Well, preseason anyway. I missed the thrilling Battle of New York in Canton Ohio yesterday as the New Jersey Football Giants of New York prevailed over the Buffalo Buffaloes of Buffalo New York in the Hall of Fame game. I did catch turnover machine Eli Manning get into mid-season form by fumbling on his own 12 yard line. Seeing as these are the Dark Ages for 49ers to be inducted into the HOF, I’m not nearly as thrilled to watch this shit as I once was.
Anyhow, the Niners are well on their way to getting a lot of younger players into the line up by injuring themselves nearly every day of camp. The latest casualty is Glen Dorsey, our big DT who is subbing for Ian Williams, our previous pseudo-NT who broke his ankle last year, and is still on the mend. Notes out of camp? With some cursory digging, I’ve seen that Vance McDonald is well on his way to continuing his maddening habit of dropping passes, Carlos Hyde has overcome some early shakiness to showing some solid pass-catching skills, and Jimmie Ward has made some nice plays in the defensive backfield.
The battle to replace Navorro Bowman rages on between Michael Wilhoite, Dan Stuka, and Corey Lemonier. Wilhoite appears to be in the lead. As far as covering for the newly-injured Dorsey, Williams is ‘close’ to coming back, Mike (who?) Purcell, 2nd year guy from the University of Nowhere, is taking the 1st string snaps at this point, but that looks to change as Quinton Dial and Eddie Jerrod-Eddie are getting reps at NT as well.
If anything, it gives these young guys some real-time action with the 1st team and will hopefully get these guys battle-tested before the real thing in 34 days at JerryWorld. Frankly, the only guy that MAY come back after this rash of injuries is LMJ. The least likely guy to make the team. He may not have a spot when he comes back. I really would like to see him on the edges and out in the flat wreaking havoc. Need a deeper passing game for that, though.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
I did catch the 32 yard extra points in the replay, though. Interesting to say the least.
Not the gimme they used to be. I’m pretty sure they’ll adopt that one. In the interest of scoring.
Niners waive Kendall Hunter.
Hoping he clears waivers for injured reserve, doubt that will happen.
Iirc a team would have to put him of their roster,and thus burn a spot. Don’t think he gets picked up.
BLEEP!
And, in actual football news, the Niners waived injured RB Kendall Hunter. He has til the end of today to be claimed by another team, but since he’s a free agent after this season, there’s little reason to sign him. I seriously doubt anyone will pick him up. He’ll more than likely revert back to the Niners IR list if he’s unclaimed.
I wonder how much a team would have to pay Kendal Hunter if they picked him up? Wasn’t it like $600,000? Because if there was some way the 49ers were on the hook for that dough and he was just taking up a roster spot, I’d pick him up if I was a team like the Jaguars. Sounds like they’d also have to pay him, though.
The reason I’d pick him up was to attempt to assimilate him into the culture of the team even though he’s a free agent.
Yeah, something like $650,000. He’s a FA after the year though, so you could get him next year w/o paying him this year.
He’d cost a roster spot this year as well.
The roster spot for a team like the Jaguars wouldn’t be an issue…. if they were smart. The only issue is the money.
Maybe Jerry has some redeemable qualities after all…. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/05/jerry-jones-women-photos_n_5651702.html
Too funny. Saw that shit. Some guy named Hoover wanted to extort money from him or some shit. Then the dude saw God and went off the deep end with numerology and shit.
Sounds like he’d fit right in here.
http://deadspin.com/the-story-behind-those-jerry-jones-photos-is-weirder-th-1616389511
Hunter’s back with the team. To no one’s surprise, he cleared waivers . . .
What a sage! What vision!
I’ve been watching Giants’ games this year and I’ll tell you what…. I think Boche is missing some key moves that could make his team a lot more competitive. First of all, he has (3) 1st basemen – Posey, Belt and Morse. The one who should be playing 1st base is Morse. Posey should stay behind the dish. The reason Morse should be playing first is because he’s lousy in left field AND that takes away from his confidence at the plate…. and concentration. Belt should flat-out be traded. I hate that guy. He’s my Alex Smith.
I understand the Giants are injured and that this clearly isn’t their year for a championship, but Boche should still want to get the very most out of the team for the fans and the development of the younger players. If I was the manager, my temporary lineup would be Pence, Posey, Panda and Morse. The remaining five would be a revolving door between the bigs and triple AAA – with Crawford batting 8th and Belt traded (pre deadline or just cut).
The other thing I notice about this team is that it’s very undisciplined at the plate and doesn’t take advantage of count leverage like Boche teams of the past. If you’re down by a run in the 8th and you need base runners, the count is 3-1 and the pitcher is struggling, you don’t swing. I don’t care if you’re Barry Bonds the day the steroid truck arrived. Taking a pitch is the most aggressive thing you can do because it’s psychological warfare against the pitcher and that wears on teams without good closers. Tonight Morse swang on a 3-1 count. He missed but walked on the next pitch. It’s the principle. A lot of good things can spin-off playing count leverage well.
