Responses to Reponses

Allforfunnplay asked about the starting defensive ends. Justin Smith will replace Marques Douglas on the left side and Ron Fields will likely replace Bryant Young on the right.

Marcos wondered about Alex Smith's rookie year. Smith was the first-string quarterback in training camp, then lost the job to Tim Rattay who started the season. After Rattay's horrendous outing in a loss to Arizona in Mexico City, Smith relieved Rattay and started the next two games.

Smith finished his second start in Washington, despite injuring his knee when tackled by linebacker LaVar Arrington. He missed the next five games, before starting the final six games.

-Many questioned the wisdom of coach Mike Nolan consulting with Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman about playing Smith right away. Of course both those quarterbacks said throw him in there. While Manning and Aikman struggled through god-awful rookie seasons, they ushered their teams to championships later in their careers. Their experience says, "Throw him in. It worked for us."

Nolan should have also talked to Tim Couch and Heath Shuler - first-round quarterbacks who never cut it after getting "thrown in there." But the best expert to consult on this matter?

Steve Young. He was tossed in with the L.A. Express of the USFL and then the Buccaneers in the NFL. But Young didn't hit his Hall-of-Fame stride until he sat for five years behind Joe Montana.

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Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | March 20 2008 at 11:01 PM

Responses to Responses

One post mentioned tackles Gosder Cherilus as a possible option for the 49ers with the 29th pick and it's a good one. NFLdraftscout.com has projected him as a second-round pick, but certainly the end of the first round would qualify. He could step in right away and challenge

Jonas Jennings

at right tackle, a position Cherilus played for three seasons at Boston College.

He struggled a little at left tackle, his senior year, giving up 5.5 sacks with seven penalties. The positives are size at nearly 6-7, 314 pounds with the long arms needed to corral pass rushers. He also has a nasty streak and the versatility to play on the left side. The negatives are he got beat against speed pass rushers and needs to work on his run blocking particularly if he's going to be a right tackle.

Competition at the position might inspire Jennings, who would probably beat out Cherilus, if Jennings stayed healthy. At the combine, Cherilus said he met with 20 to 22 teams, but didn't mention the 49ers.

-The Offensive Line Question: Based on a complicated evaluation of offensive-line play by Footballoutsiders.com (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol.php), the 49ers ranked 11th in run blocking and last in pass protection. The 49ers are banking on Joe Staley's ability to pass protect as a second-year left tackle.

The key will be Staley's ability to handle that position and Jennings's comeback from an awful season on the field and off of it with a personal issue. If Jennings can return to form, that's a huge upgrade for pass protection, and since Jennings signed his deal four years ago, he's no longer getting top-tier, left-tackle money. His bonuses were under $12 million and if the terms of his original deal are still in tact, he'll make a manageable $3.45 million in salary this year.

-Interesting story posted by KauaiRobert on Mike Martz. When he was first hired, I talked to two people who knew Martz well in St. Louis. One completely panned him, saying he couldn't get along with others, treated people poorly and rigidly adhered to his passing philosophy even though he had an outstanding running back in Marshall Faulk.

The other person said nearly the opposite: that he was creative, that players loved him, that without him, there's no way St. Louis would have won a Super Bowl and appeared in another.

I've written this a couple times, I believe Martz will either work out beautifully or be a disaster.

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Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | March 10 2008 at 02:59 PM

Thanks Y'all

Brandon 2008, thanks for the heads up on Levi Jones. I just made the correction. As far as a backup guard/center, Scot McCloughan said he would pick one up in a matter of weeks not days, which seems to suggest he has an eye on a player who's going to get released soon. Bigdiggyd makes a good point about the different between Jones and Adam Snyder, and one game certainly doesn't make a full assessment.

Rummaging through some tapes I did find a Bengals-Seahawks game that I'll examine to see how Justin Smith fared against Walter Jones. By the way, thanks to Bigdiggyd, latopia, Una_Chuck, NoFear, Marcos, Reno49erBerger, n8dogg777 and 95 percent of the others who I didn't mention that engage in provocative and well-reasoned, and sometimes well-researched, posts. I'm learning something from you guys every day.

Heated debate is healthy but please refrain from name calling.

In answer to a question about Jonas Jennings, McCloughan said he's on the team and he'll compete for right tackle. But who knows? A lot can happen between now and training camp.

Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | March 07 2008 at 09:20 AM

Responses to Responses

Lott4prez brings up a good point about leverage against Marques Douglas if the team signs Bengals defensive end Justin Smith. The 49ers could use both players.

I did get into it with Brandon Lloyd after he had an opportunity to catch a touchdown pass against the Bears in 2005 from Cody Pickett. The wind at Soldier Field was outrageous that day and there weren't many opportunities to score. I wrote Lloyd was "tentative" in his attempt over the middle with a safety bearing down on him. I remember Rod Woodson being much harder on him than I was.

Lamont and Tonelli had Lloyd on as a guest every week on the Bone (107.7 FM), and Lloyd ripped me on the air for what I wrote, which was fine. I went up to him and tried to joke around about it and he wasn't having any of it. He then ripped me again on the air.

I have gotten into confrontations large and small with 49ers players and executives over the years, it's just part of the job, especially if you're trying to be balanced when covering a losing team. The trick is not to let it color your coverage, which is probably a reason I shouldn't have made the comment about Lloyd yesterday.

It's too bad his career hasn't ascended. He obviously has talent, but he never realized it for whatever reason. And I must admit his style of play annoyed me. He wouldn't block and I've never seen a player avoid contact as much as he did, although Darrell Jackson comes close. But at least Jackson will block when he absolutely has to.

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Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | February 27 2008 at 02:40 PM

Combine Responses

In an answer to Renoberger's question about free agent defensive end Justin Smith's 40-yard dash time, we looked on NFLdraftscout.com for the 2001 draft and there was no 40-yard dash time listed for Smith. He did 26 bench press reps at 225 pounds and had a 20 on the wonderlic, and an 34-inch vertical leap.

Even though the 49ers appear interested in Smith, he'll go quickly, which means some team will overpay for him. Regardless of how good a player is, anyone going in the first day or so for free agency will be over paid. Do the 49ers want to overpay for a seven-year defensive end who had two sacks last year?

If the 49ers consider Antonio Bryant, why not also take a look at Jevon Kearse, who was released by the Eagles? They might be better off signing someone like Kearse, who was released from the Eagles and had three-and-a-half sacks in the first eight games last year before injuries once again set in. If the 49ers could get him on an inexpensive, incentive-laden deal, why not?

As far as Bryant, coach Mike Nolan has always liked him. But in order to come back, he'd have to demonstrate he had the mental stability to handle being in the league again. He'd also have to repair his relationship with Alex Smith. They couldn't stand each other.

The feeling in Indy at the college scouting combine is the Bears made a bigger deal of the 49ers' tampering charges than was warranted on linebacker Lance Briggs. The situation seems to be dying down. The 49ers really seemed poised to make a free-agent play for him, and they have a good relationship with his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who's also Frank Gore's agent. Rosenhaus said Thursday that Briggs would hit the market.

Diamondeye is dead on about Randy Moss. Terrell Owens and Moss will build a team up if its winning and tear it down if its losing. From my understanding, the 49ers aren't interested in Moss.

In the draft, the 49ers might have to go after a tackle or cornerback in the first round because those positions are so deep. The rest of the draft should be devoted to pass rushers and wide receivers or maybe another corner - anything to increase the speed on the edges.

Concerning wide receiver Arnaz Battle's hands, he was the only receiver with over 40 catches in 2006 to not drop a pass. Last year, he dropped several.

Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | February 23 2008 at 12:42 AM

Mo' Responses

I touched a small nerve with Friday's post about Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary hold double doctorates in football and fans and media are still in middle school. That doesn't mean that Nolan or Singletary shouldn't be criticized. They absolutely should, and I brought up Nolan's game-day decisions as issues where Nolan has and should be questioned. As one post said, just because coaches have been in football their entire lives doesn't instantly make them good coaches or above reproach.

- jfainsf49: The failure to bold Alex Smith's name in the Friday blog was a simple mistake.

-The continued support of Nolan is valiant, but often not valid. Nofear equates Nolan's mistakes with those of Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells. The reason those coaches get away with more is because they've won Super Bowls and have a long history of success. Let Nolan first have a winning season before we start extending him the same courtesies Hall of Fame coaches receive.

