Niners Nation: FanPosts

Arc of the 2013 season

2013-06-19T09:09:43Z

As we enter the calm of the NFL off-season, I started envisioning how our 2013 season might play out. In 2013, I think there is a possibility for a slightly different arc where our team is not fully set in terms of personnel & schemes in September, but it continues to develop and evolve over the course of the season. Compared to past 2 years, I have a feeling that we may not hit our stride until late in Nov/Dec. The reasons are as follows:

1. CK's first full season as a starter -- As he gains experience, he should continue to get tangibly better game-by-game as he eliminates the minor mistakes that plagued the offense in 2012. Also, as defenses adjust to what he did well in 2012, CK will have to adjust to how teams plan/play against him in 2013. This could become a chess match throughout the season against teams that have above average personnel & strategic coaching staffs (e.g. STL & SEA). Given how tough the first 5 games will be against GB, @Seattle, Indy, @STL and Houston, it may take some time for CK to thrive within this new context. In the second half of the season, we have only 2 games against top defenses: STL (12/1) & SEA (12/8), both of which are @ Candlestick.

2. Injuries to WRs -- We have as many as 3 WRs who are hurt and could come back. Kyle Williams at the beginning of the season, MM towards the middle, and hopefully Crabtree towards the end. Depending on how those returns take place, our offense will continue to develop as it integrates returning pieces through December.

3. New offensive players -- In the absence of Crabtree, Boldin & Vance McDonald should be important components of our passing attack. Reports from OTAs suggest that Boldin & CK already click, which means that as they develop in-game chemistry, Boldin will become the top 3rd down target. Vance McDonald seems like a natural pass catching TE, so he should get more snaps once he becomes a better blocker. The other X factor is AJJ: If he can show development early in the season and gain trust & confidence of both the coaching staff & CK, he will be given more opportunities to become a bigger part of the offense over time.

If one or more of those WRs fail to make contributions, perhaps Quinton Patton can become a late season addition similar to LMJ in 2012.

4. Running Backs -- I am curious to see how Harbaugh/Roman split snaps for the 3 backs. Gore is Gore, so not much to add. LMJ is a really intriguing player in terms of the read option package and the possibility of being a legitimate threat as a receiver out of the backfield. For example, our offense should have some plays/routes where they put him in space and let him get significant YACs. Kendall Hunter's return could also play a big role in spelling Gore & in providing CK another smart, instinctive weapon to use in both running & passing game.

5. Defensively, we will have at least 1 new starter at Safety. If that is Reid -- which is the hope -- then it is likely that he will continue to improve throughout his rookie season and become a better player towards the end of the season.

6. We have several pass rushers who are returning from injuries in Justin Smith, Aldon Smith & Ahmad Brooks. With a more steady rotation, these guys should play fewer snaps this year which should keep them fresher late in the season. As long as Dorsey, Williams, Carradine, Haralson, Lemonier, Dial et al contribute some snaps, it should keep our Front-7 in a more rested state for the playoffs. Of the aforementioned group, Carradine & Lemonier are likely to be viable role players later in the season as opposed to in September.

7. Overall, our depth seems better than in the past 2 years. This should allow us to absorb late-season injuries without having catastrophic results in terms of performance. Think WRs in 2011, or DLine in 2012.

Putting all of this together, my gut feeling is that we are more likely to struggle early in the season. We should be able to build a good record thanks to a softer schedule in the middle of the season. After/during an insanely tough 4-game stretch in mid Nov-Dec (@ NO, @ WASH, STL, SEA), we should be primed to make a late season run while peaking at the right time. In that sense, the home game against ATL is important because we get a playoff worthy opponent late in the season to gauge ourselves. Similar to Pittsburgh in 2011 & NE in 2012, it could be a perfect springboard towards another deep postseason run.

Slow Starts: Russell Wilson vs Dolphins

2013-06-19T01:47:00Z

When I first got NFL Rewind a couple weeks ago, I went through a lot of the Niners games (shocking, I know) to see some of the good, bad and ugly plays. We'd been talking about slow starts and I watched the beginnings of some games closely to see what was going on. On a whim, I decided to take a look at the Seahawks last regular season loss, which was in Miami.

Before I go further, a few disclaimers:

Russell Wilson seems like a good enough guy. The intent of this is not to attack him.
Sometimes players and teams have bad games. Unless you're the 49ers and then it just means you're clearly inferior. I need to closely watch more Seattle games to really feel like I have an accurate picture of the guy.
While Field Gulls has remarkably good analysis at times, you're not going to find much objectivity regarding RW up there. RW is a good QB, but they seem to really overblow it and act like he's already a star at every facet of the QB position.
There's only 2 things about RW's game that has really impressed me to-date. 1) His shiftiness in the pocket and ability to buy insane amounts of time until he finds a receiver wide open. Of course he can run, but I'm speaking more from a passing standpoint. 2) His deep out is really, really precise.
I'm open to changing my mind as I watch more games, but I haven't seen RW fitting balls into tight windows over the middle of the field like Kaep and I'm not a fan of his moonshot deep balls. I'm not an expert of course, so I'm open to constructive criticism.
This also serves as practice for myself, at capturing and embedding videos for 49ers fan discussions. I want to be in good shape for the regular season!
I cannot get the videos to stop autoplaying. The code I've used works fine on an independent website, but no dice here. I'll probably stick with links after the first clip until I figure this out.

So, keeping with the slow start analysis, let's take a peek at Seattle @ Miami.

Drive #1

Wilson only attempts one pass, which is incomplete on a roll out. Doesn't look like he's got anywhere to go. A penalty sets them back and they run on 3rd down. While they manage to pick up 10, they still punt.

Drive #2

3 straight RW passes lead to a punt. After a 3 yard completion and an incomplete, RW tries to force one to Baldwin in double coverage. Coaches film shows Rice coming free up the left sideline, but RW seemed locked on Baldwin.

Before I go further, a few disclaimers:

Russell Wilson seems like a good enough guy. The intent of this is not to attack him.
Sometimes players and teams have bad games. Unless you're the 49ers and then it just means you're clearly inferior. I need to closely watch more Seattle games to really feel like I have an accurate picture of the guy.
While Field Gulls has remarkably good analysis at times, you're not going to find much objectivity regarding RW up there. RW is a good QB, but they seem to really overblow it and act like he's already a star at every facet of the QB position.
There's only 2 things about RW's game that has really impressed me to-date. 1) His shiftiness in the pocket and ability to buy insane amounts of time until he finds a receiver wide open. Of course he can run, but I'm speaking more from a passing standpoint. 2) His deep out is really, really precise.
I'm open to changing my mind as I watch more games, but I haven't seen RW fitting balls into tight windows over the middle of the field like Kaep and I'm not a fan of his moonshot deep balls. I'm not an expert of course, so I'm open to constructive criticism.
This also serves as practice for myself, at capturing and embedding videos for 49ers fan discussions. I want to be in good shape for the regular season!
I cannot get the videos to stop autoplaying. The code I've used works fine on an independent website, but no dice here. I'll probably stick with links after the first clip until I figure this out.

So, keeping with the slow start analysis, let's take a peek at Seattle @ Miami.

Drive #1

Drive #2

Drive #3

After a penalty and Lynch stuff, RW gets them back to 3rd and 10 with a 10 yard pass to Tate. On 3rd and 10, RW misses an open Baldwin under a little pressure. You've got to make this throw...

http://randomtrail.com/49ers/2012-SeahawsDolphins-Wilson2.mp4

Drive #4

RW can't find an open receiver on 3rd & 8 and scrambles up the middle for 5. Nobody looked very open on coaches film and 2 receivers seemed way too close together in the middle of the field.

http://randomtrail.com/49ers/2012-SeahawsDolphins-Wilson3.mp4

Drive #5 (2nd quarter)

Seattle picks up a first down after an 8 yard pass and a 2 yard run. On first down, RW throws one of his lob deep balls that sails over a leaping Tate. After a bad read option that RW kept for -2 yards, we finally get a good play from Russell. This play epitomizes what I like the most about RW's game - escapability and a beautiful deep sideline ball. This drive would ultimately stall out on a 4 yard pass to Miller, who was unable to get the extra 1 YAC needed.

http://randomtrail.com/49ers/2012-SeahawsDolphins-Wilson4.mp4

With 5:23 to go before halftime of a 0-0 game, Bush gashes the Seattle D for a long TD. Chancellor's attempted tackle is not pretty.

http://randomtrail.com/49ers/2012-SeahawsDolphins-Bush1.mp4

Drive #6

In the waning minutes before halftime, the Seahawks finally manage to score. RW gets 20 yards from Turbin on a short dump pass in the flat. RW gets 32 from Tate on another floating deep ball, where Tate pushes over the DB and somehow dives over him for the catch. It's an impressive catch, but again an uncalled OPI on Tate. A few plays later, RW's elusiveness buys him the time to get McCoy wide open in the end zone.

http://randomtrail.com/49ers/2012-SeahawsDolphins-Wilson5.mp4

It's only one half of football,but definitely not the most impressive game of Russell Wilson's short career. Was it just a bad day? I don't see anything that suggests RW is amazing at progressing through his reads. Rather, he seems to be simply reading the defense and knows up front where he's going with the football. That's not a bad thing if he's good at it (and he generally appears to be), but I'm not seeing the progression ability that Seahawk fans claim is so superior to Kaepernick's. The pass rush from Miami appeared decent, but it wasn't like Wake was beating Anthony Davis like a drum, which was the biggest problem when we played Miami. Maybe it was just too loud outside the quiet confines of Seattle.

Breaking Down all of our Offseason Additions, One by One.

2013-06-18T23:55:10Z

Like my friend at Silver and Black Pride: http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/5/24/4364582/getting-to-know-our-new-raiders#166439267

http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/6/15/4434336/getting-to-know-the-new-raiders-part-2

And my other friend on the Ravens Forum: http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/topic/52953-getting-to-know-our-new-ravens/

I have decided to break down each and every offseason addition for us: draft picks, free agents, and undrafted free agents. I will cover the basics: size, expected role, playing style, background, measureables, what he brings to the team, etc. I will try to do two a day. I also try to provide atleast one outside source/opinion/fact/stat in my player evaluations. So without further ado:

Glenn Dorsey

Age: 27

Expected Role: Starting 3-4 NT

Height: 6'1

Weight: 297 lbs

College: LSU

Drafted: 2008, 1st round, 8th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs

Widely considered a bust, Dorsey played in 51 games for the Chiefs, starting in 50 of those games. With the Chiefs, he played 4-3 DT (like he did at LSU) and switched to 3-4 DE under Todd Haley. He is widely expected to play 3-4 NT for us however. That should bring up a few concerns. In Kansas City, he had a very poor performance in Todd Haley's 3-4 scheme.. He is also a bit too small to play NT at 297 pounds. to put in into perspective, Isaac Sopoaga was 330 pounds. That means that Dorsey will not only have to get used to a system he failed miserably in the past, he will also have to learn a new position and bulk up for the position. However, there are a few reasons I think this isn't a reason to panic. We never really depended on anything from out NT. This is what ProFootballFocus (one of the most highly respected football sites out there) had to say about Sopoaga's move to the Eagles.

