San Francisco 49ers Forever

In January, the 49ers quietly hired Kris Kocurek to be the new defensive line coach. I had never heard of the guy, but he is one of the most respected line coaches in the game, Jimmy Fartsalot notwithstanding.  In his 8 years as the D line coach of the Detroit Lions, he led them to 250 sacks. 4th in the league during that stretch.  His stint in Miami last year just prompted him to get the hell out of Dodge as fast as possible and get to a promising team.

His defensive scheme employs the wide nine alignment for one or both DEs in passing downs. If you don’t know what it is,  wide nine puts the DE well outside the tackle, or TE (if there is a TE lined up on that side). All this does is isolate the DE on the tackle thus negating double teams from the guard on that side. Although offenses can chip with an RB in the backfield.

This certainly favors fast quick DEs, and with the addition of Kwon Alexander (I know, an LB), Dee Ford, and now Nick Bosa,  the Niners have the edge guys to use the scheme to their advantage. The key to this working is of course speed. With Fred Warner in there as well, there is a lot of speed in our LB corps and our ends.

Throw in Lane Kiffin’s smarter younger brother Chris working on the pass rush as well, and  the hope is this defense really gets after all these mobile QBs in our division, let alone the rest of the league.

I expect this defense to be vastly improved, or Saleh is hitting the bricks. no excuses now.

Not much going in in the preseaonalia of the 2019 football season. Except to report that the 49ers were on the short list (apparently) of the HBO Hard Knocks show. Now there are only four teams left in the running. I guess there are a shitload of rules around appearing on it, but suffice it so say, you need to suck, and suck for a few years, to be on the list. The remaining teams are the Lions, the Raiders, the Giants, and the Redskins. You know. Suck.

And here’s a weird tidbit from Bleacher Report. There’s talk in whatever universe they inhabit that the 49ers have the best backfield in the league. To quote Maurice Moton (yes, THAT Maurice Moton):

“In today’s league, the best running back stables aren’t filled with potential 1,000-yard rushers,” Maurice Moton writes. “There’s been a shift toward an emphasis on pass-catching ability in the backfield, so the top tailbacks can also rack up receiving yards in the short passing game.”

Matt Brieda and Jerick McKinnon certainly fill that bill. As does Tevin Coleman. With our bolstered receiver corps, the hope is this offense can get a lot out of plays in the flat, quick hitters to keep off the pressure, and the occasional deep  pass to keep defenses honest. As well as some actual running.

Even as the 49er front office ignored the secondary in the draft, they pretty much ignored it in the UDFA signing period as well.

They got:

• Iowa Guard Ross Reynolds 
• Arizona Safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
• Defensive Tackle Kevin Givens 
• Wake Forest SS Cameron Glenn
• Stephen F. Austin Long-Snapper Chris Wilkerson
• UCLA QB Wilton Speight
• Wyoming Tight End Tyree Mayfield 
• West Georgia Wide Receiver Malik Henry 

So, they did get a couple secondary folks. Camp fodder, sure but once in a while one of these guys stick. TE Ross Dwelly was a UDFA that made it to the team last year. Wilton Speight may give us the impetus to trade the Beater, Cameron Glenn could stick as a special teamer and short-yardage SS. And Fowles is the same guy. Big hitter, special teamer, short yardage guy.

Tyree Mayfield is yet another RB/TE guy who could be an H back in goal line situations, much like our 3rd pick, Jalen Hurd. The rest? Wheeeee! Who knows? I’m still pissed we wasted a pick on a punter.

