dysfunctional mess and getting the best free agents will not be easy. It is going to take a NEW and experienced football man who can lead the team. It is going to take at LEAST 2 great drafts to include a franchise QB. Is this overreacting? Or is this reality?

Oct 30, 2016 at 3:13 PM

#71

LeProfessionnel
Veteran
Posts: 3,418

Originally posted by theninermind:
My take, the 49ers have ignored the offense for the last three years. 2013 the team scored at least 30 points in half their games. Since then, they have scored 30 points just once - and that was over two years ago. They used to have 1st round investments at the skill positions. Vernon Davis was picked #6 overall, Crabtree #10 overall, Alex Smith #1. They supplemented with free agency. They got legit money invested in free agents on d- Justin Smith, Donte Whitner, Carlos Rogers, Ahmad Brooks etc.

Now we only draft on defense. Why are we bereft of talent? Maybe it has something to do with the fact we eliminated an entire avenue for acquiring talent - free agency - and now we can only fill openings via the draft.

Baalke is a pathetic failure. His lame attitude makes it even more absurd. Baalke has ruined the 49ers.

[ Edited by LeProfessionnel on Oct 30, 2016 at 3:14 PM ]

Oct 30, 2016 at 9:19 PM

#72

FromDaBay2La
Veteran
Posts: 288

My thought is how in the hell did nobody get fired during our bye week?!

Our coach is terrible, our GM is worse, our owner and CEO is corrupt.

The team is an all around embarassment. Left the city instead of just rebuilding Candlestick. Now the city of Santa clara may take over Levi's lol.

Oct 30, 2016 at 9:46 PM

#73

Goatie
Veteran
Posts: 18,502

Originally posted by FromDaBay2La:
My thought is how in the hell did nobody get fired during our bye week?!

Our coach is terrible, our GM is worse, our owner and CEO is corrupt.

The team is an all around embarassment. Left the city instead of just rebuilding Candlestick. Now the city of Santa clara may take over Levi's lol.

The Mayor of Santa Clara wants to take over the stadium because the owners are not disclosing financial documents required under the law.

Has the ring of truth to it given the poor management to date. I would laugh if she followed through on it. Serve the Yorks right