49ers 10, Eagles 33: Grades

Here are the 49ers’ grades after their 33-10 loss to the Eagles.

QUARTERBACK: D. C.J. Beathard is not the answer at quarterback for the 49ers. He has a weak arm and poor footwork. He’s a backup quarterback at best, which is what I wrote when the 49ers drafted him in the third round this year. I gave that pick an “F” and stand by the grade. Brian Hoyer is a better quarterback than Beathard and would have given the 49ers a better chance to win today.

All that being said, you can’t blame this loss on Beathard. Sure, he threw two interceptions, one pick-six, completed only 47 percent of his throws and averaged a miniscule 4.6 yards per attempt, but he got crushed by the Eagles defense. It must have hit Beathard 20 times. No quarterback will play well when he gets hit that much. Joe Montana would play poorly on this team. Same with Kirk Cousins.

Speaking of Cousins, why on earth would he would want to sign with the 49ers? I’m guessing he values his health more than the few extra million the Niners can offer him.

RUNNING BACKS: D. Carlos Hyde averaged 2.1 yards per carry and dropped three passes. Why do the Niners still play him? They benched their best quarterback – they might as well bench Hyde, too. They already know what he can do, and it isn’t much. He’s not part of the franchise’s future. Trade him now and make Matt Breida the starter. Breida scored the only touchdown of the game for the 49ers.

WIDE RECEIVERS: F. The 49ers’ five active receivers combined for 50 yards. That’s got to be some kind of record.

TIGHT ENDS: D. George Kittle made a nice one-handed catch, but he and Garrett Celek mostly were ineffective.

OFFENSIVE LINE: F. The Niners lost all three of their tackles. Trent Brown missed the game with a concussion, Garry Gilliam left the game with a knee injury and Joe Staley left with possibly a broken orbital bone. So the Niners played most of the game with backup guards at tackle. That’s all you need to know about this group.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A-minus. The defensive line played well against a very good offensive line. The Niners sacked Carson Wentz three times and held the Eagles to just 3.6 yards per carry. Leger Douzable recorded two sacks – he was fantastic, outplaying the 49ers’ rookie first-round pick, Solomon Thomas, who recorded only two tackles. Thomas started the game at defensive end, where he kept rushing directly into the chest of the Eagles’ backup left tackle. So the Niners moved Thomas to nose tackle on third-and-long, where he was slightly more effective. He beat the Eagles center once and hit Wentz in the red zone. For three weeks, I’ve said the Niners should move Thomas to nose tackle. I’m glad they’ve taken my advice. I’m here to help.

LINEBACKERS: B. Reuben Foster missed the game with an injury. That seems to be a theme for him. Eric Reid made his first start at linebacker and played decently. He made three tackles. Brock Coyle was much more effective, recording seven tackles and one tackle for loss.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: B-minus. Ahkello Witherspoon intercepted a pass, but also gave up a touchdown catch to Alshon Jeffery. Witherspoon’s day was a wash. Collectively, this group allowed a passer rating of just 84.2, which is impressive. But Dontae Johnson committed a pass-interference penalty in the end zone and the Eagles scored a touchdown on the next play. The game pretty much ended after Johnson’s penalty.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F. Robbie Gould missed a short field goal when the Eagles blocked his kick, Bradley Pinion shanked a punt, Rashard Robinson committed two penalties on special teams and the Niners allowed a punt to roll into the end zone for a touchback when they easily could have downed the ball inside the Eagles five-yard line. That’s bad coaching.

COACHES: D. Forget the comparisons to the 1979 49ers — that team didn’t lose its first eight games. This team is reaching new lows. Kyle Shanahan seems completely unprepared to be a head coach. He should quit and go back to the Falcons – I’m sure they’d take him.

Shanahan demoralized his players with his pregame speech about the 1979 49ers a week ago. Before the speech, the Niners were outscored by only 33 points in five games. They played hard. Since the speech, the Niners have been outscored by 53 points in two games and a lot of players have gotten injured. They won’t fight through aches and pains for Shanahan. Can you blame them?

One bright spot on the coaching staff was defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. He had an excellent game plan, featuring creative pressure schemes that bothered Carson Wentz most of the first half. Good for Saleh. He’s learning faster than Shanahan.

This article has 581 Comments

  1. Grant, who is the future for the 49ers in your opinion? We have come to the conclusion that Buckner is the only one that you can point to and build around but do you see anyone else?

    1. All I got to say is thank God I don’t watch this CRAP they display from the Bay Area and even the Raiders are starting to lay an egg. But I still feel that the 49ers AND Raiders need to STOP THIS CRAP PROTEST JERK KNEEL DOWN and MAYBE just MAYBE they would do better. All the knee down does is MOTIVATE your opposition into beating you. Arizona game is a pick em with their situation on Stanton and they got a bye thankfully to watch what the 49ers couldn’t do vs. Eagles to help them maybe. I also thank NFL for FINALLY giving us a 2nd game this afternoon Dallas and Wash, they need to put more 49ers and Raiders at 10am.

      1. This crossed my mind before today’s game. Although I understood Kap’s original stance, and I’ll always support expression of our 2nd Amendment rights, I believe the protest is causing a lack of focus on the football field. You hear any of the great ones talk and they’ll state that this greatness comes from full commitment, investment and continuous improvement of their craft. I now believe that this protest is interfering with the teams commitment to get better.

        1. Expression of 2nd amendment rights? LOL. I bet you do. I wonder if the players are packing while they are kneeling. Maybe if they shoot the other team they’ll have chance at winning.

          1. Second amendment rights are not Carte Blanke. There are specific instances when second amendment rights do not apply. the military for one. During working hours for another. When you are getting paid and on the clock is another. Your choice is between being a private citizen or being an employee.

            These protest do not even make any sense. Protesting at an event should have some relationship to that event. For example protesting at NFL games would be valid if they were about issues related to the NFL. Wages, working conditions etc. Protests should be utilized when all other options are exhausted or the only means to bring an issue to the public attention, other wise those protests are goal displaced. That is the main purpose of protests.

            In this case none of those things apply. To protest the National Anthem is being done purely because it gets maximum attention. It is not like social justice cause it is supposed to be directed at has not been in the National or media spotlight. It has been constantly there so the rational that it needs to happen to garner national focus is not relevant. Is it related to the NFL or the players working conditions ? No! And even if it were the Players association would be the proper vehicle. Besides the players would never threaten their own source of income if it came down to it.

            Even players who are still protesting ” Reid” seem to acknowledge that the focus on the original issue has been displaced. Duh! Who with any sense could not see this coming. The means chosen in this respect has become a focus on patriotism . Of course those protesting continue to claim it isn’t about patriotism or being anti american. Well if you pick a Nationalistic symbol as the center of your protest what did you think will happen.

            Another thing that makes not total sense in respect to protests is the generic focus on social justice. Does it make sense to protest in SF for an issue that happened in Florida even if that issue is legit. Heck lets protest for world peace. I have actually seen people do that. They stand with signs on the side of the street protesting world conditions. Fine they can be stupid as long as it doesn’t disrupt or interfere with someone else’s rights. There are people protesting just because they want to excercise their right to protest. The right to protest becomes the issue rather than the reason. When the means becomes more important than the ends that is the definition of ” Goal displacement”.

            So lets protest the unjust treatment by a friend, who stole our property, at our neighbors yard because it’s more convenient being that the friend who did the deed has moved out of state. I mean we should protest that injustice somewhere. And while we are at it lets pick a neighbor with the biggest yard since it will allow more protesters . And lets do it when the neighbor is having a wedding reception because then it will reach more people. I mean the second amendment gives us the right. These idiotic situations parallel some of the rationals given by people obsessed with the right to protest at any time, any where for any reason. They are purely rational stretched to the breaking point.

            1. Sorry willtalk, you and hmsljj lost me at 2nd amendment. lol.

              What’s funny to me, is that you actually have recognized the very reason these players have chosen to kneel for the national anthem, “because it gets maximum attention”, yet you haven’t connected the dots as to why maximum attention is such an important aspect to any effective protest. There is a reason people use amplified audio equipment, or bullhorns when they address large crowds, rather than whispering into the wind. It’s hard to get your message across if you can’t be heard.

              As for the notion that kneeling for the anthem is some form of disrespect …. that’s a personal opinion, nothing more. You guys may see it as disrespect, while others may see it as respecting the rights of Americans to express themselves in a peaceful manner. The last time I checked, I haven’t been able to find any legal standing when it comes to cable or satellite TV providers, or the individual networks, guaranteeing you won’t be subjected to protests during the national anthem. And it certainly isn’t NFL policy to require players stand during the national anthem.

              If you are such an sensitive individual, I suggest you turn the channel, use the restroom, or grab a cold one during this portion of the broadcast, if you are so terribly offended. Or better yet, stop watching the NFL altogether. In fact, since the league is 70% African American, and many if not most of these African American players support their fellow players using their platform to protest social injustice and police brutality, I am not sure why you chose to subject yourselves to “the horrors” of peaceful protest by way of of kneeling, in order to watch the games in the first place?

