2011 49ers Grades: Frank Gore

But only because of wear and tear.

Struggled with nagging injuries again, but was Gore-ing defenses once again when healthy. Clearly lost a step and wasn’t able to get past 4th gear when he broke into the open running through defensive backfields. Got chased down from behind more than ever before in the past.

Dropped a few more passes than we’d all like this year, but he wasn’t targeted as much as in years past. Perhaps it was tough to get into rythym catching passes. He was “clutch” though in catching some passes on some critical drives in the playoffs.

I agree with the pass catching comments, but since Sing would never think about throwing to a RB and Gore had hardly been targeted in over a year, plus the lack of pre-season, I can give him a pass on that. It’s not like he has always been bad at catching and he seemed to improve a bit later on.

As for wear-and-tear. Again, I agree. But I think that will actually be better this coming year. Last year, again without a pre-season, the offense was well behind and had to rely a LOT on a power run game initially. That took it’s toll on Frank. I suspect they should be able to be much more balanced in addition to utilizing Hunter more, which should allow Frank to be stronger and healthier throughout the season.

Bryan Regan anyone? Anyway, I give an 8 because 1200 yds made me pretty happy and was a bit unexpected for me. If not for the injuries and dropped passes he could have had a 10 type of year.

I love Frank, he’s one of my favorite Niners and definitely my favorite Niner running back of all time. I don’t think he has more than one year left in the tank though and I hope the FO drafts a new Frank this year. I’d love to see our future backfield of Hunter and New Frank take shape sooner rather than later.

would have been 9 were it not for the poor pass catching compared to his past years.

I’m curious why people think that he’s “clearly declining”. Sure, he’s slower than he was at his prime 3-4 seasons ago. But his past season was better than the previous one, and he came through without any major injuries. if used properly (smaller load, more effective blocking), Gore can easily have two more productive seasons (but maybe not 100% for the full season, very few backs do that in the league these days), barring any serious injuries. He’s past his prime, but I don’t see clear signs of decline when he’s playing healthy.

The biggest problem in the running game is not that Gore is past his prime, but that Niners don’t have an effective short-yardage back. This season finally confirmed to me that Dixon is strictly a special teams player. If Rathman cannot get Dixon to stop dancing in the backfield after two seasons, hes never going to.

Still has excellent vision and patience, but his wheels are about falling off and he is patient when he shouldn’t be.

I can’t remember how many times I was screaming at my stream — YOU CAN’T RUN IN PLACE WAITING FOR A HOLE ON A RUN BETWEEN THE DECORUM GUARDS!!!

You hit the hole hard and push it or you counter step at the handoff if you don’t like what you see and head off tackle quickly — there is nothing waiting for you behind the guards behind your own line but a 2 yard loss, and we got way too damn many of those.

And let me say why: Expectations, Importance, and Milestones.

Frank Gore is not the running back that he once was. His ground game has been treading water if not slowly declining since 2006. He hasn’t had a true “next gear” since 2008. He hasn’t been healthy enough to play in more than 14 games since 2007. He was just coming off of one of his most discouraging seasons in 2010 (missed 5 games, lowest career almost everything).

So looking at 2011, my expectations were something like 13 games, 900 yards, a handful of touchdowns, and a clear message that the days of Frank Gore: Feature Back were either going to be over before the first game of 2012 or we were going to be in trouble as a team.

And none of that happened. Harbaugh managed his touches and Frank stayed healthier than I ever could have expected. He had one of his two best seasons on the ground since 2006. He wasn’t Old Frank, but he was good enough to be the keystone runner on a playoff team that was for good reason not lauded for its passing game. He made me think of Frank Gore being a featured member of this team for two or more additional seasons, and I had pretty much given up on that possibility last season.

And his being Not Old Frank But Still Good Frank was extremely important this year. Can you imagine the uncertainty that would have been this offense had Frank been anything less than our old reliable? Could Hunter stand up to a feature role as a rookie? How much Anthony Dixon would we have needed to see? And what about the impact on pass blocking? Frank Gore Being Frank Gore allowed Harbaugh to do all of the things that he did early in the year. It allowed him to bring the passing game along slowly. It allowed him to work Hunter into the offense as he kept getting better rather than all at once. Gore wasn’t great—he was even a disappointment in some corners of the game (declining as a receiver and a situational runner)—but he made so many things possible that would have been completely up in the air otherwise. And I think that was huge.

Lastly: The Milestones. This wasn’t, as I’ve said, a great year for Frank Gore’s game. It was a good year. It was a better than expected year. But not a 9 year by the numbers. Maybe not even quite an 8 year. But it was a great great great year for Frank Gore. The 1200 yards (a number he hadn’t hit since 2006), the franchise records, the playoff appearance and the playoff win. Frank Gore might have just had the most milestone-filled year of his life, and it’s the personal side of his season that turns a 7-borderline-8 into a clear 9 for me. This was a year filled with moments that Frank Gore will recount with a smile on his face for the rest of his life. That deserves a 9 for me. May we all have years like that.

and get some of his speed back.

Wasn’t reliable in any facet of the game except finally allowing carries to be split. Kendall Hunter who is a #2 was a better option more often than not. Couldn’t get tough yards when we needed them. Dropped balls left and right. The only reason he doesn’t get a 1 is that he had a few redeeming games in weeks 4 – 8 when we played the soft underbelly of run defenses (Cleveland excluded which was his best game all year)

Pass pro
Great yards behind average line play and obvious passing formations.
Got yardage when there was nothing there, and shows he has better vision than hunter.

What kills me is that the same people backing Alex with the harbaugh knows what he’s doing fail to realize Hunter wasn’t ready for more duties. If it was better to have hunter in, he would’ve been in. Furthermore he cannot be a full time back without improving his vision by leaps and bounds.