Lots of talk out there regarding the huge impact the salary cap will be as guys like Colin Kaepernick, Michael Crabtree, Mike Iupati, Anquan Boldin, Richard Dawson, Donte Whitner, and a few hundred others come up for free agency in the next year. Someone (or two) is going to be left out with all the signings the Niners need to make. And that’s just from within the team. Kaep to me is the deal you work out first. Everything flows down from getting him on board for the next 4 years at least. After that I think Boldin is the biggest priority. He and Kappy had great great success together. Then you have Crabs. He’s going to be a hairdo I’m afraid. Or maybe he won’t. His holdout to start his career hasn’t been forgotten, but his steady ascension to being a top flight WR has come to pass. But he’s going to want a big payday. One the Niners may not want to do. Because in the endd, he’s a possession WR. Not a burner like Julio Jones (or even Roddy White) or an unstoppable force like Megatron. If anyone is going to get a ride to the end of their deal, it’ll be Crabs. Cheaper possession WRs can be had once his deal runs out. I’d like to see Donte Whitner stick around as well. He has been vital to the development of Eric Reid, and the 2 form a strong safety tandem, despite the rookie mistakes in the NFCCG. Dawson? Sure, but no need to go nuts on him. With McDonald being not much and Celek providing minimally, I’d wonder what a guy like TE Brandon Pettigrew from Deetroit would cost. Maybe get a discount for the opportunity to play on a winning team, or a 2 year incentive-laden deal.
If there are casualties, it could end up being Iupati, Goodwin, Crabs, and Wright. I just wish Boldin wasn’t so old, but he’s not a speed guy anyway, so he shouldn’t drop off too much, at least for the next couple years. Rice played at a high level til he was 40ish. Kilgore Trout and Looney can take Iupati and Goodwin’s line spots, and we can draft backups. Cox is on the bubble, but he played well. As did Tarell Brown once he recovered from his rib injury. I’d keep both and of course draft backups. WR is was and will be a draft need. Osgood and Boobie are ST stalwarts, and should be easy to keep. I heard George Constanza is also available. He was a great ST guy when here, and he wants to come back. With Ventrone signed that may not be possible.
Forty Niners Forever 
I’ll hand it to this kid. He’s got a lot of guts to do this…
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/college/article/Reports-Missouri-All-American-says-he-is-gay-5219638.php#vf-6796600000220
The Seahawks will pick him up. That team’s full of cocksuckers.
1.) Wide Receiver
2.) Safety / DB
2.) Running back
3.) Defensive Tackle / NT
3.) Linebacker
3.) Running Back
4.) Wide Receiver
5.) QB
6.) Guard
7.) FB
7.) CB
7.) DT
7.) Punter
LMJ to Philly –
Former Duck who already would compliment what Chip Kelly is doing there.
Dri Archer, Odell Beckham already have some PR/KR abilities as well.
No doubt, there’s dozens of others out there too, that I’m not able to identify by cruising Bio info.
I can’t see Baalke spending all these Picks, even though it’s backloaded for depth-type additions in the later Rds.
5 Picks in the Top 96 is quite attractive.
Especially because the deepest portions, WR/DBs are right in our wheelhouse of needs.
He could move up of course but, that’s what the Draft Day drama is all about.
Would it be in Rd 1 like last year?
I can’t see a splash move like that for a risky position like WR.
A Defensive stud would make more sense to me in that scenario.
See what the 1st Day brings….
12th I could easily see Frank getting his Cap number spread out a little to retain him.
We don’t know what Lattimore has at this point so, it makes sense.
Iupati is another concern.
If Looney is ready, we’re fine, if not, Baalke may have to soend a higher Pick on antoher option in May.
Another concern is, Culliver.
Knees are always tricky, as will be the case with NaVorro.
I figure to see Carlos and Goodwin gone. Money saved there immediately.
Whitner and TBrown? Hard to know, until they have Boldin factored in.
If there’s any question about retaining Crabtree, this crop of new recruits will serve to prepare for his potential replacement.
Baalke may have to spend another Pick on the Center position as well.
A kid like Russell Bodine from UNC could make sense in the Mid Rds.
I definitely see 2 WRs and 2 DBs added into the mix.
Moving up in Rd 1 for a solid SS-type wouldn’t surprise me, nor would a guy like Nix at NT.