              Personally, I’d love to see this country come together to address these problems that continue to plague our society, rather than dismissing these protest as “disrespectful”, and/or using the issue for political gain. I am confident that these protesting NFL players would love nothing more than to see our society take these issues head on in meaningful ways, and work to create real criminal justice reform, as well as equal opportunity for every American, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious beliefs. Our founding fathers declared that Americans have the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and our criminal justice system needs to reflect these values. Unfortunately, our criminal system is plagued by mass incarceration, and racial discrimination. The NFL has recently announced it’s support for these reforms. On Monday, 10/10/17, the league endorsed a bipartisan bill designed to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders, eliminate “three-strike” provisions that require life sentences and give judges more latitude to reduce sentences for certain low-level crimes. The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population but almost 25 percent of the total prison population. A significant percentage of the more than 2 million Americans incarcerated today are nonviolent offenders. African American men are far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms than white men found guilty of the same offenses. Our justice system is marred by vast racial disparities that stigmatize and target young black men for arrest at a young age, unfairly punishing communities of color (Ferguson, Missouri), while burdening taxpayers, and it comes at a tremendous social cost.

              Unfortunately, despite some bipartisan support, as well as lobbying by the NFL, along with other influential groups, we have a president (small “p”) as well as attorney general, and majority leaders in congress who have maneuvered to oppose the bipartisan legislation and refuse to bring it to the floor for a vote.

            2. Will, Kaep started the protests, and people talked about nothing else for a whole week, He was put on the cover of Time magazine, and his jersey went into the Smithsonian. He shined a bright spotlight on an ugly truth, and now we have seen changes being made.
              .
              Body cameras are now standard equipment, and they are being used to protect cops,along with the general population, by capturing evidence on tape. Police departments are now being taught de-escalation tactics, and have created non violent resolutions. Police have generally stopped using derogatory language and racial epithets because they know everything is being recorded.
              .
              These protests have effected change, so they may offend some, but the faux outrage looks silly in the end. They kneel as a sign of respect, and they do it silently and non violently. They are not spitting on a flag or burning the flag. The flag symbolizes many things. Kaep, and the other protesters are using the symbolism of the flag to right a wrong.
              .
              Maybe you could say that they need to use a different tactic that is not as divisive, and I will agree to that. I also think it is just the start. I saw a public service announcement advocating against Domestic Violence. Glad they are being proactive.

              1. blaming losing on the protesting is like blaming the refs.This is a no talent team with poor coaching

    2. I know garnett started off slow his rookie year but he still has potential to develop into a solid starter on the O line for the future. Maybe not all pro but a passable option.

      We still have yet to see what Foster can bring to the table. Who knows maybe he can solidify the middle of our defense? An elite LB behind our very solid D line could be game changing.

    3. Should have been Watson.
      We could have had a QB
      Instead we got a non game changing player in Thomas. He’s no Bosa, Mack,Miller etc
      Had to be that good to take 3rd overall with Watson Adams and Fournette still on the board.

      1. Watson would be getting his ass handed to him with the poor excuse of an offensive line that the 49ers have. He’d either get hurt seriously or totally lose his confidence if he was thrown into this mess.

        1. He would do way more-but either way it’s the overall draft.
          Take Watson first and draft at least 2 O line after. Was such an obvious need. They had enough on D to start with because it’s all Baalkee drafted good for 5 years.
          The draft stunk. Don’t care what anyone says. Lynch Whiffed. Millen 2.0
          Thomas was a horrible pick -HORRIBLE

    1. Hey Prime Time, there are 31 other teams to root for in the NFL. Me personally, don’t give a flying feather as NFL Is not my game anymore when they do the kneel down.

        1. Moses, I care less about Prime Time as he’s nothing more then a wine and cheese fan. Now hear me out:

          Giants sold their team, 3 World Series
          Warriors sold their team, 2 championsjhips

          Don’t you think York should get the message and sell this team?

        1. 0 and 8, Ribico, and you got NO LEG to stand on against me.a You 49ers fans are PATHETIC to root for a team that’s got CLASSLESS BUMS that kneel before our flag disrespecting it, disrespecting our nation, and shame on ANY FAN that supports this NONSENSE! This has NOTHING to do with football to protest our nation and show contempt and disrespect to the game, sport, and the fan. ANy of you that even THINKS of going to a 49er game in Santa Clara are a FOOL and your MONEY soon departed and you REAP what you sow! I hope the 49ers do go 0 and 16. I can’t wait for the Houston game to see the QB Watson gaslight this team, and he will for we got NO SECONDARY!

          1. Enough with this disrespecting the flag BS! The flag is just a piece of cloth. It represents ideals, and unfortunately, those ideals have not been lived up to, especially for minorities. No NFL player has said one word about disrespecting our nation. You haven’t a clue why the protest started and what’s worse, it seems like you don’t even want to know. If Nate Boyd, an Army Ranger took the time to understand what Kaepernick was protesting and the kneeling is cool with him, then I don’t know why anybody else should have a problem with it. Our military has fought and sacrificed so that freedom of speech would be preserved in this country. Then, when players try to express their freedom of speech, they are condemned? That makes a lot of sense!

          2. Your completely right and these players can exercise their right to protest their exaggerated spectacle OFF the field because everybody knows they do it on camera for show. They don’t have to say a word, everybody knows their actions are louder and nothing to do with their game, all show, pitiful and plenty disrespectful. But I would like the 49ers to start winning and let the league deal with getting the political grandstanding off the field.

            1. If you protest OFF the field, who even knows that you are doing it? The main reason that it has become such an exaggerated spectacle, ironically, is because of idiots like Trump, McNair and the overreaction of many people who don’t understand what the term “white privilege” means. Notice I said many people, not all. If people have the right to protest, it won’t be under your terms.

              1. If those are their exaggerated issues, what you describe, they can have at it like everybody else does to get plenty of coverage….the media, internet, walking the sidewalks with signs, town halls, marches, ect, ect…OFF the field.

              2. You know, Marc, I agree with some of what you say. They should get organized and come up with a plan to walk the sidewalks, town halls and marches. My guess is that they probably will. They won’t be able to do it during the football season but they can in the off-season. In the meantime, they’ll still be carrying on the protest on the field. Kneeling to the flag is not disrespecting it.

                http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html

    2. Shanahan is not a good head coach thusfar PERIOD. He’s been outcoached in every game. He’s stubborn and has a fragile ego-bad combo.
      He needs to humble up and learn fast. Or he’s going to fail.
      Speech was horribly ignorant.
      Thomas was a horribly bad pick.

  2. Women and Children to the Life-Boats!!!

    They won’t fight through aches and pains for Shanahan.

    Funny, but I do remember Reid coming back on the field with sprained knee. Bethard took a beating and could have faked any number of concussions. Hyde’s been out there with bruised ribs. Foster wanted to play but Shanahan scratched him.

    The Eagles are the best team in the NFC. Maybe the NFL. The 49ers did what under-talented teams do — hung for bit then lost.

  3. “Kyle Shanahan seems completely unprepared to be a head coach.” True.
    Anyone in this forum or in professional football that thinks that the Beathard is a starting QB is out of his mind.

    This team is not building up to anything…not this year, not next year, not the year after. This is a worse coached team than those we saw in the 2000’s, or under Tomsula and Kelly. Blame the previous GM for many things but not for the current mediocre coaching staff.

    1. Other than Russell Wilson, who is as slippery as an eel, who else could perform even competently behind this OL?

        1. Not Watson, not even Wilson. Sure they would get a play off here and there, but with there propensity to run, they’d probably get injured.

  4. How much time did Lynch, Shanny, Peters have this past offseason to assemble their staffs? A month when everyone else was hired?

    How much time did they have to assemble their scouting department and scouts? None cause they went off what Tom Gamble and the previous scouts did.

    If we are going to bioch and complain let’s at least get it right!

    1. Well the 49ers continue to not get a QB or a WR or RBs for that matter, defense continues to be a joke, removing somebody like Bowman for NO ANSWER doesn’t help the team. To me, this kneel down BS has to stop and getting fir of Eric Reid will be great and I hope they do. Jed York, please for the love of God, sell the freaking team already!

      1. Darren, do you really think these players are thinking about kneel downs one the first whistle blows? Com’on man…

        Coaches should be thinking about passing on Watson and selecting the late bloomer in the draft Thomas.

        1. Getting Kap and Reid was a big mistake in my opinion to have this kneel down BS and air out their issues. Kneeling down during the Anthem is very depasse and so very wrong. We never had a problem like this in 51 years of the NFL, and now all of a sudden, we have this garbage because they’re not happy about the President and probably having hope that the arrest coming up tomorrow will be somebody that turns on Trump to get rid of him?

          Getting rid of Reid will be great as maybe it’ll stop this kneel down BS.

          Guess we won’t be trading STaley n ow because of the eye injury.

      2. Lynch whiffed the top pick PERIOD.
        To think we could have had Watson.
        What a horrible pick Thomas was-there’s 20 other players that could have helped us more.
        Lynch had a sub par draft. The Trubisky pick fell to him -luck-and Foster fell into their laps. I am still unimpressed.

        1. Only three rookies have been nominated for Rookie of the Week more than Thomas. THREE. Just three.

          I think you’re talking out your nether regions and are yet another fan who, not getting what he wanted, has decided to view Thomas as a bust despite the fact that Thomas is one of the highest performing rookies this year.

          1. LOL
            They didn’t even need Thomas! He has been underwhelming!
            He’s not a game changer at the position. Just a “good” player.
            Watson is a game changer! Fournette is a game changer! I watched all the tape of college players the top prospects! Watson was far and above the best QB. They should have gone the opposite direction in this draft-Take Watson and a couple O line men! Build an O line. Baalkee drafted decent on D-offense is where he stunk! Cannot believe they focused the first 3 picks on D and then draft a serviceable back up. CJ is not a game changer!
            Lynch blew this draft. People will see that years from now. Thomas was a horrible pick! Watson and a couple O line men would have changed our fortunes entirely-but then again McVay was who we should have hired in the first place. Bet that is what he would have done. Terrible draft. Terrible terrible!

