Well, the one coaching hire that means the most to the 49ers of course is once and was our DC Robert Saleh moving on to the Tennessee Tuxedos. That also means we are hiring another DC yet again. In the past 6 seasons, we’ve had:
2020 – Robert Saleh
2021 – DeMeco Ryans
2022 – DeMeco Ryans
2023 – Steve Wilks
2024 – Nick Sorensen
2025 – Robert Saleh
2026 – ?x?x?x?
That’s a lot of different guys, but they all run basically the same 4-man wide-9 rush in cover 2 that emphasizes talent rather than aggressiveness. I think DeMeco Ryans did it best though as he would disguise coverages and blitz by bringing Warner up to the line or one of the other LBs.
I’d think they are gonna go with Gus Bradley, and for the most part I agree. They aren’t gonna hire from the outside like the disasters that Wilks and Sorensen were. I do want a guy that will take more risks though.
Beyond that, this team really needs to figure out their entire training and conditioning methods to get some kind of handle on the injury situation. This has been the case for 7 of the 9 seasons that this has been a major issue.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
Aaaaaand fuck all these teams in the playoffs. I hate all of ’em.
Seahawks – Fuck ’em sideways
Rams – Hated ’em since the Roman Gabriel days
Denver – The time I spent living in Colo was made intolerable by that team
New England – They are the 2nd team to pass us in Superr Bowl wins. Fuck them AND Tom Brady.
Unequivocally agree unca!
Hah!!
And, since I like this song, and I think Flav went to school with these guys . . .
back by popular demand . . .
And in baseball news, sort-of-Giant Carlos Beltran was elected to the Hall of Fame. He played like 1/4 of the 2011 season and did little till the team was out of the race and then started hitting.
Beltran was also the only player dinged by name in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.
Huh. Sorry, Barry, only certain kinds of cheaters get into the Hall of Fame.
Baseball Hall Of Fame use to mean something. Now? It means nothing to me.
Same goes for the last 2 baseball Commissioners . . . If being stupid burned calories, both of those clowns would be invisible.
Aiyuk to Titans in a day 3 trade. Hmmm
well I see the bills and eagles trading for him too.
All the Niners free agents. Who are you signing?
https://apple.news/ASfgR7jDLS_SMJAx-3qW4AQ
WR.
There’s some noise that the Niners want to trade Pearsall. The belief is that he made business decisions not to play, when he could have, at various times to the detriment of the team. If true, thats a dog house you never get out of.
Jennings is a 2nd or 3rd WR on most teams, a possession guy, which is what he was with this tem behind Deebo and Aiyuk. He has been playing as the 1st out of necessity, they had nobody better for the position. I seriously doubt he can get a real money deal higher than at the Niners but I don’t see him staying.
Robinson was a 4th type player, I dont think he moves the needle much one way or the other.
Jordan Watkins has served the mandatory ” rookie WR don’t play” on a Shanahan team so he will see the field year 2. Word on him is he needs to add muscle for the NFL game.
Niners still hold Aiyuk’s rights and may get a late round pick to trade him.
Every other WR are JAG’s
In short, the Niners need to trade for at least 2 WR. Even if they draft a WR or 2, which they will, the chances of them making a rookie impact are very low. If they had drafted Puka Nacua he would not have been a featured player his rookie year on this team.
RB
If anything this position is worse than WR. In 2024, using Jordan Mason and Isaac Horrendo, they had 4.7 yards per carry, this season they has 3.9 yds per carry. CMC should not be used as a battering ram every down player, his age and wear and tear have taken their toll. He is still an amazingly talented player but is being misused IMO.
CMC has a history of not producing the year after a heavy workload year. I believe that will probably prove out.
Robinson was underused big time, however I don’t think he comes back next year. The lack of use points to a lack of trust he can get the job done.
Horrendo will be gone. He has physical gifts, speed and power but zero field vision of patience. He is just as likely to run into the back of his teammate than into the other team.
Jordan James finally got to see the field in let’s get the hell out of here duty in Seattle. Its impossible to know how hard the Hawks were still playing but James looked fast and powerful. I expect him to be RB 2 behind CMC.
All the other RB’s are just JAG’s
TE
Obviously everything hinges on Kittle still being Kittle and not missing too much of the season.
Farrell was a terrible signing, he caught a few balls but the reason they signed him was as a blocking TE. Missed assignments and when locked up he had no power. I would cut him.
Tonges was a revelation who saw the field early in the year filling in for Kittle and late in the year in spot duty and again filling in for Kittle. I think they really found something in Tonges.
Yes he got the ball ripped out against the Hawks but that was the only glaringly bad play I saw from him. I don’t understand why they chose to go 2 TE with Farrell who couldn’t block over Tonges who can definitely catch. I see far more creative possibilities with Kittle and Tonges, both have elite hands and Kittle has elite blocking. Head shaker.
The other 2 TE are JAG’s so they need to trade and or draft a TE.
QB
Purdy again proved without doubt he is QB1 when healthy.
Mac Jones was a terrific back up and considering Purdy’s injury history I would love to keep him, but they must trade him this year. The offensive side of the ball is so depleted and slow. The fastest 49er player during a game was LB Dee Winters, he was also the only player to break 20mph. With so many skill position needs they have to trade Jones.
Rourke is an unknown. They activated him off injury for 3 weeks to get a look at him in game simulation practice then shut him down.
They need to trade or draft another QB.
Rourke is just the type of QB Shanny loves and I have a feeling he’s gonna be just as good or better than Jones. He’s a gamer that can throw the long ball.
That would be ideal if he can transition those skills to the pro game, they will need 2 more QB for camp and keep 1 of those guys as the 3rd stringer.
O Line.
Trent is coming back. They will have to rework his deal to do that and this is the year to figure out his eventual replacement.
