Forty Niners Forever

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Well, so much for the tirfecta of sports nirvana. THe GIants started the loodbath by playing lousy defense and Barry Zito giving up 30 singles in the 1st inning to put the Giants in a hole they couldn’t crawl out of. Baseball is like that though. Lots of games to recover from the shitty one you just played. Even if it is in the great white north.

The Warriors on the other hand are in a much different world of hurt. They dropped a game to SA that saw Steph Curry and Klay Thompson (the greatest backcourt duo in NBA history?) shoot a combined 6-22 and 13 points. This will never get it done. One can go south, but not both of them. Even still, they were in it til the end. Barnes and Jack, stars from the game 4 win in Oaktown, did their best to keep the Dibs sin the game despite the usual array of 2nd half turnovers. They are now one game from elimination, altough they are coming home for game 6. You’d have to think they don’t shoot as bad as they did last night. If so, well, it was a good run for GSW.

The Sharkies? Well, they played well, but couldn’t score a goal to save their lives. You don’t score, you don’t win. Beating the Kings will be very tough for SJS. Yet another fairly underwhelming playoff run looks to be in store for them.

Aaaand the A’s lost in 10 . . . and Cal star running back Chuck Muncie passed away. R.I.P. Chuck. You were a fun player to watch. All in all, a crappy day.

Unfortunately none of it is football related. The Dubs win an OT thriller to tie up their best-of-seven series with the SASpurs at two games. A game that I had the unmitigated luck to see from the comfort of a luxury suite. The Giants got a solid 7 innings of shut-out ball from Timmy as the Giants took 3 of 4 from the Atlanta Bravos. No mean feat there as the Giants reclaimed sole possession of first place. And the Sharks advanced to the next round of the playoffs in their Sysyphian quest to finally make it to the Stanley Cup finals.

In 49er news, the rookies got to walk through the facilities, making sure not to touch anything or lift anything to thus void the NFLPA agreement that no one can do anything anywhere without express written consent of deMaurice pompitous-of-love Smith and his gaggle of lawyers. There was an OTA or mini-mellon-cougar-camp or something last weekend. Then we get rookie camp, OTAs, regular mini camps, and then regular camp. I don’t know. Whatever the agreement was last year, it sure made a mess of what used to be called training camp. Now it’s no more two-a-days, designated pad/non-pad sessions, walk-throughs, shorts-and helmets practices, shirts and shoes required, tie and tails optional.

In other words, nothing really. So, as it is, enjoy the defending champion Giants, pray Steph Curry’s ankle holds up a little longer, and hope the Sharks can overcome their propensity to underwhelm in the playoffs.

Woo hoo!!

Bleeeh. 501 Field? Stonewashed Stadium? The Stich? Yikes. Not down with the new name very much, but this is a sign of the times. Candestick Park went from 3-Com to Monster to Monster Cable to WTF-do-we-call-it-now and then back to the Stick. It will soon be park of the toxic wasteland that is Hunter’s Point and the Naval Shipyard.

That being said, what better company to represent the Niners? Well, beyond the fact that they are splitting from the very city where Levi’s was born in 1853, and is still headquartered. Levi’s were of course the prefered apparel of choice among the thousands of miners pouring into San Francisco in the 1850s. Strauss (as well as noted Mormon Samuel Brannan) made his bones selling supplies to the folks trying to strike it rich in California. Miner 49ers. 99% of the miners of course barely eked out a living trying to strike it rich while Strauss and Brannan (and many others) hit their paydirt supplying the fools, uh miners with supplies.

There’s your history lesson for the day. Anyone like the name? Got any cool nicknames? Frankly, I wish they’d call it Bill Walsh Stadium and they can put up all the Levi’s crap the

. . . in so many ways. Yes, back by popular demand, the most blogged-about quarterback west of Tim Tebow, we present for one more time, the continuing drama of Alex Smith. For all of his fans, he takes his kudos east as he tries to wrest another franchise from the depths of mediocrity with the help of a head coach who is known for his acumen in dealing with quarterbacks in Andy Reid. Reid, for his part, is also battling his own demons, professional and otherwise, as his rollercoaster ride in Philly finally came to a merciful close. Throw in a personal life rife with tragedy and you have the makings for all that feel-good crap the national media thrives on. If Alex and Andy can revive a once-dominant and now feeble franchise and fanbase to get KC back into the sunshine, the huzzahs will rain like, un rain upon the denizens of Arrowhead stadium.

