Originally posted by BoldRedandGold:
Originally posted by dj43:
Originally posted by 9ers4eva:
They are for sure top 10 in pass blocking.
Run blocking is among bottom half somewhere.
Here is a summary based on current PFF ratings:
Trent Williams and McKivitz are both in the top 4 of all tackles in run blocking. Penei Sewell and Tristan Wirfs are the other two. Elite company for sure. McK is high average PP, Trent is above average (his hammy is slowing him)
Puni has improved a lot once he got healthy He is now high average in both PP and RB.
Burford struggles in PP - replacement grade. Below average in RB.
Brendel is high average RB. Has improved PP a lot from early season. His overall PP rating is not indicative of his current play.
Burford is the weak link. He has had some good performances but others stink. Can't have a pulling guard that is not consistent if you want to run well.
All this is saying is that the "he would be so good with better blocking" argument is a lie. He has two elite run blockers two high average run blockers and burford.
Nobody is asking for 5 ypc. A respectable 4.1-4.2 would be okay. Even average rbs are going to have more than 3 runs for 20 yards in a season. Especially getting 300+ carries
Guys a great receiver but should only be getting the occasional carry on 3rd downs at this point is his career.
The stats show it. The eye test shows that he's lost a step also and isn't hitting the hole or being as decisive as he was.
Everything else is just cope or denial.
The season should be viewed as two halves. The first half of the year there were multiple reasons why the running game was not working. To wit; Connor Colby was not at all ready to be a starter but Burford was not ready to play and Bartch was injured again. Puni was only a shadow of his 2024 season as he too had an injury. Pass protection was not great but it is easier to PP than run block due to the coordination needed for Kyle's scheme and that was the way it played out. The results reflected all those issues as CMC had very little room.
As the season has gone on, the OL got better but opposing defenses also began playing the 49ers differently due to the lack of a downfield passing game. 8-man boxes with only a single safety deeper than 8 yards became the norm. Opposing DCs drew a circle around CMC's name and said, "we must stop him at all costs." They committed all their resources to that goal...and they did well. In the few times we have seen BRob carry the ball, he was pretty much shut down as well. It was all about defensed adjusting to take away the run threat.
Shanahan's response was to feature CMC more in the passing game, and his twitch still showed in how he ran his routes. (This morning on KNBR they were talking him being one of the greatest catchers of the ball of all time.) You don't get open in tight windows like he does if you have lost your quickness.
The offense has felt the loss of BA from the very beginning. The threat of YAC from his ability to get separation early was no longer play. And, as we all know, Pearsall was still recovering from his gun shot wound and by the time he was healthy, BA was not.
We hear talk about complimentary football, and that goes deeper than just offense/defense/special teams. It applies to the offense playing complimentary football as well. One dimensional offenses struggle, and we have seen that all year.
So, you can hold your opinion of CMC if you want, and it may prove to be true in the end. Maybe he has "lost a step." For me, I have not seen enough to make such a declarative statement.