August 14th, 2009
Of course, we should never read too much into preseason games. Two years ago, when the Niners hosted the Broncos in the preseason, Alex Smith looked pretty good, and that very regular season was remembered for Smith’s struggles, shoulder injury, and the horribly failed experiment of Jim Hostler as offensive coordinator. Having said that, what we know of Mike Nolan as a defensive coach, is that he had a goal to always shut down the running game early. This should create opportunities in the passing game.
Even though he was an awful head coach, Nolan’s idea to shut down the opposing running game early was a good idea. The problem was that his offense spent such little time on the field, his defense eventually became tired, and would give up a lot of rushing yards in the second half. Nolan’s philosophy also exposed areas in his pass defense.
As the Broncos defensive coordinator, we have to believe that Nolan will be looking to stack the line of scrimmage to stop the 49ers ground attack. He might have a good opportunity to do so considering the Jimmy Raye led 49er attack so desperately wants to establish a ground game this year, and also because Frank Gore won’t play. In Denver, there is so much pessimism regarding the Broncos defense, because of their terrible performance a year ago (3rd worst in the NFL in points allowed), there is no doubt that Nolan has motivation to restore fans’ faith in the team. Nolan also wants his defense to feel better about themselves. I doubt another defense in the NFL has gone through as much criticism and scrutiny as the Broncos defense has in the last year. Stopping the run, and forcing the Niners to beat them through the air, may be the best possible way for Nolan to restore his players’ confidence.
For these reasons, I’m not going to go overboard if the Niners tear up the Broncos pass defense tonight, however, there would be some (emphasize on “some”) cause for concern if Shaun Hill and/or Alex Smith aren’t effective throwing the ball. This is still a Broncos defense that is very short on talent. Former Niner Ronnie Fields is probably Denver’s best defensive lineman (as a nose tackle), and we know that Fields would have trouble making the 49ers team this year. (And, it’s not like the Niners have great defensive lineman on their roster.) For all the struggles the Niners have in the pass-rush department, the Broncos have more problems when it comes to finding true pass-rushers in their 3-4 defense. If you factor in the Broncos are trying to work in eight new starters on defense, they obviously should have some issues establishing cohesiveness.
Putting all of this together, Hill and Smith should have success throwing the ball tonight even though this is the first preseason game under a new coordinator. If they do throw the ball well, it won’t mean the Niners will have a good offense. If they don’t move the ball, however, we’re going to have some definite questions heading into the next couple of preseason games.
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Categories: San Francisco 49ers |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Alex Smith, Broncos, Chaz Schilens, Darren McFadden, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Frank Gore, Giants, Gina Carano, Isaac Bruce, JaMarcus Russell, Jimmy Raye, Michael Crabtree, Michael Vick, Mike Nolan, Nomar Garciaparra, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Ron Wotus, Ronnie Fields, Shaun Hill, Tim Lincecum | No Comments
July 31st, 2009
I’m as excited as anyone else when it comes to Michael Crabtree’s potential, and the chance that he becomes an elite NFL receiver. However, when you consider his agent, Eugene Parker, and his ridiculous demands that Crabtree should be paid like a top three pick, the Niners should wait this out.
There shouldn’t be much of a sense of urgency on the team’s part because this is the deepest receiving corps the 49ers have had in several years. With Isaac Bruce and Josh Morgan expected to be the starters, plus capable starters such as Brandon Jones, Arnaz Battle, and Jason Hill all waiting in the wings, Crabtree is more of a luxury than a need in 2009. Sure, Crabtree has the highest upside of any 49er receiver and still has potential for a big-time rookie season (such as the player he’s been most often compared to, Anquan Boldin), but it’s very unlikely for a receiver to blow anyone’s socks off in their initial season. (Did I just use the phrase, “blow anyone’s socks off”? I think I’m the first person under the age of 70 to use that phrase.) It’s even more unlikely since he has such a long ways to go on the depth chart.
