Originally posted by Marvin49:
Word of the year: Patience.
1) Hoyer: Last week I defended him. This week I won't. He is what he is though. I was never expecting him to be great, I only expected him to be serviceable. So far he isn't. Its fair to point out the front 7s he's faced and it fair to point out drops...but Man...its been rough. Is it CJ Beathard time? No. Not by a long shot. Its not about giving Hoyer a shot either. Its about not putting the rookie in and causing irreperable harm to his confidence. Beathard needs to stay on the bench FOR HIM and not for anyone else.
Might there come a time when he needs to play? Yes. Its not here yet though.
2) Front 7: I need to use this as a disclaimer because I am about to talk about a few front 7 players and I don't want to give the impression I'm unaware of Seattles situation on the O-Line. I'm very aware so good play in the front 7 has to be tempered by who they were playing against. Seattle is a train wreck on the O-Line and have been for years. It makes me wonder how Wilson would function behind an actually competent line. That said....
3) DeForest Buckner: He didn't get a sack, but that dude was wreaking havoc. 4 QB hits, 5 Pressures, killing in vs run...man. 7th overall pick last year is showing why he was the 7th pick.
4) Aaron Lynch: Needs. To. Play. More. He is EASILY the best pass rusher on the team and when he's out there he provides what they lacked in week 1. Wasn't just the sack either...he was getting hits on Wilson as well. Jumped off the screen a few times.
5) Solomon Thomas: Flashing at times, invisible at others. Still not plaing like an edge rusher but still very raw. Seems to not be doing much for awhile and then flashes uncanny speed and athleticism for a man his size. Also not playing sound and got abused a few times on the read option. Once crashing down hard and another delaying to watch QB and RB ran right past him. Learning curve still in effect.
6) Arik Armstead: Didn't play like Buckner of course, but did flash some there. His sack was interesting because he was essentially unblocked but kinda had to navigate traffic to get there. Looked promising, but if my choices right now are Lynch or Armstead at Leo, I'm putting Lynch in the game.
7) Reuben Foster: Obviously, Reuben didn't play...but thats kinda my point. I just have to wonder if on any of those Wilson scrambles if Reuben would have been spying him and would have had the speed to chase him down. We'll have to wait till their second meeting to see but every time Wilson got one of those first downs I wondered if Reuben would have prevented it.
8) Safety: Good to see Ward in there again and didn't seem to have much rust. I've always like the guy and if he can be a true center fielder. I'm hoping Reid will be fine as I think this spot really fits him, but if not I'm comfortable with Tartt as well.
9) Marquise Goodwin: Catch. The. Ball. QB finally makes a play and you just flat drop the ball. Ugg. It won't go down on the stat sheet and it isn't something people will point out too much, but I did like seeing the small guy just BLOW UP Wagner on the INT return. To me, that shows he does care...which is something if you look at #21 in Dallas.
10) Week 2 of rebuild: Long way to go. Rough two weeks but the schedule will get a bit easier on the offense these next few weeks. I think the TD drought will end on Thurs and they'll put up at least 2 or 3. Total guess. Rams have a nice front 7 themselves, but not nearly what Niners have seen now in back to back weeks.
...and
11) O-Line: I usually do 10 but I make the rules so screw it. I couldn't leave out the O-Line. That was a monster of a job. Tomlinson played very well considering, Staley had a great game, and Trent Brown....wow. Two games into the season and he's allowed NOTHING in the pass rush. No hurries, no hits, no sacks. Its a great thing to get a premiere tackle in the 7th round.
12) One more: I couldn't leave out Carlos either. Line made some holes for him but he is playing well. He's really the ONLY Skill Player doing something right now. Through 2 games he's averaging 7 yards per carry.
Good stuff as always Marvin. I agree, Trent Brown is looking like a dominant RT. He might be the best player on the team and a top 5 tackle before.
Carlos Hyde is a gamer. I tip my hat off to him. Matt Breida has also flashed some serious potential. I think we could have something as a 1-2 punch with these two guys.
Our Defense was really, really solid. Especially our D-Line. Buckner was dominant. Armstead had a pretty solid game. Solomon Thomas finally had a play or two where I said "Okay, this guy has something". He also got dominated at times. He just needs to get bigger and stronger. Gotta remember he just turned 21 and only played two years of college football.
I agree with you that Aaron Lynch needs to play more. He's a pain in the ass and hardly a dominant pass rusher but he is our best pass rusher.
Earl Mitchell is solid as a rock in the middle stopping the run and I really think we have something in this D.J Jones kid. I think that guy will be a player for us.
Hoyer is awful but I would not go with Bethard just yet. Marquise Goodwin is who he was for 4 years in Buffalo. Dud!
Really impressed with the way Tomlinson played at LG despite only being on the team for less than 3 weeks. Man if he could be a solid guard for us that would be huge!