Spit –
Losing Marcus Cooper was simply a decision to retain Darryl Morris over him.
Sure, a tall rangy CB like Cooper is a nice option but, we’re dealing with Pussy Harvin and Tavon Austin in our Division now, speed is essential.
With the glut of talent available from the DB ranks this year, there’s plenty of options to get taller in our Secondary.
I’ve floated the name Ryan Shazier, LB from Ohio State as a possible ‘Tweener’ to inject into our Secondary ala Cam Chancellor.
His a smaller OLB with good range and coverage ability.
He might possess enough potential to consider at SS, although there’s a ton of other viable options to chose from.
CB EJ Gaines from Mizzou might not be a bad option to consider at SS either.
This is the type of planning a GM has to sort out.
Quite the puzzle.
But, with a Cap to maintain, getting younger is paramount to maintaining Cap integrity too.
As for Boobie Dixon and Bruce Miller.
Dixon doesn’t offer me much in terms of versatillity.
Dances too much as a runner, not near as fluid as a blocker or receiver compared to Bruce.
Dixon would be the odd man out in that debate.
Short yardage is easily compensated for with Tuk or Miller.
Special Teams wouldn’t suffer much without Dixon IMO.
That’s what guys like Ventrone and Osgood are there for, as well as late Rd Draft Picks.
With the uncertainty of NaVorro being ready, a premium has to be placed on retaining Skuta and /or Wilhoite now too.
I think there’s going to be a concerted effort to get younger and cheaper in this Draft.
NaVorro could likely open the Season on the IR/DTR List.
Since only one guy can hold that slot, it’ll be a risky decision to make.
Musical chairs with very high stakes, especially with Playoff aspirations on the line.
Chuck your boy Hakeem Nicks is up for FA.
He laid an egg last year with the G-Men.
Can’t see us shopping at the WR position but, he might be a lot cheaper now, since he made little effort to play last year.
As for Kenny Britt, he’s turned into a risky proposition.
Too many off field concerns.
Tell you one guy that might make a ton of sense, if affordable is, Dexter McCluster from KC.
Snag him as a FA, trade LMJ to KC later?
Things that make me go Hmmmmmm?
A Dr an’ a Lawyer and an Indian Chief..They all dig that crazy beat….Doin that crazy hand jive.
Pats have Center Ryan Wendell from Fresno State as a pending FA too.
We know he can pass block, since he looked after the Future President.
I’d keep him on the potential bargain section of the shopping list.
Chuck, I’d like to see a more potent passing game as much as the next guy. Why else would I be screaming for CK7 to replace Alex? Or be down on the coaches for wasting the talents of deep threat WRs?
But I see nothing wrong with using our running game or featuring it or relying on it when we have a Frank Gore and an o-line of talented, high priced run blockers, and a defense that can keep you in games by TOP and points allowed, and a S/T that wins the field position game, together with a mistake-prone/injury riddled/inexperienced pass game. Seahawks did it all the way to the Lombardi.
It (running game) has its place and there’s nothing wrong with it when it’s needed or the best approach for a team considering the personnel make up. I acknowledge its benefits, I don’t hate it and I’m not afraid of it so I don’t have conniptions when we rely on it.
As for Gore, he doesn’t have a problem dancing behind the line trying to decide which hole to hit. When he gets stuffed you can be pretty sure it’s a problem with the blocking up front. When he’s getting stuffed more times than not, it’s a no brainer.
He doesn’t have the break-away speed anymore to beat the DBs. He’s played a 19 game season as the workhorse. Does anyone think that might have a bearing on it, even for most younger guys?
Maybe we wait until he quits making the Pro-Bowl every year before we put him out to pasture as useless.
That’s part of how it seems to me as well NoFear49er, almost an identity crisis, predicated on current personnel.
Our OLine is heavily weighted toward the ground attack.
We do suffer somewhat when obvious passing downs are advertised.
Both Iupati and Davis have their challenges from time to time in that regard.
I’m expecting a change, at minimum, with Goodwin.
Not certain how to read the tea leaves if Iupati is lost.
I know Anthony played LT in College, he certainly wouldn’t be uncomfortable on the left side I’d guess?
Could he handle OG in place of Iupati? Why not?
Is Looney ready or, could other arrangements be under consideration?
Lot’s to muse about but, I’m with you.
The running game wears down an opponent.