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Categories: San Francisco 49ers |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Brad Penny, Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy, Cal, Charlie Manuel, Darrius Heyward-Bey, David Ortiz, Devean George, Eugene Parker, Freddy Sanchez, Giants, Jeff Tedford, Jonathan Sanchez, Kevin Frandsen, Marco Belinelli, Michael Crabtree, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary, Nnamdi Asomugha, Orlando Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Stanford, Tim Alderson, Vernon Davis, Warriors, Willie McCovey | No Comments
May 21st, 2009
If the Niners sign Dre Bly and actually give him a significant role, they might as well give up on the season. He sucks that bad. For a team that is hoping for a postseason berth, where one win or loss could make a difference between making the playoffs or missing it, Bly honestly could be that difference.
I have quite a few friends who are Bronco fans, and they all told me about how great the Broncos cornerbacks were after they acquired Bly from Detroit, and I was quick to point out that he was completely overrated and gives up a lot of big plays. A few years later, and after countless huge passing plays by the opposition, they couldn’t wait to run him out of town. He’s a risk-taker who, more often than not, winds up on the wrong side of those risks. While the Niners have a better defense than Denver, they do have one of the same problems when it comes to a lack of a consistent pass rush. Bly was burned repeatedly last year, and I don’t think that would change with a Niners team that has trouble getting to the quarterback.
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Categories: San Francisco 49ers |
Tags: 49ers, Aaron Rowand, Barry Zito, Brandon Crawford, Brett Anderson, Chris McAllister, Derrick Burgess, Dre Bly, JaMarcus Russell, Jerry Rice, Josh Morgan, Kevin Correia, Matt Cain, Michael Vick, Mike McKenzie, Mike Singletary, Nick Montana, Pacman Jones, Pat Misch, Patrick Surtain, Raiders, Randy Winn, Ryan Sweeney, Scot McCloughan, Scott Hairston, Sergio Romo, Tarell Brown, Tim Alderson, Tim Lincecum, Tom Cable, Vernon Davis, Vince McMahon | No Comments
April 27th, 2009
(YouTube videos of the 49ers and Raiders picks are available after you click “more”)
The 49ers and Raiders leave the draft with holes that still need to be filled. The Niners still need an offensive tackle and pass-rusher, while the Raiders still need interior defensive linemen and offensive tackle help. I have no idea what they are going to do about these holes between now and August, but we might as well evaluate the guys that will be here, starting with the Niners:
Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
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Categories: Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Bear Pascoe, Bob Geren, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Myers, Brian Wilson, Cris Carter, Curtis Taylor, Dana Eveland, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Eric Chavez, Evgeni Nabokov, Giants, Glen Coffee, Jarron Gilbert, Jeremy Roenick, Joe Thornton, Kurt Suzuki, Louis Murphy, Madison Bumgarner, Manny Ramirez, Michael Crabtree, Mike Mitchell. Matt Schaughnessy, Nate Davis, Raiders, Ricky Jean-Francois, Scott McKillop, Sharks, Slade Norris, Steve Holm, Stryker Sulak, Tim Alderson, Travis Ishikawa, Trent Dilfer, Worrell Williams, Zach Follett | No Comments
April 25th, 2009
5:51 – I’m done for today. We’ll have more tomorrow morning. I’ll come back and update if the Niners or Raiders get back into the second round.
PICK 49 – SEAHAWKS – Max Unger, C, Oregon
PICK 48 – BRONCOS – Darcel McBath, S, Texas Tech
5:43 – Kiper had Mitchell as the 73rd best safety in the draft. Unbelievable. A major, major reach. Even more of a reach than Heyward-Bey. The Raiders could use safety help, but again take someone who they could have had much, much later. I don’t like the first two rounds of this draft. Nothing along the offensive and defensive lines. Expect futility to continue in Oakland.
