2010 49ers Roster Projections: Outside Linebackers

This year’s position battles are going to be fought to the bitter end. With so much talent on both sides of the ball, it is going to be like American Gladiators! It may come down to the final preseason game for some of these positions! I think the most important position battles are on Defense, but there are a couple on Offense that are very interesting. WR, RB, #2 QB, and of COARSE Offensive LINE are just some of the battles that will be interesting to watch throughout training camp and preseason. I am excited to see if Ted Ginn Jr. can find his catching gloves and reel in passes that he was dropping in the past. He’s fast enough and agile enough to get open. He has to catch the balls thrown his way to succeed. How he catches the ball could go a long way toward keeping defenses honest by having that down field threat that we did not have before. Ginn doesn’t have to catch every pass, but he has to be a THREAT to catch passes down field to keep the defenses honest. I am excited to see how Ginn does in preseason.

On Defense, the Niners are looking to generate more pass rush to make up for the fact that they dont have a DB group that are certain to make the Pro Bowl. The Niners have Dashawn Goldson and Nate Clements, but other than that, they have a very pedestrian backfield. If the Niners can turn up the heat with the pass rush, it will make their DB’s look better. Besides, opposing QB’s got far too much time to throw the ball last year. Imagine what our season would have been like if we had been able to get a pass rush on Farve during that last series where he drove the field! He sat back and played catch like a Grandpa throwing to his Grandsons. If we could have brought the heat that last series, then we would have won that game. Sure there are other factors, but the bottom line is the Niners DB’s were severely torched by Farve because we had little or no pass rush. In fact, ALL of the games we lost (with the exception of the Titans game perhaps) were lost because the Niners offense was unproductive, the Defense was left to win the game and spent too much time on the field, and by the 4th quarter the Defense had nothing left in the tank and were beaten by the PASS.

Our Defense is perhaps the best in the league against the run. But unless we can generate a more productive pass rush and field a more athletic unit in the defensive backfield, teams already have the blueprint on how to beat our defense. The Offense as a unit must play better in order to allow our defense to have something left in the tank in the 4th. The Offense must cut down the 3 and outs or one first down and outs, or crucial turnovers on our own side of the 50 that they had over and over last year. The Offense MUST be more productive and eat up more clock so the Defense can catch their breath.. BUT, the Defense also must pressure the QB on passing downs. Not necessarily sacks, but hurries and pressures that cause turnovers and incompletions. Along with the pass pressure, the DB’s need to stay with their assignments until the play is over. So the position battles for Safety, Cornerback, Linebackers, and Defensive Linemen are going to be crucial to the Niners success this year. We MUST have MORE pass rush from our front 3 and Linebackers without having to blitz! We got burned WAY too much blitzing, and opposing QB’s got WAY too much time to throw the ball. If Alex Smith had the kind of time we allowed opposing QB’s last year, he would have had a much more productive year. I think we have talent at DL, LB, and DB’s to get the job done. How that talent works together and how the defense plays as a whole will be the key to their success. And I believe the improvement of the Offensive Line and the Offense as a whole will eat up the clock and give our defense the rest they need to stay sharp the whole game. The linchpin would appear to be the Rookie Offensive Linemen creating holes for the running backs, and a pocket for Smith to make crucial passes to keep the chains moving. The Offense MUST be able to move the ball for the Niners to succeed as a whole. The running game in the second half of games will need to be a mainstay and must be able to get tough yards when they are needed. I believe if you give Frank Gore holes to daylight, Frank will turn those plays into first downs! But even Frank cant succeed consistently against an 8 man defensive front. The Passing game MUST be able to keep the opposing Defenses honest!!! Defenses must not be allowed to stay in an 8 man front and not be exploited with the pass. If they bring 8 men to the box, the Niners Offense MUST be able to hit passes for first downs! This is Alex Smith’s year to SHINE! In the past, Smith has not had any receivers who could get open or catch the ball. And when you factor in the fact that he was running for his life on every passing play because of the shoddy Offensive Line pass blocking, Smith was lucky to just throw the ball out of bounds as he did far too often last season. But this year He has the weapons, the running game, and now a young improving Offensive Line. If Smith can’t make it happen with the weapons he has now, then it is time to draft HIGH for a QB in the next draft. There are QB’s in this league that succeed with much less than Smith has now in regards to talent on Offense. Smith has to STEP UP HIS GAME this season! GO NINERS !!

thinking like a lawyer already, nice