Frank Gore is having a very good season. He’s on pace to rush for 1,300 yards and 8 touchdowns.
He runs behind the best run blocking offensive line in the NFL. Still, he’s looked like a premier running back at times.
He sealed the win over the Packers with a beautiful 23-yard touchdown run.
He also sealed the loss against the Vikings with a fourth-quarter fumble.
He can no longer carry the load – he’s good for about 15 carries a game. After that, he’s averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
He’s not a great third-down back anymore, either. Pro Football Focus grades him as the 31st best blocking running back this season.
But he still ranks 2nd among running backs in yards per carry, and for that he gets tremendous credit.
MIDTERM GRADE: B+.
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This is like Christmas the gifts keep coming and coming! Thank your for all of the good ratings and rankings today! I needed the distraction! It has been alot of fun! Love the point about the Oline! Very critical piece and something lots of fans and media overlook! Going to be intersting if Boone is the long time answer at guard!
I’d love to know who the 30 other running backs are that block better than Gore. I’d rank him top 5 in that category easily.
30 better blocking RB’s. PFF clearly doesnt watch the same games we watch. Thats a joke. So basically every team in the NFL has a better blovking RB than we do? Joke
Agree Adam707
Grant, come on man! The Raiders and Cleveland and Philly, and Arizona don’t have a RB who is better at picking up the blitz than FG. Every announcer says that none are better than FG. You should know better than to depend on PFF if they say that. I wouldn’t depend on them in the future for anything beyond stats that you can confirm elsewhere if they have FG at 30.
31st rather
Makes my point even stronger.
DS, I thought someone else already taught you the lesson about announcers, but since you are on here spewing more nonsense about their comments, the lesson must have been missed.
Here it is plain and simple:
Announcers have a prewritten script by writers whose aim is solely to get ratings.
That translates to producing “hype” about players and matchups. The comment Grant sited is backed up by stats.
Now, the reason PFF has Gore at 30 is two fold. The first, and this is confirmable, is because Gore is only in a game about 25 plays. Of those 25 plays, he is only being asked to pick up a blitz 3 times at most. 15 of those plays are running plays where his number is called.
The second reason is because teams don’t have to blitz to get to Alex Smith. Alex Smith either gets the ball out quickly or he takes the sack. Blitzing SF isn’t what teams are doing. They are stacking the box instead and getting pressure through coverage sacks.
Ranking Gore at 31st isn’t a knock on Gore’s ability to pick up the blitz. Instead, it is a spotlight on Gore’s downward trend in relation to playing time.
When you are only picking up 3 blitzes a game, it’s hard to rank higher than RB’s like AZ’s who have to pick up 40 blitzes a game. Missing 1 out of 3 is a 66% success rate in terms of blocking. Missing 14 out of 40 blitzes, puts you in about the same percentile. So, a fence post could feasible rank higher than Gore if it saw enough blitzes.
Our favorite guy Aldon Smith finding himself near trouble again:
http://www.mercurynews.com/49ers/ci_21906794/49ers-aldon-smith-reportedly-jumped-at-missouri-restaurant
Seriously, this idiot does not get it after numerous close calls. What are you doing out at 2am on Thursday anyway?
You dont even know all the details and youre calling him an idiot. Know your role, shut your mouth. Did you even read the article? If you had read it you will see that there was no police report filed, no validation that Smith was involved in any form, and he and the niners both say there is no truth to the rumor. Are you only in it for the negative?
Maybe you should get your head out of your as$ and learn how to read. I said he found himself ‘near trouble’ again. Regardless, he’s already shown himself on a path down self-destruction with numerous bad judgments, but I wouldn’t expect someone of your intelligence level to understand that.
What he meant to say was, “hey Aldon, curfew is midnight bra”.
Frank is on the downside of a great career and is probably only 85% of what he once was. He’s still fun to watch though and the way he squirts through the line is fantastic. I really want to see him get another good playoff run at minimum – he’s been the heart of this team when there was no offensive talent at all.
You can tell Hunter has been learning from Gore. Hopefully the skinny little scatback who hasn’t even dressed this year has been watching too.
I agree that Hunter has been studying FG. He takes what he can and he’s running pretty smart for a soph. As I predicted, he’s getting it in pass protect in just his second year too.
We need to get our Mojos working pretty soon here too. (rooks)
Disagree Grant. Gore could still carry the load. He usually is trying to run clock after 15 carries the last teo years cause we kick ass, defenses stack te box. Ive seen gore his entiee career, he looks better then ever
Hes got at least two more probly 3
I can see hes enjoying it more!!!
Hall of famer, best back to ever run this city!
Go Niners
If Gore gets a B+ which running backs in the NFL deserve an A? Gore has the 6th most yards, he’s 2nd in ypc for rb’s, football outsiders ranks him 1st in DYAR and 2nd in DVOA.
Grant, my grade for you thus far is a D.
This is a perfect example of why stats do not always tell the whole story.
Every 49er fan knows how important F.Gore has been to this offense and the entire Org.
Even Steve Young mentioned during the Monday night pre-game show that F.Gore has been the one shining light during the down years.
FG has to one of the best blocking RB’ in the league. Being ranked 31 almost looks like a complete typo.
I’d love to see them give Frank a week off every 4th game in the second half. let Jacobs get more game-ready and let Frank save himself for the playoffs.
Rest against who?
You can’t just make a statement like rest every 4th game without looking at who we’ll play in that 4th week.
We play in Seattle, the toughest game of the year every year. We play in NE and home vs. Chicago.
Actually every 4th game would be the Jets, the Cardials, the Saints, and the Seahawks in a game that won’t have any baring on the division or playoff rankings. ATL has a cake walk to home field.
Whatever wild card team/divisional game winner they play, and Im thinking it could be CHI or SEA, or maybe GB or maybe us or the Giants, they will lose.
I completely agree with you FDM. I think ATL is overrated. They don’t face a top notch D all year.
Good point Matt. In defence of ATL, they can only play and beat the teams on their schedule. As weak as it is, they still have found ways to win.
But, when they get to the playoffs, they will not have been battled tested like for example the Niners who went to GB, won, tough loss to a pretty good team in MIN, and some physical battles with a couple of real physical teams in SEA and AZ. Throw in upcoming games against CHI and NE, we should be ready and batted tested for the post-season.
Speaking of Playoffs, look at this from the live blog on day 2 of the draft.
Jack Hammer says:
April 27, 2012 at 4:13 pm
The Colts will be in the Playoffs this year…
They are currently sitting as the 6th seed.
Lots of football left to be played but considering the remaining part of their schedule, and how easy it is, they could get in. Outside of HOU twice and the Pats, they have it pretty good. This game against MIA should tell us if they are for real.
That came right after the Fleener pick. I agree there is a way to go, but they will get there. Maybe even at #5.
I have not really watched any of their games this year so I am not sure how good they are. I will watch the game this weekend against MIA. I think Fleener got hurt and is not playing? They might be playing on a ton of emotion for their head coach. I didnt think they would be a playoff team, but its the NFL, anything can happen.
Grant-your father feeling ok?..he hasn’t posted comments in three days. Migraines?