For a guy who stepped off the plane after painting his house, not a bad start for Ponder. Sure it was against the Walmart Brigade, but it still had to give Gabby some shivers. Throw in the fact that Kaepernick was throwing 50-60 yard passes yesterday suddenly puts the QB battle on the front burner.
While this really doesn’t mean squat, unless QB battles mean anything (and they do) at least Gabby looked better yesterday than the other day. He still has the maddening habit of throwing for 5 yards on 3rd and 7, but this is the dink and dunk offense. Again the run game looked pretty solid, as did the line blocking. D Ware wasn’t playing, so there was that, but the takeaway from this game is much like last week.
The line play on both sides appears to be in much better shape than last year. Or even 2 years ago. The 1st and 2nd O lines did very well as Gabby wasn’t sacked, and I don’t think Driskel was either. Even he looked much more settled than last week. My onl;y concern offesnvely is the lack of passes to the WRs. Something we didn’t see till Ponder came in.
Defensively the first 2 lines played well enough, and this was without Armstead or Buckner, the bookend Ducks. The DBs were solid down the line, and except for a blown coverage on the Brooks blitz to a wide open TE, the LBs on the 1st and 2nd string were active and hitting. The defense didn’t give up many big plays, but that first drive was kind of easy.
So, it reality, despite the fact that these games are meaningless, I don’t think this team is as bad as everyone is making them out to be. I tell you one thing, John Elway didn’t get ANY sleep last night. Siemen threw a pick 6 on a fairly easy read/bait by Eric Reid. Mark Sanchez tried to re-enact his butt fumble a couple times, and Paxton Lynch got into the act by overthrowing for a pick. None of these guys look very good. Sanchez may get cut in a couple weeks.
Hey, maybe we can trade Ponder for Ware . . .
Forty Niners Forever 
Yeah, Lemonier has been a non-entity his whole career. Good to see guys like him and Pears (who looked terrible vs the 3rd string) getting pushed out the door.
Has Garnett even played yet?
Berger we’re all 9er fans here.
Having an opinion on how we see things is part of being a Fan.
I’ve always appreciated the process a GM has to fulfill when 31 other GMs are shopping for similar talent.
No GM bats 1.000, not even .500.
What has to happen, IMO, is to get the pieces that fit a specific plan, Coach them up and, have sufficient depth to protect against injuries.
No small task.
I’m fine with the adage of Drafting to the future, especially in the Salary Cap era.
Like College, certain positions will turnover within a 4yr period regardless of age.
Injury factors probably take the heaviest toll.
What Baalke has done with some of these ‘ACL Guys’ is simply rolled the dice on rehab.
Each Draftee is graded by Scouts and Team Docs.
If you’re sufficiently stocked at a position in any given year to afford a rehab gamble on a guy graded higher with a rehab stint in front of him, I can see the attraction.
Baalke has made a habit of making OL/RB Picks in almost every Draft he’s run.
The biggest ACL gamble might have been Marcus Lattimore, simply because he was a RB.
But, we can’t discount what Frank did to beat the odds either.
Right now, our D is young and hungry.
The OL is improving and, once we find the right ingredients at QB and WR we might be sitting pretty for the next 5+ years.
As Parcells infamously quipped years ago, regarding ‘buying the groceries’, the GM and HC need to communicate on what the roster vision is going to be.
Whether Paraag muddled the relationship with Harbaugh and Baalke is open for debate.
Especially when it had been reported that Baalke recruited him.
I just hope all this FO interference is a thing of the past.
Baalke and Chip need to have a relationship that favors each others’ strengths.
IF that can happen, we stand a good chance of being successful in the coming years.
All I’m asking for is ‘quiet, if not invisible’ Ownership.
Chip knows what he wants from the Offense and, should have the latitude to shop for his ‘groceries’ on that side of the ball.
I’m OK with what Baalke has in mind on Defense, which I believe is more in line with his strengths.
He’s continually brought in competition at every position. He’s not afraid of making guys earn a job.
A guy like Lemonier has been pushed, and will continue to be pushed, until a better option emerges.
That could be Rush, Harold or Tank, as it looks now.
Even the DBs and WRs are deep and competitive, which is how it should be.
Go Team! Or to borrow a Raiders phrase, “Just win baby!”
