49ers 10, Cowboys 40: Grades

SANTA CLARA – Here are the 49ers’ grades after their 40-10 loss to the Cowboys. I put as much effort into these grades as the 49ers put into this game.

QUARTERBACK: C. The Cowboys sacked C.J. Beathard five times and hit him six times. He had no chance. He was not the solution and Hoyer was not the problem. Most quarterbacks struggle when they get beat up.

RUNNING BACKS: B. Carlos Hyde ran angry and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. But he also gave up a sack.

WIDE RECEIVERS: C. No one dropped a pass! Wow!! Kendrick Bourne just fell over his own feet. I guess that’s progress.

TIGHT ENDS: D. George Kittle didn’t commit a drop. Success! But he caught just one pass. And Garrett Celek gave up a sack.

OFFENSIVE LINE: F. These guys almost got the rookie quarterback killed during his first start. That wasn’t nice. And Joe Staley seemed old. He gave up two sacks and both times the defensive end easily ran past him.

DEFENSIVE LINE: F. Did Solomon Thomas play? The score sheet says he recorded one tackle so I guess he did, but I didn’t notice him. He’s not an impact player. The 49ers probably should have drafted one of those with the No. 3 pick.

LINEBACKERS: F. Reuben Foster got injured again. This time he injured his rib. He still hasn’t made it through an entire NFL game without getting hurt. He seems brittle. Maybe that’s why the rest of the NFL passed on him during the first round of the draft.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: F. They broke up zero passes, Rashard Robinson committed his weekly pass-interference penalty and Jaquiski Tartt took some of the worst angles you will ever see in run support. Otherwise, this group was terrific.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F. Trent Taylor fumbled the first punt of the game. But, he didn’t fumble the second punt!

COACHES: Z-plus. The Niners committed only two penalties. They deserve a parade. But, Kyle Shanahan can’t be on the float. He got exposed against the Cowboys. His team is totally lacking leadership. It’s worse than Chip Kelly’s 49ers, Jim Tomsula’s 49ers, Mike Singletary’s 49ers and Dennis Erickson’s 49ers.

Robert Saleh can’t be on the float, either. He might be worse than Jim O’Neil, who is the worst defensive coordinator in franchise history. Saleh’s defense was facing one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and a great running back, and he decided to play a safety, Eric Reid, at linebacker. Gee, how did that not work???

This article has 187 Comments

      1. They will get smoked in Philly next week.
        Maybe rattle off 2 wins vs. AZ and NYG.(I’m being generous)
        Seattle for sure a L
        CHI, again a generous W

        HOU, TEN,JKV and STL will all be fighting for a playoff spot so according to my calculations, that’s 3 wins by a guy whose being a homer and very generous.

        What do you figure?

    1. Cognitive dissonance. 21% of the folks on this site thought the Niners would get a min of 6 wins this year. Only 4% of the readers though the Niners would have 3 or less wins. The 4% knows more about football than most of the folks here.

      It’s been that way since Harbaugh left. Every year he same folks come out, and discuss all the nuances of every draft, the upside of every player on this team, and expect miracles from (third rate) coaches, only to return next year and do the same thing over and over…

      1. I was going for the lesser number based purely on their plan to evaluate and develop as opposed to going for wins for this season.

      2. My belief is any team is, pretty much, going to be the same as they were in the prior year +/- 2 games. Or as we accountants say: SALY (Same as Last Year).

      1. The only comment I can make at this time is that McVay gives his very experienced, very good DC, Wade Phillips, complete autonomy to run the defense, while he focuses pretty much soley on offense.

      2. It is the coaching. The same Rams you see now couldn’t score 3 points last year under Fisher and his replacement. The Rams looked last year like the Niners do now: dispirited and lost under strange schemes that put their players out of position to win.

        Coaching drives everything.

      3. Talent: Fischer had complete control of the roster and picks 1-through-3. After they fired him, they really improved the o-line (Whitworth & Sullivan) and the skill positions.

        Coaching: Fischer’s ideas about football are dated and really held the Rams back. He’s one of these ‘power run/defense guys.’ That only works when you have an elite defense and an elite o-line to keep the positive yards flowing. But Fischer was terrible at evaluating offensive linemen so they couldn’t keep the running game working and had no passing game to take the pressure off the running game. This, of course, squandered a defense that was actually pretty good but was stuck constantly defending short-fields…

    2. LOL. Along with the following:
      – Release NaVorro (how’s that working out?)
      – Hoyer is better is a better fit in Shanahan’s system than Kaepernick (is he starting?)
      – Williams and Breida are better fits, Hyde should be traded/released (your only offensive weapon!)

      Definitive statements make for some eyeballs but rarely address nuances. GC has a keen eye but too quick on the trigger.

      1. You people are not long term planners. Your just impatient fans who want to win now. Well taking that approach you can use your talents to B!tch away all this season.

      2. No, Iggy doesn’t have a good eye. He thinks he knows football and he doesn’t. His analyses and suggestions to the coaches are signs of a learner rather than an expert.

      3. It’s always tough for some when the overly optimistic expectations don’t materialize. It was even worse this season because the usually negative blog writer predicted a ridiculous record which gave some of his followers the idea that this team would be better than most with common sense thought they would be. Two things should be certain now:

        1)This is a team that turned over a roster, implemented new schemes and is in the first year of a complete rebuild.

        2)Grant doesn’t have a clue and those taking his thoughts and predictions as gospel should really stop.

        Coaching is not the problem. Coaching isn’t getting destroyed up front and giving up penetration. Coaching isn’t missing tackles and not getting pressure on opposing QB’s. That is a talent problem and one offseason can’t fix the overwhelming number of holes this team has. This is year one of a regime with 6 year contracts. They aren’t going anywhere, so you can either come in here and whine about it every week, or you can accept that this is going to be a multi year process of finding the players they want and hopefully acquiring the talent they need to be successful.

