FanPost

49ers Mock Offseason 1.0

Hi everyone, so this is my attempt to guess what the 49ers will do this offseason.

What the 9ers need to address during the offseason.

This past season, the 49ers were incredibly close to winning it all, and it has been that way the past three years. The sad thing is, we have been one or two key pieces away from winning it all the past 3 years. For instance, had we had a deep threat that could clear space in the middle of the field, maybe Kaep would have been able to hit Crab and Boldin more often. Furthermore, had we had a monster receiver who could high-point balls, we might have been able to complete the fade pass the past two seasons. Of course, I realize these are all superlatives, but they illustrate the point that we are a couple playmakers away from becoming a dynasty team.

Unfortunately, with the FA losses this season, we will need to not only add these playmakers, but will also need to maintain/improve the level of play on some key positions.

To illustrate, these are the 9er FA (http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/) :

1) Anquan Boldin

-We are going to resign him-No way we don't.

2) Donte Whitner

-Will not be resigned

3) Jonathan Goodwin

-Will not be resigned

4) Mario Manningham

-Will not be resigned

5) Phil Dawson

-We are going to resign him-He was pretty much our offense...

6) Tarell Brown

-We might resign him due to his down year and strong FA CB pool

7) Colt McCoy

-Will not be resigned

8) Anthony Dixon

-Will not be resigned

9) Demarcus Dobbs

-Will not be resigned

10) Eric Wright

-We will not resign him.

11) Kassim Osgood

-We are going to resign him-he was one of the best ST players this year

12) Michael Wilhoite

-We are going to resign him-great backup and ST player

13 Perrish Cox

-We are not going to resign him.

This results in a roster that consists of these players:

QB: 1) Kaepernick

2) McLeod Bethel-Thompson

FB: 1) Bruce Miller

RB: 1) Frank Gore

2) Marcus Lattimore

3) Kendall Hunter

4) LaMichael James

WR:1)Michael Crabtree

2)Anquan Boldin

3)Quinton Patton

4)Jon Baldwin

TE: 1) Vernon Davis

2) Vance Mcdonald

3) Garrett Celek

OT: 1) Joe Staley

2) Anthony Davis

3) Luke Marquardt

OG: 1) Alex Boone

2) Mike Iupati

3) Adam Snyder

C: 1)Daniel Kilgore

2) Joe Looney

NT: 1)Glenn Dorsey

2) Ian Williams

DT: 1)Justin Smith

2) Ray Mcdonald

3) Tony Jerod-Eddie

4) Tank Carradine

5) Quinton Dial

OLB: 1) Ahmad Brooks

2) Aldon Smith

3) Corey Lemonier

4) Dan Skuta

ILB: 1) Patrick Willis

2) Navarro Bowman

3) Nick Moody

S: 1) Eric Reid

2) Craig Dhal

3) C.J. Spillman

CB: 1)Tramaine Brock

2) Chris Culliver

3) Carlos Rodgers

4) Darryl Morris

P: Andy Lee

K: Phil Dawson

LS: McDermott

With a roster like this, we pretty much have an elite team. However, a few positions that we need to improve are:

1) Safety-Need to replace Whitner

2) Cornerbacks-Need tall and talented Seattle like corners

3) Center-Need someone who can start/compete with Kilgore

4) Wide Receiver-Need Deep threat

I put these priorities in this order because...

1) Safety

- The reason why Seattle's secondary is so good is because of it SAFTIES not its CB. The fact is, teams cannot throw into the middle of the field against Seattle because of the two hard hitting, ball-hawking safeties roaming the center of the field. As a result, teams can only beat Seattle with deep passes (passes that go more that 15-20 yards) or if teams have a bruising running back (like Frank Gore). The 9ers should also try to construct a similar secondary due to the success that Seattle has had. Especially since we already have half our own hard-hitting, ball-hawking safety in Eric Reid.

2) Cornerbacks

-The 9ers need to assemble a group of good cornerbacks that have great size. The fact is, small CB just don't work out anymore, and this is why...small corner backs can do everything right, and at the last minute, they can be beat by a ball that they are just physically unable to defend. We saw this happen many times with Brown. On the other hand, tall CB can do everything wrong for most of the play, but if they can stay with the receiver, they can defend the pass, since they match up with the receiver.

Now, I'm not saying that we should take size over talent, but we definitely need to factor size into the criteria for a CB that we want to draft.

3) Center

-Pretty self-explanatory...do we really trust Kilgore to be an anchor on the O-line?

4) Wide Receiver

-The fact is that we have 2 great possession receivers in Crabtree and Boldin. Both are probably going to stick around with the team next season. In Crabtree's case, probably for the next 5-6 years and for Boldin, the next two. As a result, we need to get a receiver that has a similar skill set and will be able to learn from Boldin. We also have Patton, just in case Crab decides to walk...