    2. Prime: I was thinking about the scouts this week. Was anyone let go from last year? It seems to me that these guys are still doing the scouting and will be putting together the reports or at a minimum culling the herd for Peters, Shanahan and Lynch. I guess I thought that most of them would be replaced before the college season began.

      1. It’s my understanding Gamble and most of the pro scouts were let go after or just before the draft.
        Most teams have their scouts do their work year round finding talent that they want and need.

        Now there is no excuse in missing on their first 2 picks but cmon, when we talk rebuild we are talking about everything from personnel to the players to the admin staff.

        1. They haven’t. Thomas is, literally, one of the NFL’s best rookies. He’s also, last time I checked, Top-10 in run-stops and TFLs.

          Bottom-line is that he’s rookie. He’s performing well for a rookie. He makes rookie mistakes. He makes some great plays, especially in run defense where we’re holding teams to 3.9 YPC and a big portion of that is because of Thomas. Almost every player people wanted to draft over Thomas has performed worse.

          As for Foster, he sprained his ankle then got a deep rib bruise. Then Shanahan held him out this week. What hasn’t happened was his shoulder blowing up.

  5. A sad spectacle. I particularly disliked KS wearing that hoodie to shield his face during the end of game handshake with Coach Pedersen. Pedersen looked sympathetically at KS as they chatted. Honestly, that scene made my blood boil. Have some self-respect.

    1. Maybe he was wearing the hoodie to protect his face from the wind and rain. Perhaps he had a cold or was fighting something. Did that ever occur to you.?

  6. Grant,
    Equating injuries to lack of effort is weak. Some might say you were mailing-it-in instead of doing analysis. This team is not good, but they have played hard and I have been impressed with the continued effort. I have seen teams quit on coaches before and that is not happening on the niners, yet.

    I have been watching Carlos Hyde closely on pass protection. I initially thought he was unwilling to stick his head into a blitzing linebacker. I no longer think that is the case. Carlos does not seem to see the rusher until it is too late and then he lunges and often misses. It is the same vision problem he has with the stretch plays, he does not see the cut back lane until it is too late. It is his vision that made Frank Gore such a great runner even when he lost elite speed, he sees the the hole (or the rusher) and quickly moves. I do not think that Hyde is a good fit in this offense. Trade him.

    1. Wow! Someone finally recognizes that Hyde might actually have a non correctable issue in respect to recognizing holes and defenders on the field of play. Not only do you have to recognize things visually but your brain has to process what it see’s very quickly. That was the problem that Williams had as a punt returner. He could not recognize and process information quickly enough. That is why he would never be even a decent punt returner. You are right about Gore. Vision is a very important factor which makes a good back into an elite one. Hyde is a straight ahead type of rb who has lost some of his power due to losing weight to get more quickness and speed. He did make a good tackle breaking run today. Haven’t seen that in some time. But it was breaking tackles from players from his side. He just doesn’t have the power to push the pile like Gore and Lynch had.

      1. will,

        Leo made excellent, factual points, you didn’t.

        “He did make a good tackle breaking run today. Haven’t seen that in some time.”

        Have you been watching? He broke 4 tackles last week.

  7. one of the biggest disappointments from my perspective was that KS, the offensive coordinator, did not recognize the peril at which his substitute tackles were placed in pass protection situations and did not adjust with an in-line TE or an off the ball TE or RB to chip or to double.

    the other half of that same disappointment was that KS, the head football coach, did not realize that KS, the offensive coordinator, did not realize the severity of the situation; therefore, KS, the head coach, did not inform KS, the offensive coordinator, to make the adjustment.

    the head coach has the veto power over the coordinators about any call and or game management.

    just shows that wearing two hats does not make you twice as smart!!!!!!!!

    1. mike: I suspect that KS doesn’t want to give up control of play calling to an OC. But couldn’t he bring in an OC, who could at least reduce some of his workload, even if KS continues to call the plays during a game.

      I asked this question during the offseason. I wondered if KS would have someone up in the booth to provide him with game intelligence from an offensive point of view. While at Atlanta, KS was up in the booth. It’s much easier to see the entire field from there than from the sideline and I wonder if that impacts his calling the plays.

      1. “But couldn’t he bring in an OC, who could at least reduce some of his workload, even if KS continues to call the plays during a game.”

        No, because all that preparation is necessary to understand tendencies, and be ready to call the plays.

        1. I suspect that once the offensive foundations for the team are set up he will bring in an offensive an OC. I can see why he didn’t want to do it this year.

      2. Shanahan doesn’t have an OC in name, but he has a large offensive staff and specialists in both the passing and running game. He has plenty of coaches, he just doesn’t have enough talent to work with.

    2. Mike does having a OC help when you lose both your offensive tackles?
      Or how about when your starting MLB and safety can’t play or gets injured?
      Does having an OC help your rookie QB?
      Or does an OC help you when the team you’ve taken over has zero to no talent?
      Just curious.

      1. I did not say he needs an OC; however, he needs a “senior” NFL guy with seniority who knows the game and who can provide him with insight and critical advice in various situations, such as YOU NEED TO HELP YOUR TACKLES in pass protection. Sometimes, those “elder statesmen” can provide valuable information which the head coach and/or the OC might miss during the heat of the battle, especially when you are on the sidelines. Eyes in the press box away from the action have a chance to see the big picture without all of the traffic and commotion. He’s just 37! Wade Phillips and Dick Labeau both have has been in the league longer than KS has been alive!!!!!!

        1. Totally agree. Just l
          like cubus I’ve been advocating for a man in the booth. He NEEDS a 2nd opinion to make an informed decision as a HC. He can still make the calls but he needs the feedback.

          1. Is the problem the play calling or is it the players dropping the ball, running incorrect routes and just overall new players in a new scheme?
            Add the fact Hoyer was junk and CJB is a rookie.
            Not sure an OC can help the real issues on offense.

            1. A new OC this season might actually be a detriment to setting up the offense that Shanahan wants to implement on this team. A new OC might create confusion in that respect. I think once he gets his offense installed he will bring in an OC next season. He needs to get the new OC ready to run the system as well. He can do that in the off season. He didn’t have time to do it this year.

    3. I believe that hubris has got the better of our young coach. He isn’t the first nor will be the last but his immense talent has made him blind. It is what helped to lead he and our other young GM to make poor decisions during FA.

      The signing of Hoyer (backup in a starter role), Garçon (a 2 in 1 spot), Goodwin (Speedster with limited catching skills), Hightower (a vet whose days were done) and others that many thought would turn the fortunes of the team around. The trade for Bibbs was another lost opportunity. The team moved up to draft a player that had quit once on a team (Baalke move in my view) and was in danger of not making the team prior to his season ending “injury”. The team picked a superfluous player when there were at least 10 other players who were comparable in terms of draft ability and may have had better impact.

      Sadly, it looks like a wasted year because the top player and the only player to build around is the exact same player from last year.

      I am thinking more and more that Shanahan is a very good OC but not that great a coach. JL is still being evaluated but he should have held on to Brooks and Bowman. There were no adequate replacements for either one.

        1. He’s better at setting the edge and better than anyone who is currently on the team.

          1. Brooks had a chance to make the team. He was benched the week before he was released because Harold was better against the run.

  8. How about the offensive genius and new GM not even considering taking Watson (and I fact dismissing his skills). The guy only took his team to 2 national championship games and showed a ton of accuracy yet all they saw was a 6’2” non white QB who couldn’t possibly be an NFL starter. Haha. Watson could put up the best rookie QB stats ever if he keeps this up. How’s that Thomas pick looking for you, John? This is how bad teams stay bad.

    1. Watson is doing well because he is getting the Dak treatment. CJB is not doing well because he is getting the Alex Treatment.
      .
      Watson is doing well because he has a stout O line, good RB and WRs, and a top 10 defense. Watson on this team would also have been 0-2 against the Cowboys and Eagles.
      .
      Many prognosticators and scouts had their doubts about Watson, and thought he might last until the second round. Sure helps to have talent surrounding him.
      .
      Cousins would never consider coming to the Niners because he would be bludgeoned behind that turnstile O line.
      .
      Sure hope Lynch is proactive and can poach an O lineman from a top 10 O line team’s player.

      1. It was too early to bring in a rookie QB. This team was not ready. No QB would have done well with this team. I would agree with you Seb that the QB who would have done the best win wise would have been Kaep. However, I agree with the Staffs reason for not keeping him. Long term he would have detracted from establishing the offensive system Shanahan wants to install. He pretty much stated that he wants plug and play players that fit into his offense. He stated that a unique QB like Kaep would be hard to replace if the offense were geared around his strengths. In the offense he runs the QB is plug and play and can be replaced by any competent pocket QB. This fits into the concept of long term competitive sustainability.