  1. “It’s worse than Chip Kelly’s 49ers, Jim Tomsula’s 49ers, Mike Singletary’s 49ers and Dennis Erickson’s 49ers.”

    I agree. The team is worse than it was under those coaches. A full preseason, and 7 games in, and they look like those poorly coached Bengal teams.

    A man with a high profile last name and a mediocre coach.

    1. Bad receivers are open all over the field. This is not a coaching problem, except on Defense. Saleh will be gone next year if a real D coach is available.

      1. Fangio’s contract with Chicago is up after this year but I doubt he’ll want to work for York again…

        1. sebnynah – the DC at Cal???? did you watch the game Saturday vs. the Wildcats?????? the Niners need a real DC – one who has experience and success. bringing in a position coach who has been exposed to Pete Carroll and Gus Bradley is not the same as Carroll and Bradley. Raiders are finding out that with Norton, too.

          the imitator never catches up with the innovator because the innovator generated the core concepts, the basics, the fundamentals, and most importantly, THE ADJUSTMENTS. He knows the system inside and out, and is on to the next generation with more adjustments and tweaks of his concepts while the imitator still is attempting to reverse engineer the initial phases.

          imitators never catch up with the innovators……look at how many coaches tried to copy the Buddy Ryan 46 defense. even his 2 sons have struggled as DCs, and they used to coach with Buddy. Jeff Fisher, who played for Ryan and later coached with him, appeared to be the one with the best grasp of Buddy’s 46 concepts.

          1. Looked him up. Tim DeRuyter. Former Fresno St HC, so he knows both sides of the game.
            .
            I marveled at the Cal- Washington ST game. He had the players fired up and they beat a nationally ranked team, and shut down a possible top 10 QB draft pick. They also lost their best defensive player that game, so it is understandable why they struggled the next game.

    2. Bitch and moan

      All those ‘named’ coachs are good quality coaches; all of them are still coaching in one form or another….their only commonalities are “not enough time”…and that they coached the forty niners….Hey YOU hired them; and YOU fired them….There’s only one Bill Walsh….take up croquet….

  2. Hoyer was certainly A problem. Was he THE problem? No. The 49ers have more problems than QB, but Hoyer certainly isn’t good enough …. PERIOD!

    The jury is still out on Beathard.

    No, the NFL didn’t pass on Foster because he was “brittle”. Weren’t you paying attention to the draft Grant? Foster was a warrior in college, who has unfortunately had some bad luck. Apparently you didn’t bother to watch the replay of his ankle injury. He’s lucky it wasn’t worse. Today he bruised a rib, and tried to play through it. Big whippy, that’s football. He’s going to be a stud, you can bank on that. It’s way, way, way too early to call him injury prone, that’s for sure!

    All of your other grades/comments look about right, unfortunately.

    This new regime has a lot of work to do. The good news …… this season was always about roster evaluation, not winning the division, which is the proper first step of a massive rebuild and total reset.

    1. Have to consider the off the field issues with Foster coming out of college.

      Look what happened last week.

      1. “Look what happened last week.”

        You mean that time that a red blooded man went looking to score, but ended up being a victim of crime?

        http://ninerswire.usatoday.com/2017/10/18/kyle-shanahan-relieved-players-are-safe-after-armed-robbery-attempt/

        “Sunday night, for 90-percent of this league or whatever it is, that’s a players’ Friday night. Monday night’s player Saturdays. Everyone handles their free time differently. You’ve got to handle it right. When you’re in those situations you’ve got to be careful. Hopefully they learn from being in that situation.”

        “But, I’m not going to get mad at a guy for putting in the work all week, those guys grinding, and then deciding to go out and do what most people do at their age at that time.”

        1. Remember when Aldon and Delanie had knives pulled on them at a house party?

          The guy puts himself in bad situations. He was ina situation at Alabama where a shooting was involved.

          His attitude at the combine suggests he has some sort of anger issues. And from a physiological stand point, his rough and unfortunate upbringing making him his potential for future off the field issues sort of inevitable.

          1. Putting yourself in a bad situation is different than being a bad egg. Case and point, Aldon and Delanie. Aldon is a bad egg, Delaney, like Foster, put himself in a bad situation (going to Aldon’s party). Since then, Delaney hasn’t been involved in anything shady.

            1. Foster is the rookie (Aldon)
              Armstrong is the veteran (Delanie)

              I get your point though. I just feel like he has red flag written all over him. I know it’s early, and I’m just some nobody judging a player.

  3. CJ gets a C-. It would be lower if it wasn’t his first start. He needs to learn how to throw the ball away and not take sacks. He made some bad throws when he did have time.

    Hyde caused 4 missed tackles. He got a lot of tough yards. Breida did nothing.

    “Did Solomon Thomas play?” Yes he played, he played against a solid unit. Was this his typical good one week and bad the next, or just a bad matchup for a rookie? Too soon to say.

    All those that were worried about Foster missing time never mentioned his ankle or ribs. All of the concern was about his shoulder/AC joint, which has held up. What’s troubling is that he wasn’t as good as he was in Week 1. New position and responsibilities though. He should get better.

    Not gonna defend the coaches. Just awful.

    1. Bowman played along with Foster during week 1. I wouldn’t underestimate the impact of a seasoned veteran on a green rookie.

    2. Solomon Thomas has been nominated for Rookie of the Week three times. Yet Grant craps on him. Kind of screams ‘agenda.’

      1. I’m glad we got him, especially after the usual suspects are not available along the defensive line.

  4. “but Hoyer certainly isn’t good enough …. PERIOD!” Exactly!
    Can you imagine a “rookie” Hoyer out there today? Yikes…

  5. ” He was not the solution and Hoyer was not the problem.”

    No, Hoyer just isn’t any better then a third round rookie QB.

    1. I wouldn’t say it’s an easy schedule. Only two of the teams they have faced have a losing record. The rest are 500 or better. There is also no such thing as an easy schedule when you are a rebuilding team.

