After some hemming and hawing, I finally decided to take a stab at putting together an all-decade team for the '00s.  Although the 49ers have had some down seasons recently, the decade was book-ended by some incredibly talented players.  I won't go into a lot of detail for the players, and for some I may have nothing to say.  I'm using Pro Football Reference's amazing statistical sorter, which should provide some intriguing results.  In addition, there is an intriguing site that provides team historical rosters.

For some positions, most notably the offensive line, it was a mix of objective and subjective analysis.  I used PFR's search tool to find who started the most games at the position, and then basically tried to figure out in my head what I could remember of their play.  So take it for what it's worth.  Additionally, since the team used the 4-3 for a larger chunk of the decade, I went with that as the defense of choice.  I was tempted to go with a 4-4 to accomodate both, like we did with our all-time team, but I changed my mind.

Offense
There were a few interesting decisions on this roster.  At fullback, it was basically a battle between Fred Beasley and Moran Norris, who split the bulk of the workload last decade.  At the #2 wide receiver spot, I went against popular opinion and went with one of my favorite under-appreciated 49ers in Tai Streets.  Rice went in to honorable mention because he was only a 49er for 1 year this past decade.  Just my own rule I suppose.  In generally it was not too difficult to make some of these calls.  The offensive line was the hardest without some hard stats to back it up, but basically if you were a 49er before 2005 you had a much better shot.

QB: Jeff Garcia
RB: Frank Gore
FB: Fred Beasley
WR: Terrell Owens
WR: Tai Streets
TE: Vernon Davis
OT: Scott Gragg
OG: Eric Heitmann
C: Jeremy Newberry
OG: Justin Smiley
OT: Derrick Deese

Honorable Mentions: WR Jerry Rice, OT Joe Staley, WR Arnaz Battle, TE Eric Johnson, FB Moran Norris, C Eric Heitmann (yes, he had a shot at two spots on this roster)

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The NFL announced it's all decade team, and not too surprisingly no current 49ers made the team.  The 49ers only connections were through Terrell Owens, who spent 4 seasons in the '00s with the 49ers, and Larry Allen, who spent two seasons with the 49ers, although only one could be considered good.

Rather than just rattle off the names here (that's saved for after the jump), I thought it'd be more fun to take a look into the future, and open the discussion on what current 49ers might find themselves on the all decade team for the teens.  Obviously some of these guys could end up elsewhere in free agency, but really it doesn't matter since they'll have spent time with the 49ers during the decade.  However, I'll make a note (and feel free to do the same) if I think their time with the 49ers will earn them the spot.

Patrick Willis: Willis is a 2-time All Pro and obviously one of the best in the game.  The all-decade team selected six "linebackers" with no specificity between outside and inside/middle linebackers.

Vernon Davis: First off, a belated happy 26th birthday who made his Pro Bowl debut on his birthday (1/31).  The two tight ends on this team are Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez.  Gonzalez turns 34 this year, and will probably slip enough to probably not make this decade's team.  The competition will be fierce for the two tight end spots as Davis (26) will be battling (31 at the start of the 2010 season), Jason Witten (28), and maybe even Brent Celek (25) and Kellen Winslow (27).  That doesn't even factor in some of the young players that will be developing in the coming seasons.  I think Davis can make this happen, but it'll take some work.

Andy Lee: If Andy Lee can maintain his current numbers for the foreseeable future, something that probably should not be a problem, I think he has as good a chance as any punter to get on that list.  The two punters listed (Lechler and Moorman) are both going to be 34 this coming season.  Age is not that quite that big a deal for a lot of punters, so it's possible we see Shane Lechler on the list again in 10 years.  However, Andy Lee will only be 28 years old this coming season (just found out his birthday is the day before mine), so he has a legit shot to play out the decade.  If that happens, I think he's on the roster.

Frank Gore: If Gore can stay healthy long enough and if the 49ers can improve the offensive line, Frank Gore has an outside shot on this team.  I think the longevity issue is a bigger concern of those two.  He's been healthy for the most part for most of his NFL career, but he definitely gets banged up a lot.

