Guys are dropping like flies in camp, and we haven’t even reached the one-week milestone. 3rd string LB Jimmie Gilbert is out for the year with a torn ACL, Jaquiski Tartt is day-to-day with a rib injury, DeForest Buckner is day-to-day with an ankle injury, but apparently it is not as bad as initially thought, TE George Kittle is being held out of practice for individual drills, and Keith Reaser will miss practice entirely for a 2nd day. Eli Harold is being held out of practice for a concussion suffered a few days ago.
Good news is that Eric Reid is back to full practice status after tweaking his ankle. Other than that, the latest casualty if the new regime is Bruce Ellington, the speedster who never got untracked.
Camp sleeper, according to Adam Schefter is matt Breida, UDFA RB out of Georgia Southern, who ran a blistering 4.38 in the 40 is making headway to make the team. He also had the highest vertical leap, 42 inches, and pumped out 23 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press. He also seems to be meshing very well with what Kyle Shanahan and RB coach Bobby Turner are looking for in a fast powerful guy who can catch the occasional pass.
That’s about all the news that’s out there Niner-wise. Ryan Tannehill is out for a while, so the Colin Kaepernick death march to the NFL continues.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
I gotta laugh about the Ravens owner about Kap. The guy should just keep his mouth shut. Don’t act like you want him when you don’t. I think Miami is the perfect place for kap since Seattle didn’t want him. We have had lots of injuries but so have a bunch of teams. Makes you wonder what these fucking physical trainers are doing. I bet Ellington didn’t show the desire to be on the team as the others have. I mean he does have the skills but he’s also missing something. Someone will pick him up. Probably Seattle just for the playbook.
With that 40 time and shiftiness, I have to wonder why Breida was overlooked in the draft. I don’t know how big he is, but he looks muscular as hell in photos, with huge arms. If he pans out, we’d have a nice trio in Hyde, Williams and Breida. I’m really champing at the bit for the first preseason game.
As for injuries, I just hope Shanahan isn’t pushing the players too hard. As a first-time head coach, it’s possible that he’s so gung ho that he doesn’t know when to rein it in.
Kap is a dipshit. He made his bed. Now he gets to sleep in it. I wouldn’t mind not hearing his name for the rest of the preseason.
Flavor’s blog is entertaining in their frustration with the Giants losing ways. Those Matt Moore starts are especially pathetic. The bodies keep changing but the results are the same….players that can’t field, hit or pitch much.
thanks Nip. You should get some IT help so you could post there again. You were one of the originals at the Splash. Flap would welcome you back with open arms.
Brieda had a crappy senior season as Ga Southern retooled their offensive scheme. It screwed him up. He also played pretty small at like 180 and has since put on some weight.
As for Kappy, I hope he gets a shot.
Anyone think Smelter makes the team? He remains, to me, an interesting prospect. He’s big and tough, supposed to be a good blocker and has those legendary hands. Given that the Niners are still thin at wideout, I’m sure he’s getting his chance, I just haven’t heard much. The preseason games will be telling I’d imagine.
I see Breida has some experience returning kicks. At the end of the day, that may be his path to making the team. Hightower is 31 and has never really done all that much, but he has experience. I haven’t heard much about Williams this camp either.
The yearly “your team suks article” . . . ! Make mine a double . . .
http://deadspin.com/why-your-team-sucks-2017-san-francisco-49ers-1797328541
Bruce Ellington waived…
another one of TB’s head scratcher moves. TB loved guys who were hurt who he would draft who would end up doing exactly squat.
Driving home from Reno today, got to listen to the Eric Reed interview on KNBR. He sounds genuinely excited about the new regime and that’s enough for me. We are thin at almost every position so I’m assuming that as the season unfolds and more and more guys get injured we’re going to be totally fucked like last year. But unlike last year, we don’t have buffoons making the decisions. I’m cautiously optimistic right now.
oh, and fuck Kap. He’s not good enough to be worth the hassle that he brings with him.
I’m very curious to see how the defense fares. We have a bit of talent on the line and a lot of questions in the d backfield. Our DC last year was absolutely clueless so I think better coaching will go a long way to improving the defense.