  6. About Foster, everyone at the draft questioned his durability.
    To date, he has not played a full game in 7 weeks!

    1. They questioned the durability of his shoulder. Someone like John Ross had his overall durability questioned because of his knee, shoulder, and size.

        1. As has Hooker, Allen, Fournette, and probably others I forgot. It’s a tough league, injuries will happen. We should be happy it wasn’t his shoulder, or an ACL or achilles tear.

          1. It’s early and sometimes rookies need to get hardened to play in the vigorous NFL.
            All I’m saying is Foster might not have the ability to stay healthy. Some guys have the unfortunate quality.
            Patrick Willis was injured a lot during his short career.

              1. I hope I’m dead wrong. I was thinking he would provide a huge spark today coming back.

              2. Yeah, I expected a huge spark. Other than lighting up Zeke on that one play. I was really disappointed.

              3. Well atleast Foster had one highlight the rest of the defense had none. To be fair to Foster he hasn’t played in six weeks so I’m sure there’s going to be some rust but what are the other guys excuse?

  7. At what point will Jed post a tweet on the Levi’s scoreboard apologizing for this debacle? At this point I’m cheering for 0-16. Seriously, it’s hard to do.

  8. 1. It is unfair to pin this on Saleh and KS. We don’t have the talent to compete at the NFL level.
    2. Seems like everyone was on board with Solomon before the draft.
    3. We need NFL caliber players. We have holes everywhere. We must sign Cousins in offseason and then trade a top pick for 2 #1 picks. We need picks so that we can draft PROFESSIONAL football players.

    1. Saleh preaches violence but his D was meek. His D gave up 500 YDs. This was one of the worst defensive performances I have ever seen. Saleh has to get some of the blame.

      1. My question is why is Saleh putting so much responsibility on his corners who can’t cover in single coverage with no help over top?
        And why is Earl Mitchell dropping back into coverage?

        1. Good question Prime, I was thinking the exact same thing.

          As for Foster, his ankle isn’t 100%, plus he taking on Bowman’s role. That’s a big change of responsibilities for a rookie who had played 1 QTR of NFL football coming into today’s game. Reuben Foster is one player I am not worried about. Remember, he was PFF’s highest rated college ILB since they started their grading system. He’s the real deal. He’ll deal with his share of injuries, which are inherent to his position, and as long as he’s tough enough to play through a lot of these injuries, like he did in college, the skies the limit for that kid. The biggest problem with our defense in my opinion, is that we are playing a scheme in which we don’t have enough of the right kind of players to use. These CB’s need more help over the top, and our DL cannot pressure the opposing QB. That’s a bad combination.

        2. Saleh is playing the Seahawks defense without the same talent. He hasn’t learned that sometimes you have to play the cards your’re dealt. Remember his famous quote: “We’re not winning our match ups”. Well duh.

          1. IMO, Fangio’s bend but don’t break mentality would work better with the level of defensive talent on this team.

            1. Only problem Cubus is Fangio wants to be a 3-4 and our personnel seems better suited for a 4-3? I don’t know!

            2. Cubus, Godfather Fangio has been the plan all along in my estimation. If the light bulb doesn’t come on for Saleh, he’ll be our DC in 2018….

              1. The Gus Bradley that wanted Cable as HC? Naw, Fangio wanted Shanny, and Shanny wants Fangio.

              2. If the 49ers promote defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to head coach, he’d target former Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator and current secondary coach Ed Donatell to lead the defense, reports CSNBayArea.com.

                Fangio, according to sources, was identified by Kyle Shanahan as someone he’d like to see run his defense.

                The Godfather is coming back to the bay. Get off that bus, Gus….

          2. Chargers Gus Bradley Defense

            Points Allowed
            18.7
            (8th)
            YDS
            326.0
            (13th)
            PASS YDS
            185.4
            (5th)
            RUSH YDS
            140.6
            (31st)

            Saleh 49ers Defense

            Points Allowed
            26.6
            (30th)
            YDS
            393.1
            (28th)
            PASS YDS
            258.6
            (25th)
            RUSH YDS
            134.6
            (29th)

            Bears Godfather Fangio Defense

            Points Allowed
            21.6
            (14th)
            YDS
            301.3
            (7th)
            PASS YDS
            196.4
            (9th)
            RUSH YDS
            104.9
            (11th)

            1. I like Fangio better than Bradley too, That doesn’t matter. I responded to your false claim that Fangio has been the plan all along. Fangio was not the first choice. This is a proven fact. Don’t move the goalpost.

              1. Proven fact? Ha! Whatever, none of it matters because I proved my assertion that The Godfather wants Shanny, and that Shanny wanted Fangio. As soon as Bradley wanted Cable, he was no longer a consideration. What kind of fool would want Cable over Shanny? Not one that will ever be Shanny’s DC, that’s for sure!

              2. “…and former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley was their top target.”

                This is getting sad. They didn’t even reach out to Fangio until Bradley turned them down. Key words, Bradley turned them down. Bradley was offered the job. Had he accepted, Fangio would have never been called.

              3. Silver is a joke. No one knows for sure the line of thought behind the supposed “love affair” with Bradley, but why in the hell would Shanny agree to Bradley when he chose Cable over him? Too bad, that’s sad!

              4. You really think KS didn’t have any input? York was going to hire Shanny’s DC for him? Keep digging that hole, you’re must be getting close to China by now. Sad.

              5. If you can show me where Shanny said he wanted Bradley, like I showed he wanted The Godfather, maybe your hole wouldn’t be so shallow. Too bad, you’re sad….

              6. I showed you that Bradley was offered the job before they reached out to Fangio. I showed you that they upped the offer. Do you think KS would let York and Marathe hire his DC?