Michael Crabtree: We really have no idea how Crabtree will develop in the coming seasons.  And seeing as only 4 wide receivers are selected, it's going to be fairly difficult to make the team at that position.  After all, wide receiver is always an incredibly deep position around the league.  But Crabtree has skills, and it would not be a shock if he developed into that kind of receiver in the coming years.

Head Coach Mike Singletary: They select two coaches for the all-decade team, with last decade's team including Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy.  Given that Singletary's only through 2 seasons (1 full) as a head coach, if the 49ers can return to some semblance of their past glory, what's to keep Singletary off the team.  That'd be especially sweet considering he was already all decade at linebacker in the '80s.  Obviously this might be a stretch, but you never know.

Any other strong possibilities you think I've missed out on?

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Continuing my reign of front page dominance, I've decided to present you guys with a (hopefully more agreeable) list of the best free agent signings this decade from our 49ers. Yesterday I considered the other end of the spectrum and included such nausea-inducing choices as T Jonas Jennings and LB Tully Banta-Cain though hopefully today I've got some names that will bring a smile to your faces.

I smiled to myself when I wrote this, looking through the transactions I remembered that WR Dominique Zeigler was signed as an undrafted free agent and seriously considered trolling everybody here and putting him as my number one, but I've since decided I'd be a bit more professional (hah) about things. This list was actually more difficult than the worst because the 49ers have snagged quite a few pretty good starters from free agency but it was hard determining who was the "best" and as such I'll likely not give a numeric ranking like my piece yesterday... Let's get started, shall we?

Honorable Mentions

QB Shaun Hill 2006 Why not, I mean, what exactly has Shaun Hill brought to the table? Well... he kept the bench pretty warm for his first season with the team but the second was another story. After a severe concussion, Hill replaced Trent Dilfer in the 2007 season and had a pretty good performance against his former team, the Vikings. Hill was named the starter for the remainder of the season and made his first two career starts, playing well and winning both games before being hurt and missing the next two games.

The team signed Hill to an extension and he 'competed' with quarterbacks Alex Smith and J.T. O'Sullivan for the starting quarterback spot. We all know what happened then, with J.T. being benched and Hill getting the start, he finished the season strong under interim head coach Mike Singletary. Hill then was named the starting quarterback last season and played moderately decent along the way, but a change was inevitably made. He finished last season as Alex Smith's backup.

So how do we rank Shaun? He's a great guy, to be sure, and a serviceable backup. He's a backup who did very good stepping in as the starter and as such, I think he deserves to be mentioned.

LB Takeo Spikes 2008 He's not a player who has amazing stats but in my mind, Spikes has been the best TED linebacker in the league. That is to say, Spikes may do what we ask him better than just about everyone else does what they're asked on this defense. He's a sure tackler, he snags the occasional interception and he's very smart. I don't have a whole lot to say about him but he has been incredibly solid in his position. A very good pickup.

Make the jump for the best of the best (of the best of the best).

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And here's Ninjames, supporting you with offseason goodness (well considering the topicality it may not be good per se, but we'll get through this together) while there's not a whole lot of news to tide you over. A couple weeks ago Fooch posted the 49ers biggest draft disappointments and best draft choices of the decade so I'm checking in to handle the free agent articles for the decade. Check back on Thursday for my look at the best free agent signings, and I'll try hard not to play favorites.

Now, I'm sure I've likely missed a couple hilariously bad players that the 49ers picked up for a game or two in 2000 or 2001 that I couldn't find enough enough information on but I did give it as comprehensive of a list as I could. Now, the team has obviously signed a large amount of free agents and I'm sure you won't always agree with what I've put down but I think for the most part some of these are pretty obvious. I'll start off with an honorable mention.