        1. Will, that plug and play argument is tedious. KS’s reason for not wanting Kaep was that his skillsets were dissimilar to Hoyer’s. Since Hoyer sucked, I am glad Kaep has dissimilar skillsets.
          .
          Plug and play? Like it has never been done before? Bowman studied for 3 days, then he was green dotted, called all the plays and made 11 tackles.
          .
          Whenever a QB goes down due to injury, the backup has to start cold turkey. It is not impossible. Each QB is different, and just because Kaep has skillsets that few other QBs possess, it does not mean they give up and do not even try. Yes, Kaep has unique skillsets, but that is a positive, not a negative.
          .
          Even if Kaep were signed tomorrow, I do not consider him the long term solution, unless he takes the league by storm. I still want the Niners to draft a QB, and the possibility of Cousins coming here is more than remote. They can structure his contract in many different ways. They could make it a one year contract. It could be a -prove it- contract, with a promise to renegotiate if it a good fit with winning.
          .
          Establishing an offensive system is more than finding exactly what one wants. Sometimes, one needs to play the hand dealt to him. It is a sign of a good coach to be able to take any QB, and make him better. A smart coach plays to the player’s strengths and hides his weakness.
          .
          Maybe that is why I am so critical of KS. He is too stubborn, and there are no players on the Niners with the skillsets of Ryan, Freeman and Jones. He needs to hire an OC, because he seems to be overwhelmed, and an OC could not hurt an 0-8 team. The sign of a good coach is one who can make wise assessments, and quick, effective adjustments. A great coach can do that many times during the game, and find that winning strategy.
          .
          Competent pocket QB. Those are rarer than hen’s teeth. The Niners just were defeated by 3 mobile QBs these last 3 games. Cousins, Prescott and Wentz all used their legs to avoid the pass rush, move in the pocket, roll out from the pocket, and convert third downs to extend drives. Cousins used the read option to score the winning TD.
          .
          Nice try, I have heard them all before. Posters who declared Hoyer was superior to Kaep just lost all credibility with me. At least you admit that Kaep may have been able win some of those games.

    1. Grants telling it like it is.
      Shanahan thus far has been out coached in every game.
      He’s stubborn and has a fragile ego.
      Bad combo.
      Don’t fool yourself making excuses.
      This is not looking like a good head coach In any way shape or form. Better hope he humbles up and grows fast. Or it’s gonna be a looooooong 6 years.

      1. He isn’t in a position to coach yet. He doesn’t have enough pieces in place to do so. Most of you are not seeing the big picture here.

        1. Big picture is Lynch is Millen 2.0
          The draft stunk.
          Baalkee had drafted a lot of decent d the last 5 years. Enough to build on.
          We needed to go the opposite direction in the draft!
          Take Watson and a couple solid O lineman! Jesus the pieces are not there because they whiffed this draft horribly!

      2. Not really. You can say it, but the fact is that this talent-devoid roster has hung-in for 5 of 8 games and were a few unforced errors/rookie mistakes from 5 wins says he’s a hell of a lot better coach than you and the rest of the peanut gallery give him credit for.

        The Raiders are 3-5 and are vastly more talented than the 49ers. With a few bounce or fewer mistakes, we have that record. And if we get all the lucky bounces we’re 5-3 with a joke of a roster.

      3. According to Grant, they players won’t play hard for Shanahan. Yet:

        Brandon Fusco barely could get out of his uniform due to a biceps injury and gutted his way through Sunday’s game

        He was also limping most of the game. Hard to see Grant ‘telling it like it was’ when, clearly, he’s making things up. Unless you think Staley should have come back out with a broken skull and Ward with a broken arm, Thomas with an MCL…

        Because those are injuries you don’t ‘gut out.’

  9. LOL, I predicted Grant would give the coaches a C-, and he gave them a D.
    .
    I think the coaching was fine until the last 2 minutes of the first half. The Niners even considered time outs to be precious, so they saved them for the last 2 minutes. That was good, but the play calling was too predictable.
    .
    The game turned on that pick six. Niners just defeated themselves again.
    .
    I fully expect CJB to have a concussion. They beat him like a pinata, and his head bounced off the turf way too many times. CJB better learn not to stick out his tongue while he throws. Some DE will hit him while he not expecting a blow, and he could bite his tongue off.

      1. No, Prime, you were the one wishing Kaep to be injured. I am merely stating what happened. I advocated rolling CJB out so he would not be sacked so much. I was advocating a strategy that would help preserve his health, by using his mobility. I also do not want him to bite off his tongue, so I am concerned for his well being.

        1. You should just be quiet, you have no idea what you are talking about.
          Go pom pom for Kap to win his collusion case cause he aint ever gonna play in the NFL again.

      2. So what? What good did Kap ever do, or Hoyer, or this guy CJB? Time to stop getting these high school QBs and get some real ones that are not afraid to pass, get over 300, and make an effort. All the mistakes Hoyer and CJB do is like woe is me, I didn’t do my job, I’ll go hang my head the rest of the game. Then the 49ers <prime, keep playing Insanity in doing the same thing over and over: No QB, no WR, no RB, no play calling, no coaching, no defense, I don't care if you think this D is improved, secondary is still garbage, which means that ever one of our opposing teams needs to pass more, unless they got an Ezekial Elliot for RB. What's the point of spring training or draft day? The 49ers trade picks that they need and get NOTHING out of it. They need to pick what they have and quit screwing around.

  10. Last week someone tried to tell me you can’t compare the ’79 49ers to the ’17 49ers due to different eras and different rules that favor the offense.

    The funny thing is that all those rules changes have been made to help offense, yet the 2017 squad is on pace to score 42 points less.

    Shanahan is in over his head and so is Lynch. None of the guys they brought in are making a positive impact, and the future looks bleak.

    1. Hammer if the 49ers had a great draft and free agency period in 2011, why can’t they do it next year and turn it around?

      1. Their current HC can’t sniff the jock of the one they had in 2011.

        One was a leader of men. The other is a good coordinator.

        York won the PR battle with the hire. The Rams won the real war with theirs.

        1. Ironic that the Rams HC came into a ready made team like Harbaugh.

          Yeah Harbaugh was a good coach for that particular situation in SF many years ago but he is a terrible coach because he has a shelf life.
          And he never won the big one cause he went with his egominstead if his brain.

          Give Shanny and Lynch time, they will turn it around. They just have to hit it 100% on next years draft.

          1. Ready made with a QB everyone thought was a bust.

            With a good head coach this 49ers team isn’t winless.

            Please show me a Head Coach in the salary cap era who won 2 games or less his first year and then became succesful with that team.

            1. What does the salary cap era have to with anything?
              How about Jimmy Johnson with the Dallas Cowboys?

              1. The salary cap era has shifted the way teams are built. Players move around to fast for multi-year builds.

                Johnson built that team pre-salary cap. It’s no fluke that other than the first 2 years after the cap era hit that the guys with the biggest money haven’t been winning Super Bowls.

              2. Like who? Which players out there are signing one to two year deals?
                What player/ players are shifting around from team to team?

                This regime has had one draft and one free agency period and both were the worst they have been in the last 5 years.

                Yes, building through the draft is the only at this gets better.
                I’m seeing unnecessary criticism for Shanny and Lynch when this thing hasn’t even taken off.
                If next year at this time we are 0-8, then pointing fingers at them is warranted.

              3. “building through the draft is the only at this gets better.”

                That’s a fallacy.

                In no particular order it’s the draft, free agency, and coaching.

              4. The criticism on Shanny is that he is a scheme/system coach.
                He is building this thing through a particular type of player to fit his scheme on offense and defense.
                That’s why the 49ers are terrible this year and why it’s gonna take multiple years. He does not have the players to fit his scheme.
                I said earlier in the week most coaches come in and devise a scheme tailored to the strength of the personnel. These guys are doing it the opposite way. Unconventional, of course. But that explains the 6 year contracts.

                This year isn’t about how good or bad a coach or GM Shanny is. This year is dedicated to identifying what they have and what they need moving forward.

              5. “He does not have the players to fit his scheme.”

                That’s false. Hoyer, Garçon, Robinson were players with previous experience with him brought in for that very reason. The draft with Kittle and Taylor was also to get players who fit his system.

                So many excuses being made for this guy.

                If he had just instilled discipline in this team they would have a few wins under their belts.

                And my criticism isn’t only at Shanahan, but Lynch as well.

                So much talk about how he’s turned over the roster. That bad receiving group they had last year is worst this year. No help brought in along the oline. His draft stunk, and the FA’s he brought in have done nothing to help win games.

              6. Jack

                “If he had just instilled discipline in this team they would have a few wins under their belts.”

                When Lynch was not disciplined for not running the hill in training camp is when I became suspicious of discipline and it has proved out all season.

              7. Once again you are asking a new staff to turn around years of poor drafting and developing players.
                I asked you what players were drafted from 2011-2013 that were impactful? None of those guys are on the roster or playing in the league anymore.
                From 2014 to 2016, one guy, Buckner, that’s it, what does that tell you.

                They turned the roster over with 30 new players and it’s still not enough to rid the ineptitude of the previous regime.

                It’s gonna take multiple years.

                Sit back and relax.

              8. “They turned the roster over with 30 new players”

                And none of those guys have made a solid contribution to this team. Hence the 0-8, worst in the history of the franchise start.

                Keep defending it. That’s fine. Jed and Co. thrive on fans like this.

              9. Were you expecting a quick turnaround and ridiculous prediction of 9-10 wins like these other pretenders?
                I trust Shanny and Lynch to get this right. This has nothing to do with Jed York.

              10. Jimmy Johnson made a killing rebuilding the Cowboys with the Herschel Walker trade with the Vikings. No way a trade of that magnitude exists or even is a moment’s thought in this era of the NFL.

              11. “Were you expecting a quick turnaround and ridiculous prediction of 9-10 wins like these other pretenders?”