We have to improve the passing attack, without question.
Excellent post BTW – Spot on.
NF, Gore is getting far too many carries for his age and the last 3 seasons have been extended, so at a time when physically he is declining, his workload has increased. A perfect storm for him.
The pro bowl thing means little as name recognition and player popularity have much to do with selection as productivity.
For me there is no doubt Gore is not the guy we have watched year after year. He did still break a 1,000 yds and I’m not dismissing that stat albeit on a run heavy team, but I’m equally not dismissing his declining stats either and I think you are. I believe Gore will be back in 2014 in a reduced role but seriously doubt any longer than that. As an aside, he would make a good coach at the position and I think he goes that way when he hangs up the cleats.
Spit keeps talking about not relying on Lattimore and I don’t think the Niners are. They have Gore and Hunter and Jewel Hampton as well as LMJ in a pinch. Dixon will move on this year (the 3rd year I’ve written that) and Lattimore will get every opportunity to prove himself.
Miller is a much better FB than Dixon IMO and I think the O missed him. I think ST can replace what Dixon brings.
I expect them to draft a RB sometime after the 4th round as insurance/opportunity.
No one has any stats to show if “Penalties even out for teams in any given game”. Hard to take that seriously with no facts on hand. Or that some other coach at some other time wasnt penalized much. We dont know so the point is weak, likely irrelevant. Refs want to appear impartial so they have make-up calls to make it appear so.The number of penalties hardly factors, its the severity, timing, etc that matters. Did the subsequent D offsides called on NO make up for the supposed roughing call on AB? No. For example.
But the solution would seem to be making all penalties reviewable- 2-3 per half? Yeah it will slow down the game but I’ll take that over costly calls like ABs determining the outcome. Replays showed that to be a legal hit I believe but maybe the NFL doesnt want to advertize how violent the game can be by having slo mo replays airing during these times of concussion negotiations? So the penalties stand and the league acknowledges the bogus nature of the call by often not penalizing the player. Talk about a conspiracy. NFL is acknowledging bad officiating by foregoing many fines. A conspiracy of silence. But in those cases the team and the fans get screwed. As we know. But PR is king because a lot of money is riding on projecting a certain image (“We’re against violence!”) and not wanting to show up the refs. (“We stand by the integrity and accuracy of these blind monkeys, ah, gentlemen”).
But we’ll see if Goody G can rise to the challenge of fixing this weak spot.
Phil it has to come to that. Soon.
The ability to call for a CALL.
Harbaugh would wear it out in nothing flat.
Upside? More time for revenue producing TV timeouts.
With HDTV, additional camera angles and, Jumbo-Tron video boards, it clearly advertises the plays in question.
You’ve seen me post it often, the magic formula to dictate an outcome is clearly in the Officials hands.
It’s a loosely applied term regarding calls evening out, of course.
Sure, make up calls exist but, as you suggest, the magnitude of those calls never does.
Using Carolina as an example.
They came out, chips firmly applied to shoulders and, got chippy from the start.
Beginning with the shot on VD I believe.
Lest we forget, Herr Goodell is paid EXTREMELY well by the Owners that employ him.
Bottom line, make money, minimize culpability or complicity.
More fuel for my anecdote regarding the Vegas Connections.
I’d go so far as to say too, the most egregious example of Officiating inconsistency, relates to the muggings applied by the Legion of Goons in Seattle.
As they’ve suggested for years, holding at the LOS could be called on every play.
As could illegal use of hands on the Secondary.
It’s all subjective, which, in and of itself, produces these inconsistencies in Officiating.
No diiferent then the bogus call Steratore’s Boys applied to roughing Andy Lee in the NFCC game.
An ability to challenge that call changes it. No argument, no second thought.
Blown call, plain and simple.
Clock management is another situation that damn near spelled disaster in Carolina on the VD TD just before the half.
Had Harbaugh not been paying attention, it would have opened the door for additional problems, had the call not been reversed.
Officiating sucks more and more, because HDTV clearly shows, how bad most of these clowns are.
Many “bad calls” would disappear if they would rewrite as many rules as possible to reduce/eliminate discretion and judgment on the part of the official making the call and allow every call to be reversed if film evidence dictates. But, I don’t think that’s what the commish wants. He wants to be able to influence as many decisions on the field as he can. The owners seem content to live with the bad calls as long as Goodell keeps the cash flowing. So suck it fans. If the owners are happy, Goodell keeps on doing what he’s doing and worse. No way to prevent the “Las Vegas” factor as long as there’s so much discretion involved and calls that can’t be reversed.