Honorable Mention

CB Nate Clements 2007 I wasn't sure exactly where I should put Nate Clements in this piece. He obviously has not been a terrible player, he certainly is nowhere near "bust" category but has he been a disappointment? I think he could be considered as such. The team is decidedly better in some areas when he's out there but at times, they seem decidedly worse. On March 2, 2007, Clements became the highest paid defensive player in NFL history with an $80 million contract with 22 million guaranteed over eight years. He's a player who gets burned a lot in coverage and who would probably be better off playing safety. While he hasn't been "bad" he's not worth top CB money because he just.. isn't a top CB.

OT Jonas Jennings 2005 I am hesitant to place people on this list due to injury issues, but I suppose that would still make them a disappointment, wouldn't it? Jonas Jennings was brought in as a big, dominating guy that could run block as well as be serviceable in protecting rookie quarterback Alex Smith's blindside. Jennings was hurt every year he played for the 49ers--when he did play he was decent, but the injuries were just too much. In his first season he started three games before being put on IR.  His second season was productive, but he missed the final three games, again on IR.  His next two seasons he had other issues and again was IR'd in both seasons. When I think of him, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Continue past the jump for the worst. I'm going all-out here, no more honorable mention--I wish everyone after this jump never made the team in the first place.

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The 49ers began the last decade with a question mark surrounding the quarterback position.  Sure Jeff Garcia was the man at the helm, but given how 1999 went down I think plenty of people were worried about the QB position.  In 13 games (10 starts) after Steve Young went down, Garcia was 225/375 (60%) with 2,544 yards, 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.  Garcia struggled enough early on that Steve Stenstrom got three starts of his own midway through the season.  However, once 2000 hit, Garcia was the guy.  He showed dramatic improvement that second season, and even though the 49ers had their ups and downs during his time here, Garcia turned into a very solid quarterback.

Following the 2003 season, the 49ers began their salary purge to clean up the cap mess that was strangling the franchise.  Garcia was cut and thus began the now six year odyssey that has been the 49ers search for a franchise quarterback.  In that time the 49ers have had a whole assortment of awful quarterbacks.  Some were just plain bad quarterbacks (JTO), while others performed so atrociously that it was clear they should never have been an NFL quarterback (Pickett).  Either way, we've had a whole assortment of quarterbacks in the last six years, most of whom now appear on this list.

I've actually decided to include every QB that started a game for the 49ers since Jeff Garcia was cut.  One or two of them probably don't below on this list, but as I know somebody will have a complaint somewhere, I just decided to include every one of them in chronological order.  Head past the jump to check out the contestants.

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Last week we kicked off our look back at the decade that was by assessing the 49ers' five biggest draft disappointments and the five best draft choices.  There are some sites putting together ballots for every single position to determine an all-decade team.  Initially I was going to do that, but I've decided to go more for positions where there is some question about it, and where the debate is a bit more intriguing.

For example, at quarterback, Jeff Garcia was the 49ers best QB this decade.  I don't even think you can include other quarterbacks in the debate.  Is somebody really going to argue Tim Rattay, Alex Smith, or Shaun Hill was better this decade?  The same holds true at the #1 wide receiver spot.  Even if you didn't like the man, Terrell Owens was the best 49ers wide receiver this past decade and I can't think of any remotely reasonable argument otherwise.  From 2000-2003, TO had 370 receptions, 5,265 receiving yards, and 51 TDs.  Nobody comes close to that.

However, that doesn't mean we can't debate who was the second best wide receiver for the 49ers this past decade.  This isn't a question of who would be the best #2 receiver on a team.  The question is simply, after TO, who was the best 49ers wide receiver this decade?  And the response to that leaves a fairly motley list.  It does include one season of Jerry Rice as a bit of a statistical baseline.

After the jump we run through the candidates...

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We began our look back at the Aughts with a rundown of the biggest draft disappointments of the decade.  It's time to switch over to something a little more positive and check out some of the best draft choices of the past ten years.  As we did with the disappointments, we'll be looking at a combination of production and when they were selected.  Later picks that are especially productive are likely to be bumped up this list, as compared to picks that were first or second round and expected to be productive.