PICK 47 – RAIDERS – Michael Mitchell, DB, Ohio
PICK 46 – TEXANS – Connor Barwin, OLB/DE, Cincinnati
PICK 45 – GIANTS – Clint Sintim, OLB, Virginia
PICK 44 – DOLPHINS – Pat White, QB/WR, West Virginia
5:25 – Apparently, the Niners also give up a fourth rounder and get Carolina’s first-rounder next year. I don’t understand why the Niners have to give up a fourth-rounder, too. We just saw the Broncos trade their 2010 first rounder for the 37th overall pick. Carolina’s first rounder in 2010 will certainly be a worse pick than Denver’s, yet the Niners throw in a fourth-rounder, too.
If Brown becomes a stud, the Niners are going to hear it from their fans. It was an opportunity to get a potential first-round guy in the second round.
PICK 43 – PANTHERS – Everette Brown, OLB/DE, Florida State
5:20 – Niners trade pick to Carolina. This should be interesting.
5:18 – Niners are up. I’d like to see them take Everette Brown, but Maiocco doesn’t think they will. He says a number of teams have third round grades on Brown. Connor Barwin, Jarron Gilbert, or William Beatty should also be considered.
PICK 42 – BILLS – Jairus Byrd, CB, Oregon
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Categories: Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers |
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April 25th, 2009
(We will have a live running draft diary that will update throughout the first two rounds today. There, we will address the potential second round picks for the Niners and Raiders. )
Building on our theme from yesterday, the 49ers and Raiders have too many holes along the offensive and defensive lines to worry about much of anything else.
49ers
Best case scenario for 10th pick:
B.J. Raji, NT, Boston College
Raji would be perfect as a nose in the 49ers 3-4. The other good 3-4 defenses have had the anchor in the middle of their defenses. The Ravens have Haloti Ngata, the Steelers with Casey Hampton, the Patriots’ Vince Wilfork, and the Chargers’ Jamal Williams. No one is going to put Aubrayo Franklin in the group. The Niners need a dominant nose. Think of how much better Patrick Willis could be with a nose who occupies a couple of blockers at the point of attack. Raji is huge, strong, and very athletic for his size. He will be someone’s NT for the next several seasons.
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Categories: Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers |
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April 24th, 2009
Nobody knows whether Mike Singletary or Tom Cable are going to end up being good NFL coaches. 49ers and Raiders fans, however, can feel pretty good about each coach’s ability to motivate his team. Singletary and Cable are obviously NFL tough guys, who demand intensity for every minute of every game. It’s obvious that both coaches prefer a very physical brand of football (Singletary has been very outspoken on this), and players from both teams enjoy playing for them. That’s important. What is more important, of course, is finding the right talent to play for these coaches. And if you want to be an extremely physical football team that imposes its will on the opposition, then you have to address all of your problems up front.
Addressing those problems, of course, starts in the draft. It may be cliche and something we hear too much from NFL analysts and broadcasters, but the team that wins the battle in the trenches usually wins the game. If you look at some of the best teams in the NFL, they take care of their needs up front before anything else. The Giants, just 14 months removed from a Super Bowl, have made a point of bringing in multiple good defensive linemen every season. Depth in that area has been such a priority that they have overcome injuries to their best players, such as Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan, over the last few years. This offseason, when people already thought the Giants had one of the best defensive lines in the league, they went out and signed one of the best on the free agent market, Chris Canty. The Steelers have had mainstays, like Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith, that they have found in the draft to anchor their 3-4 defense. The Patriots still have first-round draftees Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork start on the D-Line in their 3-4 defense. The middle of the Ravens defense starts with nose guard, Haloti Ngata, a first round pick two years ago. (more…)
Categories: Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Sharks |
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April 15th, 2009
We already knew the opponents, but the NFL released the full schedules, with dates, yesterday. It’s tough to fully analyze the schedules because teams change from year-to-year. At this time a year ago, fans might have been excited to see the Falcons or Dolphins on the schedule. Now, of course, that means playing a playoff team. For a lot of teams, it’s tough to gauge which teams will do well and which won’t. Right now, there are fans who are happy to see the 49ers and Raiders on their teams’ schedules.
