The San Francisco 49ers offensive line has had all sorts of problems this season, and one of the reasons for the issues is Anthony Davis' hiatus from football. He was not the best right tackle in football, but he was solid enough, and he was significantly better than Erik Pears.
Davis has chimed in on Twitter every so often about his plans to return to football next year. However, this weekend he has gone into some actual detail about this current 49ers team. There has been some chatter about what he thought might happen to the team, and if that led to his decision to retire. He had this to say:
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The 49ers signed Erik Pears prior to Davis' departure, but it seems like the idea was for him to either be a swing tackle, or compete for the right guard position with Alex Boone moving to left guard. Whatever the case, he has been bad, and Davis knows it.
On Friday, Davis had some specific comments about the line, critiquing a play in which Joe Staley did not get a good block on Kam Chancellor, tweeting "The safety shouldn't be setting the edge against the run. Period. That's almost disrespectful."
Damn. https://t.co/qH8QUKlIwV
— AD (@BamDavis_) November 28, 2015
Someone asked him why he would go after Staley like that, and Davis responded with these three tweets:
Do Joe like what? Hold him accountable? Every time. Someone has to be comfortable being uncomfortable in there. https://t.co/SSnH8DDgyV
— AD (@BamDavis_) November 28, 2015
They don't pay us millions to "try". https://t.co/4ffRtx5f1r
— AD (@BamDavis_) November 28, 2015
Cant be soft playing Oline, disrespecting the game. Im preparing my body to play my brand of football. Couldn't just go thru the motions.
— AD (@BamDavis_) November 28, 2015
On the one hand, Davis played/plays the game, so his comments can ring true to a certain extent. On the other hand, I wonder what Joe Staley would have to say about Davis' critique. And that's what will be particularly interesting when Davis returns, if he does in fact do as he has been saying. How will a guy like Joe Staley respond to having him back on the offensive line next fall? Davis did have this to say to someone suggesting this critiques meant he would not be re-joining the 49ers next season.
I haven't "ripped" them. I plan on coming back for sure. I stated all facts. They know what's up. https://t.co/VPzv3PcRD8
— AD (@BamDavis_) November 28, 2015