-The other need is a deep threat. If Seattle is able to play their ILB, Safeties and their CB in the 10-15 yard range of the field 80% of the game, when Vernon is in line, blocking, then we are not going to be able to complete any passes. This is why we need a guy that can consistently stretch the field, and can open up space for our technician WR's to work and for Gore to run, since the Safeties would have to play 20-30 yards out, instead of 15-20.

If the 49rs able to address these needs, then we will be able to become a dynasty team, that could possibly win multiple championships for the next 5-10 years.

How the 9ers will fill these needs:

With the 9ers up against the Cap Limit, these are a few key moves that I think the 9ers will do, in terms of Cap Space. - We currently have $8 Million in space

1) Cut Carlos Rodgers

-Our Secondary was way better without him. Just look at the GB and Carolina games.

-We would save around $6 million in Cap space by doing this.

2) Cut Jon Baldwin

-He is not our deep threat and with Patton's emergence, he does not help this team.

-We would save around $1.5 million in Cap space by cutting him.

3) Extend Gore

-Gore is still a top 5 back in this league and is 3/4ths of our offense. However, he is on his last contract. We should keep him around for as long as possible because he is a great mentor for the younger backs and is very reliable.

-If we could extend him for another year and reduce the Cap hit by $3 Million, we would be in a great position.

This would leave the 49ers with around $18.5 Million in Cap space this season.

-However, with that said, we can NOT use all of it due to the players we need to extend. Rather, the 49ers should rebuild through the draft.

Players that we should sign during FA:

1) Boldin, Dawson, Osgood, Wilhoite

-These guys are our biggest priorities.

1) Kenny Britt or Tiquan Underwood

-These two players can stretch the field, but we only need one. Plus, Underwood's hair is pretty sick.

2) Louis Delmas--Would result in cutting Craig Dhal

-Need a good safety of mentor the one we are going to draft.

3) Will Blackmon--If we are unable to sign Tarelle Brown

-Cheap, good CB that is big and has great ball skills.

4) Geoff Schwartz

-He is an above average starter that will sign for a cheap, long term contract. Would give the 9ers a solid fallback plan if Iupati is not extended.

All four of these players could potentially play a key role on the 49ers, but should be regulated to a backup role. If any of these guys end up starting, that means that our draft picks did not pan out, or we really got a steal in FA. For the most part, with the exception of Anquan Boldin, we should be able to sign these guys very cheap. We can probably sign Geoff Schwartz, Blackmon, Delmas, Underwood, Dawson, Osgood and Wilhoite, combined, for around $10-15 million. Anquan Boldin will probably cost a 2-year $8 million dollar deal. This would put us around $1-5 Million under the cap for this year.

The Draft:

These are the picks the 49ers have in this year's draft: This is from Fooch's article

http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/1/24/5342196/49ers-draft-picks-2014-cam-johnson-trade-2015

1. First round: own - No. 30
2. Second round: Chiefs (Alex Smith trade) - No. 24 (No. 56 overall)
3. Second round: own - No. 29 (No. 61 overall)
4. Third round: Titans (2013 draft trade) - No. 13 (No. 77 overall)
5. Third round: own - No. 30 (No. 94 overall)
6. Third round: Compensatory based on Dashon Goldson departure and free agency equation
7. Fourth round: own - No. 29
8. Fifth round: own - No. 30
9. Sixth round: own - No. 29
10. Seventh round: Saints (Parys Haralson trade) - No. 27
11. Seventh round: Panthers (Colin Jones trade) - No. 28
12. Seventh round: own - No. 30

Based on this, the 49ers have 12 picks and there is no way that we use all 12 picks, since we only need a few key impact players. As a result, we will probably be trading away multiple picks to acquire picks for next year.

Since it is impossible to predict trades that will occur, I used the FanSpeak Simulator to run a mock draft and did not incorporate any trades. (http://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/how.php)

My mock draft (1.0):

1. First round: Calvin Pryor-SS-Louisville

-He is a hard-hitting safety that would complement Eric Reid really well. Pryor has great size at 6'2 and he also has phenomenal ball skills.


2. Second round: Stanley Jean-Baptiste-CB-Nebraska

-He is a tall cornerback with great ball skills. He could possibly be the next Richard Sherman.


3. Second round: Jordan Matthews-WR-Vanderblit

-He is a great receiver, who would go much higher if he was faster. He is also Jerry Rice's cousin


4. Third round: Weston Richburg-C-Colorado State

-Great Center that could possible start from day 1.


