DBs Heading into OTA

Originally posted by cciowa:

if ward gets beat out or is magically hurt again.. i just can not believe the powers to be are fine with having him set around doing zip and collecting nine million bucks, of course then will have to hear people moan about him going to seattle and giving away our secrets but i will gladly take that chance

He'll be collecting 9 million bucks no matter what.

18 dbs is a lot of dbs. Imagine Trovon Reed and Don Jones will be cut if the young guys impress in rookie minicamp.

Originally posted by 9ers4eva:

18 dbs is a lot of dbs. Imagine Trovon Reed and Don Jones will be cut if the young guys impress in rookie minicamp.

Lynch was a DB. Loving those chip on the shoulder late round, UDFA secondary guys.

Outside Corners: Sherman (Ward), Whitherspoon, Moore, McFadden

This is assuming Sherman is back healthy, if not, Ward is starting as our best of the leftover CBs, at least until one of the rookies show up. Mabin was the least sorry of last year's leftovers, but I expect McFadden to beat him out.

Slot: Williams, Ward, Reed

If Sherman is healthy and Reed is any good, the odd guy out is Williams. He did not wow anyone in 2017, his contract can be cut ($3.5m dead money) and his ST contribution is negligible. I only have Williams as a starter for now, as Ward is starting outside until Sherman is back.

S: Colbert, Tartt, Harris, Powell

Powell is my 10th DB by finishing as the backup SS last season, and he's the most probable to lose his spot to one of the rookies (Williams or Griffin)

My hope is that we're able to trade Ward to someone this off season for basically nothing. Ward could start for someone like the Browns or another one of those crappy teams with tons of cap space. I understand why we picked up his option, because there was no guarantee we would get all the CB talent we got in the draft and UDFA, but with what we have now, moving Ward might make a lot of sense, once we see what these kids have.
Good thing is that we can wait a while, and if Ward plays well in the pre season, that might be the time to shop him, especially if another team loses their starting slot corner, or FS. What we get back doesn't matter, it's more about just saving that 8.5 million and rolling it over to use next year. Plus we get to let one of the kids play and keep them on the roster.

Originally posted by Bobdawg78:

My hope is that we're able to trade Ward to someone this off season for basically nothing. Ward could start for someone like the Browns or another one of those crappy teams with tons of cap space. I understand why we picked up his option, because there was no guarantee we would get all the CB talent we got in the draft and UDFA, but with what we have now, moving Ward might make a lot of sense, once we see what these kids have.
Good thing is that we can wait a while, and if Ward plays well in the pre season, that might be the time to shop him, especially if another team loses their starting slot corner, or FS. What we get back doesn't matter, it's more about just saving that 8.5 million and rolling it over to use next year. Plus we get to let one of the kids play and keep them on the roster.

Money aside we should keep Ward this year unless it's for a pass rusher. If Colbert goes down we could be f**ked. Not to mention IF Sherm isn't ready.

I honestly was thinking I think Ward has a good chance to start as our slot cause hes a ferocious tackler and good in the run game. Would allow him to play close to LOS.

TC reports/news gonna be juicy

Originally posted by SmokeCrabtrees:
Money aside we should keep Ward this year unless it's for a pass rusher. If Colbert goes down we could be f**ked. Not to mention IF Sherm isn't ready.

I honestly was thinking I think Ward has a good chance to start as our slot cause hes a ferocious tackler and good in the run game. Would allow him to play close to LOS.

TC reports/news gonna be juicy

ward ferocious. lol. if ward can not beat out people fair and square there is no legit reason why he should be kept. forever we have been lectured that deadweight hurt guys. underachievers. old guys, elvis is the rule in our case there.... should not stand in the way of a kids development,. in my opinion. ward will start and end things injured because that is just who he is and after four plus years. i am puzzled by some who do not get that,

While I feel better about our situation concerning the DBs this year, let us not anoint our recent additions as locks. Moore's transition is going to be a process, even he said so. Since they are going to try him at CB and not his natural position of FS, we can't count on him. Ahkello took a while and except for the speed, he was more talented and a better natural fit having played the position.

The other reason is Sherman must first prove he has over come his injury. Another is that McFadden must prove that his lack of speed won't hinder him at this level. Also, as someone said in regards to trading Ward or cutting him, if Adrian goes down you will need Ward if he is not the starter, to fill in. Otherwise you will need Tartt to move over and then get someone else to fill in at SS. Too many moving pieces. People forget that cohesion is important among the groups of positions. Knowing their assignments and duties as well as how their teammates play, react and their weaknesses so that they can cover each others backs. Otherwise to many broken plays will result. Also, many of these youngsters won't be getting first team reps or playing against first team players in practice or preseason games which can skew judging them.

Last year we had to bring in talent off the street so to speak. At least not so this year, we have people to develop, but still they need a lot of developing.

Originally posted by cciowa:
ward ferocious. lol. if ward can not beat out people fair and square there is no legit reason why he should be kept. forever we have been lectured that deadweight hurt guys. underachievers. old guys, elvis is the rule in our case there.... should not stand in the way of a kids development,. in my opinion. ward will start and end things injured because that is just who he is and after four plus years. i am puzzled by some who do not get that,

Ward is an insurance policy as the only healthy veteran CB on the roster.

Mabin fits the mold of what the 49ers want in an outside corner. It will be interesting if he can step forward like they hoped. Witherspoon, Moore, and Mabin are all long athletic burners. Moseley the UDFA is 5'11" with a 4.4 40. Then there is McFadden, who fits the type perfectly in every way EXCEPT speed. It's a tough call, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up something other than a CB.

Good thing with a bunch of these guys we drafted and brought in as UDFA's, is that we can experiment with them, and see which positions they should play for us. Obviously they will try pretty much everyone at a CB spot, and find the best ones, then we will look to see who can back up which safety spots. I like this bunch of guys, and I'm looking forward to seeing our secondary built on youth.

Looking at this depth chart made me realize just how bare the cupboard was at DB. I knew we had little behind Witherspoon, but good grief. It was looking really bad. Hopefully our DBs can make up for what we don't have in a speed rush.

Yeah, last year Lynch cleared out some of our DB's, and then this year, Johnson+Reid are FA's. I like that we took on a bunch of CB/S types in the draft and UDFA to help solidify our secondary. Tartt getting his extension is good, because Colbert+Tartt could be a good combo back there for quite a while. Witherspoon hopefully continues to progress with Sherman on the other side, plus having Sherman here to mentor some of these young guys should be a huge bonus.

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Looking at this depth chart made me realize just how bare the cupboard was at DB. I knew we had little behind Witherspoon, but good grief. It was looking really bad. Hopefully our DBs can make up for what we don't have in a speed rush.

I think we have speed on edge, they just haven't proved themselves consistently. I'm hoping Jerry and Marsh emerge kinda like Goodwin and Taylor/Kittle.

Elvis got 6.5 sacks last year.. You gotta think he's still a FA for a reason. If Jerry/Marsh combine for 15 sacks, I think that could mean they did their jobs. They just got to push the QB in the pocket so Buck/Thomas can do damage and if the QB doesn't climb hopefully get some pressures/sacks.