Before: Joe Staley, Mike Iupati, Jonathan Goodwin, Adam Snyder, Anthony Davis, Alex Boone, Chilo Rachal, Daniel Kilgore and Mike Person.
Grade: C+
Why: LT Joe Staley was a Pro Bowler and LG Mike Iupati was very good, but the mere presence of RG Chilo Rachal in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season nearly sunk the entire offense. Harbaugh benched him for Adam Snyder, who upgraded the right guard position from abominable to just below average, which was important. The young and athletic right tackle Anthony Davis got beat for sacks left and right the first half of the season, but improved as he went along.
Now: Subtract Adam Snyder and Chilo Rachal. Add Joe Looney and Jason Slowey.
Grade: B.
Why: Trent Baalke traded up in the fifth round last year to draft Daniel Kilgore, who will most likely start at right guard. He’s stronger than Snyder, and he has quicker feet, which means he should be a better run and pass blocker. The Niners gave up a lot of sacks right up the middle last season, so Kilgore should be able help Goodwin pass protect on the interior better than Snyder did. Anthony Davis should continue to improve as well – he might actually become a good right tackle this year. If the 34-year old center (Goodwin) slows down this season, Kilgore could slide over to center and the Joe Looney, the Niners fourth round pick this year – a guy they’re wild about – could play right guard, too. This is a solid offensive line, but it’s a tad young and inexperienced, and that’s why it’s a “B.”
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Kilgore will play RG not tackle.
Nobody said Kilgore would play tackle.
Typo. Fixed it.
Huh? You UPGRADE the O-line by plugging in an UNPROVEN 2nd Year Player that couldn’t beat out last years starters that were let go. Explain that logic. I know the Niners are high on Kilgore but he hasn’t proven anything. Yes we hope they get better by playing another year together but you’re going to grade them based on optimism???
Hes grading them based on addition by subtraction. Kilgore couldnt beat out Rachal/Snyder last year because he wasnt given a real opportunity to. Rachal was given one last chance to be starter and when that failed Harbaugh had no choice but to put in Snyder who already has experience at the position.
People would be quicker to give them a better grade if they had gone guard in the first round when realistically Kilgore has more experience in the NFL and the offense than any rookie coming in has.
It may be optimism, but its for a reason and much better than being pessimistic. Its a lot like how I gave the DL an improved grade last year after we let Franklin go and re-signed RayMac. Franklin was our most overrated player and Sopoaga and RayMac were two of our most underrated players.
McDonald had a body of work to judge the change in defensive line personnel….especially since Fangio’s defensive line scheme better fit both Sopoaga and McDonald over the less penetrating Franklin. So there may have been reason to consider the D-line was upgraded.
Kilgore played ONE SNAP of regular season football. There is nearly ZERO game tape to base a judgement on. His grade is all Optimism with no reasoning behind it (maybe if he provided some reasoning that I can’t fathom I could understand it…or at least say he had a reason).
Shhh, I bet Grant is basing his Niner grades through video gaming.
Things will be a little different this year. The schedule is a lot harder. The teams in our division all improved. We are no longer a sleeper that no one believes can win. The 9ers now have a target upon their backs and have to perform. That means all 11 members of the team on the field for offense and all 11 men on the field for defense and don’t forget special teams as they won most of the games last year on Akers toe and then lost the big one on dropped kick returns. This year there are no excuses for anyone. Fill the right guard spot to seal up one hole and have Anthony Davis improve and seal up the edge and things could get real interesting.
A nice bit of output this fine Sunday, Grant! Now put the laptop away and go grab some suds down at Sam’s. It’s opening day on the bay!
@ Pork
We did our part from Sausalito for Opening Day. Bodega Bay too crowded anymore!
Go to youtube or to M. Barrows blog from yesterday and watch the video of OLineman Slowey ! (the one on the field,not in the weight room). It wasn’t against top competition but he may be a find ?
TIM,
I posted those same videos on Grant’s blog yesterday. There are 4 of them to look at.
They were talking about them during the draft on the live chat I was on.
Great minds…
…about HIM,sorry for the typo
Last year our Def blew the competition away , teams knew we were going to run most of the time , this year we have Randy , Mario , AJ , and the all pro deadly Vernon , I think team will have to respect the pass instead of stacking the box , if Alex can have a little quicker release and we burn the first 2 teams GB , and Detroit our pass protection will look a lot better , and open up holes for , Gore , Jacobs , Hunter and James!