My reactions to our draft

• Round 1 : 2nd Overall – Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State
• Round 2: 36th Overall – Deebo Samuel, WR, South Carolina.
• Round 3: 67th Overall – Jalen Hurd, WR, Baylor.
• Round 4: 110th Overall (from Bengals) – Mitch Wishnowsky, P, Utah.
• Round 5: 148th Overall (from Broncos) – Dre Greenlaw, LB, Arkansas.
• Round 6: 176th Overall – Kaden Smith, TE, Stanford.
• Round 6: 183rd Overall (from Bengals) – Justin Skule, OT, Vanderbilt
• Round 6: 198th Overall (from Bengals) – Tim Harris, CB, Virginia

Funny what we all saw as a glaring need was ignored till the 198th pick. And that of course is our defensive backfield. Our offensive defensive backfield.The one that gave up huge plays and points by the score. I guess they feel  like Dee Ford, Nick Bosa, and Kentavius Street will step in and make a mundane pass rush that much more effective, thus putting less pressure on the DBs to cover for 6+ seconds.

It makes sense in a short-term kind of way, but this was a deep draft for safeties and corners, so it galls me a lot that they chose to ignore that.  To be short and sweet, I liked 1-3, but am left scratching my head for 4, 5, and 6, 6, 6. A PUNTER, FFS? Am I supposed to feel good that Super Bowl champ New England drafted a punter in the 5th round? A Stanford guy, Jake Bailey,  no less?

NO! They are stacked. We NEED safeties, CBs, O linemen, and pass rushers. Would we have lost out on Wishnowsky.  Seriously? “I wishnowsky I’ll get draftedsky in the 4th roundsky?” Sure. Aaaaah.

We won’t know the the good, bad, or ugliness of the draft for a couple years, but it looks like a mixed bag of pickings this time around. I’m a little on the fence with the WRs we desperately need, as both these guys are slot WRs. Something we are knee-deep in.

I guess we have trade bait for the impending cuts and moves?

. . . and it went down like this . . .

1. AZ – QB – Kyler Murray OKLA
2. SF – DE – Baby Bosa Ohio St
3. NYJ – DT – Quinnen Williams Alabama
4. Oak – DE – Clelin Ferrell Clemson
5. TB – LB Devin White LSU
6. NYG – QB Daniel Jones Duke
7. Jax – LB Josh Allen Kentucky
8. Det – TE TJ Hockenson Iowa
9. Buf – DT Ed Oliver Houston
10. Den – trade pick to Pitts – LB Devin Bush Michigan
11. Cin – Jonah Williams OT Alabama
12. Green Bay – Rashan Gary DE Michigan
13. Miami – Christian Wilkins DT     Clemson
14. Atlanta – Chris Lindstrom G Boston College
15. Washington – Dwayne Haskins QB Ohio State
16. Carolina – Brian Burns LB        Florida State
17. New York Giants – Dexter Lawrence DT Clemson from Cleveland
18. Minnesota – Garrett Bradbury C NC State
19. Tenn – Jeffery Simmons DT Miss State
20. Denver – Noah Fant TE Iowa from Pittsburgh [
21. Green Bay – Darnell Savage Jr. S Maryland   from Seattle
22. Philadelphia – Andre Dillard OT Washington State from Baltimore
23. Houston – Tytus Howard OT        Alabama State
24. Oakland – Josh Jacobs RB        Alabama from Chicago
25. Baltimore – Marquise Brown WR    Oklahoma from Philadelphia
26. Washington – Montez Sweat DE Miss State from Indianapolis
27. Oakland – Johnathan Abram S Miss State from Dallas
28. Los Angeles Chargers –  Jerry Tillery DT Notre Dame
29. Seattle – L. J. Collier DE TCU from Kansas City
30. New York Giants – Deandre Baker CB Georgia from NO via GB, Seattle
31. Atlanta – Kaleb McGary OT        Washington from LA Rams
32. New England – N’Keal Harry WR       Arizona State

Here we go . . .