                No. But I also wasn’t expecting the team to set a franchise record for futility, or be on pace to be among the organizations 5 worst offenses in terms of points scored since the expansion to a 16 game season either.

              12. And when you defend or support Shanahan/Lynch you are doing the same with York. He’s the one who made the decision to hire them.

              13. Dang Prime– I can’t believe you and I are on the same page on this. You are right about this situation. The other posters are just too impatient. It is akin to the parable about the three little pigs.

                The FO and staff are looking for long term sustainability. That requires them to lay a foundation that will take time before any results are actually seen. It took the pig that built the house of bricks much longer to finish because for one he he would had to lay a foundation first. But it was the only house that withstood the wolfs blows. The house of straw and sticks were built fast but were blown away when the wolf came.

                Not only do they have to lay a foundation, but they must also clear away the residue of the previous building that stood on the spot they want to build on.

      1. Shush! CfC! You might rouse the Shanahan apologists! Don’t you know that the team is in rebuilding mode (like an expansion team really – I wonder where I heard that back in training camp blogs???)! He has a long term plan, the enlightened can see it but us dummies cannot for we do not have the secret decoder ring.

        I don’t know how this guy became untouchable but it is fun seeing the comparisons to Bilichik, Walsh and others. This is from a guy who has yet to coach a winning game! Wish I had that kind of pull.

  11. “Brian Hoyer is a better quarterback than Beathard.” That’s debatable. Hoyer may have had 5 fumbles today.

    “Speaking of Cousins, why on earth would he would want to sign with the 49ers?” Never underestimate hate as a motivator. Snyder and Allen are tools.

    “The 49ers’ five active receivers combined for 50 yards. That’s got to be some kind of record.” Nah, remember last year’s Bears game?

    “He should quit and go back to the Falcons” As seb would say, pure hate. Agree that his speech was a bad idea.

  12. There seems to be a problem with the fan base as well as the team. Partly it is members of the team kneeling and partly it is fan disappointment with the teams performance. KS has a system that is complicated in both terminology and execution. There is a learning curve. You need the talent and that talent has to be able to do what is expected of them. that is not happening on two levels. There is very little experienced talent on this team and some of the newbies have a problem learning the system. There is little or no consistency of play. The QB sucks and KS should go back to Hoyer. Hyde is a great back, but not suited to this system. As they learn the defensive side of the ball seems to be improving each week, but the mistakes are killing them. You need 11 all doing their job and not 10 and one mistake that kills you. I think that KS and Lynch will do a good job of improving this team. They need a couple of good drafts and some good free agent signings to get there.

  13. Butler and Brock are free agent CBs from the Patriots and Rams. One or both would be a reasonable upgrade to what we have.

  14. I just love after 1/2 of a season it has been decided that KS is a bust as a head coach and should go back to the Falcons. That demonstrates a lack of vision and patience. The team has not quit, it is just bad. Replace the Cowboys o-line with the Niners o-line and the Cowboys offense wouldn’t look much better than the Niners. This teams needs a huge injection of talent.
    How do you judge how good CJB is after his second start? Aikman, Elway and Bradshaw were terrible their first year in the NFL. They were on horrible teams and had no chance. I am not saying CJB is as good or even close to as good as any of those players, you just can’t judge a QB his first year on a horrible team.

    1. 49er42– Also once the Dallas line got old and he lost Smith, Aikman reverted back to his ineffective self. His production before he retired due to concussions was terrible. No QB ( except for freaks ) can do well in a system that gives the QB little protection. The 49er fans especially have been spoiled by the illusion that Montana made the 49ers a great team He was a major part of that Dynasty but the team was as much responsible for his success as he was for it’s.

    2. Lynch is more a bust at GM
      The draft was horrendous.
      All sub par players aside from Foster who has “fragility” concerns thus his drop.
      This team needed an offensive draft not defensive! Baalkee drafted D okay.
      Take Watson and build an O line! ThT should have been the plan. Then finish the D and get some last pieces.
      Thomas was a horrible pick!

    3. Obviously a youngster by the name Josh McDaniels never crossed your mind, although he did start off with a better record than KS, but soon plummeted and is back in N.E.

  15. Another helping of worthless analysis from Grant Cohn. Trying to pat himself on the back while ignoring the fact he’s been wrong about pretty much everything he predicted.

    The Niners are awful and still aren’t as bad at their job as Grant is at his.

  16. There are still posters (or should I say posers) who still believe Soloman Thomas was a better pick than Deshaun Watson. There will be people on this board saying Watson’s sample size is too small. Yeah, right. There will be people on this board saying he has no arm strength or bad mechanics. Yeah, right. They will say his legs are too skinny. Yeah, right. They say wait till he plays KC’s and Seattle’s defense. Yeah, right. Lots of people thought Joe Montana was too slight and had no arm strength. But hey, we have Soloman Thomas and not the next Michael Jordan of football.

  17. Yeah I wanted Watson or Fournett..It’s hard watching Watson in Seattle throwing all over on them..With our o line would it happen ?probably not but man this team is abysmal,and I knew it then and know it know..taking Thomas at number three was the worst pick ever..Dude is an average player not a number three pick..There is not one playmakers on this team but Buckner…wasted pick after wasted pick..Keep thinking your smarter than everyone like Baalke did and this is what you get..Meanwhile back in the day when we were picking early Sm would pick and no one was suprised..It was like yeah he’s a great player the whole country could see it..Gore Vernon davis.blah blah blah year Baalke and Lynch pull crap like Jimmy Ward and Saloman Thomas..no wonder we’re not getting anywhere..You don’t pick an ok player at #3 damnit you pick a game changer! Not Saloman Thomas!Deshawn Watson is in Seattle as a rookie throwing blows with Seattle even if they lose he has hope ..We have none

  18. This team is painful to watch, and i’m already looking to see what product we put on the field next season.
    I never had big expectations coming into this year and have felt since the 4th game that Shanahan and Lynch are evaluating which players they’re bring back next year.

    I agree with Grant on why would Cousins want to come here and face a beat down every week. If Cousins wants to win Washington is his best option. Plus, I’m not completely sold on Kirk being the player to get this team over the top.
    This team need to solidify their O-line in the off season. Saquan Barkely, Darnold, Rosen, Faulk, Mayfield, J.Allen or any high-end college player will not succeed behind this O-line.
    If our O-line were Matadors they would superstars!

    1. Cousins is in no way worth the price he will command in free agency. Just watching him play he shows to be a good QB but not someone who is a super star difference maker who can carry a team on his back. His cost as a free agent will cost resources that could be better used on other positions. If they want a QB they need to draft one. That draft pick would only get them a player or two at most and they wouldn’t be worth the ultimate long term cost on the cap hit signing Cousins would require.

  19. Did anyone besides Grant think that this team would win 9 games?
    I’m sticking with my 2-3 win prediction.

      1. Frankly, the Niners did have a legitimate shot to win 3 or 4 of those less than 3 point losses if they were more disciplined and did not create so many self-inflicted errors…….penalties, drops, fumbles, protection mistakes, missed tackles etc. were enough for them to lose those games, and that is on them, not the opponent. First rule when talking about winning is not to worry about defeating the opponent but DON’T BEAT YOURSELF; however, Niners do it week in and week out!!!!!

        1. I think most of the fan poster negativity is a result of disappointment from having too high of expectations for this season. Realistically it should have been one akin to an expansions teams. Probably that really applies to Grant. He is probably trying to defend his predictions on the premise that the potential was their for his inflated win total, but it is purely because of coaching incompetency that it didn’t play out. Fans do the same but in their case its based on their own wishes rather than the reality of the teams being in rebuild mode.

    1. Leo Nomellini

      You asked, so I’ll answer…YES I was the first to predict a 10-6 season…SO WHAT ? I couldn’t give a rip for all of the “Hindsight is 20 /20 ” crybabies on here…I told you so…(3x) It’s so easy to hop on board a 12-4 team and say you knew all the time….Well, here we are folks….0-8. This is OUR team ,unless you decide to abandon ship….I hear that the Patriots are still accepting Bandwagon jumpers…..You don’t like Kyle Shannahan..? John Lynch…? Jed York…? Unless you have an anchor in your a$$, seeya’ ….Call back in six years and see what’s changed. If you’re ONLY interested in ‘W’s, take my word for it, there won’t be many of those for a couple years. Once we start winning again, I’m sure we’ll see you coming ’round again with your “I told you so” Only two teams play in the SB, so there’s still 30 teams to jump to and still come up losers…

      ONLY interested

        1. I called for 4 wins, and with half the season gone already, be lucky if they manage to beat Ari and NYG.

      1. Finally, a voice of reason.

        I don’t understand where all the negativity is coming from? It was obvious this year was boom or bust. There have been many positive things each week from this team…if it weren’t for a dearth of talent, those close games would have been ‘wins.’

        I do agree though to trade Hyde. RB’s are a dime a dozen, and I’m looking forward to Joe Williams next year. Also…dropping all those passes today…can’t have a stone-hands RB in a Shanny offense.

        Lynch and Shanahan will turn it around, if you guys don’t want to wait for it, have fun elsewhere.

  20. Easy number one pick you take Barkley..I’m done picking potential players..pick a god damn playmaker!Not a tweener with a good combine and one good game..Barkley and o line..That’s a start

  21. Grant, your ego is running your miserable little life. You brag when you are right, which is hardly ever, never publicly apologize for when you are wrong, which is 99% of the time. I wish they would trade you for a bag of Ding Dongs, which you are the human version of. You seem to actually believe that you know football better than these men who have spent their lives in the inner circle. You only know the computer, your smarmy little banty rooster attitude and your incessant need to build yourself up. Your insecurity is epic and it shows in most of your self promoting cynical comments. God I wish I could meet you in a private alley and beat the crap out of your weasly no muscle toned thing you call a body. How about setting up with me?