-Some asked about the co-coaching of the offensive line and whether it has ever been done before. If memory serves, only once. The Oakland Raiders hired Irv Eatman, who had spent seven seasons as an assistant to the offensive line coach in Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Kansas City, along with Hall of Famer Jackie Slater as co-coaches for the 2006 season. It was Slater's first year as a NFL coach after spending a decade running seminars for NFL linemen. One of his pupils was Kwame Harris.

The Raiders allowed 72 sacks under the two-headed coaching system, up from 44 in 2005, in an offense that was basically non-functional. Eatman and Slater were fired during Oakland's house cleaning at the end of that season.

The difference in San Francisco is George Warhop and Chris Foerster have nearly 30 years of NFL coaching experience between them, and both have been past offensive coordinators.

-As for targets in free agency, the only name mentioned has been Chicago linebacker Lance Briggs, who the 49ers might have tried to trade for before the mid-season deadline (the team won't confirm the rumor). Briggs is a middle linebacker in the Patrick Willis mode and isn't known for his pass-rushing skills. By the way, Bears wide receiver Bernard Berrian, has been linked to the Raiders not the 49ers.

The 49ers might not consider Berrian, a former Atwater High standout (just outside of Modesto) a legitimate number one receiver, despite his 122 catches and 11 touchdowns over the last two seasons. Berrian caught those warbled passes from the sublimely inconsistent Rex Grossman, Brian Griese and Kyle Orton in Chicago, not that the 49ers quarterbacks have consistently proven to be any better.

-Kentwan Balmer of North Carolina has gotten a lot of play on the site, but he's not what the 49ers need. At 308 pounds Balmer's more of a nose tackle or big right end in a 3-4. Where the 49ers have failed in the last few years in on the outside on offense and defense -where games are won and lost. Wide receiver, defensive end, pass-rush linebacker, and offensive tackle is where the 49ers should look. Balmer, who had 3.5 sacks his senior year and showed some inconsistency (he also pulled his hamstring at Senior Bowl practices), would be a solid addition, but on defense the 49ers need someone to chase the quarterback.

Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | February 18 2008 at 04:46 PM

More Responses to Responses

On the discussion of penetrating defensive linemen, I'm all for them. I just don't believe that's Isaac Sopoaga's game. It should be, given his strength and speed, but if everything was based on physical ability Hugh Green, Mike Mamula and Jim Druckenmiller would be Hall of Famers. Sopoaga might not have the quickness in the hands or legs to consistently penetrate. The 49ers have one of the best penetrators in Marcus Douglas, who was second in the league in hitting running backs for losses.

As for the defensive linemen playing more of a one-gap scheme, that's not what the 49ers defense is designed to do. It's a linebacker-based defense. They are supposed to make most of the tackles and sacks, while defensive linemen occupy and even hold blockers (even though it's illegal) to allow the linebackers to run free.

The first priority in this defense, as with most NFL schemes, is to stop the run. On passing downs, the 3-4 sets up well because the offense doesn't know who the fourth rusher will be.

Former Vikings and Raiders defensive line coach Floyd Peters believed in a one-gap, up-the-field scheme on run or pass. The theory being that the linemen will grab running backs on their way into the backfield and he certainly had success with it in Minnesota with Roy Barker, Chris Doleman and Keith Millard.

I have asked Mike Nolan about one-gap and two-gap. He said his defense plays both schemes depending on the call.

Ideally, in his defense, the left end, who is the highlighted player, should weigh about 290 pounds. The nose tackle should be 320 to 340 pounds and the right end should be about 310-315 range. That's how they've run their defenses in Pittsburgh. When they won the Super Bowl two years ago, the Steelers did it with three big defensive lineman who didn't get much pressure (5.5 sacks from the starters).

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Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | January 28 2008 at 09:11 PM

Free-Agent Free for All

Another fine discussion on free agents and the 49ers' needs, but please let's refrain from calling for someone else's suicide. No need for that.

RedDog brought up an interesting point about "system" and the team's lack of an offensive system has been frustrating to many, including Steve Young. In the Nolan era, the 49ers have gone from a west coast offense (Mike McCarthy), to a deep throwing digital system (Norv Turner) to a hybrid of both (Jim Hostler) to Mike Martz, and who knows what Martz will install after assessing the team's talent or lack there of.