The o has to carry their side of things though. We have a ton of players and a lot of hope but more unknowns across the board. Smelter looks like the real deal but at least we have an OC that appears to have a plan.
I thought we’d do more for the o line but there’s still time I guess.
Say what you will about Kappy but his numbers Weren’t bad but for the clown show built by Baalke. Not our headache anymore but whatevs. I think he deserves a shot.
It sounds like Tannehill may need season-ending knee surgery. If that’s the case, Miami may be where Kap gets his shot. I’d certainly take him over an over-the-hill Jay Cutler. My main beef with Kap now is that he’s no longer a 49er but gets constantly talked about on the the various 49er sites and elsewhere. Since he’s gone, I’m way more concerned with how the Niner offense will do with the QB’s they do have.
I’m with Flavor, Fuck Kap. He was a distraction last year and he will be one again.
Miami will go the pussy route and take Cutler. The hooraw around Kaepernick is akin to all unwritten rules in baseball. In that the Latin players shouldn’t be so demonstrative and the minority players should know their place. It ain’t all about that but there’s a large element of it in these situations.
Look at all the shit Harper got for calling baseball ‘boring’.
Kap did what he did for what he thought were valid but unpopular reasons. He’s better than at least half of the 96 QBs on NFL rosters. But yeah fuck him. Let the rich white owners dictate the actions of its players.
Its the fans as much as the owners. Backlash is a real concern for them, alienating a large portion of a fan base, as pig socks Krapadick did, is expensive.
Moving on.
If Kaepernick came in and won games for some team, he’d be a Goddamn hero. Perception is reality.
Beyond that, the game is hurting due to stupid and inane penalties, the tons of shitty teams, shoddy QB play, corporate takeover, billions of ads, and the abject greed of the league. The owners would have you believe that Karpernick is solely responsible for the downturn in attendance and ratings. As if he kneels for All 128 games a season, not just the 16 with SF.
Eighteen years ago, Warner came out of nowhere to lead the Rams from a 4-12 season to a Super Bowl championship
It can be done, just saying!
It could be done. Just not with a Brian Hoyer. Cousins would give us a chance.
Didn’t Kap win a game at Miami last year? Last second stuff? Maybe they’d give him a shot. I could see picking him up to PLAY but not to sit on the bench and cause distractions. If he played and he was good, you keep playing him. My opinion is that Kap is a shell of who he once was and he won’t be able to win consistently but I wouldn’t mind watching it all play itself out. Entertainment.
They came close but lost, I believe by getting stuffed near the goal line as time ran out:
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201611270mia.htm
Kap would likely walk into the starting job in Miami. No one would be signing him at this point to sit on the bench. Good bad or indifferent he would be a distraction.
The thing about Kap is he got fucked hard by Jed. Kap took a very team-friendly deal, one he and his yokel agent got shit for, to help keep the talent on the team. They didn’t, and he suffered for it. As the talent around him got worse, so did he. Jed promised to keep the talent here and then let everyone go. Baalke didn’t do anything to fix the roster problems, and their response was to whisper about Kaepernick’s ineffectiveness. Of course Gabbert came in and played like a duller turd than Colin, so there you have it.
Shell of himself? No one could have won with that team the last couple years. If he was on Denver last year, Denver makes the playoffs. They made a mistake by not taking him. Denver is going to suck again this year as their defense ages and their QB hole continues to gape.
Besides LOOKING much smaller over the last couple of years, to me, he seems to have totally lost his confidence on his throws. Here’s a pass that Kap would have thrown but check out Taylor hauling it in. AWESOME, really looking forward to this guy in the slot
Speaking of small, Taylor is 5’8″. Dude is tiny. He might make the team based on the dogshit WRs we have, and that we desperately NEED a punt returner.
he can be tiny and play out of the slot. Lots of good small slot guys–esp with Shanny utilizing him to the fullest. Really excited to see what this offense is gonna look like .
I think our WR’s are pretty good right now and since we have a QB not named Kap maybe we can get the ball to em. I like Taylor because he plays way bigger than he is. He has heart and he makes plays.