Sopoaga is one of these guys who has benefited from the talent around him. Massively. Hidden amongst all the gems of the 49ers defensive line has been his inability to make much of an impact. He doesn’t eat up blocks, get off them, or get up field. He’s just a body, and personally we wouldn’t spend $4m per year on a guy who is always going to be replaceable. He was our fourth lowest ranked defensive tackle last year.

If this is the case I wouldn't be too worried about Dorsey. Best case scenario he exceeds our expectation and gets 30+ tackles and 5 sacks, worst case scenario he is just another guy just to fill up the NT spot. As it is we are looking for more defensive line rotation this year. Ian Williams, Tank Carradine, and possibly Quinton Dial could see some more PT (playing time) this year. I really like the signing. I see it as a low-risk high-reward signing.

Eric Reid

Age: 21

Expected Role: Starting FS

Height: 6'1

Weight: 214 lbs

College: LSU

Drafted: 2013, 1st round, 18th overall by the San Francisco 49ers

Our first round pick this year, we traded our 1st round pick (31st overall) and our 3rd round pick (74th overall) for the Cowboys (18th overall) pick. When we made this trade popular opinion was that we would pick DT Shariff Floyd, who fell from being a surefire top 3 pick to No.23 overall. Instead we picked up Eric Reid, who was expected to fall to our 31st overall pick. At first I was pretty pissed off, to be honest. However, looking back at the pick, it wasn't bad at all. He was the #1 safety on our board, and our scouts clearly thought he was the future at our vacant FS position. If he was that highly rated on our boards, then why take risks. The safety-needy Rams and Bengals were both picking within 5 picks after us, and while they may or may not have picked him, we thought he was a necessity. I applaud Trent Baalke now for having guts and making the tough pick. Time will tell if it was a good pick or not, as I really hate grading draft picks right after the draft. From what I can tell, he seems like a Dashon Goldson 2.0, both in the good ways and bad ways. He has immense hit power and helps out in run support. He is good in coverage, but like Goldson, is a risk taker. He could come up with key turnovers and similarly allow some big plays. This is what NFL Draft site WalterFootball.com had to say about him before the draft:

Strengths:

Hard hitter

Tackling ability

Run defense

Physical presence

Can separate the ball from the receiver

Experienced

Durable

Quickness

Ready to compete quickly

Weaknesses:

Liability in pass coverage

Constantly burned in 2012

Can take bad angles

Takes false steps

Stiff; struggles to turn and run with receivers

Sometimes he doesn't wrap up

Overly aggressive; penalties

I think that sums it up perfectly right there. That is also how I would describe Goldson.

Anquan Boldin

Age: 32

Expected Role: Starting WR

Height: 6'1

Weight: 220 lbs

College: Florida State

Drafted: 2003, 2nd round, 54th overall by the Arizona Tardinals, cough, I mean Cardinals.

There is only one difference between the acquisition of Boldin and Isaac Bruce a few years ago: He can still play. Even at his age he is still an elite possession receiver. We have seen tons of Boldin over the years, from his amazing rookie years to his days of playing second fiddle to Larry Fitzgerald down to the Super Bowl. He rarely shows signs of slowing down. Here is what PFF had to say about the trade:

Wasting no time following divisional rival Seattle’s acquisition of dynamic receiver Percy Harvin, the San Francisco 49ers obtained a pass catcher of their own in Anquan Boldin. The 32-year-old possession receiver is a perfect fit for San Francisco’s brutally physical style of play. While it may seem like the Ravens getting only a sixth-round pick for one of the key pieces to their Super Bowl run is highway robbery, it is important to keep in mind that the Ravens and Ozzie Newsome were planning on shedding Boldin and his $6 million 2013 salary anyway. In reality, they got more than they were expecting. Some will question the ethics of the deal due to the relationship of Jim and John Harbaugh, but that doesn’t have much to do with it in my mind.

The reason this trade happened is simple: Jim Harbaugh knew he needed another versatile playmaker on his offense. He had no intention of paying do-it-all tight end Delanie Walker market value, and Walker has since moved on to greener (pun intended) pastures. Given Boldin’s physicality and route tree, he is essentially a glorified tight end anyway. I anticipate that Harbaugh has a plan to use Boldin very similarly to Walker in a “move” capacity, lining up all over the formation. It should be a seamless transition for the coach and his young quarterback.

I agree with most of this. Not only is Boldin a great possession receiver, he is a great redzone target (as we learned the hard way), and an outstanding blocker. At age 32 he is as physical as ever. He should be a great mentor for Michael Crabtree, as they are essentially mirrors of each other for playing style. Hopefully he also helps out Crabtree with his diva status. He should also help out Kaepernick. One of the best things a young QB can have is a possession receiver. Boldin has amazing hands and every reception should help out Kaepernick's confidence. All in all, the Boldin addition should be a great addition. I'm kind of hoping we give him a one year extension.

Craig Dahl

Age: 28

Expected Roles: Depth at Safety, Personal Punt Protector

Height: 6'1

Weight: 212 lbs

College: North Dakota State

Drafted: 2007, UDFA signed by the New York Giants

Craig Dahl wasn't always that bad. In his first year with the Giants, Dahl was given his first start in week 13 against the Eagles. He did pretty decents, he had 5 tackles, with no let ups in coverage. Unfortunately, later that year, he tore his ACL in a game against the Patriots. He was waived right after the season ended after failing a physical. He was resigned right before preseason started however, making an even faster comeback than Adrian Peterson did. He was doing his best to earn a starting job when he tore his ACL again in week 3 of that preseason. After that he was put on IR, and after the season he wasn't tendered an offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. That's when the St. Louis Shams, cough, I mean Rams came in the picture. Steve Spagnuolo, who was the then Ram's head coach, was also, Dahl's defensive coordinator in New York, decided to sign Craig. This was based solely on his talent and potential. In his first year with the Rams he was part of a safety rotation. He ended the year with 64 tackles, 2 sacks,, and 2 fumble recoveries. The very next year he shined however. In 2010 he had 98 tackles, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, and a fumble recovery. From there, it has truly been a roller coaster ride. In 2011, he had an off year in coverage, but an outstanding year tackling wise. He missed just one tackle the whole year, and missed about 1 tackle every 40 attempts. He topped the league in least missed tackles for starting safeties. Last year, though, he had a horrible year both in coverage and in tackling. For example, in week 1 vs the Rams, he and fellow former Rams safety Quintin Mikell allowing 10 out of 10 passes to be completed while in their coverage for a whopping 159 yards. And in week 15 vs the Vikings, in a poor tackling display by the whole team with 8 missed tackles, Dahl lead the team with 3 missed tackles. Now I know it isn't easy to cover Calvin Johnson and tackle Adrian Peterson, but that were some pathetic displays of football. However, I still like the signing. It is essentially a depth signing, as we already have solid starters in Donte Whitner and the aforementioned Eric Reid. And I wouldn't mind paying chump change for a guy who is only 28 (defensive backs can play a long time) and COULD have a solid, 90+ tackle year in the right system.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. Feedback would be very much appreciated! :)

Like my friend at Silver and Black Pride: http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/5/24/4364582/getting-to-know-our-new-raiders#166439267

http://www.silverandblackpride.com/2013/6/15/4434336/getting-to-know-the-new-raiders-part-2

And my other friend on the Ravens Forum: http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/topic/52953-getting-to-know-our-new-ravens/

Glenn Dorsey

Age: 27

Expected Role: Starting 3-4 NT

Height: 6'1

Weight: 297 lbs

College: LSU

Drafted: 2008, 1st round, 8th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs

Eric Reid

Age: 21

Expected Role: Starting FS

Height: 6'1

Weight: 214 lbs

College: LSU

Drafted: 2013, 1st round, 18th overall by the San Francisco 49ers

Strengths:

Hard hitter

Tackling ability

Run defense

Physical presence

Can separate the ball from the receiver

Experienced

Durable

Quickness

Ready to compete quickly

Weaknesses:

Liability in pass coverage

Constantly burned in 2012

Can take bad angles

Takes false steps

Stiff; struggles to turn and run with receivers

Sometimes he doesn't wrap up

Overly aggressive; penalties

I think that sums it up perfectly right there. That is also how I would describe Goldson.

Anquan Boldin

Age: 32

Expected Role: Starting WR

Height: 6'1

Weight: 220 lbs

College: Florida State

Drafted: 2003, 2nd round, 54th overall by the Arizona Tardinals, cough, I mean Cardinals.

Craig Dahl

Age: 28

Expected Roles: Depth at Safety, Personal Punt Protector

Height: 6'1

Weight: 212 lbs

College: North Dakota State

Drafted: 2007, UDFA signed by the New York Giants

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. Feedback would be very much appreciated! :)

Jerry Rice's Records: Who Can Break Them?

2013-06-18T21:39:56Z

Jerry Rice used to own the most significant single-season receiving records in the NFL, but those have been broken in recent years by the likes of Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson. Although Moss was an amazing talent years ago and 'Megatron' continues to impress, there's no doubt that changes in league rules have favored the passing game and made it easier to break the GOAT's records.

Still, Rice's career receiving records are the most impressive and not something the league could easily undermine with rule changes, so let's review those records below:

CAREER RECEPTIONS:

Rice garnered 1,549 receptions between 1985 and 2004, catching passes from greats like Montana and Young to also-rans like Garcia and Gannon, but trailing in 2nd place for this category is Tony Gonzalez at 1,242 receptions.

Now we thought the veteran tight-end was retiring last year after his Atlanta Falcons lost the NFC Title Game to our beloved Red & Gold, but then Gonzalez flip-flopped and decided to come back for another year. Since he came to Atlanta four years ago, he's average a little over 80 receptions per year, so if Gonzalez keeps that average going for the next three and a half years, he WILL break Rice's record. But then again, what are the odds of a tight-end playing to the age of 40 these days? There really isn't any other active player within striking distance of Rice's career receptions record, so here's hoping Gonzalez retires after this season for good.

