Forty Niners Forever

In less than 24 hours, the 49ers will officially start the 2018 season.

• A season fraught with expectations that belie their 6-10 record. A season that starts with an incumbent head coach for the first time since the St Jim era.
• A season about showing off our newly minted franchise quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo.
• A season that saw a major overhaul of talent, to the tune of 13 players left from the bad old days of Chip and Trent 2 short years ago, and half the starting lineup looks to be different from last year’s start.
• A season that head coach Kyle Shanahan said is about the chance to be “a lot better” than last year (whispering “super bowl”).

Vegas certainly noticed, giving the 49ers 200-1 odds last year of hitting the Super Bowl. That has dropped to 20-1. You have a GM in John Lynch and a head coach in Shanny who are both on the same page, and moving in the same direction. Something not seen since the heady days of 2011 when Baalke was hired to lure St. Jim away from the Farm.

Gonna be a fun season I’m sure, if the expectations meet the hype. Unlike the Rams last year, who went through a similar coaching purge (bye Jeff Fisher and company) but had the players (and subsequently ran away with the West under Sean McVay), the 49ers got the coaching staff in place before they themselves built the team in the image of Lynch and Shanny.

Yes, it has been a slog under this current ownership group. I will give Jed this, though. He seems to have learned from his father, Dr. Dorkian, how not to run the franchise. And yeah, it took Young Sir Jed a few years to learn how to shut his mouth, and his twitter account, stay in the background, and let the football people do the heavy lifting.

Huzzah! Let the good times (start to) roll.

The Jimmy G love-fest is in full bloom. Say what you will about the hype and all the expectations suddenly thrust upon him with his play down the stretch last year, but NFL folks notice shit like this.

And isn’t this the best scenario for him? Excellent pedigree learning his craft behind the 2nd best QB in history? His NFL upbringing in a first-class organization? The trade to a team with a sharp young offensive mind, and a no-nonsense GM who are building the team from the ground up? A spotless 7-0 record as a starter with NE (2-0) and SF (5-0)?

The latest to jump on the bandwagon is Peter King, recently of SI and now writing for MSNBC. He recently said in as phone interview that Jimmy G the ‘most compelling story’ of the 2018 NFL season. He says:

“We’re all totally fascinated with Garoppolo. You know what my take on Garoppolo is? I’m going to write this at some point soon. I think it’s hard to imagine a player, a quarterback prospect —this is going to sound ridiculous— a quarterback prospect in NFL history who has the bedrock of quality upbringing as an NFL quarterback as Jimmy Garoppolo does. Because think about it. You’re drafted by the Patriots. You’re in a quarterback room with Tom Brady. You’re being coached every day by Josh McDaniels. You go sit in the team meetings and listen to Bill Belichick. And you get basically inculcated into the winning way of the NFL through Belichick. OK? You do that for three-and-a-half years, and then you go to a guy [Kyle Shanahan] who is as imaginative.”

Yeah, the league is littered with backups who were groomed for greatness and failed spectacularly (Matt Cassel, Elvis Grbac, Guy Benjjamin, etc etc etc) but then you have Aaron Rogers behind Brett Favre, and our own Steve Young behind Joe Cool.

No, I have no idea how this plays out, but I’m pretty excited to see how this season goes. Here’s the full article:

https://www.ninersnation.com/2018/7/14/17571232/peter-king-jimmy-garoppolo-compelling-story-49ers

The bandwagon is ready to pick up the slowpokes not paying attention, and the prognosticators are at least thinking the Niners will be better than the +/- 8.5 wins they are getting from  Vegas, and there are a lot of folks (me included) who think the 49ers can win 10 games this year, but the end game of course is the playoffs. Does this team have a shot? The good news is that they have the easiest schedule in their division, and they have a stretch of games from week 8 to 13 that are fairly winnable, if this team is as good as they appear to be. They have @ AZ, Raiders, Giants, @ TB, @ Sea.

Easy may be a misnomer here, but compared to the first 5 games, it is. Four of their first five opponents had wining records last year, and three of those five are roadies (Minn, Chiefs, Chargers). Playing Minnesota is a tough task anywhere during the season, but to open 2018 in their house is very daunting. They are facing one of the best (if not the best) defenses in the league, and Minn of course got Kirt Cousins to lead them this year and RB Dalvin Cook is back from his knee injury.

A Niner win to open the season could be a harbinger of 2011 and a superb season. A loss, while not a crushing blow, would be a bit hard to overcome. if the team has playoff aspirations.  Yeah, that sounds ominous, but the NFC is loaded with talented teams, and like the 1991 Niners, they could miss the playoffs with 10 wins. Or worse still, go 11-5 and miss a la the 2008 Patriots.

So, unless there’s a raft of injuries that hurt other NFC teams, it looks like we may have one more year of looking in from the outside.  I’m still thinking they do have the makings for winning 10 games, the question is, will that get them in? I don’t think so.