1. AZ – QB – Kyler Murray OKLA
2. SF – DE – Baby Bosa Ohio St
3. NYJ – DT – Quinnen Williams Alabama
4. Oak – DE – Clelin Ferrell Clemson
5. TB – LB Devin White LSU
6. NYG – QB Daniel Jones Duke
7. Jax – LB Josh Allen Kentucky
8. Det – TE TJ Hockenson Iowa
9. Buf – DT Ed Oliver Houston
10. Den – trade pick to Pitts – LB Devin Bush Michigan
11. Cin – Jonah Williams OT Alabama
12. Green Bay – Rashan Gary DE Michigan
13. Miami – Christian Wilkins DT     Clemson
14. Atlanta – Chris Lindstrom G Boston College
15. Washington – Dwayne Haskins QB Ohio State
16. Carolina – Brian Burns LB        Florida State
17. New York Giants – Dexter Lawrence DT Clemson from Cleveland
18. Minnesota – Garrett Bradbury C NC State
19. Tenn – Jeffery Simmons DT Miss State
20. Denver – Noah Fant TE Iowa from Pittsburgh [
21. Green Bay – Darnell Savage Jr. S Maryland   from Seattle
22. Philadelphia – Andre Dillard OT Washington State from Baltimore
23. Houston – Tytus Howard OT        Alabama State
24. Oakland – Josh Jacobs RB        Alabama from Chicago
25. Baltimore – Marquise Brown WR    Oklahoma from Philadelphia
26. Washington – Montez Sweat DE Miss State from Indianapolis
27. Oakland – Johnathan Abram S Miss State from Dallas
28. Los Angeles Chargers –  Jerry Tillery DT Notre Dame
29. Seattle – L. J. Collier DE TCU from Kansas City
30. New York Giants – Deandre Baker CB Georgia from NO via GB, Seattle
31. Atlanta – Kaleb McGary OT        Washington from LA Rams
32. New England – N’Keal Harry WR       Arizona State

Forget 4/20. Well, 4/20 is fine. It’s my wife’s birthday. The day I’ve been waiting for is 4/25.
DRAFT DAY!!!

And it’s my birthday. Lucky me. -58- Fuck that’s old. The schedule is as follows:

• Round 1 – Thursday, April 25, 5 p.m. 
• Rounds 2-3 – Friday, April 26, 4 p.m. 
• Rounds 4-7 – Saturday, April 27, 9 a.m. 

This of course will be carried on a whopping THREE stations. Four if you are inclined to listen in Spanish. ABC, ESPN, and The NFL Network. On Friday they even throw in ESPN2 as well as the other four. A far cry from the old days with Pete Rozelle and a chalkboard.

Anyhow, we’ve gone over this enough to know what the deal is:

• Murray may or may not be the first pick by AZ
• Which means we either get or don’t get Baby Bosa
• Or we forego that and draft QWilliams
• Or we trade down with the Raiders and get Sweat
• Or we trade down with the Giants and get Josh Allen
• Or we trade down with the Redskins and get Boykins . . .

I have no idea what happens, but I’m 99% sure one of these things does.

FWIW here’s Walter Football’s first 10 picks:

1. AZ – Kyler Murray – QB – Okla
2. SF – Nick Bosa – DE – Ohio St
3. Jets – Ed Oliver – DT – Hou
4. Raydurs – QWilliams – DT Alabama
5. Buccos – Josh Allen DE/OLB – Kentucky
6. NYG – Devin White – LB – LSU
7. Jax – Jonah Williams – OT – Alabama
8. Lions – Brian Burns – DE/OLB – Fla St
9. Bills – Jawaan Taylor – OT – Fla
10. Broncos – TJ Hockenson – TE – Iowa

I think 2 more QBs go in the top 10. Namely the Broncos and the Giants.

Link to WF’s mock draft:

2019 NFL Mock Draft

Without furthur ado, here’s our 2019 schedule. We get the pleasure of two Monday night games: Week 5 against the Browns at home, and week 10 against Seattle at home. Our Thursday game is week 9 in AZ.

You’d think the NFL in its infinite wisdom could schedule Thursday games coming off the bye week. As it is, the players are usually banged the fuck up for that game (there’s a math problem in there somewhere that I just don’t give a shit about so maybe it doesn’t work out logistically, but whatevs).