CAREER RECEIVING YARDS:

IMHO, this is the most impressive of Rice's receiving records, because if you look at the numbers of the guy in 2nd place, it's not even close. At 22,985 yards, the next closest receiver is almost 7,000 yards behind him, and that guy (Terrell Owens) has essentially been blacklisted by the NFL. His reputation as a cancer in the locker room is so well known that no NFL team wants him, and it doesn't help that he's almost 40 years old. Don't even bother asking about guys that are still active; Reggie Wayne is way back at 13,063 yards, and he's 34 years old.

CAREER RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS:

To catch Rice's record of 197 career receiving touchdowns, Randy Moss would need another 41 scores in the end zone, but the odds of that happening are slim to none given his age and diminished abilities as a deep threat receiver. The next active and closest guy is Tony Gonzalez, but he's even further away at 103 scores. It's way too early to say if someone as talented as Larry Fitzgerald can even come within arm's reach of the record, given how many awful quarterbacks he's had in Arizona. As it stands, Fitzgerald is at 77 scores.

One could also gush over Rice's other career records like yards from scrimmage or playoff games started as a testament to his endurance, but the fact that he owns the three most significant career receiving records attests to his versatility. Now give it up for the GOAT!

Still, Rice's career receiving records are the most impressive and not something the league could easily undermine with rule changes, so let's review those records below:

CAREER RECEPTIONS:

CAREER RECEIVING YARDS:

CAREER RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS:

Poll

Who is the greatest receiver of all time?

All this talk about superbowls

2013-06-18T17:47:58Z

i see alot of superbowl or bust type of talk being thrown around around here. yes, the 49ers are one of the very best if not the best team in the nfl right now but all of this confidence (borderline entitlement) is a little undeserved. im rooting to win it all as much as the next guy, but i have to say you should curb your enthusiasm (just a little bit). the trend right now is getting hot at the right time. for whatever it seems these last two years that the team who is "on a roll" fares better than the conventionally better team. so dont start thinking about 2-3 lombardis before thinking bout winning the division otherwise your setting yourself up for a real heartbreak. expect the worst and hope for the best.

Matt Ryan's (possibly slightly delusional) take on the NFC Championship Game

2013-06-18T16:55:59Z

via sports.cbsimg.net

Matt, we'd like you to meet Ahmad.

Pete Prisco has put together an article where he has sat down with Matt Ryan to discuss how the Falcons failed to take down the 49ers in the NFC Championship game. While it is probably normal for a high level competitor like Ryan to expect the most from himself, the discussion boils down to Matty Ice* pointing out every play that Atlanta missed. He then says that they could have completed the pass and that it would have resulted in a Falcons victory.

That is the extent of his logic, the 49ers could not have done anything about any of it, they would not have made different decisions in different circumstances and they did not miss any of their own plays that would also have affected the final score.

The problem with this is that perfection is almost never going to happen on a football field where twenty two athletes are doing battle with each other and chasing after an irregularly shaped ball. It is inevitable that each team will make mistakes, players will slip and catches will be dropped. This is before the random influence of the officials is taken into account.

The three plays they look at before the final drive epitomise this, they are failed plays born out of minor miscommunications, misreads, a dropped snap and a player slipping. These things can happen at any time to any team, this is why the 'best' team doesn't always win and without these random influences the game would be rather dull. However, the analysis is incomplete if you do not look back and see which plays the 49ers could have made but did not for similar reasons.

The mirror of this would be to suggest that the impressive long pass from Ryan to Jones in the corner of the endzone would not be completed every time. Tarrell Brown had good coverage that meant there was a moving window of two or three square feet for Ryan to hit forty five yards away and then Jones must complete the catch with a defender all over him. It's a great combination but under those circumstances what would be the expected percentage? 50%? 75%? You can make your own assessment but it isn't one hundred percent, Atlanta caught that break but they aren't going to catch them all.

On the Harry Douglas play I have two thoughts. Firstly, it is inconsistent for Ryan to complain that Julio Jones fell down earlier without noting his fortune that the niner defensive back fell down on this play. As I pointed out earlier, players are going to slip, it is a part of the game. Secondly, how can he overlook that Douglas dropped the ball? That was an abysmal call, the ball moved and was dragging along the ground and should have been ruled incomplete.

The rundown of the final series provides very little insight, it's a set of shoulda-woulda-coulda. Ryan should have thrown on his fourth step, White could have scored on a post. No credit to Ahmad Brooks for taking over the series (as he often does at the end of games which always makes me wonder what he's been doing for the rest of the day?), it's all on the Falcons shoulders.

What else can we learn from this article? For one, the Falcons do love to run a lot of picks which makes sense as it is an effective way to take advantage of the 49ers' heavy use of man coverage. Perhaps the niners should change up with zone coverage more often to counter the tactic.

Additionally, this is the second time in a week that we have heard that the opponents have been able to get a really good read on the niners' playcalling. This time on defense where the Falcons expected and got a One-robber coverage out of a Man-2 look on third downs. Two examples does not make a trend but it is beginning to be a little worrying.

I found it interesting to read the thoughts of an elite NFL quarterback looking back at a loss like this. Ryan seems to believe that the outcome of each and every play can be controlled by his own actions, which strikes me as rather unusual. However, it could be that this is precisely the mindset that is needed to become a great passer in the NFL and that this belief drives his work ethic. Without the fatalistic acceptance that the result of the game is largely outside of his control the thought that 'I can do better and if I do I will succeed' is what makes him sit through the film study and countless hours of offseason preparation.

One final thought: if Patrick Willis is the worst cover guy in the eyes of Ryan then the 49er defense is stacked.

*Am I the only person that finds this nickname really annoying?

via sports.cbsimg.net

Matt, we'd like you to meet Ahmad.

One final thought: if Patrick Willis is the worst cover guy in the eyes of Ryan then the 49er defense is stacked.

*Am I the only person that finds this nickname really annoying?

What does Niners Nation think of Jim Harbaugh?

2013-06-15T20:36:51Z

Yes, I'm doing this at every site. Between no college going on right now and the kids out of school, I wanted to try to see if I have the capability/skill to do a real "investigative" type of post. Though I know how most of you already think, I am going to use this post alone for my final piece, so please post here. Much thanks.

Hello. I am ak4niner, a die-hard 49er fan. I am going to be posting this over all 32 SBN NFL sites to try to answer a question that I have had for the past year or so.

How do coaches rank among fans?

I’m going to do a little twist on this though. I am not going to set up a ranking system (like I think Harbaugh is #1, blah blah blah), or have you discuss any coaches other than your own. I want to know what the fans of your team think of your coach. After a week or two (timing based off of when I can sneak away to work on this) I am going to look over all 32 fanposts I have made and use the comments to make an “expert” analysis of what fans think of their coach. (Expert meaning I use my 3 synapses to write it, and the monkeys do the editing.)

There are only two things I ask.

One, be honest. I don’t care what direction the posts take us down, but be honest. If you think your coach is the greatest of all time, say so! If you think he doesn’t even deserve to be a dog catcher, then let us know. I am going to try to not let any personal bias creep in when doing the final document.

Two, please only fans of this team comment here. I want to do this ranking based off of each team’s opinion of their own coach. I only ask this so I can save myself time generating the final document. I will filter the comments as necessary.

Thank you for your help in this.

Hello. I am ak4niner, a die-hard 49er fan. I am going to be posting this over all 32 SBN NFL sites to try to answer a question that I have had for the past year or so.

How do coaches rank among fans?

There are only two things I ask.

Thank you for your help in this.

First Annual "Help Brohandas K. Gandhi" Choose A More Politically Correct Avatar!

2013-06-15T18:35:14Z

So with many folks decrying the mascot and team name of the NFL's team in Washington D.C., I figure it's finally time to give up on my outdated and possibly politically incorrect avatar. I haven't seen anything in the past months that screams to me "Choose Me, Choose Me!", so take a seat Willie Hutch, I'm in no position to choose anything. So here's a few crappy MS Paint pictures I made for use on NN, and a few pictures that I feel describe me as a human being. The choice is yours, don't screw it up, guys.

I'll leave the poll up through the weekend, and by Monday I'll be rid of my archaic, fantastic old avvy. Out with the old, in with the new. This word count thing is killing me.

#1 - Big Sherm

#2 - VD for Mod Express (Probably not a legitimate option, because it still has my buddy on it)

#3 - A Visual Interpretation of BigMar

#4 - Cliff Burton. He so baaaaaad.

#5 - My portrait

Well, good luck. We're all counting on you.

I'll leave the poll up through the weekend, and by Monday I'll be rid of my archaic, fantastic old avvy. Out with the old, in with the new. This word count thing is killing me.

#1 - Big Sherm

#2 - VD for Mod Express (Probably not a legitimate option, because it still has my buddy on it)

#3 - A Visual Interpretation of BigMar

#4 - Cliff Burton. He so baaaaaad.

#5 - My portrait

Well, good luck. We're all counting on you.

Poll

What's my new avatar....

Big Sherm

4 votes

VD For Mod

0 votes

Visual Interpretation of BigMar

9 votes

Cliff Burton

1 votes

Big Daddy

6 votes

20 votes | Poll has closed

The Crabtree Debate - what happens with his contract?

2013-06-15T18:13:38Z

There has been a lot of discussion here on NN about what happens with contract extensions/free agency over the next few years. Props to Brother Girth for having a very detailed FanPost about the nature of 2014 extensions and, more directly related to this post, Tre had the 90-in-90 post on Crabtree.

The recent posts on these topics and Crabtree's Achilles injury have had me (and, others I'm sure) thinking about what happens next year, since 2013 was supposed to be Michael Crabtree's contract year. With Colin Kaepernick under center for the full season and a legitimate #2 WR in Anquoin Boldin, he was set to blow through his prior seasons' numbers and set himself up for a big extension.

But the Achilles injury (and other injury history with him) along with the cap situation certainly put lots of question marks around getting a deal done with the 49ers. Some folks think it's a given he's back for the long term, but I am not convinced... for a few reasons:

1) He held out as a rookie. His attitude may have improved since then, but I'm doubting that it's changed a ton... People are who they are, generally. This indicates he will over-value himself (or surround himself with diva coaches) and cause some heartburn.

