San Francisco 49ers Forever

The Niners made some moves to get to the 80-man limit yesterday, including releasing:

DL Shilique Calhoun
CB B.W. Webb

The following guys have been waived:

WR River Cracraft
OL Corbin Kaufusi

And the Mychal Kendricks Experience has been a short-lived one as he has been put on the IR. Maybe his Band of Gypsies will make a come-back in October.

This upcoming game with the Las Vegasangeles Raiders will supposedly have a lot more starters than in recent games, but who and for how long has not been shared by the powers-that-be. The murmurings say that they may play the entire 1st half, but that will be something to see on game-day Sunday.

Something I just happened to notice is that without the 4th preseason game, there is a 2 week break between the last pre-season game and the opening of the regular season.

Odd, but I guess it will help the players that they get a break before the real action starts.

Well, the preseason is off to a rocky start. QB-wise anyway. Both Jimmy G and Trey Lance had cases of the yips as they both overthrew pass-catchers and both suffered interceptions. Trey did redeem himself by directing a TD drive with less than 2 minutes before the half, and the opening drive of the 3rd quarter. But at one point, he was 1-5 with 9 yards and three 3-and-outs.

For Jimmy G, this is not good. He should be used to the speed of the game and how to dump off effectively. Instead, he has bad footwork, and hurries his off-target throws. Lance? Well, he’s still learning, or unlearning, bad habits. Like not setting his feet and not hurrying passes. Trey settled down nicely as he and Trent Sherfeld seem to be making a habit of Sherfeld getting amazingly open on deep sideline routes for big plays.

And this is why I’m not too concerned about Lance. He needs a LOT of reps to feel comfortable in the NFL game. The speed is vastly different, and he doesn’t have a ton of college experience anyway. Yes, he was tentative on a broken play that he should have chosen to run faster, but he also showed his running ability on the 2-pt conversion that was called back. he threw some misguided missiles on short passes, but his Sanu and Benjamin on perfectly timed rockets into small windows for TDs.

The offense is really ultra-vanilla as our big weapons Kittle and Mostert aren’t playing, and Trent Williams is sidelined. We don’t want to show anything too outlandish, and with Jimmy back there, we won’t anyway. He needs to tighten up his game dramatically.

Another concerning thing, to me anyway is the drops. Aiyuk has a few, Samuel a couple, and there were more scattered drops yesterday. Even the 2 picks could be considered drops as both times the WRs had both hands on the ball. Again though, I’m more concerned about Garoppolo regarding this as he has to be better than that. As there is little chance Lance starts the season as the starter, Jimmy G can’t be making stupid decisions and throwing those WTF picks he seems to do once or twice a game.

Defensively I liked the pressure we got. Even though none of our starting D line played. Minus AA. He played great for a short time, and the backups took over. Sacks, run stuffing, a safety, and a lot of pressure looked good. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix looked solid till he lost a guy in the end zone. Hufanga looked solid as well playing safety.

Still and all, there were lots of penalties, including bullshit ones, and lots of mistakes, but this is what the new NFL looks like with limited practice time, limited scrimmaging, and now one less preseason game.

Blah blah blah.

Not much to report other than Trent Williams is (gulp) day-to-day with a knee injury (he got clipped) he sustained on Monday. It isn’t awful, but he’s likely not doing anything for the next 2 weeks. Emmanuel Moseley is dealing with a sore hammy. Something to keep him out of practice and possibly week 1. Gulp. Nevermind Dee Ford, Greenlaw, Warner, and Ebukam.

They just need to hit the ground pounding everything in site. The defense has me worried as we won’t see them play together until the Deetroit game. Yes, it’s Detroit, but hey, blind squirrel/nut and all that.

We are practicing with the Chargers right now, so this is a little better than scrimmages with themselves before their game on Sunday, but we have to get healthy at some point. Nick Boisa appears to be ready after spending the whole preseason doing individual drills, but we will see how it goes.

Preseason games usually aren’t a big deal, but this is the debut of Trey Lance and the future of the 49ers. We even have a representative, 12thMan, at the game. Can’t wait for our on-the-scene coverage. I’m sure the place will be packed, as this is the opening game of Lance’s career.

I guess it is fitting that I’m in Montana right now. And this is the start of another 49er dynasty. Let’s GOOO!!!!!!

Here we are 4 days away from the opening preseason game with the Chiefs. 12th man will ably represent the gang here, so I can’t wait to see how this goes. Given the COVID nature of things, the shorter practices, less hitting, less time in camp, and now one less preseason game, it is hard to gauge how well we (or any team) will come out of the gate. But the possibilities seem endless.

Camp has been fairly quiet, which is good, but most of our starting D line hasn’t been on the field yet. That includes Armstead, Bosa, Ford, and Ebukam. We’ll see how that goes. They may be rusty. I just hope they are ready. Guys like Trey Sermon are making a big impression, Verrett is apparently playing as smooth as glass, and guys seem to be in the right place at the right time.

As far as the Franchise goes, word out of camp is that the 49ers have already vastly improved Trey Lance’s passing accuracy within the six short weeks he’s been part of the organized team activities. Troy Aikman said a while back that you can’t teach accuracy, but by looking at Josh Allen’s stats they tell a different tale. In his rookie season, he threw for 53%. 2019, 59%, and last year 69%. Sure, routes being run, length of passes, yadda yadda yadda, but that’s a pretty steep climb. One of Lance’s issues coming out of college has been his accuracy, but the Niners seem to have a handle on that.