Dial was another who was hurt and couldn’t play right away. What you get is a guy who should’ve been drafted 2 or 3 rounds earlier if you want to take the chance and wait a while to heal. I remember it working with Kevin Fagan and Frank Gore. We are about to see if it works with Smelter. Lately it has worked with Tank and Dial.Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I have no problem with it. If I guy falls to you that you like take him. No guarantee that kind of player falls to you the next year. Healthy players are a 50/50 chance at best. So if only half the injured players work out what’s the difference.
That’s football.
Much has been debated regarding the ‘wasted’ Picks Baalke has made.
A wasted Pick is a gut like Aldon who was an immediate Starter that ‘wasted’ his talent by not taking his career seriously.
He’s just another example of how the GM role is full of pitfalls that can’t be measured at The Combine or Scouted on film.
Give me a 4th/5th RD OLman, who has something to prove, over any top 10 prima dona any day.
The Rookie Cap was long overdue IMO.
More Picks is the way to play it.
Too many guys just can’t cut it in the NFL.
If you Want it. Earn it.
Pretty simple.
Guy like Aldon. Not gut.
Aldon did, however, have several hall of fame type years, so it wasn’t a complete waste of a pick. As much as I loved Lattimore, his pick was a waste simply due to the severity of his injury. Great guy, great talent, but even modern medicine couldn’t bring him all the way back.
Look what Bowman came back from.
Whether Brandon Thomas ‘wants it’ is up to him.
Baalke gave him a shot to earn it, maybe with an eye toward to replacing Iupati at the time?
Up to him to make the most of the opportunity.
Which is part of my skepticism with Kaep.
If he ‘wants it’, Gabbert is the only guy standing in his path.
Get in there and take it from him.
As we know, Bowman has earned it, while also replacing Patrick as the leader.
He too, came at a bargain 3rd RD price.
Another reason to appreciate what TBrown is doing to hold off former 1st RDer AD.
Compete and, prove yourself.
Bowman is a great example. He fell because he got into two fights at Penn St. He was a character risk, just like Aaron Lynch who also fell because he was a character risk. We would have two holes in the line up without those two. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
I like our chances with guys that have something to prove and, who want to take advantage of their opportunities.
I’ll give AD the benefit of the doubt when it came to health concerns.
At least he’s making the effort to get himself back into the game.
Be that as it may comparing a 5 th round flier in Lynch to Smith is apples to oranges. A little easier to risk a5th round pick (hey a punter!) rather than a high first rounder like Aldon was. The stories around Aldon were out there as well.
And it isn’t as if I think he’s missed all his picks. My problem is his inability to help the offense. If Harbaugh,the guy he apparently was hired to bring in, couldn’t help decide how to build the offense, then whose fault is it? If Baalke cant draft offensive players on his own, who does he trust to give him help? Paraag? Seriously? Baalke put Paraag between him and Harbaugh?
I’ll neve know what’s going on in there at 4949 Centennial but I thin Eddie had it right on2910 when he said there were too many people involved in the decision makng process. Like we been saying the only hope is that the top brass isn’t mucking and fuckng the team up and meddling where they shouldn’t be.
That’s my gripe Chuck.
Baalke doesn’t/didn’t need Paraag to handle football decisions.
IMO, Paraag muddled up the process with the apparent ‘Moneyball’ tactics.
No way do I believe Paraag was there at Baalkes’ request.
If anything, logic would suggest Paraag was put there by Dr Daddy as his ‘Money Mgr’.
Baalke was instrumental, if not directly responsible, for bring Harbaugh aboard.
Where/how that relationship deteriorated is the crux of the debate.
I’m leaning toward Paraag being said ‘Rat’ that interfered with the personnel decisions that should have been carried out between Harbaugh and Baalke.
As to the point of taking chances on Picks.
I’d feel much more comfortable as GM spending a few Mid-Late RD Picks on guys like Lynch/Pinion/BMiller etc to see what can be developed in terms of production.
Look what Tampa Bay did this year with (PK) Roberto Aguayo.
Traded away Picks to move UP in RD2 for a PK.
That was a bone-headed move no matter how desperately your kicking game sucked.
Pinion could easily have been a gratuitous Pick to allow Andy Lee the opportunity to relocate his family due to the painful experience of losing a child too?