2) The rookie wage scale (as I posited here in a FanPost) has changed the game and put downward pressure on the ever-growing veteran contracts. This means that teams will be looking to the draft more than ever to manage their salary cap. This adds likelihood that the 49ers part ways with Crabtree if #1 holds true.

3) Crabs has a fairly extensive injury history that will cost him. Adds to the discount the team may be able to negotiate, but adds to conflict with #1.

4) Following up #3 - the Achilles, specifically, will cost him most since he will be sitting out most of his contract year - never a good thing. Even worse, he may not make it back at all this season (let's pray that's not the case) and might miss his chance to showcase himself in a Super Bowl.... ouch.

5) Crabtree emerging as a true #1 receiver. Certainly adds to his value (but, again, makes #1 worse...)

Adding these things together, I think, adds up to Crabtree getting extended, but at a significant discount in the early years of his new contract or, alternately, having lots of injury hedging (i.e. playing time, snap % minimums etc) in order to ensure they get value for their $$. But I am no expert (far from it) and would love the NN community's thoughts....

What happens?

Resigning 2014 Free Agents (warning: long, and numbers, but its worth it)

2013-06-15T07:16:16Z

I am energized by what Harbaalke has been able to do putting together the 49ers roster, and I am interested in what it will take to keep the nucleus together. We have a number players becoming free agents after this season. The question is how many can we afford to resign?

I posted something on this about a month back, and while most of the feedback was positive, I did get hammered on one thing, the value of Tarell Brown. Given his excellent play in 2012, and assuming he keeps it up, I had thought he would be in the market for a contract in the 8-9M range. The nation spoke and collectively said, "you are nuts." This made me realize that we are in a unique situation with the NFL labor market. We just completed year two of the 10 year CBA, teams are now fully understanding the value of the rookie wage scale, and we have a relatively flat salary cap. On top of all this, the CBA calls for league minimums for salaries, but teams underpaying in 2013 don't have to cough up the cash until 2017. The result is a major market correction that has shifted money to the top flight quarterbacks and 2nd contract players in their mid-20s. Rookies are locked in to the new rookie wage scales and the nfl middle class, veterans in their 30s, are being squeezed. If you listen to the NFL network, you will hear broadcasters blame the rookie cap, but I don't believe that it right. The issues are the flat salary cap and the lack of a league minimum.

The flat salary cap has made teams fear "dead money." If you give a player a 10M signing bonus, for instance, that pro-rates to 2M per year for 5 years. If the player retires or is cut after two years, however, the remaining 6M gets accelerated into the year of the cut, and is called dead money. With a flat salary cap, that can be hard to swallow. The one position where teams have not been afraid to give money is QB. Why? An "elite" QB is considered invaluable, and other than kickers, QB's have proven the ability to perform the longest before father time takes its toll. A number of top flight QBs, such as Warren Moon, were good into their 40s. The QB position is the most important, and has the least risk due to age, so the money has flocked to it. Top flight players in their 20s have also been able to get big contracts. This is because of the same low risk of incurring dead money that they represent.

The second issue driving salaries down is the lack of a league minimum salary this year. There is a minimum, 89% of the cap, but that minimum needs to be spent by 2016, not today. The result, teams can store up cap space, which can be carried over to future years, and then will be in a position to set the market in 2015 and 16. A team like Cleveland, for instance, can bank their cap space now and then unleash it in 2015 or 2016, basically outbidding and getting any free agent they want. They get new management this year, take a conservative approach and build through the draft for the next 2-3 years, and then in 2015 they can afford to pay a player like Aldon Smith 20M/year and there is nothing that we can do about it (I know, it sucks. This is why our time is now).

The result of these market shifts is what I am trying to gauge. I believe over 10% of the players in the league are playing off of 1 year deals this year. It didn't make sense for owners to offer expensive contracts when they don't have to spend the money this year, and it didn't make sense for players to sign cheap long term deals when eventually the money will have to be spent. The exception are those players that only have a few years left, like Dwight Freeney. Players like that get short term deals for low to medium money, with incentives that kick in if the player performs at a high level. They can't afford to wait, and they have enough juice left in the tank that at least one team still wants their services.

So, how will this play out for the 49ers? Modesto Matt put together an excellent forecast for 2014 that starts to frame up the picture for us. We have cap space, but we have many roster holes to fill. Approximately 25 of the 90 players currently under contract will be free agents after this year. Matt proposed resigning the following guys: Colt McCoy, Mario Manningham, Justin Smith, Tarell Brown, Donte Whitner, and Phil Dawson.

The purpose of this thread is to establish the market value for these players, so that we can determine which ones are worth signing. I have no problem with resigning them all, but we just don't have the cap space. Our priority will be Colin Kaepernick. He is not a free agent next year, but he becomes eligible for renegotiation. We will resign him to a deal with a 20-30M signing bonus. His salary for 2014 will be pretty low, as he plays out his rookie contract, but 20% of the signing bonus will apply to 2014 (e.g. 30M/5 = 6M for 2014).

After Colin, we also have the ability to negotiate with Aldon Smith, but since Aldon was a first round pick, we can extend his contract through 2015. We will do this, and then negotiate with Aldon after the 2014 season. Now, I'm sure the FO will begin discussions with Aldon as soon as possible, but unless Aldon wants to give us a big discount it will make sense to wait to complete the deal.

Justin Smith

The first player I'd like to focus on is Justin Smith. Justin is listed as a DE, but he plays DE in our 3-4 defense. Most high paying DE's play in a 4-3, which we shift to on passing downs. In our 4-3 Justin shifts over and plays DT. I believe Justin will complete in the DT market given his playing style. Justin is a monster against the run, and he does an amazing job collapsing the pocket on passing downs, but he doesn't get the fancy stats that other top flight linemen will get. Any GM worth anything would understand this, however, so assuming Justin returns to his old form there will be a demand for his services. The biggest knock against Justin will be his age. He turns 34 this season.

Top DT contracts for 2013:

Player	Team	Years	Total	Average
Henry Melton	CHI	1	$8,450,000	$8,450,000
Randy Starks	MIA	1	$8,450,000	$8,450,000
Ricky Jean Francois	IND	4	$22,000,000	$5,500,000
Sammie Lee Hill	TEN	3	$11,400,000	$3,800,000
Isaac Sopoaga	PHI	3	$11,000,000	$3,666,667
Kyle Love	JAC	1	$3,090,000	$3,090,000
Glenn Dorsey	SF	2	$6,000,000	$3,000,000

You wonder why the 49ers lost RJF and Soap? There just weren't a lot of top flight DTs out there this year. You can immediately argue that Justin is better that RJF, but Ricky got his 4 year deal due to his age and upside. Justin has no upside. He peaked in 2011 and it is simply a matter of how much longer he can keep it up.

Justin also wants a ring, and to be part of a dynasty. Because of this, I believe he will give us a discount. Something in the $4-5M per year range. He gets to stay where he is comfortable and finish his career building his legacy (hopefully multiple SB rings).

Anquan Boldin/Mario Manningham

Yes, I combined these two players together. Really, so did Matt if you re-read his analysis. Crabtree will be back in 2014. I am also confident that one of the guys from our trio of WR noobs (AJ/Patton/Lockette) will emerge by season end. We need an experienced slot receiver to complement the two, and Anquan and Mario both fit the bill. Which one we sign may come down to numbers, and we may be forced to sign the cheaper of the two versus the better.

Top WR contracts for 2013:

Player	Team	Years	Total	Average
Percy Harvin	SEA	6	$67,000,000	$11,166,667
Mike Wallace	MIA	5	$60,000,000	$12,000,000
Dwayne Bowe	KC	5	$56,000,000	$11,200,000
Greg Jennings	MIN	5	$45,000,000	$9,000,000
Steve Smith	CAR	4	$37,750,000	$9,437,500
Brian Hartline	MIA	5	$30,775,000	$6,155,000
Danny Amendola	NE	5	$28,500,000	$5,700,000
Wes Welker	DEN	2	$12,000,000	$6,000,000
Brandon Gibson	MIA	3	$9,780,000	$3,260,000
Donnie Avery	KC	3	$8,550,000	$2,850,000

This year we had 5 big contracts, 3 medium size (still millions, more than I will make my entire life), and then the floor drops out. Why so much big money this year? Not a lot of free agents in 2014. NYG studs Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz may be on the market. Otherwise, Jacoby Jones, Eric Decker, Kenny Brit, and Mike Williams. All good, but I don't know if they are $10M/year guys.

The thing about our two receivers in question is they both already have SB rings. If either guy sticks around in SF, it is really going to be because they like the team. Anquan will be 33 this year, but he may retire rather than play for peanuts. Mario gave us a great deal this year, but it is because he is coming back from injury. If he has a strong 2013 he will want to get paid in 2014 (and I don't blame him).

I could see our front office putting a value on this position, something like 4M/year, and then finding the best player available. If Crabs doesn't recover, however, then all bets are off.

Tarell Brown

This is the guy that got me going on this thread (blame him, not me). Pro Football Focus had Tarell as the #7 CB in 2012 and #75 in the top 101 players in the league. I get it. I don't watch the all-22 film, but what I saw from the regular telecast was a guy that didn't show up often, good for a CB, and then when he did show up he didn't miss a tackle.

Tarell is 28 years old and entering his 7th season in the league. At the end of this season he will have made about 9M dollars. I haven't heard Tarell in interviews, but based on his life circumstances, I'm guessing this next contract is his best chance to get PAID.

Top CB contracts for 2013:

Player	Team	Years	Total	Average
Darrelle Revis	TB	6	$96,000,000	$16,000,000
Brandon Carr	DAL	5	$50,100,000	$10,020,000
Keenan Lewis	NO	5	$25,550,000	$5,110,000
Chris Houston	DET	5	$25,000,000	$5,000,000
Derek Cox	SD	4	$20,000,000	$5,000,000
Leodis McKelvin	BUF	4	$17,000,000	$4,250,000
Cary Williams	PHI	3	$17,000,000	$5,666,667
Sean Smith	KC	3	$16,500,000	$5,500,000
Kyle Arrington	NE	4	$16,000,000	$4,000,000
Greg Toler	IND	3	$15,000,000	$5,000,000
Dunta Robinson	KC	3	$13,800,000	$4,600,000
Jerraud Powers	ARI	3	$10,500,000	$3,500,000
Brent Grimes	MIA	1	$5,500,000	$5,500,000

As far as CBs are concerned, you are either a shutdown corner or you are not. The drop between the 2nd and 3rd largest contracts this year is staggering. So, is Tarell a shutdown corner? As much as I like him, I have to say no. Assuming another great season, I do believe he will be at the upper end of that second tier, and possibly get 6M/year. He will NOT get the 8-9M I prognosticated last month. I will learn, "the nation is always right."