For all of Alexa’s detractors, I guess their hope is he flames out in a system that isn’t spoon-fed him by an overly nurturing coach in Jim Harbaugh. He is laughed to the bench of a lousy team as he rots in ambiguity as a backup quarterback for the rest of his misbegotten career.

But wait! There’s reason to root for Alex Smith! As we all know, the Niners were given a conditional draft pick for the Smith trade. A 2nd or 3rd depending on how well the Chiefs and Alex do. Well, the bar was set. 8-8 = good = 2nd round pick for the Niners. 7-9 or below = bad = 3rd round pick. Although if Smith does well and the team sucks, I guess that hasn’t been factored in yet. I suppose it’s strictly by record.

Still and all, a great situation for the Niners to be in as they traded with back with Tennessee for their 3rd round pick next year, are likey to get a 3rd round compensatory pick for Goldson, and this 2 or 3 from KC. A possible 6 picks in the first 3 rounds for a draft that looks very strong. Trent Baalke is doing a wonderful job of keeping the team loaded with picks. It looks like he understands that the FA market, while useful, isn’t as important as stocking the team through the draft. I expect to see a trade of Scott Tolzein for Patrick Peterson.

Per Grump, here’s what the Niners have done so far this young 2013 NFL season:

Free Agents Signed:

3/13 – DT Glenn Dorsey, Kansas City
3/14- LB Dan Skuta, Cincinnati
3/16 – S Craig Dahl, St. Louis Rams
3/19 – K Phil Dawson, Cleveland
3/19 – WR Marlon Moore, Miami
4/2 – CB Nnamdi Asomugha, Philadelphia
4/18 – TE Cameron Morrah, Seattle

Free Agents Lost:

3/12 – NT Isaac Sopoaga, Philadelphia
3/12 – TE Delanie Walker, Tennessee
3/13 – S Dashon Goldson, Tampa Bay
3/14 – DT Ricky-Jean Francois, Indianapolis
3/22 – WR-KR Ted Ginn Jr, Carolina

Trades:

3/11 – 49ers’ 2013 No. 6 (199) draft choice to Baltimore Ravens for WR Anquan Boldin.
3/12 – QB Alex Smith to Kansas City for 2013 No. 2 (34) draft choice and conditional 2014 pick.
4/1 – 49ers’ No. 5 (164) and Bengals’ No. 7 (227) draft choices to Cleveland for QB Colt McCoy and Eagles’ No. 6 (173) choice.
4/25 – 49ers’ 2013 No. 1 (31) and Panthers’ No. 3 (74) draft choices to Dallas for Cowboys’ 2013 No. 1 choice (18, S Eric Reid).
4/26 – Chiefs’ 2013 No. 2 draft choice (34, obtained for Alex Smith) traded to Tennessee for Titans’ No. 2 (40, DE Tank Carradine), No. 7 (216, see below) and 2014 No. 3 choice.
4/26 – 49ers’ 2013 No. 2 (63) and Eagles’ 6 (173) draft choices to Green Bay for Packers’ No. 2 (55, TE Vance McDonald).
4/26 – 49ers’ 2013 No. 3 (93) and Titans’ No. 7 (216) choices to Green Bay for Packers’ No. 3 choice (88, DE Corey Lemonier).