              7. Just show me where Shanny said he wanted Bradley like he did Fangio, and you no longer have to be sad. Maybe you can’t, in that case, maybe a serotonin-reuptake inhibitor might be an effective managing tool….

              8. You’re right Prime. We already had this discussion months ago. But it is interesting that he continues to double and triple down even though Bradley was offered the job twice. But hey, Silver is a joke right?

            2. A question for the blog. Would Fangio or Bradley made a difference with the current defensive personnel?
              Keep in mind, there is no cover corners, a pass rush or resemblance of an inside LB who can stay healthy.

    2. Why waste money on cousins if u can’t protect him and he wouldn’t have a number 1 to throw it to. Waste of a 100 mil

      1. SteelematicSome people seem to think that a decent QB can elevate all the players around him including the O-line. LOL They don’t seem to realize that every good pocket passer needs a pocket to pass out of. They just like blaming all of the teams offensive woes on the QB because it takes little evaluation and is an easy conclusion to come too.

      2. You’re right Steele. It’s also why they’re playing Hyde now instead of giving Brieda reps. You’re right about him too. He is a very good back but is best used now being showcased for a trade so they can bring in more new blood. Good individual players on this team are a complete waste unless they’re young and building for the future that ain’t coming anywhere near as soon as we hope.

    3. Say what you will about Bowman’s ability to cover receivers at this point in his career, but they definitely missed him in the run game.

  9. Solomon Thomas may or may not turn out to be a decent player , but of course that’s not the issue. With the third pick, the aim is for a GREAT player, what we used to call an impact player, that is a player who is the difference in helping get a win. You know, like Ronnie Lott. If you don’t land a guy who looks like he may make the HOF one day, you’ve blown the pick.

    The team may have blown the HC pick too but we’ll have to wait a couple more seasons on that score. Walsh, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Noll, Tom Landry were all big losers too in their first seasons.

    1. Kezermike– Of course the strength of the draft should also be considered. Some drafts are filled with more “sure thing” picks than others. From what I recall the only sure thing pick this last draft was taken with the first pick.

  10. Identify the best two three best OL coaches in the league and offer them whatever it takes .

  11. Yeah, Prime, it almost always is in sports. But somehow McKittrick always seemed to have a good line even switching a player’s position like Cross or with an undersized tackle, etc.Just like some defensive coaches always seem to have a pass rush no matter where they go .

    1. I agree with that but Fusco, Kilgore and Tomlinson have been manhandled every game. I’m not sure what coach could help when all three guys seem overwhelmed every week.

      1. I don’t agree with that. Just because you have a so called defensive good coach, doesn’t mean he will shine everywhere they go. Name one good defensive coach without good talent. It’s not happening. It sucks to say but our D has no good talent. John Lynch took over a team with adequate talent, got rid of all them and started over. Newsflash…. There is no defensive talent. Except Foster and Buckner. Name 1 defensive coach that can compete with that?

  12. The biggest problem I see with Beathard is he has no pocket awareness and his play action is in slow motion

    1. I also thought he looked slow in his ability to read, react and throw.
      I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since it was his first start in the NFL.

      1. How can u really read a defense, if the defense is already in your face right after the play action, or 2 seconds after you snap the ball.?

        1. Exactly! It is doubly difficult for a rookie or anyone learning the offense to function under these type of conditions. It is easy when you are learning a few things at a time, but when you have to learn a lot while being constantly pressured it is very difficult. We should consider the situation that each player is facing when evaluating their abilities.

  13. Weekly reminder that if we hired Mike Shanahan last year, the WCO wouldn’t be in its first year, we wouldn’t have Saleh, and Mike wanted to use our first round pick on a QB. I wonder who he liked? Goff? Wentz? Would he have traded up for them?

    1. I hope KS is leaning on his father for some advice. This season is spiraling out of control and he’s got to somehow stem the hemorrhaging. There’s a real good chance that the game against the Eagles will also be a blowout.

      1. cubus—This season is not spiraling out of control. It is right where it was expected to be. It was never about wins. The circumstance and opportunity that is available for rebuilding this team probably has never existed before so the process they are using most of you will have never seen done before. I would like to think this is why you are clueless as to what is actually going on.

  14. They are awful.
    But they were awful last year and the year before that and the year before that. What is there to expect when this team was blown up and the front office decided not to seek a viable long term QB this year?
    Yep, they are awful.

  15. I might be the only person in this room that will say what im about to say, and no I’m not crazy. I am Super Excited about this team. And I am just as excited about the future. This is basically an expansion team. I had no hopes of anything close to a winning season, because I’m a realist. Who dismantles an adequate team, replaces them with replacement level cheap players and rookies, and expects for the team to compete and have a winning season? I sure as heck don’t. Add on top of that, the injuries, lack of leadership because of missing vets, and wanting to get rid of everyone and everything Trent Balkee touched. Well I’m excited as heck about it all. For anyone expecting a quick turnaround, you fooled yourself. You guys are questioning the head honchos (Lynch and Kyle) because they have a rebuilt team, trying to figure out what they have for the future. They stripped it, they know what they are looking for, and it sure as hell isn’t on this team yet. They don’t have enough money to rebuild this team in a season because they need elite guys everywhere…. You can’t afford 22 elite starters, you also can’t pay a QB 100 mil if you can’t protect him.But u can build them through the draft, sign a bunch a good free agents and go from there. One last thing, Kyle Shannahan doesn’t need to adjust anything. He’s trying to figure out who can actually survive in this offense. Not necessarily win games. If he can do both, there wouldn’t be any rebuild, they would be the 2016 Atlanta Falcons

    1. I’m too old to be excited by the learning process of an expansion team-level talent, but I do like the things that Kyle is trying to do on offense, despite being hampered by woeful O line play. On D, there are just too many weakness to run an effective version of the Seattle system.
      There seems to be a direct correlation between the team’s poor performance and the inanity of fans’ comments, especially those who comment on this blog only after losses :)

    2. Steelematic- Have you not been reading my posts? I feel this team is doing exactly what they should be doing. Why because the Front Office and Coach is following the plan they laid out when they were hired. They are not going for the quick fix or immediate wins because that would counter their long term plan. They got that 6 year guarantee precisely so they could rebuild the way they want to. This season is just about implementing the system and then evaluating the players with in the system while it is in place. Period. This entire season is nothing more than an extended training camp and preseason. The guys who are having fits about the lack of wins just are not thinking long term. Frankly most of them are incapable of thinking long term. They are just impatient fans who want to win now.