What pisses me off more than the human error in the bad calls is when the entire crew of officials don’t know the frackin rules. Does anyone take a conscientious approach to doing the job they’re paid to do anymore? None of them knew the difference between running into and roughing the kicker? On a post-season crew? Yeah, sure.
Exactly NoFear49er.
Ignorance is bliss.
‘Let’s huddle and make a case for covering our backsides.’
I couldn’t begin to guess what the Vegas scene churned out with SB action.
10s, 100s of millions of $$$?
Too easy not to ignore that action as motive for me.
Easier to have part-time Officials bungle it up and run cover for the real reasons.
They want some amount of human elements to point at, while saving money on full-time Officials in the process.
If it smells like rotten fish, it’s probably a rotten fish.
Yep well said NF, 100% agree w/ this
Here’s one for Dennis. It’s almost like he’s here.
http://bit.ly/1iPS24w
Fookin ilarious!
That’s been the argument for oh, about 40years. These guys are part-time employees of the NFL. Make this a full time job, as MLB does, and maybe they’d all get to know the rulebook better.
Then again, it’s a built in excuse for being incompetent out there.
Personally I don’t think the part time/full time argument has much to do with it.
The NFL has been adding subjectivity to the rule book in an effort to gain more visible “safety measures” to show an overt effort in protecting the players from head collisions. Other than QB, the other parts of the body are still fair game for the players.
The QB exemption is a simple matter of the owners protecting their biggest investments. The head collision rules are meant as CYA for the current and future law suits.
The rules are clumsy, somewhat ineffective in that concussions are continuing, and are based largely on subjective judgement by human beings in real time and not reviewable..
One need only look at figure skating in the Olympics to see how the subjective part of judging fails miserably.
This gives rise to theories of rigged games etc, and I wouldn’t rule out any interaction between humans and enormous sums of cash, but I just don’t see it myself.
Poorly written rules, implemented with an acknowledged bias towards erring on the side of caution, and in real time without the benefit of a second look is a recipe for ineptitude and it’s hard to imagine a worse set of circumstances in which to expect referees to perform well.
If the NFL intends to continue down this road, and it clearly does, then the only remedy is to make everything reviewable as their on-field product is suffering and the fans are dissatisfied.
I would also make plays simultaneously reviewable both by the ref at the stadium and a centralized location with override authority reducing the emotion part of the equation from the field ref. That way the fans in the stadium and on T.V. get to see the ref in action under the hood doing his thing and there is a level of comfort that a ref having a bad game, or trying to sway a game, does not have complete autonomy and the league can’t just make back room decisions without a witness to the event.
I would still limit the challenges a coach could make but would make any change of possession reviewable for the instances where there was no clear cut evidence of how it happened.
Not wide receivers. The stupid way ‘defenseless’ is defined, as is the ‘football move after catch’ is beyond idiotic. If you hit a WR who has the ball, it is ok to hit him. If the ball skips off his hands and you hit him, it isn’t? How can the DB determine what is going to happen in that 0.25 seconds? It’s like the hit on Breees. He ducks into the contact. So, Brooks gets penalized.
Much like the call on Skuta against Carolina. He’s behind Cam on his rush, and Cam turns into him. Naturally, it’s a penalty on Skuta because he has to intuit the move that Cam will take in his effort to escape the sack, and somehow get his head out of the way in the process.
They need to either put flags on the QBs and WRs or let the game get played on the field.
It’s in the hundreds of millions, NJ. Legal and illegal.
Yeah, the highly subjective nature of these newly implemented penalties leaves way too much room for the bent-nose crowd. Since the system h now is to hold no one accountable, well, it shall pass. At least give the coaches the ability to challenge these calls.
The 2 that spring to mind are the Brees sack/fumble, and the goal-line call on Lynch’s fumble. Why that fumble isn’t reviewable still escapes me.
The Brees sack/fumble call probably stays the same, it was too close to the QB neck/head to overturn although strictly by rule I thought it was clean but I doubt the NFL wants that hit to be seen to be allowed.
The problem with that is Kaepernick took a harder hit to the head/neck area that same game that wasn’t called. If no that then what? The hit on Lee?
