Rather than give you my impressions of last night’s preseason game against the Raiders, the game that will forever be remembered as the game with the double shooting, here are my top-5 impressions of the 2011 49ers. Call this taking stock.
- The skill position players are the best the Niners have had since the 1994 Super Bowl team. I’ll list them for you in order of “goodness”: Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Braylon Edwards, Michael Crabtree, Delanie Walker, Kendall Hunter, Kyle Williams, Joshua Morgan, Bruce Miller, Konrad Reuland, Xavier Omon, and Anthony Dixon. That’s at least 8 good skill players, maybe 12 depending on how the young ones play. Still, this unit is especially good because none of their skill sets overlap. Each player adds something unique and dangerous. Greg Roman should be able to create dozens of effective 5-man combinations out of this group.
- The defensive line looks just as good if not better than last year’s line despite the loss of Aubrayo Franklin. With both Franklin and Sopoaga on the line, the 49ers had two nose tackles who tied up blockers but didn’t get into the backfield. It was a line built to stop the run. Now the line is more balanced, with one NT and a truer LDE in Ray McDonald, who made some nice tackles in the backfield last night. And then there’s Justin Smith, who is still one of the best players at his position in the NFL.
- The linebackers are definitely better than last year. New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio brings blitzes from all four of the starters, and all six of the top linebackers got into the backfield last night. I’m talking about Ahmad Brooks, Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman, Parys Haralson, Aldon Smith, and Larry Grant. This group is the heart of the defense and the best unit on the team, defense of offense.
- The secondary should be better as well, but we don’t know for sure yet, because most of the “starters” – Reggie Smith, Carlos Rogers, and Shawntae Spencer – haven’t played much. Donte Whitner is a clear and significant upgrade at strong safety, however.
- As good as those other areas are, the 49ers will not win the division or make the playoffs if the offensive line and the quarterbacks struggle. The Niners improved their O-line and QB play from week 1 to week 2 of the preseason. They will have to continue to make that type of improvement each week to seriously challenge the Rams and Cardinals for the NFC West.
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