He’s been making plays in camp, great plays. The dude may be small but he’s the real deal. Great hands and athletic ability, fearless over the middle and tough as nails. Don’t sell short because of his size, the Niners aren’t. Small or not, he’s a football player.
He’s making the team regardless.
Not sure how quick this offense turns it around, but I’m worried about the O line more than anything. Of all the moves we’ve made this offseason, we didn’t do much for them. And Hoyer?
Uhhh, yeah. We’ll see.
chuck- it’s smart to be a little pessimistic about our offense, so am I. Just listening to what others have said about Hoyer I honestly think he could be a great stop-gap until we get our guy. He moves around in the pocket pretty well, he can read defenses also well from what I have read. and he has a competent arm. The Oline is my concern also but I think it’s gonna be ok barring injuries. I think the term guarded optimism is where I am at right now.
Yeah every season is the same……..one starts with optimism and then as time passes reality takes over. Can this O line do the job? Are there enough weapons to support this QB? Are the WRs up to standards? Without depth injuries will cripple this roster? Just comparing last seasons pre-season to this seasons is a cause for hope.
Hoyer’s biggest advantage over Kap: he’s a pocket passer, something Kap never got comfortable with. That and his familiarity with the offense are what drew him to Shanahan. Shanny wants pocket passers.
One of the things that really killed me last year was Chip Kelley running the Counter Trey out of a spread formation. It worked the first week but not after that. Other teams just sent the weak side contain to tackle the RB from behind, often in the backfield. College offenses get tested mightily in the NFL. With better talent all around Kelley’s college offense did not pass muster.
Harbaugh and Kelley ran college offenses. Kaepernick is probably the perfect QB for that. In pro offenses there are hot reads, sight adjustments and timing plays. Kap did none of those well, if at all. He went back to pass and looked deep. If that wasn’t there he would maybe look for a secondary receiver but that was it at best. At that point too much time was taken because of the time always looking deep first. Either scramble or get sacked.
Kap is like Tebow, a distraction. If you are a great QB who can make a team win you get signed. If you are a possible starter but really a back up at best who comes with a distraction, good luck getting signed.
Yeah Kap’s shortcomings as a player is not mentioned by the NFL critics. Even the local sports media types seldom mention his playing shortcomings as a QB. Greg Papa mentioned it on the “Happy Hour” on NBC while the woman host was spouting what an injustice it is not having signed Kap to a back-up role. Kap is not the player he once was that’s for sure.
Camp injuries to starters piling up. Big signing Malcolm Smith with a chest injury likely out for a protracted period and penciled in LG Garnett needs a knee procedure to “clean some things up”.
Smith was a sure starter, tough loss.
Smith done for year.
Torn pectoral, sweet.
This guys are getting killed in camp, especially defensively. It’s not much good having a punishing camp when the resulting injuries mean a diminished squad. They haven’t been able to go 3 days without someone going down.
These guys…
almost all of these guys come into camp in fabulous shape. It’s stupid to have pre season last this long. I know a shorter PS wouldn’t have saved all these guys but I’d rather they get hurt during something real than something that doesn’t mean anything.
They’ve already cut way back on hitting in preseason and 2-a-day practices per the NFLPA deal from the strike in 2011. I don’t think it’s the camps, it’s the game itself.
Flav, the problem with shortening the preseason is that the owners want to add games to the regular season if they do. An 18 game season would be a disaster.
I think it’s all the weight room shit they do. They hit it so hard that their muscles are taxed to the limit. They move the wrong way and shit happens. I knew some guys that weight lifting was their religon, they spent all their free time working out. I used to laugh at em because a few of em couldn’t even walk right. I feel there has to be some give and take with all that. I don’t believe that the old timers spent near as much time fucking around with the weights.
It’s rough out there……especially in 49ers camp.
Weight training has been the standard for a long time now. The training is balanced by these professional strength coaches, players have access to top flight professional massage and recovery activities. They have to lift just to stay competitive. As long as it’s combined with flexibility training it’s a benefit.