  22. http://www.knbr.com/2017/10/29/witherspoon-beathard-make-impact-in-winless-season/

    “I was never able to apply something on film into live action, so that was exciting for me,” Witherspoon said of the reason behind his third-quarter interception. “For it to actually happen and for it to be beneficial, it was huge.”

    During the week, Witherspoon noticed the Eagles receivers’ favored “dig” or comeback routes out of their bunch formations. So Witherspoon sat on the route and broke to pick off the Wentz pass.

  23. While I completely understand the frustration of fans watching these 49ers get blown out the past two weeks and fail to record a win yet this season, I can’t help but laugh at how quickly people have decided the new GM and HC are completely out of their depth and write off pretty much every player on the roster. Did people somehow forget this team sucked and this was a rebuild? Seems like there were and continue to be unrealistic expectations for this team.

    Now I don’t think either Lynch or Shanahan expected to be 0-8. In fact I think they thought this team may have had a chance to be competitive. And you know what – those ideas weren’t completely unfounded. As much as people like to mock Shanahan’s comment about how the team could have been 5-1, truth of the matter is they really weren’t far off winning any of those games. If the team was 2-6 right now, would people be thinking differently? I wonder.

    The Eagles and Cowboys are good teams. The schedule gets easier the next few weeks and we will see if this team can continue to grind after two blowouts, or whether this has knocked the wind out of them. I don’t think people give enough credit to just how deflating losing five close games in a row must have been. The Cowboys game was always coming, and in fact I expected it the week before. This game they were just out classed by a much better team. Next game against the Cards will be telling as to whether this team is improving or not.

    1. Cards had a bye week and I’m sure they watched this game on TV. Stanton has beaten the 49ers before.

      1. And the Cards may well win again. The 49ers are bad. But we’ll have a much better handle on the mindset of the team after an 0-8 start (do they still want to play hard or are they done for the year?) and where they are at playing against another bad team than playing against one of the best teams in the NFC right now.

    2. How deflating is it to get blown out twice in a row? Well, we will find out next weekend. The thing is Scooter is you want to see the team taking steps that are positive. The team seems to be regressing and the close games only mean that the team had some good things go their way. Adversity doesn’t make these guys winners though as they seem to crumble. They just set a franchise record for starting a season with losses. That’s also important to remember.

      1. The team did take positive steps through the first six weeks of the season though. All of a sudden they get blown out twice after that against two good teams and everyone is up in arms saying this team is so incredibly terrible, the GM and HC suck, blah blah blah. This team is no different from the one that started the season 0-6, with five straight defeats of 3 points or less. That is also important to remember. Yes, it sucks they lost all those games. Yes, that is proof this is a bad team, because that is what bad teams do. But at the same time it shows some kind of promise to have played the way they did for six weeks. The let down really shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone, yet it appears to have been.

        1. All I’m sayin is that Lynch and Shanahan are not above being criticized. It seems because of name, youth, poor former management, yang players (many of which they picked) they get a pass. I don’t think so. They can and should be criticized for poor production.

          I am not calling for their hide. I know this may take awhile, but I do expect to see better than what i have seen.

          1. To criticize you have to understand the objective first. Wins was never the objective this season. Are they still on track for what they intended to do this season. This was always to establish there system and evaluate how well players fit in and play within that system. They have had more than their share of injuries that has hindered the evaluation process. I am not disappointed. What would be disappointing and discouraging to me is if they went off track from their plans and catered to a win now mentality. They are still staying the course.

            It makes no sense to criticize what you don’t understand. That is what I am reading here.

        2. The team that was on the field the past two weeks looked like the same one as the previous 6 to me. Not everyone agrees that this was a team making positive strides because they were losing close games. The only thing keeping the score close the first 6 games was that we weren’t fielding a College quarterback like they are now.

      2. We played the #4 and #5 offenses, both of which are mostly healthy, in the NFL in the past two weeks. With a defense that is, frankly, playing mostly 2nd, 3rd & 4th stringers. And I mean 2nd, 3rd & 4th stringers on a bad team, not second stringers on a elite team, like the 1974 Steelers, full of future HOFers to keep the boat afloat…

        I think the team knew that. Knew that they’d have to play over-their-heads (and close to flawlessly) to have a chance in either game. They’re not stupid. They know they’re a bad team full of rookies. But, for the most part, they’re still playing to win.

        What I don’t get is why fans think differently.

        1. MosesZD

          I am in total agreement with you….For this ‘team’ to show up for practice gives me hope, that they DO believe in their future and that it will be brighter….otherwise it’d be like standing in line to get your a$$ kicked. Miracles happen, but not that often…we’re not good enough to collect a pile of wins now, but we’re going to get closer with more and better practices…and familiarization with Kyles system. Hey, he won with Cousins and Ryan….just like Çhip’… he needs a high end QB. Before that though, he needs an Oline to keep that QB upright…GoNiners….

    3. How about we talk about injuries and how that’s working out for the 49ers?
      But never mind us, WSH has injuries along their oline and look what happens to them.

      Losing both your tackles and reserves and then expecting your rookie QB to do something, yeah let’s blame Shanny and Lynch.
      FMe!

      1. Ok, but that has been an issue for the last couple of years. If Chip hadn’t suffered those LB injuries last year and to key DL players maybe things might have turned out different for him too. They didn’t and fans held him accountable for the product on the field.

        Somehow Shanahan gets a pass. I don’t get that. I am not looking to can the guy. I think he should have the next year’s to see how he progresses but so far he isn’t instilling a tremendous amount of confidence either.

        1. Chip should not have been criticized for not turning a pigs ear into a silk purse. The thing is that he was a victim of a general house cleaning. Fans also criticized Kaep constantly for the failures of the team offensively. They also blamed Gabbert and Hoyer for certain things beyond their control. Were they great QB playing on a bad team? No! But the expectations put upon them were unrealistic. You can not really do a realistic evaluation of a QB if they do not have at least decent players around them. This is more true of the QB position than any other. QB are never as good as a great team around them makes them appear, or as bad as a poor team around them makes them look.

          1. “You can not really do a realistic evaluation of a QB if they do not have at least decent players around them.”

            So you can’t evaluate things like ball placement, touch, mechanics, pocket awareness, and going through progressions?

  24. Kio i expect your post will be removed much like mine was earlier. Grant can’t handle criticism. He is thin skinned and weak.

  25. Bwahahahaha! 0-8! That’s Jimmy T laughing at everyone. Who’s the coach with the most wins for the 49ers in the last three years? YEap….Jimmy T. Grant Cohn and his cohorts of jesters can’t write worth beans. Tell it like it is GRANT the team is worse today than 3 years ago. Shanahan will be just another GENIUS who will be thrown to the wood pile. You writers never question the guys HORRIBLE play calling. Shanahan is way over his head here. I’ll we heard from the scribes all summer was ARMSTEAD looks amazing, Jimmy Ward set to explode, Hyde ready to rumble, How Hoyer was great fit….blah blah blah! Guess you scribes got it wrong COHN!!

    0-16 coming!

    1. Come on Darren– I totally think those kneel downs are inappropriate but that is a separate issue and should not be integrated into the conversation about the effectiveness of the teams play. That is for the very same reason that the protest are inappropriate. Sports and other issues should be kept separate.

      This is the same reason I often defended Kaep against haters who criticized or disliked him because of choices he made in respect to his personal life. A persons job should be kept separate from their personal life. My problem with Kaep and those kneeling follows that same criteria. They need to keep their personal lives and opinions off the field. We, as fans, also should follow that same principle. I don’t care what views a player has ( whether they agree with mine or not ). That is their business and my evaluation of them as a player should not be effected one way or the other by that.

      It’s called objectivity. The lack of objectivity and creating double standards for different people is the foundation upon which bigotry and prejudice are built.

  26. What can you say about an offense so bad that they rival the worst 49er offense I’ve ever seen.. Granted they do have injuries on the LOS but Kyle needs to at least adjust based on what personnel he has. What is the only remote 49er strength on Offense? Their running game…

    Kyle flat needs to commit to running the football the majority of time. They cannot pass for two reasons. One, the line cannot protect and two, Beathard is as inaccurate a QB as I have seen in years. He makes Colin Kaepernick look like Dan Marino..

    Memo to Kyle: We accept that this is a difficult turnaround but please don’t embarrass us with an inept passing game.

    1. “granted they do have injuries in the trenches” .. My man, that’s the understatement of the year… For all the injuries, no good replacements at backup

    2. Don— If you say they should commit to running the football then they would have to abandon their long term plan of instilling their offense and evaluating players in that offense. It would basically throw the rebuild into the toilet and gear the team towards immediate wins.

      Bottom line is that those fans that are being very critical do not want to wait for the results of a total rebuild. They want to patch things up with quick fixes just for the sake of immediate wins. That is reflective of an immature immediate gradification attitude that is prevalent in today’s society. What will those type people do when things really get hard in respect to things that matter more than sports. They crumble because they are soft and spoiled.

  27. I just don’t understand the totally pessimistic outlook. This new GM and HC took over a 2 win team and replaced over 30% of the roster.