Will the Niners pay 6M/year for a corner? We are paying that now for Carlos Rodgers, so yes. The problem is that we can't afford to pay that on both sides of the field (both CBs).

We will draft a CB with one of our first two picks and also pick up a journeyman CB (like Nnamdi). Unfortunately, we may have to cut Carlos just to pay for Kaep, Justin, and WR To Be Named.

The other guys

Matt also mentioned resigning Colt McCoy, Donte Whitner, and Phil Dawson. Colt has sounded great in camp reports, but I don't believe he wants to be a backup. There are a lot of teams that could be looking for a QB next year that may take a flyer on him, including: TEN, PIT (yes, PIT), JAC, TB, SD (yes, SD), and AZ. A year working under Harbaugh could give Colt the bump he needs to be considered. I can't fathom the team bringing back Donte Whitner. I think Fangio likes the guy, but we've brought in so many cheaper safeties that we will have to let him walk. Donte should be able to get 4M/year, and we are not going to want to go there. We will resign Phil Dawson, probably about what he is making now (2M/year).

So, how do we pay for all this?

Good question. How much do we need?

Player	2014
Colin Pro-Rated Signing Bonus	6.0M
Justin Smith	4.5M
WR to be Named	4.0M
Phil Dawson	2.0M
Tarell Brown (iffy)	6.0M
TOTAL	22.5M
Cap Space	12M

We've got about an 10M bogie to close. We can let Tarell walk, but if he has another good season I hope we don't. Realistically, we are going to have to restructure or cut a few of our existing players under contract to make this happen. Top candidates are Frank Gore and Carlos Rodgers.

Frank Gore is one of my favorite 49ers of all time. I believe he will play in 2014, and I can't imagine him playing in another uniform. We can't afford to pay him 6M with Hunter and LMJ and Lattimore ready to go. Just writing this makes me sick. Frank, play for 1 dollar and know that every respectable restaurant in SF will comp you dinner for the rest of your life.

Carlos Rodgers already restructured his contract for us at least once. He gets hammered a bit covering the slot, but he is the best we have. It's not like the FO is putting someone else in there, and there is a reason for that. His CB numbers when lined up on the outside are fine. Depending on how the negotiations go, we will either keep Carlos or Tarell, but not both.

What about the guys you didn't mention?

This is already over 2000 words. You really want me to keep going? If I missed someone critical, let's talk it in the thread.

I will mention one name, Mike Iupati. Mike is signed through 2014. If we can lock him up longer, I am all for it, but you can see from our current situation that any large increases in salary will not be able to happen until 2015. Since we can't give him money now, it may stall the negotiations. We could franchise Iupati or Crabs in 2015, but not both. We are so tight on cap space that I can't see us wanting to risk guaranteeing money 2-3 years down the road without significant benefit. Unless we get an offer we can't refuse, I don't see us completing a contract before 2013.

For you people that really like to suffer, here are links to the other posts on this subject:

49ers 3 Year outlook
A look ahead to 2014 - Modesto Matt
Resigning Colin Kaepernick
Resigning Aldon Smith

A big shout out and thanks to Fooch for pushing the original FanPost to the front page and for Modesto Matt for properly framing the discussion. The conclusions here are pretty consistent with Matt's and I've tried to build off his work. I've just tried to provide some additional background.

OK nation, if you made it this far you have to comment just so people know you read the whole thing. Thanks for reading.

Justin Smith

Top DT contracts for 2013:

Player	Team	Years	Total	Average
Henry Melton	CHI	1	$8,450,000	$8,450,000
Randy Starks	MIA	1	$8,450,000	$8,450,000
Ricky Jean Francois	IND	4	$22,000,000	$5,500,000
Sammie Lee Hill	TEN	3	$11,400,000	$3,800,000
Isaac Sopoaga	PHI	3	$11,000,000	$3,666,667
Kyle Love	JAC	1	$3,090,000	$3,090,000
Glenn Dorsey	SF	2	$6,000,000	$3,000,000

Anquan Boldin/Mario Manningham

Top WR contracts for 2013:

Player	Team	Years	Total	Average
Percy Harvin	SEA	6	$67,000,000	$11,166,667
Mike Wallace	MIA	5	$60,000,000	$12,000,000
Dwayne Bowe	KC	5	$56,000,000	$11,200,000
Greg Jennings	MIN	5	$45,000,000	$9,000,000
Steve Smith	CAR	4	$37,750,000	$9,437,500
Brian Hartline	MIA	5	$30,775,000	$6,155,000
Danny Amendola	NE	5	$28,500,000	$5,700,000
Wes Welker	DEN	2	$12,000,000	$6,000,000
Brandon Gibson	MIA	3	$9,780,000	$3,260,000
Donnie Avery	KC	3	$8,550,000	$2,850,000

I could see our front office putting a value on this position, something like 4M/year, and then finding the best player available. If Crabs doesn't recover, however, then all bets are off.

Tarell Brown

Top CB contracts for 2013:

Player	Team	Years	Total	Average
Darrelle Revis	TB	6	$96,000,000	$16,000,000
Brandon Carr	DAL	5	$50,100,000	$10,020,000
Keenan Lewis	NO	5	$25,550,000	$5,110,000
Chris Houston	DET	5	$25,000,000	$5,000,000
Derek Cox	SD	4	$20,000,000	$5,000,000
Leodis McKelvin	BUF	4	$17,000,000	$4,250,000
Cary Williams	PHI	3	$17,000,000	$5,666,667
Sean Smith	KC	3	$16,500,000	$5,500,000
Kyle Arrington	NE	4	$16,000,000	$4,000,000
Greg Toler	IND	3	$15,000,000	$5,000,000
Dunta Robinson	KC	3	$13,800,000	$4,600,000
Jerraud Powers	ARI	3	$10,500,000	$3,500,000
Brent Grimes	MIA	1	$5,500,000	$5,500,000

Will the Niners pay 6M/year for a corner? We are paying that now for Carlos Rodgers, so yes. The problem is that we can't afford to pay that on both sides of the field (both CBs).

We will draft a CB with one of our first two picks and also pick up a journeyman CB (like Nnamdi). Unfortunately, we may have to cut Carlos just to pay for Kaep, Justin, and WR To Be Named.

The other guys

So, how do we pay for all this?

Good question. How much do we need?

Player	2014
Colin Pro-Rated Signing Bonus	6.0M
Justin Smith	4.5M
WR to be Named	4.0M
Phil Dawson	2.0M
Tarell Brown (iffy)	6.0M
TOTAL	22.5M
Cap Space	12M

What about the guys you didn't mention?

This is already over 2000 words. You really want me to keep going? If I missed someone critical, let's talk it in the thread.

For you people that really like to suffer, here are links to the other posts on this subject:

49ers 3 Year outlook
A look ahead to 2014 - Modesto Matt
Resigning Colin Kaepernick
Resigning Aldon Smith

OK nation, if you made it this far you have to comment just so people know you read the whole thing. Thanks for reading.

What's in a name? My thoughts on why Washington needs a makeover

2013-06-15T00:17:53Z

Earlier today our fearless leader David Fucillo posted a great flashback photo of Jerry Rice being covered by Darrell Green in the late 90's. What was even better than the photo, in my opinion, was the stance that Fooch took regarding referring to the NFL's DC franchise by name.

To briefly paraphrase, he simply stated that he didn't intend to use the current franchise name anymore. This is something that I think has been a long time coming. In 2007, the mascot of Arkansas State University (home of NFL standout 3rd stringer Cleo Lemon) underwent a facelift, calling themselves the Red Wolves. The idea behind the change, that the Indians moniker might be offensive to segments of the population, was met with ridicule by many in the local community who felt it was a challenge to the tradition and culture of the university and the state it represents. In fact, this was the biggest news Arkansas State generated during my 15 years in Arkansas, overshadowed as they typically are by the U of Arkansas Razorbacks.

I never had a huge problem with the Indians name. Mascot names are chosen as totemic representations of desirable qualities, ideals that embody the spirit of a region. In that sense, the Indians name could have been seen as a tribute, as an homage to a spirit of strength and independence. However historically inaccurate the name may be, it is still the word that most Americans identify with the indigenous population of this continent.

However, whether it bothered me or not, the fact is that it bothered people who identified with that phrase in a manner in which I will never be able to do so, people whose heritage is bound to that phrase. And so I completely supported the name change. To me, this doesn't mean that we need to abolish any sports franchise names that touch upon Native American icons. Just as my own Boston Celtics (I know, my fandom gets around) are named for my ancestry based upon desirable qualities, so do names like "Braves" point to the strength, courage and prowess of Native American warriors, and Chiefs invokes imagery of leadership, wisdom and initiative. The Florida State Seminoles were named for the undefeated tribe who never surrendered to the American government.

Still, if the majority of the Native American community felt uncomfortable with these names, I would support them in seeking change as well. These terms belong far more to this subculture than they do to the rest of us, and it's only right that we respect their wishes in regards to usage. All of that was a fairly long-winded way of saying that while I don't have strong feelings regarding these names, I can understand why others may.

Our NFL franchise in the nation's capital, however, is a completely different story. Chiefs, Indians, Braves, Seminoles, Warriors, all refer to qualities that can be admired and emulated. Washington's franchise refers specifically to a derogatorily descriptive term. A slur. (I had originally listed other racially descriptive slurs here for comparison but after re-reading I felt a bit dirty so you'll have to plug in your own).

Why is this ok? Would any other ethnic group be caricatured in such a fashion? African American, Asian American, Irish American, we all have derogatory terms applied to us by ignorant individuals from time to time, and none of us are ok with it. So why is the NFL? So I'll be joining Fooch in his boycott of Washington's name. Thanks for bringing this back to my attention. (not the smoothest bit of writing, sorry guys, but I'm simultaneously typing and parenting

The Punt Returner Competition

2013-06-14T07:12:15Z

Besides the #2 WR spot, the other starter position wide open is the second kick returner. Besides, Kyle Williams, there is no obvious choice in the current roster, and it is unknown if the coaches want to rely on Kyle all season long as punt returner. To get some idea on the kick/punt return experience of the current roster, I decided to check the NFL career return stats for the KR/PR candidates on the team, and check if they had any punt return experience in college. I decided not to include college KR stats, as it is a position much easier to fill from the roster.