Draft:

1 – 18 – (18) – Eric Reid – LSU – S *Choice from Dallas
2 – 8 – (40) – Cornelius “Tank” Carradine – Florida State – DE *Choice from Tennessee
2 – 23 – (55) – Vance McDonald – Rice – TE *Choice from Green Bay
3 – 26 – (88) – Corey Lemonier – Auburn – DE-OLB *Choice from Green Bay
4 – 31 – (128) – Quinton Patton – Louisiana Tech – WR
4 – 34 – (131) – Marcus Lattimore – South Carolina – RB #Compensatory Selection
5 – 24 – (157) – Quinton Dial – Alabama – DE *Choice from Indianapolis
6 – 12 – (180) – Nick Moody – OLB – Florida *Choice from Miami
7 – 31 – (237) – B. J. Daniels – South Florida – QB
7 – 40 – (246) – Carter Bykowski – Iowa State – OT #Compensatory Selection
7 – 46 – (252) – Marcus Cooper – Rutgers – CB #Compensatory Selection

Undrafted Free Agents Signed:

4/27 – Lawrence Okoye – (Great Britain) – DE
4/27 – Luke Marquardt – Azusa Pacific – OT
4/27 – MarQueis Gray – Minnesota – QB
4/27 – Alex Debniak – Stanford – FB
4/27 – Chuck Jacobs, Utah State – WR
4/27 – Patrick Omameh – Michigan – G
4/27 – Sherman Carter – Tennessee State – C
4/27 – Darryl Morris – Texas State – CB
4/27 – Kevin McDermott – UCLA – LS
4/27 – Mike Purcell – Wyoming – DT
4/27 – D.J. Harper – Boise State – RB

David Akers is MIA on the list but I’ll forgive Grump that oversight. I kid, I kid.

In general, they accomplished what they set out for. Get a safety, a TE, and D line depth in the draft. They picked up a couple of FAs to round out the line and TE as well. They also replaced their kicker. Huzzah!

Hard to start thinking about the cut-down list, but we got us a shitload of players right now and a shitload of time to go over this. So, what the hell?

Figure 3 FAs signed don’t make the grade. 4 draft choices don’t make the grade. And 2 UDFAs stick around. Either by making the grade or repopulating the practice squad. I stil think Parys CB? Culliver’s stupid mouth notwithstanding, he’s safe. Cox could be out. The rest? Who knows? A couple LBs and DLs need to hit the road with these additions.

Paint it black, stupid girl. I’m high and dry. You are under my thumb, so doncha bother me. Well, the flurry of craziness around the draft is over, and the wait for the meaning of football life once again goes into hibernation mode. So, the only thing to do is debate the selections. Here’s the list of players the Niners took.

1 (1st round) Reid, Eric FS
2 (2nd) Carradine, Tank DE
3 (2nd) McDonald, Vance TE
4 (3rd) Lemonier, Corey DE
5 (4th) Patton, General WR
6 (4th) Lattimore, Marcus RB
7 (5th) Dial, Quinton DE
8 (6th) Moody, Nick OLB
9 (7th) Daniels, BJ QB
10 (7th) Bykowski, Carter OT
11 (7th) Cooper, Marcus CB

UDFAs include last place finisher in the Olympic discus toss, Lawrence Okoye; and Luke Marquart, a converted TE-to-lineman who is raw. Both these guys got aome amount of coverage as being anywhere from 3 to 7th rounders in the draft, and both are seen as projects with strong upsides.

So, the practice squad at the least looks to be replaced entirely. I really didn’t think they’d draft 13 guys, But I didn’t think they’d draft 11 either. As NJ pointed out (I think) though, the Niners already have 10 selections slated for next year. They can’t very well pack next year’s draft too heavily without missing out on some players this year. Plus, the last three guys are fringe at best anyway. And Marcus Lattimore will not see the field this season, and the jury is out on Tank Carradine as well. The team has told him to ease off on his intense rehab. In essence saying he has time to recover, don’t push it too hard. So that means there’s a little flexibility in teh decisions these guys make regarding who goes and stays.