Most dynasties in the NFL start with free-thinking coaches who install unique systems. The Bill Walsh system for example called for big receivers, quick-thinking but not strong-armed quarterbacks, receiving running backs and small offensive linemen. In each case, Walsh was bucking the NFL trend at the time. Consequently, Walsh drafted a lot of players nobody else wanted.

For nearly two decades, the team didn't draft many offensive linemen, because the late Bobb McKittrick wanted smart, small players such as Jesse Sapolu (11th round 1983), street free agent (Derrick Deese 1992), Bruce Collie (fifth round, 1985), and Steve Wallace (4th round, 1986).

Now with a constant shift in systems, the 49ers are constantly drafting players that fit one year, and don't fit the next year. We see the results.

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Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | January 27 2008 at 10:44 PM

Responses to Reponses

We got some interesting responses to the two-game review of the Lions games and Mike Martz's offenses. Some thought it was a waste of time because it was such a small sample size and not fair to Mike Martz because it didn't include his Rams' years, both legitimate criticisms. I did it with the Lions because their talent is more similar to the 49ers than the Rams. Also it was more recent than his Rams' years, which would have been nearly four years old, because he missed 11 games with a heart ailment in his last year in St. Louis. I had a tape of his last year with the Rams, but it was Joe Vitt's offense, not Martz's.

I don't consciously have an agenda with Martz, and I really don't know how he'll do. I do find him endlessly fascinating not only with what he says, but what he does. A couple of posts ago, I wrote that he could either be a brilliant hire or a disaster.

Martz's offense is a good fit for where the league is going. Passing offenses are succeeding, just look at the Patriots and Colts, and Martz is the most experienced pass-oriented coordinator out there. The major difference is the schemes of the Pats and Colts are based on checks at the line of scrimmage. Martz, however, rarely audibles.

Two other thoughts on Martz: One player who has faced Martz said whoever becomes the quarterback of Martz's offense will have to succeed at digs and daggers. It's not a video game for your Gothic teenager, they are two prevailing routes in the Martz offense. The dig is a deep 15- to 20-yard in pattern down the field. The dagger is a deep cross of about the same depth, but usually accompanied by companion "go" route that's designed to take defensive backs down the field.

Secondly, the interplay between the conservative Mike Nolan and the wide-open Martz will bear watching. For example, if the 49ers are up by a touchdown late in a game, Nolan will want to run out the clock. What happens if Martz calls a tight end middle screen off a triple reverse that gets intercepted? If the 49ers lose in that instance, how will Nolan feel? Will he take it out on Martz? Will he trash Martz publicly? How will Martz react?

NOTES: Assistant strength and conditioning coach Duane Carlisle will replace retiring strength and conditioning coach Johnny Parker. ... LB Patrick Willis and P Andy Lee were named All-Pro by Associated Press and Pro Football Weekly.

Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | January 12 2008 at 08:03 PM

Answer to a Question

One post asked about coach Mike Nolan's status. A source said in early November that Nolan was safe, but that changes would have to be made. But that was a month ago, and who knows what will happen in the final four games. If the 49ers lose them all and there's derision in the locker room and fans are burning tickets and wearing bags over their heads, the Yorks may reconsider.

If the changes include removing coaches Nolan doesn't want fired or limiting Nolan's authority, maybe Nolan steps away. As Nolan said, these issues will be discussed at the end of what has been a disappointing season.

The Yorks would like to establish continuity and firing the coaching staff every two or three years doesn't fit that ideal. Firing the staff means the Yorks would be competing for coaches with plenty of teams who are likely to also make changes.

Any coach would be wary coming to San Francisco for a few reasons. First, NFL coaches are a tight group and those on the staffs of Steve Mariucci and Dennis Erickson are unlikely to paint a glowing picture of the organization.

Secondly, there's a perception that ownership doesn't know what its doing. This is the team that had a less than amicable parting with Bill Walsh. Then the 49ers signed general manager Terry Donahue to a five-year deal in 2004 only to fire him nine months later. The persistent stadium wrangling doesn't help, and neither did the team's face plant this season after the fostering of playoff expectations. Despite their free-agent haul this season, the 49ers are worse than they were last year.

Many look upon this once-proud franchise as a searching and a somewhat snake bit outfit.

Posted By: Kevin Lynch (Email) | December 05 2007 at 01:58 AM