The 2012 regular season is in the books. Through the quarterback change, myrial injuries, and a boatload of inconsistency, the 49ers stand exactly where they did last season. The #2 seed with at least one playoff game at the Stick. The revamped WR corps has been decimated by injury, and has not been upgraded through the draft. AJ Jenkins had his one and only look for the entire season on a 3rd and 2, where he promptly dropped a 1st down pass. The fact it TOOK 17 weeks to get him into the game speaks to Jenkins’ inability to catch on to the speed and complexity of the NFL game. Bust? Maybe not, but he’s not off to a very good start.
LaMichael James on the other hand, shined in his opportunity to play after Kendall Hunter was hurt. He more often than not made the first guy miss, and was a real spark on kickoff returns. He proved to be close to Hunter in his ability and there was little let-down when he was forced into the lineup. The rest of the rookie class did little, unlike the year before, when most of the draft class had a huge impact.
The defense played nearly as well as last year, without the huge turnover differential. They had some dominating games, but also laid some stinkers as well. Rogers didnt have the big year he did last year, but Dashon Goldson continued his rampaging through the WRs in the league. He gets a little wild and out of position, but for the most part he scared the shit out of opposing pass catchers and inspired a lot of ‘gatoring among WRs going over the middle. Aldon Smith had a spectacular year in the sack department, and held the point well when necessary. The troubling thing at this point is that defensive stalwart Justin Smith is injured. He does get the extra week to recover, but the thought here is he still won’t be ready in 2 weeks anyway.
Special teams is a bit of a mess at this point. David Akers missed 2 easy FGs yesterday, and was nailed in his left leg on an extra point. He’s been very inconsistent despite tying the NFL record with a 63 yard FG opening day in Green Bay. Ted Ginn has been pretty abysmal on punt returns in his Allen Rossum impersonations. Kickoff coverage has been spotty, and the loss of Costanzo has been felt across the board. On;y LaMichael James has been the bright spot in recent weeks for the ST group.
As of now, I’d think we’ll play Green Bay.
Forty Niners Forever 
We just don’t use that many WRs. In the current system a rook TE will see more playing time than a #3 wide receiver. If we go with an empty set we split Gore out and two TEs in the pattern. That might change next year but AJ’s only shot was injuries to starters.
There are lots of unemployed proven kickers out there. I think it’s time to get one.
Didn’t someone on here say Akers has been hurt? If so why wasn’t this addressed along time ago? Anyway you Guys are right, as a #1 draft pick Jenkins should have shown something to get into the lineup before this. If he does not show something in the playoffs he might be out of football early. Like Jerry Glanville said “what does NFL stand for”? Not For Long if you continue to play like that!!
First and foremost a Happy New Year to you all!
Honorable mention to Chuck, who allows us geniuses to air our ignorance almost unhindered and sets the table for a blog where all opinions are welcomed rather than use his blog ownership to direct the course of discourse, rare to find a checked ego these days.
Division Champs has a great ring to it as does the phrase “Bye Week”!
A change of QB from a winning QB mid season has to be one of the riskiest/ballsiest coaching moves I can remember. Too soon to tell if it’s been a complete success but the wins have largely continued and the Niners are 2 games from the show.
The injury bug has bitten deep at precisely the wrong time and Frank has been fairly unproductive for a while, similar to last year. Here’s hoping he gets his second wind like last year because they need a strong running game more than ever right now.
Vernon where for art thou? All this stuff about Kap not finding him is guff. If VD is open he will get the ball.
Young Jenkins, a first round pick must shine when the spotlight is shined upon you, big players show up at big moments, nobody cares about excuses.
Defense wins Championships, an enduring axiom that is proven over time. Niners were built on Defense but are very inconsistent, Niners need 3 strong outings in a row if they are to hoist a 6th Lombardi, do they have it in them????
Looking forward to watching the wildcard weekend stress free.
Niners signed K Billy Cundiff, he of Ravens infamy, missing a layup FG that cost them a SB trip last year.
Andy Reid to Arizona is almost a done deal. Arizona are not giving up on QB Kevin Kolb, should be funny watching Reid make Kolb into a starting QB since he sold him to Arizona from Philly. Also makes Alex Smith to Arizona even more unlikely IMO.