This was actually much more difficult than I thought it would be.  The problem being that the 49ers have had some very solid players come out of the draft, but are they the "best choices."  For example, Vernon Davis is making the leap this year, but I left him off because of his high draft position.  Of course, my list of honorable mentions might cause some folks to blow their stacks.  So, once again, feel free to add your own players to the list.  I didn't include any 2008 and 2009 draft choices in our list of disappointments and will not be including them here either.  For a list of all 49ers draft picks, head over to nfl.com.

Honorable Mention

QB Tim Rattay, 2000, 7th round - This first honorable mention may take some of you by surprise.  Tim Rattay certainly didn't have particularly great numbers with the 49ers.  He best season (2003) saw him make 9 starts and finish with 2,169 yards, 10 TDs, 10 INTs, 60.9%, 78.1 rating.  The team went 1-8 and those numbers aren't exactly fantastic.  I included him on this list because of the context of those numbers: His top 3 receivers that season were TE Eric Johnson, WR Cedrick Wilson and WR Brandon Lloyd.  I'm a huge Eric Johnson fan, but even I can admit that that trio is the proverbial poo poo platter.  If Rattay had been given some decent weapons (say Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, and Josh Morgan), I think he could have been a fairly solid quarterback.  So, given the fact that he was a 7th round pick, I'm willing to call this a really good draft choice.

LS Brian Jennings, 2000, 7th round - Not exactly an exciting first two guys, but hopefully you'll keep reading.  Brian Jennings has turned himself into one of the best long snappers in the game.  Maybe the team could have gotten this just as easily from an undrafted free agent.  However, given the production teams often get out of seventh round picks, I'll give them credit for drafting a guy who has lasted ten years with the team.  Jennings isn't going to win a lot of awards in football, but I think he's worthy of honorable mention.

TE Eric Johnson, 2001, 7th round - Two years, 3 seventh round selections that impressed me.  Some may find this odd, but Eric Johnson will go down as one of my favorite 49ers of the past decade.  I will admit that part of this was due to me selecting him in a keeper league the season he blew up with 82 receptions and 825 yards.  Part of it was due to feeling so bad about how he kept getting hurt and couldn't capitalize on that monster season.  Although the 49ers did not get much more production for him, I think his monster season earns him honorable mention.

OLB Julian Peterson, 2000, 1st round - One might ask why I include Peterson here and Plummer as a potential bust given that they spent the same amount of time with the 49ers and left due to injury issues (Plummer's arthritis and Peterson wasn't given a big extension b/c of some concern over his achilles injury).  I always felt (and this could be a poor perception on my part) that Peterson was a greater "impact" player in his time with the 49ers.  I constantly think back to his performance against Tony Gonzalez when he contained a guy considered the best in the game at that time.  Peterson played all over the place and showed an amazing versatility, moving between defensive end, OLB and safety at different times in a single game.  Given that he and Plummer were acquired through a draft-day deal down, maybe it's more fitting to include them here together.

P Andy Lee, 2004, 6th round - For those who have been longtime readers, you can probably imagine how hard it was for me to not include him in the top 5.  Lee was selected in the sixth round and has become an absolute rock for the 49ers in the punt game.  Lee is the franchise leader in punts and total punting yards.  Among all NFL punters, he's tied for seventh all-time in yards/punt, and while he's "only" 62nd in total punt yards, he's by far the youngest in his part of the list.  By the time his current contract is up, Lee should be in the top 35 all-time.  I know many punters come undrafted, but even still, not too shabby for a 6th round pick.  Thank goodness the team matched the Steelers offer sheet back in 2007.

Conflicted

CB Shawntae Spencer, 2004, 2nd round - I really wasn't sure what to do with Spencer, the former second round pick.  Given his injury issues, and general inconsistencies, it's hard to say he was a great draft choice.  This year saw him rebound rather impressively back into the starting lineup.  If you look back at the corners taken in 2004, one could argue he's still one of the better options from then.  Do folks consider this a "good" draft choice, a "bad" draft choice, or somewhere in between?

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Fooch's Note: This is easily the longest post I've ever put together, so settle in for the ugliness.  If you feel like life has been treating you too well, like things can't get any better, this will bring you back to earth.