    Grant officially gave Thomas 3 games to become an all star, said Hyde should’ve been cut in training camp, raved at how good Hoyer looked in camp and has now decided after 8 games that Shanahan can’t be an HC.

    Good thing Walsh, Jimmy Johnson and Landry didn’t have Grant as an owner. They were 0-7, 0-7 and 0-8 to start their careers. He would’ve dropped them immediately. Some times patience is necessary to achieve greatness.

  28. what is with all the injuries? Bad conditioning, bad technique , or just bad luck? never seen anything like it…must be bad technique

      1. Lets not forget that it was bad coaching that made the players not guard the goal line on that punt they allowed to get into the end zone. It’s not like every player who plays on special teams has never been taught how to play that sort of scenario. They got suckered by the punt returner into playing to close to the returner and not guarding the goal line pure and simple. Yet Grant chooses to put it on the coaching rather than player error because it creates justification for his exaggerated win prediction. Its not about objectivity in this case, but justifying personal spin.

  29. The 49ers are a horrible team top to bottom. If the coaches were better, the 49ers would have won at least one 1 game. If the players were better, the 49ers would have won at least 1 game.

    Kyle Shanahan was at the bottom of my coaching choices. Living in DC and having family from Ohio, I know how fans viewed Kyle. It was generally not in a positive light. I did not believe he could lead a team. As long as he has the right players to fit his scheme, he will do well. Developing a scheme around the players he has is not his forte. I would rather have had a leader as head coach who hires a great coaching staff than a head coach who thinks he is the coaching staff. I hope Kyle learns to lead and delegate as he will only go as far as his coaching staff takes him. I hope that the 49ers have restructured their scouting department and are able to identify better players.

    1. “as long as he has the players to fit his scheme he will do well” LOL… Lil buddy, you just described the entire NFL.

      1. Frankly, the Niners did have a legitimate shot to win 3 or 4 of those less than 3 point losses if they were more disciplined and did not create so many self-inflicted errors…….penalties, drops, fumbles, protection mistakes, missed tackles etc. were enough for them to lose those games, and that is on them, not the opponent. First rule when talking about winning is not to worry about defeating the opponent but DON’T BEAT YOURSELF; however, Niners do it week in and week out!!!!!

        1. also, Steelematic, a guy like Belichick can take any players and come up weekly with schemes offensively and defensively to fit his players…….that’s coaching and evaluation and utilization of your players…..that’s the difference between the average joes coaching and the great ones!!!!!!!! even when the 1979 Niners were a hapless 2-14, Walsh’s pass offense was in the top tier of the league because he had the ability to design and to TEACH a pass offense scheme around DeBerg’s skill set and the rest of the team.

    2. Frustrated– I thought that was the purpose of this rebuild. To create a team with the players to fit his scheme. You are stating the obvious. It was exactly what Lynch and Shanahan stated they were going to do. Your problem is not with the ongoing success of the process, but the objective of the goal itself. You do not want a rebuild. You want them to fill in spaces to make the team competitive as quickly as possible.

      Your name frustrated says it all. You are not willing to wait but want things now. Though sh!t. You will have to wait. Did your parents always give you everything you wanted as soon as you requested it? Lynch and Shanahan are the coach and GM and they will do things their way. Niner fans sound like a bunch of spoiled yuppies.

  30. Even schmu schister in the mix…all the guys killing it in college are killing it in the pros imagine that…and of all the top twenty guys we draft the guy with one good bowl game and a good combine..and we wonder why we look like a cfl team trying to compete with nfl teams…hmm its a mystery

  31. We passed on the top 15 players to draft a questionable 1 game wonder..geez why are we so bad?

    1. You mean Thomas who has been nominated for rookie of the week three times? Through Week 7, these are the NFL’s top-rookies

      4 – Hunt
      4- Fournette
      4 – Watson
      3 – Thomas
      2 – Cooke
      2 – Garrett
      2 – A. Jones
      Watt
      Cohen
      Carson
      Hooker
      Bowser
      McCaffery
      Elliot
      McGwire
      Kamara
      Johnson
      Latimore
      Jackson
      Howard
      Adams

      As you can see, Thomas is actually one of the NFL’s top-rookies with only three rookies ahead of him in Player of the Week nominations. Also, FWIW, he’s Top-10 in TFLs & run-stuffs. He needs to work on his pass rush. But he’s far, far, far, far better than the ‘Thomas is a Bust’ crowd will ever admit.

      I think the real problem is that you, and so many other bitter fans hate him, and refuse to acknowledge he’s actually playing pretty well, because you didn’t get your draft choice… That’s your problem. He’s showing he can play in the NFL and he’s helped the 49ers run defense move from 32nd to 13th this year.

  32. I’m not ready to call KS and JL bad hires yet,it will take years to get out of the hole Baalke created but thier first draft has been just like Baalke…Horrible..Soloman Thomas pick will haunt this team for years..him and Armstead are garbage.. they literally could have just gave up those picks and had the same result.. Horrible picks

  33. IJust wait till Garnett gets back..Oh wait just another wasted pick..Get a grip fellas..coaching ,gm ,owner you can’t keep throwing first and second round picks in the trash can like this franchise has the last four years and expect to be successful

    1. I think you need to get a grip. You’re ranting to the point of absurdity , ork doesn’t make the picks nor does he cut them, yet you blame him for the picks.

      1. Prime: I’ve known several people who were really good at a technical aspect but aren’t necessarily good leaders of men. I think KS is not a natural leader but that doesn’t mean he can’t become one. I think with good players his offense will be very good, because you can see glimpses of it in games. I do think he needs help in the form of an OC or trusted guy up in the booth (maybe he has one there, but I haven’t heard anything).

        Either way, it’s too early to say. I am certainly not calling for his or JL’s head. Top priority in my book is to get that OL fixed next year. Like I said in an earlier post, I think the only keepers are Trent and Garnett (with the jury being out on Garnett). Staley is probably gone. I just hope we can find enough good people. Our OL has been in decline every since Goodwin was not re-signed or replaced with an equal center.

        1. Same knock on Walsh. Same knock on Belichick whom, when Kraft hired him, was told by Model (who’d fired him) that hiring Belichick was a big mistake.

          OTOH, very few of us thought the Singletary hiring was a huge mistake. No, lots of rah-rah around Mr. Yells A Lot… While some us were wondering why a completely unqualified guy was being brought in to replace Nolan.

  34. Simple mindset and it all starts with York and Maraag..Put someone in charge that’s easy to deal with..Then when were choosing Jimmy Ward other teams are choosing Odell Beckham..Were choosing Eli Harold and other teams are picking Dak Prescott…We’re choosing Salomon Thomas when other people are choosing L Fournett D Watson and J Adams..Man How could anyone have guessed that Watson or Fournett would be this good?Maybe by solid years of play in the hardest conferences in college football….No let’s take the guy from the softest conference with one good game…Yeah that’s the ticket!

  35. Seems pretty simple to me..You keep drafting bad players your gonna have a bad team..Doesn’t take Einstein to figure that out..No one around here knew how to scout since Scott M….I’m no genius but I could have told you along with 1 million other people Thomas was a horrible pick for #3..Beathard and Joe Williams and Akillo Witherspoon were all horrible picks and I’m just an average couch potato who watches tons of college football..But yet professional scouts are recommending S Thomas over proven guys like Fournett or Watson?!Sign me up cause I can make just as horrible decision for that amount of money..Funny thing is I think I would pick way better players than Lynch or Baalke

  36. Earlier in this thread … was a great discussion on
    Shanny wearing the two hats … and after thinking about it..
    I think I may have come up with a solution …

    How about Shanny bringing in his Dad to wear the other hat ?

    (the positives I see ..)

    1. Big Shanny knows how to recognize other teams tendencies …
    2. He knows how to watch tons of film on the next opponent
    to allow him to see what other teams are doing …
    3. He knows his son’s offense .. and can help players
    actually play it …
    4. Who else would know what l’il Shanny wants to do ?

    I dunno … whaddya guys think ?

    (It would be like deja vu all over again for his Dad)

  37. Wow… Just Wow. A forum full of cry babies. Once again, these guys told u in February when they were hired, they are trying to build something. Key word, BUILD. They tore this piece of crap Trent Balkee called a team and had to band aid the damn thing. This roster is a roster full of plug ins and expiring contracts so they can bring in 53 of their own guys. Not 28 not 29 nor 30, but 53. And then you doubt this man as a coach, why? Because he’s running the least talented team in the league. Look at Atlanta, that team had talent, now look at it. Oh how they wish they still had this man. And for you harbaugh nut huggers, the San Francisco 49ers had been building this team for 6 years before he got here. He won with Nolan’s Guys, Sings guys Mccloughans guys, heck even some of Balkees guys. He had vets that were built together, he had leaders that became leaders by losing and learning to win as a team. He just happened to be the right coach at the right time. Because when all those guys started leaving they kept losing because balkee didn’t restock the cupboard well enough. Now what u have is a depleted organization that had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Jesus people, get over yourselves. It’s game 8 of 6 years. And Grant you sound like a fan, not the blog runner, saying this man is in over his head. It’s pathetic. You sound like Paul Gutierrez trying to get back to the raiders on ESPN. Degraded this team everyday.. Now they aren’t going to win alot but by God at least I know the difference in trying to win and looking this bad, or trying to put a foundation together and looking this bad. Because for some reason harbaughs last year and the previous 2 years, they have tried to win, and looked this bad. Thanks but I’ll stick with my current regime. #hardtimenow #greattimeslater

        1. Steelematic– This guys might know something about various aspects of the game of football , but they know very little about establishing organizational foundations. This is why it took everyone so long to realize that Baalke was going to destroy the franchise. They are as clueless as he was.