      1. Will talk. I 100 percent agree. What’s crazy is how people say we were better under Kelly and Tomsula. But they tried to win, and looked what happened. These guys are preparing for the future, not trying to mortgage it in one season. Oh and for the eyesight impaired, those last two regimes, with Trent Balkee at the helm, is what you all can have. This is an admitted rebuild, not an admitted reload.

    3. I agree with you – we have an expansion team and are getting a complete rebuild.

      The only thing missing is an open tryout, so we can pick up the next Dwight Hicks!

      Look out for next year (or the year after).

    4. Steele, I would not say that I am super excited bout this team. I just see a long process of rebuilding, from the ground up. I am resigned to them losing, but still love the team, and loved the Dwight Clark ceremony.
      .
      I am hopeful, because they got rid of Baalke, but erasing his mistakes will take years.
      .
      They need to improve everywhere, and KS should start by hiring an OC.
      .
      Then maybe they should look at FA QBs.

  16. CJ isn’t the answer, neither is Cousins actually… I like Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold, I really hope Coach Shanahan isn’t too hard headed to admit his QB is nothing special.

    1. Steele ….

      Agree ..1000% !!

      Marcus …

      CJB has played in only 2 .. (two) reg season NFL games …
      One thing that impresses me about him is …

      2 games behind that terrible O-Line …
      and he’s still … alive !

      Sheesh ! …

      Seems to me like we’ve got FIVE ..
      Jonathon Martin .. clones playing for us !

    2. Darnold is a pipe dream at this point. He’s name recognition with a reputation built on his first six games last year. Since then he’s been a pick-machine with all of his stats trending negatively.

    1. No, the Niners traded away their 4th round pick for Denver’s 2017 5th round pick, so they only have 6.

  17. Niners are probably the worst team in the NFL right now
    Its going to be a long rebuilding cycle
    Their top 2 draft picks are not paying off (so drafting is now a ?)
    In my view they should have kept Chip Kelly and Kap, and changed defensive coordinators and the GM
    Lynch is a good guy but he is still learning the ropes, the should have brought back Scot Mcloughan

  18. Realizing that the decissionmakers have released some battletested vetrans and are playing many rookies it seems that they are following a strategic path to get to the number One or two pick in the draft. Rosen’s game against Texas A&M was quite a statement and Darnold seems like an NFL caliber tallent.

    So Kyle and John may be testing the rookies and preparing for an upgrade for next season. If the Niners win some games they could possibly set the franchise back more significantly than if they don’t win many or any games this season.

  19. I hated seeing blow out, our online can run block (or Hyde made em look good), but it is a young team with a foundation, all an all look it hot many times we got inside their 30, a strip sack, and being forced to go on 4th and 3, our D forcing 3 and out then fumbling punt was huge mistake that took air out of D. We are a young team, very young, but pieces are there, yes Hoyer was not total problem, but I’d like to see em build around CJ, twerk online, legit #1 WR rebuild secondary get an outstanding pass rusher, and we’d be good.

  20. If the idea is stick with CJ, his lack of pocket awareness is going to be a problem. All focus should go to OL, they were horrible. Bad OL combined with the Statue holding the ball = Sack City.

    And freaking get #33 off the field. He’s a PI and defensive-holding machine. Game plans can be built by other team on Robinsons’ propensity to extend drives. What a mess.

    1. I actually don’t think CJ’s has a lack of pocket awareness. I think he might just actually like getting hit rather than scrambling around like a lunatic. He seems pretty tough. Some people enjoy it. There was a chap on my rugby league team who tended to never pass the ball, and just take the hits, time and time again. Turned out he actually had a great deal of passing skill, he just enjoyed the physical contact. He made a great front-rower! Gave him the ball and let him struggle through tackles. He was happy as a clam at high tide.

      1. Fumbles is the clue around pocket awareness. Also, Taking a hit hurts the team, so he needs to get his need for hits satisfied on the scramble. No sliding for him

  21. Did the coaches think Elliott would be suspended and ineligible to play? It looks like they didn’t game plan very well…

    Oh, and there’s talent too. The 49ers lack it. We are what our record says we are. Enough of we could be 5-2 with the right bounces. The Cowboys exposed the team for what they are.

    I have long said this was an expansion team and that rookies cost the team games. The current regime has decided that veteran leadership was not needed, but what was needed was a youth movement. We saw all its flaws on Sunday!

    I will say it now but I think that Shanahan makes a better OC than coach. He simply doesn’t know how to instill a fighting spirit in this team. Good X and O guy but not a motivator. Saleh should have been overruled on some of his moves, but wasn’t and that falls on the head coach.

    The OL is atrocious! Beathard never had a chance. Hoyer didn’t either but the difference is that Hoyer never gives you confidence that he can do it. Beathard, for as pedestrian an outing as he had, looks like he has better upside and better presence in the pocket, like he belongs there.

    The positives? Well, less penalties and drops but that only shows how pathetically poor an outing the team had too!

    Will this team dig deep and find resolve or crumble into a poor example of a once proud franchise forced to be entertainment for opposing fan bases? Great work York! I don’t blame Baalke, he is who he is, you kept him longer than you should have and we had 2 drafts that could have been better as well as offseasons that could have been more productive. Had better decisions been made long ago, the team would not find itself in this predicament. Sadly, we fans have to watch this and wonder when do things begin to get better?