	Punt Returns				KO returns			College Punt Returns
	Att	Yd	Av	FC	Att	Yds	Av	Att	Yds	Av	FC
Kyle Williams	18	185	10.3	18	25	644	25.8	130	764	5.9	55
Chad Hall	11	108	9.8	14	6	108	18.0	26	194	7.5	10
Perrish Cox	3	7	2.3	1	9	172	19.1	79	694	8.8	11
LaMichael James	0	0	0.0	0	21	276	13.1	17	137	8.1	3
Marlon Moore	0	0	0.0	0	2	51	25.5	19	161	8.5	7
Chuck Jacobs	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	2	40	20.0	0
Quinton Patton	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	13	27	2.1	5
Chris Culliver	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	3	18	1.0	0
A.J. Jenkins	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	1	0	0.0	1
Marcus Cooper	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	1	1	1.0	0
Kendall Hunter	0	0	0.0	0	15	361	24.1	0	0	0.0	0

The numbers explain why Harbaugh was so adamant defending KDub's punt return skills. In college and the NFL, he lined up to receive a punt over 200 times. KW also likes to fair catch the ball, which is not so good. Chad Hall is also a valid punt returner, and more inclined to carry the ball back. Besides three token carries by Cox , the rest of the team has no punt return experience in the NFL. Cox was the other feature returner in college, while James, Moore and Patton had more than a token number of carries.

Minicamp reports on return practice:

Thursday

Perrish Cox fielded a wind-blown punt while others who attempted to do the same were LaMichael James, Chad Hall, Quinton Patton and B.J. Daniels - Inman

Perrish Cox, Chad Hall, Kyle Williams, LaMichael James, B.J. Daniels and Quinton Patton all received time as kick and punt returners. Cox and Hall each had one muff while Williams, Patton and James looked the best. - Gin

Kyle Williams joined the punt return drills to work on his ball-catching skills. Williams joined Perrish Cox, LaMichael James, Chad Hall, B.J. Daniels and Quinton Patton in the punt return drill.- Price

Wednesday

The team worked on kick returns today and Ricardo Lockette, Perrish Cox, LaMichael James, A.J. Jenkins, Quinton Patton and B.J. Daniels all had chances as the kick returner. James looked the best of the bunch while Jenkins and Cox each muffed the kickoff once. - Gin

Lockette’s burst of speed on a kickoff return drew a "Whoo!" from linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who observed from the sideline. Those return drills opened with Perrish Cox unable to catch a kick in the windy conditions. - Inman

Tuesday

LaMichael James, B.J. Daniels, Chad Hall and Perrish Cox all had looks as punt returners. James looked the best out of the four. - Gin

The three shortest players on the roster, LaMichael James, Chad Hall and Daniels, returned punts. James is back after straining his hamstring last week. - Barrows

It is way early before the training camp starts, but the competition is apparently wide open between the mentioned guys, and only LMJ and Patton are guaranteed a roster spot. I am surprised Moore and Jacobs did not get a look. The rookie CBs signed (Cooper, Rose, Morris) have no demonstrated punt return skills , which does not help their case to make the roster. Lockette seems to be looked at as kick returner only. If I have to guess, the second kick/punt returner would be LMJ - we'll see who will get most of the punt returns in the preseason games.

	Punt Returns				KO returns			College Punt Returns
	Att	Yd	Av	FC	Att	Yds	Av	Att	Yds	Av	FC
Kyle Williams	18	185	10.3	18	25	644	25.8	130	764	5.9	55
Chad Hall	11	108	9.8	14	6	108	18.0	26	194	7.5	10
Perrish Cox	3	7	2.3	1	9	172	19.1	79	694	8.8	11
LaMichael James	0	0	0.0	0	21	276	13.1	17	137	8.1	3
Marlon Moore	0	0	0.0	0	2	51	25.5	19	161	8.5	7
Chuck Jacobs	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	2	40	20.0	0
Quinton Patton	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	13	27	2.1	5
Chris Culliver	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	3	18	1.0	0
A.J. Jenkins	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	1	0	0.0	1
Marcus Cooper	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0.0	1	1	1.0	0
Kendall Hunter	0	0	0.0	0	15	361	24.1	0	0	0.0	0

Minicamp reports on return practice:

Thursday

Perrish Cox fielded a wind-blown punt while others who attempted to do the same were LaMichael James, Chad Hall, Quinton Patton and B.J. Daniels - Inman

Perrish Cox, Chad Hall, Kyle Williams, LaMichael James, B.J. Daniels and Quinton Patton all received time as kick and punt returners. Cox and Hall each had one muff while Williams, Patton and James looked the best. - Gin

Kyle Williams joined the punt return drills to work on his ball-catching skills. Williams joined Perrish Cox, LaMichael James, Chad Hall, B.J. Daniels and Quinton Patton in the punt return drill.- Price

Wednesday

The team worked on kick returns today and Ricardo Lockette, Perrish Cox, LaMichael James, A.J. Jenkins, Quinton Patton and B.J. Daniels all had chances as the kick returner. James looked the best of the bunch while Jenkins and Cox each muffed the kickoff once. - Gin

Lockette’s burst of speed on a kickoff return drew a "Whoo!" from linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who observed from the sideline. Those return drills opened with Perrish Cox unable to catch a kick in the windy conditions. - Inman

Tuesday

LaMichael James, B.J. Daniels, Chad Hall and Perrish Cox all had looks as punt returners. James looked the best out of the four. - Gin

The three shortest players on the roster, LaMichael James, Chad Hall and Daniels, returned punts. James is back after straining his hamstring last week. - Barrows

Rivalries: What goes too far?

2013-06-14T04:32:55Z

I was reading on another blog early in the week (I think it was TurfStreetTimes) and read some of the anti-49er comments, which included some anti-49er fan comments. Normally I brush it off, but for some reason I got really upset. I knew I shouldn't; I've heard worse before, and we all know that 49er fans aren't innocent as far as anti-Ram comments (and my poor wife has to put up with my comments, so I know I'm not innocent). We are RIVALS for crying out loud.

Even though I chalked it up to my over-emotionalism, it got me to thinking. When do rivalries go too far? There were some easy things I came up with.

Threatening actual physical violence, or committing said violence. - Do I really need to explain further?
Actively cheering an injury, or rooting for someone to get hurt. - I expect some disagreement on this one, but tough. I remember back in the nineties when Michael Irvin got hurt playing in Philly. Don't get me wrong; I hate the Cowboys with a passion. I'd almost let a polar bear eat me rather than root for the Cowboys to win a game. I really, really disliked Irvin. However, it sickened me when I saw some Philly fans CHEERING his injury (if memory serves, it was either a head or neck injury). In my book, that was just plain evil.
Racial / Sexual / Bigoted slurs. - Pretty self-explanatory, but let me make one example. Calling a fanbase and/or a team with a homosexual slur implies that homosexuals are a lower-class citizen. I don't give a flying flip what your beliefs are on the subject, but there is no excuse for trying to degrade anyone like that. Agree or disagree with them all you want, but when you start degrading people like that you just need to leave forever.

I have a few additional rules of my own. I don't bring up politics or religion. The NFL is something that allows Democrats and Republicans, Mormons and Atheists, and other groups that normally disagree together. We can argue that other stuff in other places.
I try not to insult fans, though I suspend this rule for trolls. If a Seahawk fan comes to Niner Nation to discuss football, even though he thinks Wilson is 100x better than Kaepernick I'm not going to call him a doodoo-head or anything. We can be rivals without having to result to personal insults.
I don't make players names into derogatory terms. (Teams are fair game.) I refuse to call Tony Romo "Homo" and don't think highly of those that do. I'm tired of reading "Krapernick" et al. However, that rule only applies to their name directly. I think Tony "choke" Romo is just fine. :-)
I also don't cuss. Two reasons: one is a personal faith-based decision. Two, I feel that those who have to resort to cussing don't have the proper communication skills to say things properly.
Now, I think all of you should follow all of these rules all of the time, because I follow them perfectly and I think you're all schmucks if you don't follow them!

Monkey's note: At this point we grabbed the author and proceeded to beat him over the head with his "JaWalrus" comments and told him to keep his sanctimonious holier-than-thou attitude to himself. After Snowflake cuffed him a few times, he agreed to tone it down.

There is so much anger and venom in most other blogs (political, religious, Facebook, etc.) that we don't need to bring venom into our sports blogs. We can trash-talk without having to go disrespectful. We can say the 49ers are going to put the Rams in their place this year without having to say "F the Rams!". We can say the Seahawks should be renamed the SeAdderal Seahawks w/o having to say they are all pill-popping ~~baboons~~ buffoons. Monkey note: another cuff on the head for ak4niner.

We can hate our rivals and still respect them.

Even though I chalked it up to my over-emotionalism, it got me to thinking. When do rivalries go too far? There were some easy things I came up with.

Threatening actual physical violence, or committing said violence. - Do I really need to explain further?
Actively cheering an injury, or rooting for someone to get hurt. - I expect some disagreement on this one, but tough. I remember back in the nineties when Michael Irvin got hurt playing in Philly. Don't get me wrong; I hate the Cowboys with a passion. I'd almost let a polar bear eat me rather than root for the Cowboys to win a game. I really, really disliked Irvin. However, it sickened me when I saw some Philly fans CHEERING his injury (if memory serves, it was either a head or neck injury). In my book, that was just plain evil.
Racial / Sexual / Bigoted slurs. - Pretty self-explanatory, but let me make one example. Calling a fanbase and/or a team with a homosexual slur implies that homosexuals are a lower-class citizen. I don't give a flying flip what your beliefs are on the subject, but there is no excuse for trying to degrade anyone like that. Agree or disagree with them all you want, but when you start degrading people like that you just need to leave forever.

Monkey's note: At this point we grabbed the author and proceeded to beat him over the head with his "JaWalrus" comments and told him to keep his sanctimonious holier-than-thou attitude to himself. After Snowflake cuffed him a few times, he agreed to tone it down.

We can hate our rivals and still respect them.

Which 49ers' Players Will Make The Best Coaches?

2013-06-13T17:32:29Z

Seeing Jason Kidd get signed on as coach of the Nets started me thinking: Which 49ers players will likely turn out to be good coaches after retirement? Which ones will be coaches at all?