Just with wild-ass guesses, the double digit win teams in the NFC are (in no particular order):

• NO
• Atlanta
• Carolina
• Minnesota
• Green Bay
• Rams
• Eagles
• 49ers

On the fence are the Cowboys and the Lions. So, you have six spots and 10 teams vying for them. The state of the NFC is really one of strong teams, and dogshit teams. I think AZ and Sea now fall in that also-ran category along with the Redskins, Bears, TB, and the Giants. Should that play out to form, 11 wins IS possible. The five losses being Minn, GB, Rams on the road, and maybe the Sea game in their house.

Gonna be a tough season, but it should be a fun one. Just have to try and not get so wasted by injuries. What pisses me off is all our good games are on the road. The only home game besides the Rams I’d be interested in is the Trubiscuit Bears game.

Talk around the league is that the 49ers are looking for a pass rusher, a good one, say Brandon Graham of the world champ the up-against-the-cap-wall motherfucker-ing Iggles. They can either ride his deal 2 more years, try to sign him to an extension in the next 2 years, or trade him for some needed cap relief and, say, a 2nd round pick.

That’s where we come in. We have more than enough cap space, and we have the picks. And we also have the desperate need for an elite pass rusher. They don’t exactly fall out of trees, but I don’t even know who would be available, or near the end of their current deals, or just MAY fall out of the proverbial numbers tree come training camp cut-down time.

Maybe another Elvis Dumervil type guy who just may have one last season left.

With so little to talk about (except Skeebers) infatuation with a certain someone), the Supplemental draft is coming up on July 11th. Yeah, its 2 weeks away, but there’s nothing but baseball now, and the Giants are semi-riveting, semi-boring, and semi-in-the-race at this point. Fun? Sure, but this looks to be a strong season by the 49ers, and I can’t wait for the games to start.

The supplemental draft, started in 1977, is in place for players whose eligibility has changed since the official draft, and is kinda wiggly in the process of how players are drafted, if any are drafted at all. All a team has to do is say what round they’d like to use to pick the guy, and they lose that pick in next year’s draft. If someone wants to jump them with a higher pick, they can. In the last eight years of the Sup draft, three guys have been drafted:

• QB Terrelle Pryor by the Raiders (3rd round) – 2011
• WR Josh (what, me worry?) Gordon by the Brownies (2nd round) – 2012
• OT Isaiah Battle by the Rams (5th round) – 2015

Amazingly, all these guys are still in the league. Although Pryor is now a wide receiver, Gordon has been suspended for the better part of the last 3 years, and Battle has bounced from team to team, and taxi squad to taxi squad. Of note, Ahmad Brooks was a 3rd round Sup pick by the Bengals in 2006.

The guys who are garnering the most interest form the Niners, (and the rest iof the league) are:

• Former Mississippi State DB Brandon Bryant
• Former Western Michigan CB Sam Beal
• Former Virginia Tech CB Adonis Alexander

As the defensive backfield is a concern heading into the season, the more depth the 49ers can garner, the better. The 49ers are fairly interested in at least a couple of these guys as they attended  CB Adonis Alexander’s workout last week, and are planning on attending safety Brandon Bryant’s workout today. Bryant is getting the most press for being a possible starter in the league. I think we are pretty good at safety, and don’t think we will get him.

Adonis Alexander on the other hand brings size, speed, and solid cover ability. He’s 6’3, 207 lb, and ran a 4.24 40. Impressive and teams should be drooling over this guy. They are, but the problem is his off-field issues. He’s in the Sup draft because he was declared academically ineligible for his 2018 season due to various pot and team-related suspensions. His motor is inconsistent, and his desire is iffy, so there’s a large red flag on the guy.

Not sure we are in the market for another iffy character guy, but shit, at that size and speed, someone is going to sign this guy, Sup draft or no . . . A guy like Sherm could possibly get into the guy’s head and straighten his shit out. Worth at least getting him into the building for a chat.

This is the latest tizzy in the blogospheres. The fact that the 49er had a fairly solid chance of landing ROB!!! Gronkowski last month as he mulled his options outside of New England, and the team made preliminary inquiries into moving him. It wasn’t a league-wide foray, but merely a sub-set of ‘trusted’ teams that NE talked to. This includes the 49ers, the Titans, the Lions, and the Texans.

(In case you were wondering what the connections to those teams are:

• 49ers – Belichick respects the Shanahans, and they have a strong working relationship (see: Garoppolo, Jimmy)
• Lions – Matt Patricia was NE’s DC previous to taking the HC job in Detroit
• Texans – HC Bill O’Brien was the OC in NE
• Titans – HC Mike Vrabel was an NE linebacker back in the day)

In the feeling-out process of all this, Belichick met with Gronk to discuss things. Gronk affirmed his desire to stay in NE, and they then decided to rework Gronk’s deal rather than trade him.

Color me happy that we didn’t end up getting Gronk. I’m sure the ask for his services would have been fairly high (a couple high picks?), and cashola. Not that we couldn’t afford him, and sure, he’d be a huge upgrade over Celek/Kittle/Hikutani, but I think his injury history precludes signing him to a large deal. He’d likely ask for 4 years/$40 mill. Again, not a big deal given our cap space, I just think we can use that money elsewhere.