  22. Yeah so my Kittle Touchdown bonanza prediction was somewhat way off the mark.

    But I also predicted he would have zero drops.

    So, you know. Baby steps, right?

  23. A very bad team got stomped by a very good team. News flash, that’s what usually happens. We have lots of young players who are trying to learn a new system. We have a lot of young players who are not good YET and others that are just not good. This week was a step back which all teams have from time to time. This is just the beginning of the process.

    Grant appears to inflame us with his comments and we throw our selfs onto the fire. Grant got ahead of himself during spring training when a bad offense and a bad defense played each other and it often looked good. He came up with the rediculous prediction of a 9-7 season. This just proves this lack of knowledge. But he is young and inexperienced just like the team. I support this team, these coaches and Grant. All will get better or move on and better people will replace them.

  24. In ATL they have a coaching problem. Losing your coordinator hurts.
    In SF, it’s a lack of talent. Too many new guys playing in a new scheme.
    2 years away.
    This year we will go 1-15
    Next year 8-8
    2019 they will go 10-6

  25. Malik Hooker is done for the year. Jamal Adams was the 63rd-rated safety in the league through six games according to Pro Football Focus numbers. Also per PFF, in coverage he’s allowing opposing quarterbacks a 133.8 rating.

  26. “It’s worse than Chip Kelly’s 49ers, Jim Tomsula’s 49ers, Mike Singletary’s 49ers and Dennis Erickson’s 49ers.”
    ~Grant

    But according to your TC prediction of a 9-7 record they are now in position to run the table with 7 straight wins!

    Yes, this team totally collapsed yesterday, if that is possible for an 0-6 team going into the game.
    These guys desperately need a bounce back loss (lol) close game against the eagles.

  27. They need to draft an entire OL line…that will take years…..and they need Bob McKittrick to be reincarnated

  28. hmm…so we are 0-7……..

    oh well…..we can still claim we had Bill Walsh, J. Rice, J. Montana, S. Young etc……

  29. OK, everybody ready? Now comes the fun part where the Niners win their last nine games in a row to finish 9-7. I think Grant’s prediction is going the way of Jack Hammer’s prophecies from the last few years, but heck, my 4/5 wins forecast is in great peril as well!
    It’s hard to imagine anyone predicting today’s current standings around the league.
    (Although there may be one resident genius who will try to take some credit).
    : -)

    1. you do know he was joking…….

      Although there may be one resident genius who will try to take some credit – (am guessing u mean razoreater)

    2. BT,

      They might pull out 4, but even those “east” games against the AFC South teams are going to be tough.

  30. It does not matter who they draft or sign for QB if they cannot get the O line to play well, or at least halfway decently.
    .
    Niners have 62 mil in cap space, and played like a team that has 62 mil less of talent than other teams.
    .
    Iupati, Boone, Looney, Theus Cooper, and other linemen left the Niners and played elsewhere.
    .
    JH won 44 games, Tomsula 5, Chip 2, and KS has yet to win a game.

    1. Seb…. Don’t forget, we have lineman that played elsewhere as well. Just because those guys went other places, doesn’t mean that they are good. Iupati is the lone exception

      1. If you look at those players, the Niners essentially gave up an entire O line.
        .
        My point is that the Niners should retain talent, not throw it away.

  31. For the rest of the season, I had the Niners possibly beating the Bears, Texans, Titans and Jags. Looks like all those teams are better than the Niners. The only 2 teams who look beatable on the rest of the schedule are the Cards (Hello Gabbert) and Giants.

  32. The CJ experiment was essentially a capitulation. Our chances at the playoffs were gone, so we might as well see if this guy is the future. Hoyer wasn’t the problem, but he’s also not a long term solution. 2018 is one of the better QB draft classes in a while, and we might as well find out if CJ is a starter in this league. I think we’re finding out that he’s not. So, it’s time to start scouting QBs. The unfortunate truth is there are a lot of missing pieces on this team. The good news is the coffers are full. So it’s time to start writing checks for O-lineman and we need to get next year’s draft right. Lynch did well with trading positions, he just didn’t do well drafting players. That needs to change.

  33. I was hoping, really hoping CJ would be the answer…He’s looking like a backup and all hopes of not having to spend our 1st pick on a QB maybe lost.

    On the positive side, Wyoming’s, Josh Allen, looks the part, and with the dam’s substructure springing talent leaks from every conceivable area, (including Rueben Foster, who looks like a steroided out safety) anyone have a logical take on where to go with our 1st rounder ?

    Prime and Rebuild a Winner have routinely stated that a rebuild starts at the QB position.

    Additionally, I’ve noticed throughout the decades, WCO coaches coach up their 2nd string QB’s and 4 years down the road Recoup their draft pick by getting a higher one. Maybe down the road Shanny could garner a 2nd rounder for CJ (after full development).

    1. He has only started one game and already your giving up on CJ? Would you have written off Troy Aikmen after his first start? This team has so many holes to fill, I doubt they will use their first pick on a QB and I doubt they will make a run at Cousins.

  34. Well guys ,we took one on the chin, between the legs ,and in the gut .

    We were out played , and it wasn’t even close ,imo.

    Offensively we are being De prejudiced ,by evaluating a rookie QB , RB, WR, TE . Because the offensive line just stinks , nothing new ,no improvements of any kind. Not one had a good game.

    Defense , injuries across the board. ( Bowman trade) lack of that leader .
    DL some of the holes EE. Had to run through ,you could of drove a bus through , LB when will we see one that’s more than a stopgap .
    DB , half of the secondary showed up, we need some talent there.

    Coaching , again to many holes to fill in one year . Agree that

    1. why not establish more of a screen game to dissipate some of the pressure up the middle?- a bad game and a tough one coming……. glad I am not going to Philly as planned.

      And Bowman needed to go, just keep moving w the youth and go poach other teams practice squads- McDaniel didn’t seem to do much yesterday.