5. Third round: Martavis Bryant-WR-Clemson

-Deep threat Wide Receiver that can win jump ball situations and be a major contributor.

***After these 5, the rest of the picks do not matter, and could be traded for draft capital next year. The players selected can also be changed up, so if you have any suggestions on how to improve the backend, fire away. The first 5 49er picks, however, could all be key contributors on the 49ers next season.***


6. Third round: Pierre Dessir-CB-Lindenwood OR Keith McGill-CB-Utah

7. Fourth round: Trade for 2015 3rd.

8. Fifth round: Trade for 2015 4th

9. Sixth round: Aaron Clovin-CB-Oklahoma

10. Seventh round: Connor Shaw-QB-South Carolina

11. Seventh round: Trade for 2015/2016 6th

12. Seventh round: Tyler Gaffney-RB-Stanford

What this draft would accomplish:

1) We would be able to assemble a safety duo that could be better than the one Seattle has. With both safeties being big, physical and having great ball skills, Eric Reid and Calvin Pryor would set the foundation for an elite secondary.

2) We will have a tall cornerback with tremendous ball skills in Stanley Jean-Babtiste. Added to the lineup of Brock and Culliver, he could easily become a stud and shore up the pass defense. Furthermore, Pierre Dessir is another large CB that has great coverage skills. In fact, there is no tape on him since no one threw his way during the past season. Dessir would be a player that would be developmental/backup that would be coached up. Finally, Aaron Clovin would be another medical redshirt type player. Had he not torn his ACL, he would have been a 2nd round selection. Infusing this talent into the 9ers secondary would shore up our Defense for years.

3) We would have a reliable center that could compete with Kilgore and probably win the starting Center job. If he lives up to his potential, he could become an anchor on our offensive line.

4) We would fix our wide receiver problem.

-Jordan Matthews kind of reminds me of Keennan Allan. Both receivers are not too fast, big targets and are possession receivers. However, Matthews put up better stats than Allan and was very consistent. Drafting him would give the 9ers a second receiver that could learn from Boldin and Crabtree and develop into a stud. Matthews is also 6'3 and would provide size to our receiving corps.

-Martavius Bryant is a 6'5, speedy wide receiver that catches the ball cleanly. He would be the deep threat that the 49ers need. He could consistently stretch the field and would be able to keep defenses honest. He would also be a great red zone target. Furthermore, this guy is just as good as Kelvin Benjamin, and would be a steal in the third round.

At the end of the day, if the 49ers are able to draft and sign these players, the final roster would look like this:

FINAL 53 Man Roster.

QB: 1) Kaepernick

2) Connor Shaw (Or any drafted QB)

FB: 1) Bruce Miller

RB: 1) Frank Gore

2) Marcus Lattimore

3) Kendall Hunter

4) LaMichael James

WR:1)Michael Crabtree

2)Anquan Boldin (FA)

3)Quinton Patton

4)Jordan Matthews (Draft)

5)Martavius Bryant (Draft)

6)Kassim Osgood (FA)

7) Kenny Britt / Tiquan Underwood (FA)

TE: 1) Vernon Davis

2) Vance Mcdonald

3) Garrett Celek

OT: 1) Joe Staley

2) Anthony Davis

3) Adam Snyder

OG: 1) Alex Boone

2) Mike Iupati

3) Geoff Schwartz

4) Joe Looney

C: 1)Daniel Kilgore

2) Weston Richburg (Draft)

NT: 1)Glenn Dorsey

2) Ian Williams

DT: 1)Justin Smith

2) Ray Mcdonald

3) Tony Jerod-Eddie

4) Tank Carradine

5) Quinton Dial

OLB: 1) Ahmad Brooks

2) Aldon Smith

3) Corey Lemonier

4) Dan Skuta

ILB: 1) Patrick Willis

2) Navarro Bowman

3) Michael Wilhoite

4) Nick Moody

S: 1) Eric Reid

2) Calvin Pryor (Draft)

3) Louis Delmas (FA)

4) C.J. Spillman

CB: 1)Tramaine Brock

2)Chris Culliver

3)Terrell Brown / Will Blackmon (FA)

4)Stanley Jean Babtiste (Draft)

5)Pierre Dessir (Draft)

6) Aaron Clovin (Draft) *******Would be on IR******

P: Andy Lee

K: Phil Dawson

LS: McDermott

Roster Count:

Offense: 26

Defense: 24

Special Teams: 3

With a roster like this, the 49ers would be able to bolster their strengths and would be able to complete the Championship roster puzzle. At the same time, they would also be able to save enough Cap space to extend Kaep, Crabtree, Aldon, Miller, and maybe Culliver.

At least...that is my take. Please let me know what you think and any suggestions.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.