Here is the list I came up with just from looking at the roster:

Alex Boone: He is still young and has a long career left ahead of him, but up to now he has made an excellent transition from undrafted tackle to guard to the guy who calls the pass protections on the line and communicates with Kaep. I think a transition to coach would not be much of a reach.

Justin Smith: This guy loves football and is a true competitor who never stops. Remind you of anyone? Sounds a lot like Harbaugh to me actually. I don't have any reason that he won't turn to ranching full-time after football, but I would like to see him as a coach if they were willing to give him a chance.

Patrick Willis: A consummate leader by example and hard worker. That seems to me like it would translate over to a career in coaching, at least as a LBs coach. If Mike Singletary could do it, couldn't Willis? And probably better?

Frank Gore: I don't have much to back this up yet besides to say that Gore's work ethic and attitude seem to lend themselves to coaching.

Donte Whitner: I think it would be hard for Whitner to retire and leave the spotlight completely. I see him more as an analyst after he leaves the NFL, but he could be a coach, maybe for the Jets or something. :)

Just my opinions. As always, thanks for reading!

Seeing Jason Kidd get signed on as coach of the Nets started me thinking: Which 49ers players will likely turn out to be good coaches after retirement? Which ones will be coaches at all?

Here is the list I came up with just from looking at the roster:

Frank Gore: I don't have much to back this up yet besides to say that Gore's work ethic and attitude seem to lend themselves to coaching.

Just my opinions. As always, thanks for reading!

Tebow not good enough for many at NN, apparently good enough for BILL BELICHICK... (The "I friggin' told you so" thread...)

2013-06-13T16:24:15Z

I told ya' I could get myself banned, JESUSEAGLE...

smh... So it's a I GOT MAULED BY A COUGAR alias that gets 'er done, huh? lol...

Enjoy the pithy Gregory Lee everyone (sorry Greg, wrong place, wrong time; nothing personal...)... G'night!

----------------------------------------

So... what's the deal here? I am banned? Not banned? What's the story? I just posted a comment below at 5:50pm.... Not telling anyone how to run their own business, but BANNING someone for only a couple of hours... Not very effective imo. Did that dark-haired AVEDA GIRL speak to someone on my behalf? God bless her. She's such a treasure...

----------------------------------------

Bill Belichick, arguably the greatest football mind and HC in NFL history (apologies and continued restful slumber, Coach Walsh) just signed Tim Tebow...

TIM TEBOW.

:-)

And since so many of the Tebow "fans" and "expert" analysts on this board have seemingly lost their tongues re this new development... Well I simply felt an obligation (neigh not an obligation, more like a DUTY) to come back briefly to stir' the ol' hornets nest in regard to this issue.

Obviously, the answer I anticipate from many is: "well, he's a Patriot and not a 49er, so that's why no one has written anything about it".

But that doesn't really hold water because there was PLENTY of Tebow discussion in various threads when it came to the "see I told you so" variety when he was cut by the Jets and it took time for him to find a new home in the NFL.

So where are you now, all of you "he'll never again be signed by another NFL team" people? As they say, inquiring minds would like to know your current opinion after a BRILLIANT HC like Bill Belichick decides to bring Timbowlicious on board for a look-see......

My last thoughts on Tebow from a week or so ago (cleaned up just a touch to make them clearer):

Professor Kirke from C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe"...

Professor Kirke

Logic! Why don’t they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.

"FOR THE MOMENT THEN and UNLESS ANY FURTHER EVIDENCE TURNS UP, we must assume……"

That’s the key. As FANTASTICAL as it may seem, that Tim Tebow could ACTUALLY be a good NFL QB (i.e. about the same chance of there being a MAGIC WARDROBE, etc.), we still have to give him the benefit of the doubt and consider the possibilities:

1) Tebow CAN’T SUCCEED in the NFL as a QB.

2) Tebow CAN SUCCEED in the NFL as a QB.

3) Tebow MIGHT SUCCEED in the NFL as a QB long-term.

Re #1? Tebow HAS succeeded in the NFL as a starting QB already. Furthermore, he has a LONG HISTORY of being a successful starting QB everywhere he’s ever played. Everywhere.

Re #2? All we have to do is look at #1. We KNOW #1 is ILLOGICAL because Tebow already has had success as a QB in the NFL. .

Re #3? Simple to answer. #1 is ILLOGICAL, and #2 is true. So of course the answer here is "yes." Of course Tim Tebow MIGHT be able to succeed in NFL long-term as a QB because he's already done so in the short-term.

UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE… Basic logic demands we look at Tim Tebow as both a QB who CAN SUCCEED in the NFL as a starting QB, and one who MIGHT BE ABLE TO SUCCEED in the NFL long-term.

It really is that simple.

All the MINUTIA that you guys draw from to extrapolate the "proof" that Tebow CAN’T do what he’s already done (which is to succeed as a starting QB in the NFL; he’s done that on a short-term basis already)…… Heck, guys. You can CREATE data w/all your ROTO-STATS to support your "arguments" from now until the end of time. Still doesn’t change the fact that your BASIC LOGIC re Tebow is flawed.

Those were my thoughts from this thread (http://www.ninersnation.com/2013/5/23/4359846/a-brief-examination-of-the-pistol-the-diamond-marqueis-gray-and-tim?login=1371136385) on May 24th...

And here's a sampling of the (ridiculous?) counter, uhhh... "arguments" given as "proof" that the ol' Tebowski can't play in the NFL. That he CAN'T play even though he's already SUCCEEDED as a starting QB in the short-term and has just been signed by BILL BELICHICK and the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS...

(Merlin's note -- the BOLDING within certain comments is mine, utilized to highlight the specific or more outer-limits-ridiculous Tebow criticism. The horribly flawed logical thinking, and all the Tebomb-OPINIONS masquerading as "FACTS"...)

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I stopped reading when I saw Tebow

by NinersFan_LA on May 23, 2013 | 2:53 PM reply rec flag

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Yeah I was just mocking your first post really.

Marqueis is an interesting prospect though. I’m going to pretend you’re just trying to troll by mentioning Tebow.

by NinersFan_LA on May 23, 2013 | 3:01 PM up reply rec flag

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"winner"

That just drives me crazy as an argument for a football player.

by David Fucillo on May 24, 2013 | 7:03 AM up reply rec (3) flag

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Fighting the urge to outrightly dismiss T***** may lead

people to consider the point of your article, which is this, we need versatile players in the backfield to make this biatch hum. Wut?

But Tebow sucks; ie, he is not versatile. I’ll rank his skillsets from best to worst:
Prosthelytizing > running > blocking > "passing" > bouncing a pass of his facemask >

(Merlin's note -- two paragraphs of further Fred "blahblahblahblah" deleted to save space...)

And on the 8th day He created a Linebacker, clothed him in scarlet and gold, and numbered him 52.

by Fred.P.Soft on May 23, 2013 | 3:37 PM reply rec flag

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Some guys just cannot

Shoot the ball at the NBA level.
Hit a driver at the PGA level – even though they can shoot the ball (Barkley).
Hit the strike zone enough to be a MLB pitcher.
Release the football at an NFL level.

I’m a big believer in Ewing Theory, even though I just heard that term, it’s a concept I’ve believed in since childhood. The Broncos that year were that – they played at a playoff level of intensity and focus when Tebow took over; but here’s the point, a team can’t do that for a whole season then into the playoffs. When they pooped out he got exposed. It was a slightly artificial season, and no I don’t attribute his leadership – I attribute his teammates fear of his limited skillset, the team FREAKED out when he took over so they played lights out. His limitations freaked them out. And their professionalism, and their coach, held them together. So that’s how I see his run. He did great, but he was eventually exposed andeverybody sees that. That’s why he’s out of work.
He’s also out of work because his mechanics have not greatly improved. I just watched T***** on a TV show arrive on the season and donate a check for $200,000. How many hours with Tom House you think that money could have purchased?
You ever try something and realize you weren’t getting any better (like commenting on NN boards)? I think that’s happened to Tim. I think a part of him knows he can’t hit a PGA driver. He can’t hit free throws. He’s tried and he can’t do it. I don’t think spending a decade with Tom House is ever going to make Charles Barkley a better golfer.

And on the 8th day He created a Linebacker, clothed him in scarlet and gold, and numbered him 52.

by Fred.P.Soft on May 23, 2013 | 10:57 PM up reply rec flag

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What was his years when he took over for DEN? Was it his 3rd?

(Merlin's note -- DELETED paragraph of gibber-jabber re "Ewing Theory", etc...)

Now He has been pushed out of the NFL in an unfortunate series of bad timings and maybe bad luck. He got pushed to the back of the line on a bad team and it ruined his league wide perception to sit behind Sanchez who’s atrocious. He got judged by that – "if he’s not good enough to be better than Sanchez the coaches must know something". He’s also a raucus sideshow and the Christian Mafia should blame themselves for all the teams trying to avoid him.
But my point remains, his success was the virtue of right place right time, IMHO, and maybe his current failure is wrong place wrong time, but it doesn’t change the fact that he can’t throw well enough to at this time – a point in time during which he should have shown wonderful improvements such as Keap has.
If he slapped that $200K down on Tom Houses’ desk and said, "Give me 3 years of your time, Tom." He would get another chance after that. But he won’t. Why not?

(Merlin's note -- DELETED paragraph of gibber-jabber about CHUCK NORRIS and Chuck's bowel-movements...)

And on the 8th day He created a Linebacker, clothed him in scarlet and gold, and numbered him 52.

by Fred.P.Soft on May 24, 2013 | 12:22 AM up reply rec flag

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I agree with Freddy P. on this one.

And, to match my dance partner here above, I’ll spice my post up a bit with capitalized words and emphasized bravado!

Tim Tebow didn’t "win" 7 games, his TEAM won seven games. Big difference.

If we’re dealing in stats, then Tebow’s 2011 stat line (his breakout campaign) IS ALL KINDS OF AWFUL and there is nothing in it to suggest he is anything other than a bad quarterback who fell into an incredibly lucky situation.

ANY/A+ of 87
rate+ of 85
sack%+ of 52
comp%+ of 50. FIFTY!!!!

Only five quarterbacks since 1978 have attempted at least 200 passes and had a comp% below 55. And here is that all-pro list of glorious men. Men like the unforgettable Rusty Hilger and two time Super Bowl MVP Ryan Leaf.

His best stat was an INT%+ of 110 (a bit above league average) and, by all evidence, THAT WAS DUE ENTIRELY TO LUCK. How do you complete 46.5% of your passes and only throw 6 picks on 271 attempts??