Alex Smith isn’t going to see the open market, free agent demand 49er fans think he will. The Dolphins didn’t even offer him a contract. The Dolphins. And before the coaching change (the dude from the Packers should be considered — along with Bruce Arians — for coach of the year) the Dolphins were horrid. Beyond horrid. Anyway, I could see Alex Smith being brought into a situation where he competed with two other guys for the starting job. I don’t think Smith is handed another starting job in the NFL. And I don’t think Smith sniffs 7-8 million a year ever again.
I think you’re full of shit.
IMHO
Full of shit is putting it mildly. Tannehill improved a 6-10 Dolphin Team to 7-9 and you want to make him Coach of the Year? Do you even know what you’re talking about?
Touchdown Tommy Vardel and Leo = Unca trying to be an idiot. I should say “achieving” complete idiocy. Joe Philbin should get some Coach of the Year consideration, along with Bruce Arians.
I don’t see it that way Spit, Smith is a starting QB and will find a home for between 8-10 mil a year 2 years guaranteed, the rest of the length of contract and money would be baloney.
RT – I don’t really want to get into a debate over this but Smith was lucky in SF that the 49ers changed coaches to Harbaugh in the middle of a strike. No strike and Smith would have made 3 or 4 million the last two years playing for another team. It takes time to teach a qb a new system, and Alex Smith was lucky that Hasselbeck didn’t sign in SF. Alex Smith was lucky that Harbaugh was forced to use Smith while Kaep matured. Look at Andy Dalton and Russell Wilson – second and third round picks playing at one million a year? It’s not hard to create that anymore in the NFL. And who knows the new rookie qb’s ceiling? A new qb playing for a lot less than Alex Smith would have to learn the same new system Smith did The only advantage Smith has is that Smith can read defenses, but that’s not worth the 8 or so million dollars per year difference between a rookie at 1 million and Smith at your purposed 8 or 9.
Smith was given 7 or 8 a year by the 49ers because the 49ers couldn’t find anyone else (no Manning or Hasselbeck), and because Smith had value to them because Smith knew the system. But he was only given essentially a one year deal. One year, eight million to keep the seat warm for Kaep and not create any waves. What other team will Smith be worth 8 million to? The Jets? They already owe Sanchez 8 million for next year. Why would they have 16 million on the books for Sanchez and Smith? Whomever makes that decision can go run Greece afterwards. And what about Arizona? Reid may want to resurrect Kolb. The Chiefs? Scott Pioli is on the hot seat. You don’t sign Alex Smith when you’re on the hot seat. And remember – last year when Alex Smith hit the open, free agent market and nobody came calling? The Dolphins didn’t even give Smith an offer. The Dolphins.
“RT – I don’t really want to get into a debate over this” I’m not RT and this statement means you just want to tell me how it is. That’s funny.
Luck has nothing to do with solid QB play for 18 months, how he got to that position is irrelevant. Some rookies pan out but most don’t, a proven commodity has a lot more value than an unproven one unless you are talking about “can’t miss” rookies like Luck or RG3. Once in a great while a find like Wilson shows up but if a GM is expecting that to happen he is in the wrong business. Further, there are no “can’t miss” rookies in the upcoming draft so there will be a market for Smith.
The Browns would be a good spot IMO but there are others such as the Chiefs which you weakly argue can’t happen because of Pioli, a GM who’s fate has yet to be determined and who could certainly use the boost of a proven QB.
I am not a big fan of Smith but bias is blindness.
Sorry 12th, honest mistake about the name. And I don’t want to tell you how it is. It’s just my guess. I agree with your statement that Smith is a proven commodity. But look at all the qbs drafted in rounds 1-3 over the last three years. How many have busted? Ponder, RGIII, Dalton, Wilson, Gabbert, Locker, Kaep…. Weeden? There just aren’t as many qbs busting anymore. Teams are realizing they need to support their young qbs.
Spit thanks for the apology, appreciated, only RG3 and Kap from your list are better now than Smith and you probably meant to include Luck who is also better. The rest are not as good as Smith right now. There are teams that need a QB bridge to the next rookie and at 8-10 mil a year Smith is affordable, that is less than the league average for a starting QB.