Hard to know from what we’ve been made aware of certainly.
Baalke, like Parcells, simply needed to have the GM/HC relationship to find those pieces needed on Offense.
Again, meddling non-football Ownership pressure is what I contend added the fuel to this dumpster fire of micro-mgt we’ve endured.
Baalke is a conservative GM, which is fine as long a his working relationship with the HC/Coaching Staff is on board, working together on what is considered a common goal.
You can’t have Ownership dictating terms with stats and/or Cap limitations.
Gathering Picks is ‘free money’ in terms of Rookies, as their Contracts are slotted and easily budgeted for.
I’m just praying that they’ve learned their lessons with Harbaugh/Tomsula and, let Chip handle Offensive decisions on personnel matters.
I don’t think Baalke would butt heads with him on that topic.
Been my belief that Baalke wanted Gase for the very same reason.
He needs an Offensive guy to assist him.
Look what Danny Snyder did to his franchise with RG III.
He was solely responsible for creating all the dysfunction around Shanny while killing his future with all the Picks he gave to StLoo.
Our situation isn’t vastly different if we consider the possibility that Paraag didn’t get along with Harbaugh and/or Kaep.
Once there’s a wedge driven between the ‘football guys’, everything comes unhinged.
Dany made RG III his personal pet of sorts.
Shanny was neutered in the process.
I firmly believe Baalke was ‘snipped’ in similar fashion by a FO that doesn’t know it’s A$$ from a hole in the ground, in terms of running an NFL roster.
Paraag’s worth is negotiating Contracts.
He’s got no business dabbling in Personnel decisions IMO.
love this stuff
Right on Winder.
Nothing wrong with Bo Diddly in my book 😀
Which reminds me of George….
Gear Jammer 😀
Might even be a good ‘handle’ for Paraag?
Can’t pass on this one either –
How about a little Bo Diddley and Friends?
In conclusion: We all are hungry for a winner!
2nd conclusion of the blog: Bullitt has been declared a “raging pussy.”
If Paraag is the building whisperer, why isn’t anyone past or present talking about it? I find it hard to fathom that someone came in and poisoned Harbaugh and Baalke’s working relationship. I think they managed that all by themselves. Then again, I have no idea why Jed would tell Adam Gase that he has to keep Tomsula if he wants the HC job. Gase has no HC experience, but not being able to build your own staff is ludicrous.
None of this shit makes any fucking sense. Of all the bullshit that has gone on, this one move baffles me to no end.
The annoying part is we may be on to something here with Kelly. I don’t know. Justg don’t want to see a repeat of the last clusterfuck.
I managed to miss the first two weeks of football, so I don’t have anything more on the Niners at this time, but I had to comment:
1) Nick Foles was picked up by Andy Reid. I like Foles from his time in Philly, so I didn’t think it would take long;
2) Poor, poor Kellen Moore of Boise State. After rotting at third string on the Lions, he finally gets a chance behind a made-of-crystal Romo. So what? He breaks his leg and the Cowboys new pickup looks like the best drafted QB so far.
3) Mark Sanchez has already played himself off of the Broncos starting team. He may even sink to #3. LOL – only a matter of time before Gabbert joins him on the NFL bench.
Dak? Dax? Prescott looks pretty good for little d so far. Although this is preseaosn.
Yeah, I’m very interested in Friday’s game vs the Packers. The hope is Kappy can play well and move up to the starting role before the season starts.
I’d put Kappy in through the whole 1st quarter and a half, and let Ponder play with the ones some as well. We’ve seen enough of what Gabbert brings. Maybe he falls to 3rd as well.
I hope Kappy does well too. Maybe If Ponder can get the kinks out and have football be fun again, we just might have something there.
I just watched a very cool compilation of Shane Skov’s career at Stanford. I won’t post it here because no one here gives a shit about Skov. But he was one of my favorite players EVER in college. And in the pros, nothing, nearly worthless. He’s a classic example of how big the diff is between NCAA and NFL. Ponder likely isn’t even going to make the team…….
Skov’s a ST guy. he’ll probably make the team. He’s doing better than 90% of the rest of the college guys that don’t stick so there’s that.