Mainly because accuracy is all about Bill Walsh’s mantra. Footwork. He would tell the other coaches, don’t watch anything but Joe’s feet. Watch his feet. Walsh taught Montana that the cadence and placement of his feet dictated everything about a given play. He would repeat the drops over and over for a given play so that his feet would always be in the right place once he reached the end of his drop. Joe, being smart enough to get what Walsh was saying, figured it out pretty quickly. Also, repeating that footwork as a platform th throw off of build consistency and a repeatable pattern of success.If a 3 step-drop play went to 5 steps, then the progressions would be off and the play would be where it was designed to go. If the passer double-clutched or hesitated, the play was usually lost. These plays were designed with precise timing in mind.

Flash forward to now, and the 49ers coaches noticed immediately issues with Lance’s footwork. in the short time they have worked with him, his accuracy has shot up. 22-24 in yesterday’s practice. Sure, it’s practice, but again, like Walsh taught, you find the problem, you fix the problem, then repeat it over and over until it becomes automatic. He has become more and more of a possible starter this season in the eyes of the coaching staff because of his grasp of the tuning of his throwing motion and footwork.

Can’t wait to see this!

Well, camp is is session, and as of now, the quarterback controversy is not even a mild irritant. Trey Lance continues to act like he’s gonna whiz right by Jimmy G and be named the starter, but that may be a tad hasty. Still and all, Lance is already comfortable enough in this offense to command the huddle, and correct mistakes made by the guys around him.

Jimmy G for his part, is not exactly wowing anyone with his double-clutching and throwing late on passes that get picked off, but hey, it’s early and as we know, rust never sleeps. Both guys are playing this straight, as has Shanahan, so there is no Montana/Young animosity, and the locker room isn’t divided. But at some point in the season, it may very well become apparent that Lance is the option.

10 days till preseason kickoff! This shit is gonna be FUN!!!

Trey Lance is officially a 49er after signing his 4 year, $34.1 million rookie deal. To put that into perspective, Alex Smith signed one of the last big rookie QB contracts at 6 years/$50 million in 2005. Owners gotta love being able to protect themselves from themselves, but that a whole nother conversation.

We all know the promise that Lance brings to the franchise, and the hope of a shiny new dynasty in the works. The kid is fast, strong, mobile, smart, makes quick decisions, and can make the throws a QB needs to make. The big question, as it is with all these guys coming into the league, will his ability translate into NFL success? We all know the Colin Kaepernick story, or Tim Couch, or RG III, or Vince Young, or the many other guys that didn’t quite cut it, or their early success collided with reality and they all faded for various diffferent reasons.

Then again, there’s Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, and the perennial thorn in our side Russell Wilson leading the way for the ‘new breed’ of fast mobile QBs that can run. You know, like a young Joe Montana, or Steve Young even.

So, the table has been set by this storied franchise known for developing Hall of Fame quarterbacks (don’t get me started on John Brodie. His numbers far outshine Joe Namath’s) to continue the tradition under the quarterback whisperer Kyle Shanahan. I’m thrilled that we have Jimmy G to take the reins and to let the upstart watch and learn. I’m sure Shanny and co will figure out how to get Lance involved in the offense at certain points in time during games this year, and this team is now even faster than it was what with Deebo, Aiyuk, Kittle, at WR, and Mostert, Hasty, and Sermon in the backfield.

This team has a boatload of weapons, and we should be able to stop just about any offense. Kinlaw has a year under his belt, and with all the injured guys returning, this looks to be a dominating season.

Bring it on!!

The 49ers did the smart thing and locked up the services of Fred Warner, linebacker extraordinaire, to a 5 year, $95 million deal. $12 mill bonus, $40 mill guaranteed. The rest is back-loaded. Dude is a stud and is (so far) dependable, so sure, keep him happy. Interesting thing Warner said is how good Dee Ford looks. I’ll believe it when I see it, but having him at near 100% would be very nice.

3rd round pick Thomas Ambry also signed his rookie deal for 4 years and 4.7 million. that leaves only one guy left to sign, and we all know who that is. Camp starts on July 27th (the hit the field on the 31st) so you’d think they’ll have that deal worked out by then. We are getting closer to the dreaded practice sessions, and all the mayhem they bring before we dive headlong into the 2021 season. I for one can’t wait. Cautiously optimistic we have a very good team and we should be kicking ass and taking names.

Hey, the Gigantes are kicking ass, so that is cool, and we beat the Dodgers last night. Even cooler. But football? 49ers football? The waiting is awful. Interminable. This team stands to be very well positioned for immediate success, and future success with the moves made so far. The biggest factor is of course injuries. But the team is stocked with a lot of talent, and we stand to be in the mix for a little while anyway.

I am worried about all the one-year deals, but that was a byproduct of the COVID season of 2020. We were able to keep some players we didn’t stand a chance to keep had we not gone through the weirdness. There will need to be a lot of decisions made come the end of this season, but that is the distant future. There’s a 17 game season to play. And yes, that sounds as odd as it is. The NFL should really go the college route and get rid of practice games entirely. Make it 18 games and call it done. But that’s me.

That, and expand the rosters. the game is so violent now that teams should be able to carry 3 QBs without having to shuttle guys between the taxi squad and the active roster. Shit, I don’t know. Little to discuss, and so much time.

Then again, we are only 54 days away from KICKOFF!!!!!