By definition, hitting the plant leg is a PF. It galls me that you can’t flag that kind of complete whiff by the refs.
Fully agree there is uneveness in the calls. Can’t eliminate it all but measures could be taken to reduce the impact on the overall game, Punter penalty a great example.
12th man, I’m not dismissing stats but stats are just numbers and don’t offer any insight as to how they came to be. Not like dismissing perennial pro bowl selection as meaningless and based on popularity at all.
I’m saying we’ve been trying to get another RB into the mix to lighten the load on Frank since Jimmy Raye’s days. Nothing new there. We will keep trying until we find a good one or Frank breaks. Then we’ll go with what we’ve got on the roster and hope. Until then Frank keeps on doing what Frank’s always done since 2005, well, 2006.
Who do you think missed out on the pro bowl because Frank got the popularity nod?
Stretching what I said about the pro bowl NF. I said it has as much to do with popularity as production, not that production is meaningless.
Not trying to distort your words 12th man.
You wrote: “The pro bowl thing means little as name recognition and player popularity have much to do with selection as productivity.”
Saying it means little implies that Frank wouldn’t have been selected if not for name recognition and popularity. Is that not what you meant?
If it is, I was asking who you thought got passed over due to Frank’s taking their spot.
Peterson? Forte? Certainly Frank was more valuable than either of them this year. So which three RBs had Pro-Bowl years but didn’t get the meaningless honor?
I’m not saying an argument couldn’t be made for one but just wondering who you would name instead ahead of Frank Gore.
The Pro Bowl is a bad way to evaluate. It’s usually a year behind. Guys who I would have given the nod to over Frank Gore are guys like Zac Stacey from the Rams, Eddie Lacey from the Packers (don’t who made the Pro Bowl roster), obviously Peterson, McCoy and Morris. I also like Bobby Rainey filling in for the injured Doug Martin. And Khiry Robinson was a beast for the Saints in the playoffs. But a good playoff appearance isn’t enough to garner Pro Bowl consideration.
Trouble with using the Pro Bowl as a way to evaluate is that guys get injured, they don’t want to play, or they’re in the big game and then the NFL has to go deep down a list to bring in stars for the game. And, like I wrote earlier, the voting and recognition is usually a year behind. Frank Gore’s a name at this point. Nothing more. Like 12th pointed out, he gets a boat load of carries behind one of the best lines in football. You put Devanta Freeman or Jeremy Hill behind our line next year and they double Frank’s productivity from ’13 (with or without Iupati). And Rathman could turn both guys into blocking studs, but there’d be some growing pains in the pass pro department.
Thomas Clayton?
Lattimore is the guy who most closely resembles Gore in running style. If he’s healthy, he should be more that capable to pick up when Gore is phased out. As I see it, and as I’ve said repeatedly, this’ll be the season that they do that. Gore gets his 10,000 and he moves on to retirement.
Spit’s idea to give up on Lattirmore before he plays a down is dumber than picking Boobie over Miller to stay as FB. Dixon’s ST contributions are minimal. He’s not very tough as a FB. Miller is a better pass catcher. And he understands the blocking schemes better.
I base this on the fact that Miller is the one that got ALL the playing time when he was healthy.
Again, Unca, reading comprehension skills aren’t your thing. You don’t gamble everything on Lattimore. He COULD get it done all season, but don’t bet on it. Protect yourself by drafting one running, maybe two. And I also agree with 12th man when he writes that Bruce Miller is a far superior blocking FB over Dixon. I’d just convert Dixon to a FB and tell him to make the team he needs to beat out Miller. I wouldn’t carry both Dixon and Miller on the roster at the same time. I also like NJ’s idea of trading James to Philly.
My perfect backfield next year would have one FB (either Miller or Dixon), with another FB on the practice squad. I’d dump Gore entirely, obviously keeping Hunter. Lattimore would have to earn his roster spot with good pre season play. I’d forget Jewel Hampton entirely and I’d draft two more running backs. If you had Lattimore as a legit ace in the hole who you weren’t banking on, that’s a great situation. If he does it, great. If he doesn’t, no harm done.
Miller or Dixon, Lattimore, Devanta Freeman, Jeremy Hill and Kendal Hunter. That would be an awesome backfield. Right now we’ve got a below average backfield.
Dream on……zzzzzzz