Like maybe an elite pass rusher somewhere down the line this offseason.

Why isn’t George Seifert in the Hall of Fame? He has more wins than Bill Walsh, a .766 winning %age with the Niners (98-30), two Super Bowls as a head coach, two Super Bowls as a DC, and one as the defensive backs coach. A DB coach that ushered in 4 rookies to lead the 1981 Niners to their first Super Bowl. and of the brighter defensive minds the game has seen. His teams were regularly in the top five defenses in the league.

To top it all off he used to usher at Kezar, and went to Polytechnic across the street. Sure, his tenure coaching the Panthers was a bit of a trainwreck,  but the Carolinas were still taking baby steps as a newly formed franchise. He got them close to the playoffs in his first season, at 8-8, they then went 7-9 but cratered to 10-15 in 2001, and he was fired.

Sure, he also followed the formula put in place by his predecessor, one Bill Walsh, but his 1994 Super Bowl victory was his doing, and he and Tom Flores are both still waiting for their call to the hall.

And . . . Happy Father’s Day to you dads out there. . . .

Right tackle Keith Fahnhorst, part of the dominant line of the 80s, passed away at 66. He died of complications stemming from multiple sclerosis and kidney issues. This comes eight days after the passing of Dwight Clark. Sad days indeed.  He was part of an offensive line that was built by 3 different GMs and coalesced under Bill Walsh and Bobb McKittrick’s tutelage. His 14 year career spanned the dark days of the early 70s (he was drafted 1974 out of Minnesota), and ended with a neck injury suffered during the 1987 season.

He won 2 Super Bowls, and went to one pro bowl in 1984. Super Bowl XIX. That line of Fahnhorst, RG Randy Cross C Fred Quillan LG John Ayers and LT Dan Audick did a great job of protecting Joe Montana, and the unit was one of the best in the league for many years.

Condolences to Keith’s family and friends.

Fahnhorst clearing a path for Roger Craig

Shit, I don’t know. OTA’s have gone along swimmingly according to the interwebs. No serious injuries or problems yet. According to the scribes that get paid for this shit, Joshua Garnett has gotten himself into shape, and lost 25 lb to better play the zone blocking scheme the Niners are now running, and coach Shanny has nothing but praise for him.  Great. We need all the line help we can get, and having our 1st round pick from 2016 be a contributor would be good, and it would be Baalke’s last hurrah. His last draft has netted 3 guys. Garnett Buckner, and Ronald Blair. Yet another underwhelming draft for him, but I digress as I digest. A few of the OTA standouts include:

• Richard Sherman, the Draymond Green of football, is providing to be a useful guy even if he isn’t participating in OTA’s. He’s coaching up the young secondary, and is providing his vast knowledge of the game, and the system he came up in (Selah’s), to his charges. Apparently he’s on schedule to play, but that is a long way away from being a reality. And he’s getting as jump on his coaching career.
• Fred Warner is proving to be a solid addition as he has already taken 1st team snaps at the Mike (Middle linebacker position, making all the defensive calls, and doing it right.  Unlike Flounder, smart, fast, and athletic will get you far in life. Beyond that it looks like Foster will be suspended, so the faster they get Warner up to speed the better.
• Another guy looking good is Jerick McKinnon. Shanny has stated that he is what they hoped for, and more. based on the practices, they are lining up McKinnon everywhere, including WR plan to get the ball to him any and every way they can.

Hey, it’s early.  These are the doldrums of the football season. Speaking of doldrums, check out Skeebers’ bog. It’ll get you in the mood for the noose. Hyuk!

Hey, the Dubs are poised on winning their 3rd championship in 4 years, the Giants are playing exciting baseball even as their line up is getting waylaid by injuries, and it looks to be a return to meaningful football in the Bay Area. These are good times.

Huzzah!

In very sad news today, Dwight Clark passed away in Montana at his ranch from ALS at the age of 61. The man who brought to life one of the most iconic moments in all of sports, gone at far too young an age.  His catch literally changed the course of the 49ers, as it ushered the team to their first Super Bowl appearance, and ended an awful day for the Niners as they outgained Dallas 400 to 250 but turned the ball over 6 times.

It erased the frustration of die-hard fans who suffered through the ’70-’71, and ’72 playoff losses to the Cowboys, erased the 59-14 shellacking of the Niners by Dallas the year before. And it started the reign of the Niners as the team of the ’80s.

In his 9 year career, he set many of the 49er receiving records that were soon to be smashed by Jerry Rice.

Not earthshaking numbers, but a solid career that included clutch catch after clutch catch. Saw him play many games at the Stick, including Joe’s coming out party in the greatest comeback game in 1980 where Clark had 6 catches for 155 yards, including a 71 yard TD strike.

I could go on and on re: Clark’s impact on the local and national football scene, and how genuinely nice he was when I bumped into he and Joe at the Hillsdale mall a few months after SB XVI, but he will be terribly missed by 49er fans, and football fans everywhere.

This is the last time I saw him. The Farewell Candlestick flag football game.