Snyder was an improvement over the woeful Rachal, but he was strictly a journeyman level guy. I would not at all be surprised if both Kilgore and Looney are surpassing that by mid-season. A. Davis is steadily improving after a rocky start, and I think he might help the guard going forward, rather than being steadied by Snyder. Staley is still somewhat overrated but is serviceable. The depth is good with Boone, Looney and Person. Now if we can find a way to keep Slowey too, this could be a solid unit for years to come.
A reasonable assessment except for Staley, IMO. Joe was voted to the Pro Bowl by his peers (NOT 49er fans ballot stuffing).
Kilgore is gonna surprise a lot of people this year. He’s gonna be a monster.
Guard is my only concern, otherwise I see an unstoppable team.
Still enough to get me more excited then the signing of Harbaugh last year and the NFC Championship game heading into this season.
Doc
The offensive line is looking strong with Kilgore, boone, person and Looney all competing for the RG spot If Killgore can not win the RG spot but looks better than Goodwin at center then Kilgore will get the nod at center with Slowey backing him up…Looney at RG with Person backing him up and then Boone will play swing Tackle back up….or Boone starting Rg with Looney backing him up……….Our O-line is way better now that chilo guy is gone…THANK GOD
The Mantra is ‘Best Five’ will start. Why won’t they slide Davis to guard and let Boone play RT?
Junior:
That is what I would do if Kilgore is not great from day 1.
Hey folks … keep an eye on Al Netter. He just might be better than Looney.
Nice work object all the articles Grant!!!!
*on
I like the combo of Kilgore and Looney to compete for RG…may the best man win. We really don’t know what Kilgore can do, but the fact Baalke traded up last year to get him says a lot. Now enter Looney, a big, bad OG who had 41 straight starts at WF. Had a lot of “pancake” blocks along the way, too. Remember the competition thing Harbaugh continually harps about…well, there you have it. I love it.
A couple of years back, my draft crush was Jared Veldheer, a lineman from a tiny school somewhere in the midwest who I found on youtube, where his buddies had posted some video of him in the weight room, a true weight room warrior. Well, we didn’t draft him, the Raiders did, and he started there as a rookie.
IMHO, Jason Slowey is this year’s version, we got him, ticketed to be the future replacement for Jonathan Goodwin, who will be 34 before the upcoming season ends. Our personnel department (in whom I’m gaining implicit trust) is quite high on Joe Looney, and rhs is high on Al Netter (perhaps a PS candidate).
Assuming we keep 8 on the 46 and 9 on the 53, we keep Staley, Iupati, Goodwin, Anthony Davis (who’s still only 22), Boone, Kilgore, Person, Looney, and Slowey. But if we only keep 7/8, can we sneak one of these guys onto the PS? Or do we keep youth instead of experience, and let Goodwin go? I’ll leave it to the coaches (in whom I also have absolute trust) to sort it all out, including who plays RT as well as RG, and maybe even C.
My grade: A-
Staley is an average LT at best…lots of sacks, pressures from his side even with tons of help from Iupati. He’s excellent out in space and at the 2nd level but blows chunks at the LOS in runs off-tackle and sealing the edge (usually gets shoved backwards). There is a reason we struggle running off tackle and why defenses can crowd the box and run blitz in between the tackles all day long (see Giants game and all of 2010). Iupati is above average but needs better quality play from the LT and C (lots of gaps in the middle). Goodwin is average at best as well. Love the nastiness of Kilgore, Looney and Slowely but it will take time to develop them all. Davis got better and better as the year progressed and we all love his nastiness. We gave up 44 sacks last year not to mention all the hits and pressures under 3 seconds. This OL is below average but has the chance to be above average this year if they stay healthy and continue to develop chemistry/skills.
Above average would be nice. I hope you are right.
I think Staley allowed 1 sack last year. In a lot of ways, Iupati regressed. There were times in the playoffs when he just seemed to be lost.
I think the OL’s biggest problem was the WR’s. No need to double anybody. Just double VD if he goes out. If not, then blitz. That would be hard on any OL. Now we have some fast guys who require some extra attention. That helps the OL out more than anybody. And consequently, AS.
The same rule goes for FG as well. If he stays in, blitz. The Saints did that in the playoff game. And it worked a few times.