For my money Smith gets low ball starting money, as he did from the Niners, and a 2 year contract. More interesting to me is if they can leverage a pick in exchange for him, it’s entirely possible. I would guess a 3rd would be the high water mark.
Dalton’s better than Alex Smith. And I think Ponder is about the same as Smith. Russell Wilson and Luck are clearly better than Smith. Locker isn’t. You have to consider the coaches over the qb. Ponder has Frazier, Smith had Harbaugh. Weeden (sp?) has a higher ceiling, terrible supporting cast. What will Smith’s supporting cast be next year? Remember Troy Smith beating out Alex Smith under Singletary? So basically, in my opinion, Tannehill, Russell Wilson, Luck, RGIII, Ponder and Dalton are either better or the same. I’m sure I’m forgetting some guys. Gabbert isn’t as good as Smith. I’ll give you Gabbert.
I don’t really agree we should consider the coach over the QB since we don’t know where Smith will land or the team strength etc. All we can base conjecture on is QB performance which for Smith has been solid over the last 18 months and that is what any possible team would use to evaluate his worth to them.
What metric are you using in thinking Dalton, Gabbert, Locker and Weedon are better than Smith now? Certainly statistically they aren’t.
IMO young QB’s better than Smith are Luck, RG3, Wilson and Kap, the rest are someways behind Smith and may or may not end up better but for me, as of right now, I would take Smith over Dalton, Gabbert, Locker and Weedon..
And forget Cundiff. He’s awful.
Happy New Year you mooks! Just don’t expect to see any money this New Year, because “We don’t pay mooks.” The Billy Cundiff signing excites me about as much as watching C-SPAN. I’ll take a flying leap of the Fiscal Cliff myself. As for the possible coaching moves, I could see Tom Gamble getting the GM gig in SD and taking Roman with ’em. Fine by me. I’ll trade ya Roman for Norv to be our OC again in a heartbeat. Love Norv as an offensive coordinator. HC? That’s a horse of a different color…
Different colored horses are tough to predict and really that’s why all bets are off with different colored horses. For instance, I bet $50 to win $150 that the Niners would win the Super Bowl before Justin Smith’s injury. With a partial tear of his tri, well….. that’s a horse of a different color and I wish all bets were off but unfortunately for me Vegas doesn’t work that way. The 49ers are still my pick to win the Super Bowl, but I’m not as confident. Here’s how I rank ’em.
1.) SF (Sentimental choice. Don’t know where I’d rank ’em if I wasn’t a Niner fan).
2.) Patriots (Everyone seems to forget that Brady owns Manning – I haven’t).
3.) Packers (Flawed team, but a passing attack makes up for a lot of problems – that’s why Kaep needs to throw a lot for the Niners to win the Super Bowl).
4.) Broncos
5.) Seattle (They’d be higher up on this list if they got to play some home games. Russell Wilson is better than people think).
6.) Colts (Team is playing inspired ball. Luck is just flat-out fun to watch).
7.) Falcons (Until they start playing with passion, I don’t buy the Falcons).
8.) Texans (Can’t play from behind. Team is designed around and too dependent on Foster).
9.) Redskins (Still not a great defense)
10.) Bengals (I’m not giving them enough respect on this list. The Bengals could make some noise in the playoffs).
11.) Ravens (Flacco =s Alex Smith)
12.) Vikings (Nice they made the playoffs over the Bears and Giants).
Brady owns Manning shows how little you know. This isn’t tennis or boxing where you go toe to toe. Manning is on a different team now that presents a new set of dynamics.
You are a walking cliché kinda like a Jim Rome wannabe.
Stanford takes home the Roses. What a great day and accomplishment for
Stanford and all it’s fans and supporters. Cheers.
Great win yesterday by the Cardinal. I couldn’t be happier. The defense did it again. Sixth straight game they held their opponent scoreless in the 4th quarter. Stanford also made a big QB switch mid-year. Worked out pretty well in the end.
Cundiff is a curiosity. He sucks monkey balls. I think a hurt/awful Akers is better than a healthy/sucking Cundiff.
New thread is up . . . .