All in all, I think they did about as good as they could have. Quibble about the players as you will, they addressed their needs with players they feel fit their system (Reid, Tank, Patton), can be coached up (Vance, Lenomier), or were added for depth (Lattimore, Dial, Okoye, Marquart). The casualties in all this appear to be Cam Johnson, Darius Fleming, Dan Skula, Michael Whlhoite, among a few others. Scott Tolzein will be in a fight with BJ Daniels for the 3-spot in the QB depth chart. BJ is more in line with the new direction of the 49ers QB situation, so the more Smithlike Tolzein may be eased out/traded. The thought being that these guys don’t pass up Colt McCoy as the 2 guy.

The Niners, and Trant Baalke, are pretty much kicking ass in this draft so far. Reid isn’t Vaccaro, but he’s what the Niners wanted at 18, a strong hitter in the defensive backfield. Plus Jerry Jerkoff got schooled. The Niners then drafted down in the 2nd to get the guy they wanted anyway in Tank Carradine, which netted a 3rd round pick next year. Carradine is a strong DE which gives the Niners another fast edge rusher to bookend Aldon Smith.

The Niners then traded their 61st and and 173rd pick to GB to get a TE in Vance McDonald of Rice. He’s 6’4″, 265 so he’s a load, and other than that I got nothing on the guy. Reports are he’s big, strong and raw. Excellent blocker. Trouble with the drops. Would have liked to seen Ertz, but they were looking for size and blocking I guess.

The 3rd round brought another trade with GB to trade up and get yet another fast edge rushing defensive player in OLB Corey Lemonier from Auburn. The 49ers sent GB their 93 and 217th pick to get to 88 and snag him.

It’s fairly obvious that the Niners are leaning toward getting faster on defense. Because of one guy. Russell Wilson. Harbaugh and Baalke have determined that the biggest threat to the Niners supremacy lies within their division in the Seahawks. They haven’t bulked up their interior line, they have drafted for edge speed.

Going forward tomorrow? I’m sure they draft a WR, an interior lineman, and maybe an ST/DB type. And maybe two or three more trades.

Eric Reid, come on down! The 49ers traded up to get a safety. It wasn’t the one I expected, but there you have it. They obviously have seen more and know more than the average fan, but still people will bitch.

The Niners still have 3 picks today. I’m still of a mind hey go DL with their 2nd round CB with their next 2nd rounder, and maybe TE?WR with the 3rd round. Meetings all morning. See ya later.

Finally. And I’m a $&#%ing year older. Yippee . . . Anyhow, the speculation gabfest is still in frenzy mode as everybody knows the Niners are not going to draft 13 players. I’d say somewhere in the 6-8 range is likely. 7 being the number I’d go with. I think we will trade up in the 1st, and trade back to next year. And I still think the Niners are targeting a safety. Either Brenda Vaccaro or Su-Su Cyprien. There are plenty of big bodies in the mid to later rounds that should be able to fill our needs. Magnus von Magnusson could very well be available with the 31st pick (63rd overall) in the 2nd round. People are likely scared off by his age. So, concievably the Niners could get their safety and their big body guy without too much damage.

How far they’ll need to trade up to get Vaccaro remains to be seen. It’s looking like they’ll need to get to Miami. They want him. We could trade Rogers to Miami and give them our 34 and our 3rd round (93rd overall) pick. Vaccaro had a shitty 40 time, but his shuttle times were among the best. He was able to keep guys like Ryan Swope and Tavon Austin in check. He also was able to track down and tackle Austin from behind in a game last year. Football speed is different than track speed, and he proves it.

All the talk about DL is important, but we do have players on the line at this time. Yes, we are thin and need depth, but the more pressing need is FS. Goldson is gone. Justin Smith isn’t. Ergo, Vaccaro. And yeah, I know Soap and RJF are gone. But we did get Tommy Dorsey and Ian Williams was bumped up the depth chart. Ergo Vaccaro or Cyprien.

Jason Cole must be reading my stuff. He’s reporting that the Niners may look to trade up to the middle of the first round. I’d think the one and only reason to trade up would be to get Kenny Vaccaro, the outstanding safety from Texas. I had the Niners tradibng with Miami or some shit for a good spot in Round 1, but with the Jets suddenly trading their shit for Darrelle Revis, they may look to trade down for more selections as well.

At least we’re getting closer to draft day . . .