This team this year, I believe, is mailing it in. I think Boche is also mailing it in. Can’t blame ’em. They’re used to championships. Sabean better start making some moves yesterday because this team is half greatness, half Triple A. Even if healthy it’s still six or seven good players away from competing again for a championship. Good love Timmy’s re-emergence, though.
I’m slowly but surely gettin’ off the bandwagon. Barry Bonds killed my love for the game. But it’s comin’ back.
Belt being called into Spit’s Managers Office…….”I hate you…..you’re out of here! You remind me of Alex Smith.”
Morse isn’t lousy in LF……..he’s outright trash!
The least you could do is spell the manager’s name right.
Your dissing of Belt is ludicrous. Morse has hit 4 HRs in 2+ months and Belt is the problem? In your scenario, who plays LF? Banjo boy Perez? He’s struggling to reach .140. Blanco? Please. He’s strictly a back up. The problem with the Giants is they once again can’t compensate for losing Angel Pagan. 2nd base has been a black hole of production as well.
If anything, they should be working to make Belt a LFer. Morse is a fucking statue out there. He cost Peavey his no-no the other day. And then cost him his shut out. And the game.
I played American Legion baseball and a little in college. I played the corners – 1st and 3rd, left and right field. I know that left field is easy to play. It’s the easiest of the four positions I mentioned – including first base. Any of the rotating AAA players on the team right now could play left field better than Morse. Morse is a natural 1st baseman who looks comfortable at the position and that comfort carries over to confidence at the plate. So throw out your Morse vs Belt stats because Morse is compromised in left. The hidden stat and something managers need to have their eye on at all times is confidence. Put Morse at first and he’ll be more confident and the Giants will start winning again.
I think Belt could play left, but so could a host of other players. I think Blanco is horrible. The first game I watched this year he got thrown out at 3rd trying to steal when the Giants were down by two runs late in the game. There’s no excuse for that from a veteran even if he’s a backup. He’s never done anything in my mind to atone for that mistake. I think you’re right – he sucks.
I like Boche better than Bochy. My way’s more cool….
BTW, did you miss Duffy, Panik, Duvall, Susac, and Dunning all get their shots to play, Spitty? Due to all the injuries, they’ve had a lot off AAA guys rotate through the big league team. Beyond that, their farm is in complete disarray. They had NO bullets to use to trade for anyone of meaning. And they can’t afford to lose any offense (re: Panda) as trade bait.
Panik has been raising his average with a couple good games, and he’s solid defensively. The rest are AAAA types. Susac would be a Godsend if he could hit some. As it is, they are in decent shape for all the injuries they’ve dealt with. If Pagan can come back (today) and stay healthy they have a very good shot at the playoffs. Getting the Blanco/Perez types out of LF is the biggest challenge.
Baseball…yawn.
Kap’s contract was a joke, great for the team and shitty for the player, his agents are screwed and they should be:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/05/kaepernick-disability-policy-creates-bizarre-gap-in-coverage/
Tell me again how he did it for the team or to be popular for the fans. Probably he had good intentions but but him and moreso his agents were taken behind the woodshed and if you think Kap leaving very large sums of money on the table somehow obligates the team to sign his security blanket Crabtree think again. The team will not overpay Crabtree to please Kap, bank on it.
In the final analysis that contract was epic for the team and every other QB with an extension coming up hates it, it was a paradigm shift in favor of ownership.
Go Niners front office, unless it ends up biting them in the ass when/if Crabtree isn’t signed and Kap feels taken advantage of.
“You want to be guaranteed injury money? No problem, what else?”
Reminds me of the guy buying a new car who is sure he’s too smart to get screwed. He brags to everyone how he got the price he demanded for his trade but never mentions he paid too much for interest, extended warranty and paint and fabric protection not to mention $3000 more than he had to for the car he was buying to cover the trade. Fact is, the trade price was more important to him so everyone is happy.
Either way, Kaepernick did fine for his largely unproven self.
I predicted Kaepernick’s contract would become a model for other teams and the idea was of course shot down by folks who know everything about everything.
Now who would that be?
Agree they kept his eye off the ball but I figure he was worth 15/16 with a real 3 year contract, kid got one year 13. Not to be sneezed at but below market I feel.
Yeah, I said as much when the noise coming from Crabs’ camp that he’s going to want to get paid like an elite WR. With VD wanting to break the bank as well, they could lose both next year.
VD holds out through his last year, and Crabs bolts for greener (re: cowpie-filled) pastures.
Whither Cappy then? He won’t be very happy. Unless they’ve integrated Ellington and Patton as deep threats and viable targets. And V McD somehow gets over the dropsies.
Harbaugh’s contract squabbling could reach epic proportions after this season as well.
Big season coming up. This house of cards is on shakey ground.
Per Maiocco (who admittedly is a company man) Kaep, his agent and Kaep’s father all were apart of the negotiations and Kaep and Kaep’s father specifically asked for the insurance angle. I don’t pretend to know why. However, someone please show me a good to great qb who, in the last twenty years, had his career significantly shortened by injury. I can only think of Young and Aikman who were close to retirement anyway and the NFL has changed the game to ultra sensitive mode towards hits to the qb’s head. Could be because of Aikman and Young. For as much talk as there is about the guaranteed / insurance / injury stuff in Kaep’s contract, I just don’t see it being a factor (knock on wood).