1: @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1:25 P.M., FOX, Sunday, September 8
2: @ Cincinnati Bengals, 10:00 A.M., FOX, Sunday, September 15
3: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1:25 P.M., CBS, Sunday, September 22,
4: Bye week
5: vs. Cleveland Browns 5:15 P.M., ESPN, Monday, October 7
6: @ Los Angeles Rams, 1:05 P.M., FOX, Sunday, October 13
7: @ Washington, 10:00 A.M., FOX, Sunday, October 20
8: vs. Carolina Panthers, 1:05 P.M., FOX, Sunday, October 27
9: @ Arizona Cardinals, 5:20 P.M., FOX, Thursday, October 31
10: vs. Seattle Seahawks, 5:15 P.M., ESPN, Monday, November 11
11: vs. Arizona Cardinals, 1:05 P.M., FOX, Sunday, November 17
12: vs. Green Bay Packers, 1:25 P.M., FOX, Sunday, November 24
13: @ Baltimore Ravens, 10:00 A.M., FOX, Sunday, December 1
14: @ New Orleans Saints 10:00 A.M., FOX, Sunday, December 8
15: vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1:25 P.M., FOX, Sunday, December 15
16: vs. Los Angeles Rams, TBD, Saturday OR Sunday, December 21/22
17: @ Seattle Seahawks, 1:25 P.M., FOX, Sunday, December 29

Got to say, those last 6 games look pretty tough. I hope we have significantly improved to get through that stretch with a winning record. We could conceivably be 7-3 and run into that 6-game gauntlet.

I mentioned this in the previous thread, and I think it holds true, that the team who gives up sacks a lot more than it creates them, will look to bolster a shakey line through free agency rather than the draft.

We have very little draft capital, and I think we need to upgrade too many other areas to use a pick on an offensive lineman. Well, maybe one. But nothing higher than a 4th rounder.

Our tackles are set in ageless Joe Staley, and Mike McGlinchey. The rest is up for grabs. Westie Richberg (Richie Westberg?) is coming off a sub-par year that he attributed for being dinged up. As of now, Person and Tomlinson are our right and left guards with Magnusen and Garnett being the backups.

So, if there was work to be done there, it would be at guard. Our guards are OK, but they leave a bit to be desired pass protection-wise. We gave up 48 sacks. Not the horrendous number of 62 given up by Houston, but we were 9th worst in sack totals,and 4th in yards lost.

One guy we are apparently interested in draft-wise is Garrett Bradbury. He had played both guard and center well in college, and could very well slip into Tomlinson’s spot. He’d be a 3rd rounder if the yokels are right. He ran a 4.9 40 and possesses the later quickness desired by our outside zone blocking scheme.

As far as who will be available after the draft? Who knows? Your guess is as good as mine.

Shanny said this early in the free agency period, so does this tip his hand? Does this mean QWilliams? Sure, it could And it very well might. It could also mean trading out of the 2 and getting picks, and going for a guy like Montez Sweat. Someone a tick below Williams, but likely right up there as a player. Funny thing about the quote is, is, George Seifert said this very same thing in the late 80’s and early 90s when he drafted Ted Washington, Dana Stubblefield and Bryant Young among his 8 picks.

They all worked out pretty well, eh? Sure, we lost Washington before he excelled, but he knew how to get defensive line guys. Seifert’s approach was to have 8 or 9  linemen rotating in and out all game depending on situation to get better pressure and to keep guys fresh throughout the game.

We certainly have a lot of bodies, we picked up a couple guys, and we also have K Street coming off injury. And it looks very damn likely that we are going after QWilliams. This means a plethora of guys to rotate in and out I’d think. And, since we are going defense with such a high pick, the pressure is squarely on another George, Robert Saleh, our embattled defensive coordinator.

He’s the latest in a long line of guys that have tried to turn around a defense that has languished at the bottom of the league since the salad days of Vic Fangio. Call it turnover, age, injuries, or shitty drafting, the 49ers have been a bottom-feeder defensively since then despite all the drafts and moves to change our fortunes. As we all know, time will tell.

I’m nearly certain we take QWilliams now.