I was watching some old 49ers championship tapes last year and looked up some of those rosters on NFL-Reference. It’s mind-boggling how much smaller linemen on both sides of the ball were then and that was only the 80’s and 90’s. Much has changed. Now you have massive, fast men slamming into each other. Injuries will happen.
Lurker- I agree about the benefits of weight lifting. I am pretty sure the players don’t get much one on one training there is just not that many trainers to go around. Stretching and ice baths help. I know the players who spend a lot of time in the weight room are always competing with themselves it’s just the nature of weight lifting. I think most torn pect muscles like Smiths are caused by bench pressing to much.
Is this anything like the jinx associated with the cover of Madden?
http://tinyurl.com/yanytsaq
The most entertaining part of that link is the jackass commenters that can’t let go of the bash-Jed-York-no-matter-what mantra. Yeah, it’s been rough, everyone here knows that, but some really good moves have been made. Even if a guy has sucked, you have to give credit where credit is due. He’s put some good pieces in place, now it’s time to get behind them and see where it goes.
I’m probably off on the camp thing. Shanahan has said a couple of times that while hard hitting is encouraged, no wrapping and taking to the ground, or rolling guys. I just get frustrated because the Niners don’t have a ton of depth. Losing Smith sucks big time. He was going to be one of the main guys on D. I’ve been holding my breath hoping the team can get to the regular season without any more significant injuries.
Fish sign Cutler. Kap fucked again.
You really have to not want someone if you sign Cutler instead.
I can see Gase wanting a familiar option.
Much the same as Shanny with Hoyer.
Less ‘Coaching’ involved, with the short notice situation they found themselves in after Tannehill went down.
Yeah, I just saw on SC about Cutler’s history with Gase. Makes more sense.
After a 2-14 Season Lurker John I can’t see it going anywhere but up.
Sure, losing MSmith sucks but, that’s the nature of the business.
Probably puts Bow in a better position as well.
As for Kaep? I think it’s pretty damn obvious that he’s nothing but a system fit or, a last ditch option, for a team in desperate straits?
He did himself no favors by bringing his soapbox to the job.
Absolutely, NJ. I’m excited about this upcoming season. Should be fun.
Holy Moly –
http://tinyurl.com/yc992dku
Kaep is probably holding a loaded revolver, with one in the chamber, spinning it wildly and, wondering what he has to do to get a job right about now I’d think?
Kap is firmly entrenched in the new civil rights movement and probably has more followers than he’s ever had. It seems obvious that football is second fiddle at this point.
Running QBs are not popular anymore. If Kap stays in the pocket he’s not worth much with his inaccurate arm.
I figured Miami would winp out and they did. Cutler is a piece of dried shit. Didn’t Gase get enough of Cutler in Chi town? apparently not.
Too funny. Don’t see how Kappy could do worse than Cutler but they are toast.
“Hey Jay, want to make 10 mill for sucking balls?”
“Sure!”
yeah, if the choice was Cutler or Kap to START I would have picked Kap 10/10 times just because his ceiling is possibly so much higher. I haven’t followed it too closely but did Kap try out for the Dolphins? Is Kap even actively seeking employment? Serious question. I’ve been out of town/out of loop on NFL news till recently.
Don’t really know but all I read about his activities are in the vain of charities and civil rights. I don’t even know if he’s working out to stay in shape and I truly don’t give a shit either way. Although I think Miami would have been an interesting place for him to land.
Kap tried out for the Squawks not Fins. He hasn’t made any public effort to show he is committed to football but has shown plenty of commitment to his causes. Cutler was the smarter choice because he worked with Ease before and time is very short before the start of the season. Not a big fan of Cutler but he played well for Game before, makes sense.
Gase.
Still and all, Cutler? 4-12 in their future.
The Baalke hiring is a direct result of the Peter Principle n action.
Kappy himself isn’t talking about football or making any kind of statement at all so it’s hard to even know if he’s trying to get a job in the NFL. At this point he’d be drawing more fans than he’d turn away.
You know the NFL loves the chatter as they disavow everything.
New thread is up.