Let’s start with the Niners. As I’ve mentioned before, the NFL bugs me with too many early kickoff starts for most west coast teams. The Niners have six 10am kickoffs this year. Compared to the division rivals, Arizona has only four (and three of those four will be 11am Arizona time) and Seattle also has six. (The Rams don’t matter because their normal kickoff start in St. Louis is 12pm CST local time.) The stats show that early kickoffs do affect west coast teams, and it isn’t fair to the Niners or Seahawks to have six of them, particularly, when Arizona only has four. As for the rest of the schedule, it appears to me that the 49ers will have to get off to a good start and finish the season on a good note as well, because the middle of the schedule is very difficult. In Weeks 7-12 (Games 6-11), they play the entire AFC South, and also have a road game in Green Bay, where they haven’t played well in several years. There is a home game in there against the Bears as well, who of course, have Super Bowl aspirations now that they have Jay Cutler. Their fifth game isn’t easy either, as they play the Falcons coming off of a bye. Basically, it means the Niners will have to do really well in their divisional games. Their divisional record should probably be 5-1, and no worse than 4-2, if they’re going to have a chance in 2009.
As for the Raiders, they also need to have a very good divisional record, and have three
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Categories: Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers |
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April 3rd, 2009
While many teams, including the 49ers, entered the offseason with major questions at quarterback, two teams solved their QB problems. With yesterday’s Cutler trade and the Cassel trade that went down a month ago, Bears fans and Chiefs fans are ecstatic. Their issues at the position, that have been around for years, have apparently been solved. Say what you will about the heavy price the Bears paid, but they don’t have to draft a quarterback in the top four rounds of the draft for another 6-8 years.
Meanwhile, 49er fans can only hope that Shaun Hill or Alex Smith emerge. While it’s possible, it is also unlikely. The Bears mortgaged a lot of their future, while the Chiefs sacrificed very little. Still, when Cutler and Cassel have success in the next few years, 49er fans will be asking, “Why didn’t we get one of those guys?”. The only thing that can stop those questions is if Hill or Smith lead the team to success, or Scot McCloughan finds a QB in the draft in the next two years who looks like a player.
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Categories: San Francisco 49ers |
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April 2nd, 2009
I’ll be the first to admit that, while I think I know a lot about football, evaluating quarterbacks is not a strong suit. The same can be said about a lot of NFL general managers, as there are many draft misses on quarterbacks every year. Even the current NFL quarterbacks are tough to gauge. Take the Broncos Jay Cutler. Cutler has proven he can put up solid yardage and touchdown numbers, and make a Pro Bowl. He hasn’t proven that he can cut down on turnovers, or lead his team to the playoffs. No one knows whether he can eventually be a Super Bowl winning quarterback. What he do know, based on his play in the NFL thus far and because so many teams have trouble at the position, he is still one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL at 25 years old. We also know he has played on a team that has had a terrible defense. The question remains, surrounding the right teammates and coaches, if he can be the clutch quarterback that most teams want to have on their roster.
One thing I do know, is the 49ers shouldn’t judge Cutler as a brat or malcontent just because of the situation that has arose in Denver. While Cutler was initially upset about Mike Shanahan’s firing, he did his best to embrace new coach Josh McDaniels. He was making an effort of going to the Broncos facilities for a few weeks watching film, and trying to learn McDaniels’ offense. All of a sudden, people at the facility started acting different around him, and weren’t looking him in the eye. Days later, he learns that he was being offered as bait to bring Matt Cassel to Denver. When he confronts McDaniels, the new coach says he never tried to trade Cutler. But Cutler, and his agent, after asking around the league, knew for a fact that McDaniels was lying. Of course, a few days later, McDaniels eventually admits to Cutler he tried to trade him.
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Categories: Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers |
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