  35. 2016 Depth Chart:
    LT: Joe Staley, John Theus
    LG: Joshua Garnett, Brandon Thomas
    C: Daniel Kilgore, Marcus Martin
    RG: Zane Beadles, Marcus Martin
    RT: Trent Brown, Fahn Cooper

    2017 O-Line Depth Chart:
    LT Joe Staley
    LG Laken Tomlinson Zane Beadles
    C Daniel Kilgore
    RG Brandon Fusco Erik Magnuson
    RT Trent Brown Garry Gilliam

  36. No time to panic, we have 5 1/2 years to go on the 6 year plan. ☺
    Rebuild the pathetic O-line, draft Darnold, Rosen or Lamar Jackson (if we don’t get Kirk Cousins). Beathard will be a solid backup QB.
    Trade Armstead for 4th round pick. Draft more DB’s, O-line, one more LB and spend some big money in free agency on the best explosive young WR available. We need a home run threat, Marquise Goodwin has potential but he is not the answer. Bolden Jr has potential too.
    Our offense is not a big play offense. When you have long 10-15 play drives it creates more opportunities for something to go wrong, penalties, turnovers etc. We need two more explosive weapons at WR/RB that can create long plays on their own.

    Should I replace Lynch as GM? ?

  37. Crab15 + 1:

    Great Ideas but you did leave out the hard work Shanny/Lynch did in cleaning house.

    To date, the Niners Baalke holdovers from 2016 number 16 players (Via Jed York’s PC at owner’s protest meeting).

    That in itself created a new culture in which everyone’s scrambling to learn a new system midseason. and apparently the syst. is so complex it requires 1/2 a season to learn.

    In short, it’s apparent Baalke’s drafts left the cupboard bare, and the real rebuild (after jettisoning Baalke personnel begins in 2018).

    Therefore, Crab15, I can’t recommend you replace Lynch/Shanny…..How about joining them for an annual salary of $ 250, 000/yr ?

  38. TomD –
    Good post…I wish Baalke would’ve given Harbough more control of the team and drafts but I never liked Harbaugh’s offensive system. Look at Michigan now, good defense (except Penn State game) and a weak, primitive offense.
    I’ll take $100,000 to join Lynch/Shanny lol.

    1. Crab15,

      Agreed. Harb’s is the ‘Chuck Norris, Walker, Texas Ranger’ system personified. He runs a conservative system due to his alliance with Bo Schebechler and surrounds himself with a superior cast of coaches.

      Since running Bo’s system required a ground in pound philosophy he thought Kap would fit his run system better than a passer like Smith (who would require further development in the WCO by Reid).

      Harbaugh’s system requires less reading and is at the most conservative end of the WCO.

      Your point about Baalke vs. Harbaugh has been borne out with Harb’s being the better talent evaluator–just look at his recruiting classes from Stanford and Michigan.

      1. Currenty Habaugh’s assistant coaches at Michigan account for college football’s most expensive staff.

        According to MLive.com, the Wolverines’ football program made $82 million in 2012-13. Perhaps even more telling, The Wall Street Journal named Michigan the second-most valuable football program in the country, with an estimated intrinsic value of $999,130,000.

  39. TomD’s Take: Niners are taking stock of what they have to prioritize their ’18 draft sequence:

    “On offense, the 49ers appear to be making a point to go with younger players. Rookie Cole Hikutini played 21 snaps, taking over as the No. 2 tight end over Garrett Celek and Logan Paulsen.
    Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, another undrafted rookie, played a season-high 23 snaps. ”

    On D, “Eric Reid returned from a knee injury that kept him out three games to discover he lost his starting job. Strong safety Jaquiski Tartt has continued to serve as an every-down player for the 49ers’ defense. On Sunday, Reid played 48 snaps (64 percent) as the 49ers employed six defensive backs against the Dallas Cowboys three-receiver sets.”

    Rookie Adrian Colbert entered the game at safety with Jimmie Ward taking over Williams’ role. Colbert played 29 snaps.

    “Newly signed defensive linemen Leger Douzable and Tony McDaniel saw a lot of action in their 49ers debuts. Douzable played the third-most of any defensive lineman (behind Solomon Thomas and DeForest Buckner), seeing action on 47 of the team’s 75 snaps. McDaniel played 25 snaps.”

    http://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/49ers/49ers-snap-count-reid-no-longer-starter-rookies-see-more-time-offense

  40. 4/7 107 yards for the 10 year franchise Trubiscuit. The way the Bears are holding his hand, I see no way he could have been prepared to execute this offense anywhere near to the level Beathard has been able to….

    1. That’s the result of a conservative defensive minded HC who is trying to save his job. Trubisky could be doing a lot more; they just won’t let him.

  41. Scot McCloughan emphatically states the 2018 NFL Draft quarterback he would pick to lead his franchise

    Former San Francisco 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan currently operates an independent scouting service that provides reports and information to team and agent clients.

    Without missing a beat, McCloughan said Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. McCloughan had this to say about Mayfield.

    “He reminds me of a shorter version of Brett Favre. Tough guy. He can throw it. And he’s very confident, and he’s not afraid whatsoever, whatsoever. He’s a battler. I know saying Brett Favre’s a big name, and I was around him for a while, but this guy’s got talent. Every guy you mention has talent. I’ve already said I think three guys go in the top ten, I think five go in the first round.”