The season is officially over for the 49ers and we'll be along with plenty of season review posts.  At the same time, now that the decade is coming to a close, all-decade this and that is all the rage.  Given that the 49ers face another non-playoff season, January has plenty of open space for posting.  Accordingly, I thought I'd take a look at the decade that was for the San Francisco 49ers.  We've got plenty of things to look at from the past decade, but I thought I'd start with some of the most abysmal: the biggest draft disappointments of the decade.  We could call them busts, but I think disappointment covers more territory, particularly if a player didn't have huge expectations to begin with.  We'll be back with the more positive best draft choices of the decade on Wednesday.

The 49ers selected 88 players over the course of the decade, so there will likely be plenty of disagreement in some of the selections and the order.  Feel free to agree or disagree all you want.  I'll start with some honorable mentions and then go through my top five after the jump.  We've factored in draft position and production.  After each of the top five I listed other players who could have been drafted with that pick.  If the pick was in the early rounds I'm not going to say they could have picked some 6th or 7th round pick that turned into a stud (such as Brady in 2000).  Rather, I'd prefer to look at players at the same position they reasonably could have taken with that pick.  For most of these there aren't a ton of options so I've mixed in some additional players drafted around them.  I didn't think we could make an accurate assessment of the 2008 and 2009 draft classes, but if you can argue for including any of those players, feel free to.  For a list of all 49ers draft picks, head over to nfl.com.

Honorable Mention

QB Alex Smith, 2005, 1st round: This is one reason I went with "disappointment" over "bust."  When there is as much disagreement over a player as there has been over Smith, one could reasonably argue the player has "disappointed."  When you're the #1 overall pick of the draft, no matter the circumstances, you've disappointed in some regard.  I (and many others) think Alex Smith can still turn it around, but for the purposes of the "aughts," Smith has disappointed.

CB Ahmed Plummer, 2000, 1st round: Plummer is an honorable mention because of "what could've been."  Plummer blew up his second season for 7 interceptions and looked to be the 49ers #1 corner for a long time.  At the end of the 2005 season, Plummer had played 9 games in two years and was released the following February because of cap considerations, but more importantly, because the 49ers had lost faith in him.  He retired in June of that year.  I had a tough time not including him on the top five.  I held him out more because I was a really big fan of him.  He got personal consideration that kept him off the top five.

G David Baas, 2005, 2nd round: Baas hasn't been awful, but considering he was the first pick of the second round, I think the team expected more from him.  He started five games his rookie season, zero his second season, eight his third season and nine his fourth season.  He's started every game in this his fifth season, but is up for free agency and has a good chance of not being brought back.  Part of that depends on the CBA, as if there is no CBA he becomes a restricted free agent.  However, even as a RFA the 49ers will not be looking to give him too much money.

WR Brandon Williams, 2006, 3rd round: Really Williams should be listed here as KR/PR because he never touched the ball as a receiver.  Williams was never considered a great wide receiver coming out of college, and Scouts Inc seemed to think he could turn into a decent #3 receiver.  Well, he has yet to make a reception in his NFL career.  He was signed by the Steelers this past offseason but appears to have been cut at some point.

LB Saleem Rasheed, 2002, 3rd round: When you're part of the same draft class that produces Eric Heitmann in the seventh round, it's a lot easier to be viewed as a disappointment when you're a third round linebacker.  Rasheed finished ninth all-time in tackles at Alabama but could not become any kind of playmaker in the NFL.  He finished with 38 tackles,1 sack and 2 forced fumbles in four seasons with the 49ers, before ending up in the CFL.

RB Kevan Barlow, 2001, 3rd round: One of the more disliked 49ers of the recent past, Barlow actually started off on the right path.  His first three seasons he was involved in a time-share with Garrison Hearst and increased his yards and yards per carry each year.  The team cut loose Garrison Hearst after the 2003 season and Barlow saw his yards and yards per carry decrease the next two years before being cut loose by the 49ers, having been replace d by Frank Gore.

Check out the worst of the worst after the jump and buckle in for a bumpy ride...

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