Chuck the Paraag ‘factor’ is a direct link to Dr Daddy IMO.
He was assigned by Daddy to handle the finances.
IOW, he was the eyes/ears of Daddy.
I can see a scenario, whereby Paraag got too involved with ‘football’ business, and rubbed Harbaugh the wrong way.
No secret that Paraag was unhappy with Kaep’s PR image as well.
Point I’ve been trying to make is, the non-football guys micro-managed themselves into a full blown franchise dumpster fire.
Paraag being ‘reassigned’ might have been their way of getting him away from GM/HC relationship going forward?
Let’s hope so anyway.
On paper, Kelly and Baalke look like a good pairing, one good with defense the other with offense. Let’s see if they can make it work.
Kap made his own bed in so many ways the past couple of years with his prima donna attitude and surly disposition. I hope he’s matured enough to set that shit aside, because he has a lot to prove right now. Some guys thrive in that situation, others not so much. The ball’s in your court, Kap.
Go Team!
The beauty of the NFL is that it’s one of the last bastions of pure competition left in the sports world. The cream will rise and will always be rewarded with a spot on the roster. Nobody is guaranteed squat. The fierce level of play, both in camp and during the season, is quite the spectacle. Competition is what made this country great, and its potential demise may signal the downturn of our lofty position in international affairs.
Be that as it may, the very reason the NFL is great spectacle is due to the requirement that all players compete to win a job. Outside of a few cases, like established all-pro vets and QB’s, etc, each player has to prove himself every week. Even those aforementioned vets would be on the block if their performance started to drop. The next hot guy is ALWAYS waiting in the wings.
The Bronco’s broadcasters were calling the replay of Saturday’s game on the NFL network and the question came up as to whether Kelly was a viable NFL coach. The color guy gave a response that I liked. He said that Kelly definitely was a legit NFL coach, IF he learns from the mistakes he made in Philly. That’s a good point and Kelly touched on that point when he was first hired. At the least, I believe he will try his best to learn from those mistakes, at least as he sees them. The color guy went on to list a few coaches that were in the same situation after being canned, including notable guys like Belichick, Shanahan and Vermeil, all 3 of whom went on to win Super Bowls after getting fired.
So, we’ll see moving forward. The biggest thing I came away with from this game, and the first for that matter, was the energy and physicality the Niners played with. They spent a lot of time in Denver’s backfield on defense and consistently moved the ball on offense and they played hard the whole game. A far cry from last year. Setting aside the whole, “It’s preseason” mantra, that’s a good sign to me. Effort, drive and desire can take a team a long way in this league. Throw in some well-coached talent, et voila, you just might have something.
Ponder definitely looks like a real back up QB. He brings some things to the table and he’s a playmaker. The problem is that there’s 4 QB’s in camp right now and I doubt Driskel gets cut if he keeps showing progress. Maybe he ends up on the practice squad. If Kap was to not win the starting QB job, would he be content with being a backup? It didn’t seem so last year. Ponder would be content there, because he was out of football 2 weeks ago. Something will have to give and it’ll probably be Ponder that goes in the end, but his presence and good game Saturday does throw some peppers into the whole thing and puts pressure on both of the front-runners.
Interesting that all four of these QB’s are good running the football. For a big guy, Driskel looks pretty quick and agile.
Competition only goes so far when you add in the contracts these clowns throw around. Houston is a prime example. They signed Brock Osweiler to a 4 year/$72 mill deal. However, Tom Savage, the 4th round pick from 2014, has outplayed him badly all preseason. Will they switch after that huge investment? Doubtful. Osweiler will have to crash and burn pretty hard before they pull the plug. And this is a nearly foregone conclusion. That was a horrible signing.
Yes, I mentioned some guys will have a leg up, but nowhere near like it is in baseball or basketball where a guy’s getting paid no matter what. For the vast majority of guys it’s perform or be gone. I don’t know what Houston saw in Osweiler, maybe he had some good games against them? He wasn’t even that good in Denver.
Yeah, football and guaranteed contracts is a new thing. I just find it funny that national pundits still expect Kaepernick to be cut. Like we’d wait until after his contract is payable to cut him.
In reality, Kaepernick has one option, and that is to do his best where he is. He isn’t going to sit the year holding a clipboard like RG III did.