McKivitz isn’t getting his props. He stunk his first year and thats still how many fans view him. He was easily a top 10 RT and maybe in the top 5.
Puni was hurt all year and didn’t ply up to his first years standard but by the end of the season he was decent. He should be healthy and powerful next season.
LG is a disaster and must be addressed by trade or draft, no excuses, Colby did his best but he’s a back up.
C Brendel is a really cerebral player who calls the protections and that is very hard to replace but he is also underpowered and against strong D linemen he is a liability. I would trade for a C. Drafting a C won’t work in a Shanahan offense.
I’m not seeing anything about Pearsall’s unwillingness to play this year. But it was clear he was hurt cuz every time he got on the field he got hurt again.
He may be lost money already but I don’t see the team getting any value for him at this point. Their only option is to see how next year goes.
And the fucking Cowing/Watkins shit is just that. PLAY the fucking guys. See what you fucking have. If Cowing can do nothing more than run go routes, run him on fucking go routes. This has been a motherfucking problem since the Nolan days. NO DEEP SHOTS!!!!! Mad Mike Martz was my only hope for this but we had Shaun fucking Hill as our QB that year.
Love Jennings, but at what price? Will he overvalue himself and fuck up his entire preseason with a holdout? He’s a perfect slot possession guy IF there is a burner outside him. M Robinson is a solid 3. We burn all these goddamn picks on WRs and RBs that don’t do anything or Shanny refuses to play them.
Same with RB. Shanahan refuses to alternate between CMC and whoever he has. And none of the guys he has were DRAFTED.
He did a wonderful job of coaching but the facts remain this team is injured inordinately all the time, and Shanny needs to do a better job of subbing his stars.
As for the O line we need to draft AND sign line help. C, LG, RT, LT.
Brendel is OK. McKivitz and Willams are the same. They played fairly well, but also had their down stretches.
We need bigger bodies up front. We got manhandled by a lot of teams.
Need a LG, a back up swing tackle with an eye to becoming a starter and I believe a bigger C.
3 of the 5 existing linemen are solid.
Frustrating to have 2 drafted running backs on the 53 that barely played. At the end of year media scrum, Shanahan says he real excited for Jordan James next season and that he was ready to go for final 6 weeks. If thats the case, why not give him an opportunity?
Pearsall has done very little for 2 years but it’s more than Cowing has done in his 2 years. Any way you slice it thats a first and a fourth round draft pick with very little ROI to this point and now we are talking about year 3 to see something from those guys.
Watkins was also “ready to go” at the back end of the year but wasn’t used.
The 49ers are looking into the theory that the power station could be causing injuries.
Couldn’t hurt. Move the practices back to Sequoia High School in Redwood City. I think they still have Bill Walsh’s office there they wa he left it back in 1981.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTyYT4nienD/
I watched that conference, yes Lynch did say that but he and Shanahan both rolled eyes when the question came up.
I don;t necessarily buy it, but they really have to do something different than the fucking injury nightmare this team has been for most of the Shanny/Lynch tenure.
I don’t know. Stretch more. Move training camp back to Rocklin. Hire yoga instructors. Hire a masseuse for every guy. Something. Anything.
I’m with ya. Lynch mouthed words without conviction IMO, all of which came down to “injuries just happen” and annoyingly no so called reporter in that room goes after them for being amongst the most heavily injured team.
If it’s just a case of injuries just happen, the team should be mid pack as an average over the Shanahan era, but they are nothing close to mid pack.
They are literally making billions of dollars and their player health should be a big concern and a priority.
It’s why I laugh like hell when teams like the Giants/Jets play on fake grass and watch their players get hurt just by turning wrong. The NFL should really mandate playing on real grass, but that would be too much i guess.
Don’t want to clog this fine football venue with baseball talk (although there was a bit of it here already), but for Flappers here with no place to talk baseball… what the hell are the Giants doing this offseason? From what I can tell, not much. Just saw an article on the MLB site that says something like “Now that the Giants’ starting rotation is set”….. Huh?? Everyone said they need at least 1 and I’d say 2 frontline starters. All set? They signed two guys I’d never even heard of, and that’s it? Man, I’ve been solidly behind Buster/Minasian, but it’s late January and the team has made no major moves. Maybe slow and steady wins the race, but I’m kind of wondering about that….
I am alright with the Giants, too much changes with a new manager. Plus Posey showed he is not afraid to make a trade mid season, even before the trade deadline line.
No idea ownership’s plan is Paul. In Buster/MInasian I trust . . . Ownership? Not so much.
https://apple.news/ACT2ubEp9ShWqd9ihU-HcFg
I guess the league doesn’t have a problem with the Dodgers simply spending their way to success. The NFL had enough with Eddie DeBartolo and Jerry Jerk-Off spent their way to stacked teams.
I guess all this shit doesn’t matter anyway because the CBA is done after the 2026 season and these folks will never come to an agreement over the billions at stake.
The usual slow roll for the baseball Giants. Tucker sure would have been nice.
Thing is, we ain’t competing with the Dodgers. We are competing with the rest of the league for the 2-6 spots in the playoff chase.
If I’m the Giants, I sign EVERYONE to a deferred contract and let the shit fall where it will.
I mean, Bobby Bo still has 9 years left on HIS deal and he hasn’t set foot on the field for 26 seasons!!!
Sheesh . . . I just saw what happened in San Jose, i.e., “Don’t bring a car to a gun fight.”
‘Nuff said . . .
Whoops! Here it is . . .
https://www.reddit.com/r/DiveInYouCoward/comments/1qk5xjx/san_jose_police_shootout/
Parental discretion is advised!!!!!
Holy shit. Wonder what the whole story is with that. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
New thread is up.