Regarding Vernon Davis and Crabtree and whether or not Kaep somehow feels used if both of his star receivers leave, I’ve addressed this before. There’s no doubt in my mind that Kaep understands that he has no say in who stays or goes. He left money on the table at the discretion of the team. If they want to build up their defense with an emphasis on the run, and that’s their formula (which it appears the 49ers are attempting to get away from), Kaep understands and accepts this as an attempt to win. He didn’t leave money on the table to try and play GM. He left money on the table as a gesture to “trust” the GM.
Regarding Andy Dalton and the Browns – of course the owner wants his qb to sign a deal like Kaep’s. Who wouldn’t want their star player to take less so others could have more?
Spit do you believe these romantic fairy tale stories you spin or is it just for our edification?
I think your side is far more steeped in romance on a pretty consistent basis.
I’m sure do.
you
He did it for the team, because the team isn’t on the hook for a long time, like Denver and Manning, say. If Manning gets a career ending injury this year, Denver is on the hook for quite a while with what they are paying out. This is more based on performance and if he stinks it up, they can release him with little repercussions or dead money.
FYI, apart means not together, a part means, well, a part of.
You’re fucking welcome.
Be that as it may, Spit, from what I’ve heard around all this, Kappy did it expressly for trying to keep Crabs. If Crabs doesnt’ hold up his end, oh well. I wouldn’t throw the truck at Crabs, He’s a possession guy. If Ellington can get deep (and we actually do it), it’ll go a long way to getting over the guy. Stevie Wonder and Boldin are fine in the interim. Patton is also a solid guy whose stock may rise.
Lloyd is a curiosity as he’s apparently having a great camp. He can get deep occasionally as well. If he forc3es his way onto the team, all the better. I thought he’d be odd man out, but we’ll see.
Yeah Lloyd is in the mix, makes cut down day more interesting.
News from the coaches:
http://www.49ers.com/news/blog/article-2/49ers-to-Simplify-Offensive-Playbook-in-2014/9bfca2c7-c32e-46ef-8ab5-05dcd763a024?campaign=social_20140806_29231576
It’s the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) offense.
Hey, if it gets the plays called faster, I’m all for it.
Faster and better is a good thing.
All that motion before the snap, twice, is more confusing to the O than the D. Get up there, check the safety and the LB and lets go.
That’s not the problem. The problem is the length of the name of some of the plays. By the time Roman or Harbaugh or Jesus Jeep Christ has thought of the play, Harbaugh’s okayed it and it’s relayed to Kaep, there isn’t much time for Kaep to call the play in the huddle then make his shifts at the line. If you get Kaep up to the line quicker, because the terminology is shorter, the shifts will be an advantage for the 49ers’ O.
Pin it on any facet you like it almost always ends up the same, the play clock at 1 second or less.
Calling 2 plays in the huddle, asking a greenhorn to decide which to use, very long motions before getting set, sometimes twice, it’s not effective.
It only gets called out in its full terminology once, and that’s in the huddle. Formation, modifications/options to formations/protections, motions, motions, motions, pass patterns/run plays/snap count and X2. Then explain specifics to all the guys who just said “huh?!”
What he’s saying is plays are too complicated for the players and the QB to have to deal with in an offense that’s not drilled in it for enough years. Simplifying will help Kaepernick to focus more on what the defense is doing than on if his protection got understood and his receivers know where to line up and release.
All I know is the transition from called play by the coaches to called play by Kaep in the huddle needs to be a lot quicker. Kudos to Roman and Harbaugh for identifying that issue and hopefully cleaning it up. The faster Kaep can call the play in huddle, the more time he’ll have at the line to start manipulating. Last year, nobody confused Kaep with Peyton Manning at the line. Hopefully this year Kaep will have made some strides with his presnap reads.
This problem predates the QB, the coach, the OC and the GM for that matter. This has been an issue since the Nolan era.
It’s about time to get this dealt with.
No, no, no…. new system. This isn’t a Nolan or Sing issue. It doesn’t date back to prior coaches. Smith ran Harbaugh’s system fine. The 49ers started having trouble with the snap count and getting the team up to the line of scrimmage right around the time Kaep took over and the 49ers had a cross between a pro style offense / read option / fly sweep / pistol offense. Kaep was new, Roman had a playbook of pro and college plays and things got away from the 49ers. Now they’re cleaning it up.
Wrong. These are the same issues Sing/Jimmy hat had. Turner’s digital system was fine, but Hostler fucked that all up. 2 plays in the huddle predates Roman.
ARF!
The Blaine Gabbert backup era begins tonight. I can hardly contain myself. What a spineless fuck. He’s got as much backbone as Tiger Woods nowadays. Tony B. left his heart in San Francisco. Gabbert needs to find one.
Tony B might have left his heart in San Francisco, but you left your liver at Club Mallard, Denny boy . . .
NEw thread is up . . . . . ……………….
New thread is up . . .