    Source: Niners Nation

  42. OK, QB, Mayfield stats by SRCFB
    Year School Conf Class Pos G Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A AY/A TD Int R
    .3 12 9 127.7
    *2015 Oklahoma Big 12 JR QB 13 269 395 68.1 3700 9.4 10.4 36 7 173.3
    *2016 Oklahoma Big 12 JR QB 13 254 358 70.9 3965 11.1 12.3 40 8 196.4
    2017 Oklahoma Big 12 SR QB 7 149 202 73.8 2347 11.6 13.1 19 2 200.4
    Career Overall 890 1295 68.7 12327 9.5 10.3 107 26 171.9
    Texas Tech 218 340 64.1 2315 6.8 6.3 12 9 127.7
    Oklahoma 672 955 70.4 10012 10.5 11.7 95 17 187.7

  43. Kurtenbach: New quarterback, same problem for the rock-bottom 49ers

    “If you’re looking to blame someone for Sunday’s debacle and the current state of the franchise, blame former general manager Trent Baalke and the prior coaching staffs, who couldn’t do anything to salvage the GM’s poor draft selections.”

    Source: San Jose Mercury

  44. How about all those early prognosticators who thought that Juice, Goodwin and Kittle would have over 50 catches this season? I’d say at present it looks very doubtful for some of them. Garçon having some of the best stats since Shanny in Washington?

    Well, those of us who cautioned about all the young players were told it was feasible because: Shanahan! How are those prognostications working now?

    I had consistently predicted a low threshold of 4 wins which would be 2x better than last year. Still very doable. But this team has serious problems both defensively and offensively. Oh, and they’re not that well coached either.

    If I thought getting rid of Brooks was a big mistake you can imagine how I felt about Bowman. We could use veterans who know how to win and lose out there. Sad there really aren’t many there and the young bucks are fighting.

    1. The mindset to jettison veterans and play rookies and younger players to not only see what the team has in terms of players but to develop these young men sounds great in theory, but I think that consistently losing weighs heavily on these young men especially since most of them came from successful college programs. However, Scooter pointed out that the available veterans on the team (of which a number have been jettisoned) have played for a number of years on a losing team with only a very few remembering the successful Harbaugh years. So are these “loser” veterans helpful to the rookies or do they sound more like our grandparents when they would say “I remember back when…..” (how many of us listened to the whole story especially when they kept repeating it over and over again). It’s a deep hole to get out of.

      Bringing in veterans during free agency that are used to winning and know how to win should help significantly. But will there be guys available who are willing to come to this team. Money will probably have to do the talking, especially on defense where there isn’t the lure of KS. One more reason, imo, to bring in an experienced DC that veteran players want to play for.

      1. Have we not tried to bring in some quality vets? Pierre Garcon and Elvis Dummervill have not been very good. Fusco, Tomlinson have been terrible.
        We have not drafted well in the past 5 years and its all accumulating to what our record is.

        Lets face it, this might be a 5 year rebuild. Until we strike it hot, and I mean red hot in the draft, this team is void of impact players on both sides of the ball.

        The only thing I’ve convinced myself of when it comes to the San Francisco 49ers is, we are a bad team, a bad organization that is years away from being a competitive product.
        Guys, we are in Cleveland Brown territory now as sad as that is to admit!

    2. agree..We blew it on Bowman. He should have played out the full year. He had agreed to reduce his playing time. Silly decision that cost us.

  45. Hey guys , just a thought .
    How many teams won ,or made it to the super bowl , with a offensive line that couldn’t block on pass plays.
    That is were it all starts. Period.
    Without it there is no passing game, or the running game suffers, and to think CJB , could somehow make that better , is ridiculous .
    Building a offensive line must be the priority this off season.
    Having an offensive line ( even a good one ) . Look at what it can do for the rest of the team , the defense ,(gets rest), the QB(has more than 3sec), RB (has a lane)
    If we can’t block , we can’t do much .
    Next question
    Do I think it’s the coaches ?
    IMO , lack of talent ,(balkie era) combined with a new system , so I can’t put it all on them .
    Could they do a better job , probably.

    There is alot of players in key area’s that need upgrades , yes they turned over the rooster alot . Because of the system.
    I thought we would win 5 games in the beginning of the year.
    Hopefully we win 2 .
    We need a offensive line . Until we have more than 3 seconds , it’s really not going to matter .
    Does anyone see it like this ,or is it just me .
    Does anyone have any info ( or site ) on offensive linemen ,for this year’s draft .

  46. You know its been said “if you’re not part of the solution then you’re part of the problem.” Hoyer certainly isn’t the solution so he’s part of the problem. I don’t have any particular problem with Hoyer, my problem was that he was overhyped by Grant and others coming in. I didn’t expect much and he’s been worse than I expected. I also think its a bit of a double standard to blame the OL and receivers for being the issue when he was blaming the QBs for everything last year. The OL and receivers were terrible last year too. I think Hoyer’s part of the problem but they need to see what they have in CJ since they’re not winning.

    Grant’s mad at this team which is fine they stink. Thomas may not ever live up to his #3 draft position but a guy who get nominated 2-3 weeks in a row for Rookie of the week is doing ok. He got swallowed by a good offensive line this week.

    There’s just not much to write about. We’re just terrible. Hopefully they decide to spend some of that cap space on an OL next year?

  47. This team has not had great talent for years. It would of been nice to pull out some of those close games to give confidence. But lets face it, we are not good. This is not on the coaches. The draft is on Lynch and the coaches sure, but we need to let these next two years of rebuild play out.

    My suggestion:
    1. Keep the rookie QB in for the remainder of the season, unless he regresses badly.
    2. Sign Cousins. Look is he the answer maybe, maybe not… the point is we need to over pay for a QB that can sit in here for 2-3 years to make us competitive.
    3. Hard to talk about the draft now, but we need to stock of some picks. We need a lot. If Luck is in this draft then take him, otherwise…grab a play maker. Pass rusher would be nice. Trade down for one and let others overpay for a QB.
    4. Spend money and get some solid players in here. Overpay for interior linemen.
    5. Draft starting OT and a swing OT to develop. Draft interior OL.

    This is going to take 2-3 years to fix. Raiders had patience . They drafted the QB, then the WR. Signed a vet WR (crabtree). We need play makers first, then the coaches will be able to excel. We’re a bunch of scrubs right now.

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