Only one other quarterback has had a stat line close to that since 1978 (ridiculously low comp%, but above-average int%) and that was THE FUTURE HALL OF FAMER Akili Smith in 2000.

Akili started 17 games in four years and was never seen again. Tebow has 16 in three and will probably not get any this year, and two of those came at the FB/TE designation! TEBOW DOES NOT HAVE A FUTURE IN THE NFL.

be a mark. follow the nonsense: @liberty_JAC

by liberty_JAC on May 24, 2013 | 2:12 AM up reply rec (3) flag

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Piece by piece here.

Nothing but perhaps 15-years of organized football and EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS AS A QB at every single level he has ever played at.

That is entirely IRRELEVANT. Football is a team sport. This isn’t basketball. Individual success at one level does not necessarily translate to the next. There are too many other factors at play.

Nothing but a playoff win, a 7-4 record as a starter, a very good TD/INT ratio, added value as a RUNNING THREAT as a QB, all the comeback wins, and the fact that he did it on a marginally talented team that started 1-4.

Tim Tebow did not WIN a playoff game (at least, not in the way you are implying). Tim Tebow’s TEAM won a playoff game.

Big Ben was a terrible 22 of 40 for a mere 289 yards. He threw one touchdown, one interception, and was sacked 5 times for 45 yards. Three of those coming on the final drive that kept the Steelers from ending it in regulation.

His INT% is utter luck based on all historical data. How can you simultaneously be inaccurate at RARELY SEEN LEVELS OVER A SUSTAINED PERIOD OF TIME while also avoiding interceptions? Unless his throws are so bad that not even defenders had a chance to catch them. Either way, it is absurd and ILLOGICAL to quote his TD/INT ratio as an example of his alleged passing skill.

(Merlin's note -- the ENTIRE PARAGRAPH above simply highlights the writer's general lack-of-understanding of the complexity of playing the QB position. An advanced understanding of "WHY" any one individual pass -- in general -- is or is not intercepted, etc.)

Comeback wins do not reflect anything until you can prove they are sustainable and PREDICTABLE. Otherwise, it’s just a random glitch. Tebow had 5 fourth quarter comebacks in 2011. In FOUR OF THOSE GAMES, the Tebow-led offense scored 18 points, 17 points, 16 points, and 13 points. The only reason he even had a chance in the 4th quarter was because the defense kept him in it.

IT IS NOT A SKILL to be able to simultaneously avoid scoring touchdowns in quarters 1 through 3 and then score in the final two minutes of the 4th. That is NOT A SKILL. It is NOT REPEATABLE FOR A SUSTAINED PERIOD OF TIME.

Denver had the EIGHTH WORST scoring offense in 2011 and only finished 7 – 4 under Tebow despite playing in the worst division in football and having the easiest schedule (Broncos finished 4th in 2010, so they got bottom-barrel schedule). And, AGAIN, four of those Tebow wins were utter luck where his defense kept him in it and "he" couldn’t even manage 20 points.

Oh yeah… He was also a Heisman trophy winner and National Champion, and arguably the greatest college football player of all time.

Not at all relevant. Doug Flutie won the Heisman, too; and is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NFL.

(Merlin's Note -- great example used to support the contention that Tebow COULD become a good NFL QB; Flutie was an underrated and undervalued NFL QB who eventually had a modicum of success as an NFL starter. Anyone remember another undersized former CFL'er named JEFF GARCIA...?)

Don’t give me stats about how some kid played when he was 20 against other 20 year-olds when we have enough passing data from the dude at age 24 to determine he was a terrible passer, and we have a full season’s worth of data from last year that says he couldn’t out-compete Mark Sanchez OR GREG MCELROY for a starting position, and actually took the majority of his snaps at the "FB/TE" designation.

be a mark. follow the nonsense: @liberty_JAC

by liberty_JAC on May 24, 2013 | 3:00 AM up reply rec (5) flag

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logic

Your repeated use of this makes me think….

by David Fucillo on May 24, 2013 | 11:59 AM up reply rec (7)
(Merlin's note -- lol... No. As it relates to Tim Tebow and QB'ing at least, I think I've got a VERY GOOD handle on the ol' logic, Dave.)

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Tebow

I think liberty_JAC is providing incredibly cogent, logical points. You’ve pointed to a 7-4 record, a playoff win and some fairly generic platitudes. liberty_JAC has provided evidence to support his opinion that Tim Tebow is not a good NFL quarterback. You can disagree with his points, but to say he is not using logic is just plain wrong.

by David Fucillo on May 24, 2013 | 12:56 PM up reply rec (7)

(Merlin's note -- to use your own words, Dave: YOUR repeated use of the word logic makes me think: I do not think it means what you think it means.)

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Anyway... Tim Tebowreno, back in the ol' NFL. Yep. Of course he is. Just LIKE A CERTAIN SOMEONE SAID HE WOULD BE...

"Cool Huhhhh-Whippppppp..."

I told ya' I could get myself banned, JESUSEAGLE...

smh... So it's a I GOT MAULED BY A COUGAR alias that gets 'er done, huh? lol...

Enjoy the pithy Gregory Lee everyone (sorry Greg, wrong place, wrong time; nothing personal...)... G'night!

----------------------------------------

Bill Belichick, arguably the greatest football mind and HC in NFL history (apologies and continued restful slumber, Coach Walsh) just signed Tim Tebow...

TIM TEBOW.

:-)

Obviously, the answer I anticipate from many is: "well, he's a Patriot and not a 49er, so that's why no one has written anything about it".

My last thoughts on Tebow from a week or so ago (cleaned up just a touch to make them clearer):

Professor Kirke from C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe"...

Professor Kirke

Logic! Why don’t they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.

"FOR THE MOMENT THEN and UNLESS ANY FURTHER EVIDENCE TURNS UP, we must assume……"

1) Tebow CAN’T SUCCEED in the NFL as a QB.

2) Tebow CAN SUCCEED in the NFL as a QB.

3) Tebow MIGHT SUCCEED in the NFL as a QB long-term.

Re #1? Tebow HAS succeeded in the NFL as a starting QB already. Furthermore, he has a LONG HISTORY of being a successful starting QB everywhere he’s ever played. Everywhere.

Re #2? All we have to do is look at #1. We KNOW #1 is ILLOGICAL because Tebow already has had success as a QB in the NFL. .

UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE… Basic logic demands we look at Tim Tebow as both a QB who CAN SUCCEED in the NFL as a starting QB, and one who MIGHT BE ABLE TO SUCCEED in the NFL long-term.

It really is that simple.

Those were my thoughts from this thread (http://www.ninersnation.com/2013/5/23/4359846/a-brief-examination-of-the-pistol-the-diamond-marqueis-gray-and-tim?login=1371136385) on May 24th...

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I stopped reading when I saw Tebow

by NinersFan_LA on May 23, 2013 | 2:53 PM reply rec flag

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Yeah I was just mocking your first post really.

Marqueis is an interesting prospect though. I’m going to pretend you’re just trying to troll by mentioning Tebow.

by NinersFan_LA on May 23, 2013 | 3:01 PM up reply rec flag

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"winner"

That just drives me crazy as an argument for a football player.

by David Fucillo on May 24, 2013 | 7:03 AM up reply rec (3) flag

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Fighting the urge to outrightly dismiss T***** may lead

people to consider the point of your article, which is this, we need versatile players in the backfield to make this biatch hum. Wut?

But Tebow sucks; ie, he is not versatile. I’ll rank his skillsets from best to worst:
Prosthelytizing > running > blocking > "passing" > bouncing a pass of his facemask >

(Merlin's note -- two paragraphs of further Fred "blahblahblahblah" deleted to save space...)

And on the 8th day He created a Linebacker, clothed him in scarlet and gold, and numbered him 52.

by Fred.P.Soft on May 23, 2013 | 3:37 PM reply rec flag

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Some guys just cannot

And on the 8th day He created a Linebacker, clothed him in scarlet and gold, and numbered him 52.

by Fred.P.Soft on May 23, 2013 | 10:57 PM up reply rec flag

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What was his years when he took over for DEN? Was it his 3rd?

(Merlin's note -- DELETED paragraph of gibber-jabber re "Ewing Theory", etc...)

(Merlin's note -- DELETED paragraph of gibber-jabber about CHUCK NORRIS and Chuck's bowel-movements...)

And on the 8th day He created a Linebacker, clothed him in scarlet and gold, and numbered him 52.

by Fred.P.Soft on May 24, 2013 | 12:22 AM up reply rec flag

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I agree with Freddy P. on this one.

And, to match my dance partner here above, I’ll spice my post up a bit with capitalized words and emphasized bravado!

Tim Tebow didn’t "win" 7 games, his TEAM won seven games. Big difference.

ANY/A+ of 87
rate+ of 85
sack%+ of 52
comp%+ of 50. FIFTY!!!!

Only one other quarterback has had a stat line close to that since 1978 (ridiculously low comp%, but above-average int%) and that was THE FUTURE HALL OF FAMER Akili Smith in 2000.

be a mark. follow the nonsense: @liberty_JAC

by liberty_JAC on May 24, 2013 | 2:12 AM up reply rec (3) flag

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Piece by piece here.

Nothing but perhaps 15-years of organized football and EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS AS A QB at every single level he has ever played at.

Nothing but a playoff win, a 7-4 record as a starter, a very good TD/INT ratio, added value as a RUNNING THREAT as a QB, all the comeback wins, and the fact that he did it on a marginally talented team that started 1-4.

Tim Tebow did not WIN a playoff game (at least, not in the way you are implying). Tim Tebow’s TEAM won a playoff game.

Oh yeah… He was also a Heisman trophy winner and National Champion, and arguably the greatest college football player of all time.

Not at all relevant. Doug Flutie won the Heisman, too; and is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NFL.

be a mark. follow the nonsense: @liberty_JAC

by liberty_JAC on May 24, 2013 | 3:00 AM up reply rec (5) flag

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logic

Your repeated use of this makes me think….

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Tebow

by David Fucillo on May 24, 2013 | 12:56 PM up reply rec (7)

(Merlin's note -- to use your own words, Dave: YOUR repeated use of the word logic makes me think: I do not think it means what you think it means.)

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Anyway... Tim Tebowreno, back in the ol' NFL. Yep. Of course he is. Just LIKE A CERTAIN SOMEONE SAID HE WOULD BE...

"Cool Huhhhh-Whippppppp..."