    1. Harbaughs last year the team was 7-4 heading into Thanksgiving and “The Tweet”.

      Nice try though.

      1. 8-8 is a let down from 13-3.. Not a nice try Jack it’s the freaking truth. And your blaming a tweet on losses. Grow up

        1. Very uncharacteristic of Hammer and his criticism.
          He’s usually pretty level headed and real on his assessments.

        2. “Because for some reason harbaughs last year and the previous 2 years, they have tried to win, and looked this bad”

          Last time I checked 8-8 was quite a bit better than 0-8, and headed towards worse.

          That 2014 season was on life support from the beginning. Despite the reports that the FO had tried to trade him, Harbaugh had kept that team together. They got throttled by a better Seahawks team, and the tweet from York left no doubt that he’d be out at the end of the season and things unraveled from there.

          I wouldn’t say that a Tweet was the reason for the losses, but it sure didn’t help that the leader of the team had just been undercut like that.

          1. 8-8 with no playoffs after a 13-3 season is garbage. Especially if you had just went to 3 straight nfc title games.. title games that were earned by vets, and leadership that had been together for 3-6 years building that team. And u compare it to a run of the mill stripped down team with rookies and not really ant veteran leadership.

      2. “The Tweet” So this team started losing because an owner wrote a tweet. But if harbaugh was the master motivator, leader of men, or any other good given being, he could have given a speech to make them ignore the tweet. Since he’s that much more of a leader than Shannahan. Who told his players about the 79 49ers and started losing badly, as Grant put it.

        1. My ripping of Shanahan and saying he isn’t a leader has nothing to do with that speech, and everything to do with the fact his team leads the league in penalties, drops, and does the same stupid stuff week after week.

          1. So it’s the coaches fault. That wide open guys drop the ball, or that guys like Robinson probably leads the league in pass interference calls. Oh I get it, it’s Shannahan’s fault that these guys play undisciplined. Because he doesn’t take them out in Practice or make them run wind sprints. Did it ever occur to you that half this roster isint starter level in the NFL, hence the reason these guys won’t be here next year. But I get it’s the coaches fault, not the players

              1. Blaming the coach because the players, who are actually on the field fail to perform.. pretty awesome

              2. Jack your my coach and you coach me correctly, but I take my no starter talented behind on the field and screw up every week, yes that’s your fault. Thanks for instilling me the facts of how to lose football games. Even though I’m the one doing it, on the field performing. Great coach you are.

              3. “Jack your my coach”

                If I was your coach I’d bench you for not knowing the difference between your and you’re.

      3. Harbaugh is a good HC, but not great.

        He’s a prick. That’s fine sometimes, not all the time. Not fine when Bolden has to calm you down. I’m sure Harbaugh’s sideline antics got some BS flags thrown at us.

        York is pathetic, but you can’t embarras the owner in front of the team and his wealthy D-bag friends. That’s just common sense.

        And of course, the biggest mistake of all. He chose a gimmick QB over Alex Smith.

        1. If the reports are accurate, had Harbaugh been in charge Smith would not have been traded.

          1. No he was the one who decided to give the starters job away based on injury.
            That was his first mistake. The second was thinking a running QB was going to win him a SB.
            The irony is his brother taught him the lesson. You never lose your job due to injury.
            Harbaugh tied Baalkes hands. Harbaugh was the one who advocated for that has been. Of course they had to trade Smith. Once the front office backed Harbaugh and saw the results, that’s when they started to under cut him.
            I would have too. Dumb move to go with him. Look at Smith now.
            Worse trade in franchise history.

            1. “Harbaugh tied Baalkes hands.”

              He did that by winning games in spite of Baalke not being able to bring in talent after 2011?

              “Once the front office backed Harbaugh and saw the results, that’s when they started to under cut him.”

              Again, if reports are true they tried to trade him in the offseason prior to the 2014 season. Harbaugh was coming off a run to the NFCCG. So they wanted to get rid of him after he gave them success?

              1. Hammer, the 49ers knew Kap was limited and he was not going to sustain that type of success.
                They also knew Harbaugh was wearing everyone down.
                No way they could continue with both.

              2. You’re right. It was a genius move on Jed’s part. The success since that separation has been so great to watch.

              3. Baalke suffered from OCD syndrome. That is a disaster for a GM. It appears that many of your probably have the same problem and that is why you are clueless as to it’s negative effects. It didn’t matter who his coach was he was going to destroy the franchise one way or the other.

            2. Worse trade in franchise history?
              .
              You do not have a clue. YA Tittle was traded to the Giants, and Charles Haley was traded to the Cowboys. Both won championships on their new team. Alex cannot even get into a SB.

              1. Because Crabtree and Williams. Let’s be clear, Smith out-played every QB who went up against the Giants in 2011, including Tom Brady. Had Crabtree & Williams not drug the team down with multiple dropped passes and two muffed punts, we’d have played the Patriots in the Super Bowl, not the Giants.

                In fact, if you look at Smith’s playoff performances, only once has he had a sub-par game. His teams lose on defense or stupid mistakes made by other players.

          2. “If the reports are accurate…”

            He still would have started Kap, as he did the year before when Smith was cleared to play. If JH were still here, Kap would probably still be starting.

              1. Yeah but that would be over 4 years. His shelf life runs about 3-4.
                So that was never going to happen.
                Let’s be clear about Harbaugh, the players also wanted him out in SF.

              2. “the players also wanted him out in SF.”

                You know this how? I know of comments from only one player that support this and he was more show than go.

              3. “You know this how?
                I mean if you don’t know Harbaugh’s history by now and need a quote, then what more can I say.

                If you think Harbaugh could work with this talent and make them competitive then good on you.
                In 2 years when Shanny has assembled “his team, with his talent”, and I guess we will see if all this crying from fans like you is warranted.

              4. Simply asking you to back up what you said. Anyone can just make crap up and throw it out there.

                What I know about Harbaugh’s history is that he wins everywhere he’s been, and only one employer was dumb enough to fire him. The two moves prior were part of working his way up to bigger and better jobs.

                What’s kinda odd is we have people crapping on the coach who brought the most success to this organization in the last 20 years to defend a guy who hasn’t won a damn game, and his team does the same stupid crap week in and week out.

                With the last two guys everything was about how bad they were, now it’s about the roster.

                Shanahan gets a pass because of his daddy.

              5. I’m not sure who these other people are that you are referring to as
                “we have people crapping on the coach who brought the most success to this organization in the last 20 years to defend a guy who hasn’t won a damn game, and his team does the same stupid crap week in and week out.
                With the last two guys everything was about how bad they were, now it’s about the roster.

                For me its always been about the roster. Even when Harbaugh was here, he and Baalke never drafted well.

                You are giving Harbaugh credit for winning a lot of games and that’s true. But he also came into a ready made team when he took over.

                My point is, of course this is about the roster. When you have whiffed on the last 5 drafts, this is the result. 0-8. Tomsula, Kelly and now Shannahan are all victims because of it.

                Who is saying Shanny gets a pass? He was hired not to come in and produce a winning program day from one like Harbaugh was. He was hired to build his own program, with his own draft picks and given multiple years to do it.
                Ownership obviously wanted a complete remake from years past. Who thought that was going to happen in one offseason when again, they have missed on the last 5 drafts.

                Ive been very critical of this past draft by the new regime but it would not have mattered who they drafted last year, there is so much void talent on this roster, no one looks decent cause the 3 other guys lined up beside them, should not even be on a NFL roster.

            1. Harbaugh’s record everywhere he’s been speaks for itself. He’s one of the best HC’s in the game and it’s not debateable. I keep reading about how he had this ready made team when he arrived in SF and that’s complete BS. They had a few excellent players, but a number of others who were journeymen and no answer at QB. The team he took over was lousy and with no offseason due to the lockout, he took them to the NFCCG in year one. He then proceeded to do it again the next two years. His final year, he was dealing with a constant spate of rumors from the front office, injuries all over the place and he still got them to 8-8. He had a lot of success with Kap and wanted to keep both he and Smith, but Baalke who was in charge of personnel (some conveniently overlook that) traded him which at the time was not a bad move. Kap’s collapse came post Harbaugh so this revisionist history about how Harbaugh made a mistake is just flat out wrong. Since Harbaugh’s departure it’s been a death spiral for the 49ers with no end in sight. Anyone trying to diminish Harbaugh’s accomplishments is either extremely biased or a moron.

              It is also way too early to decide how could of a HC Shanahan can become. There was a massive amount of turnover on the roster and new schemes to learn from scratch. The talent level overall is poor and the Oline is in shambles. No one likes to see losses pile up but this is what happens when you start over and have no answers at key positions across the board. Nobody is above criticism but there has to be some level headedness when assessing why things are where they are. Shanahan is one of the best offensive minds in the game. He will eventually get that figured out. There is some talent on defense but no #1 pass rusher or CB, so that will have to be dealt with. It’s going to take time so I suggest those of you counting on some kind of miraculous quick fix, lower your expectations or find another team.

              1. “There is some talent on defense but no #1 pass rusher”

                LMAO. And these guys just drafted a D lineman with the 3rd pick in the draft.

              2. Yeah Thomas is not a top pass rusher, at least from the outside. He was mostly a 3T at Stanford so I’m guessing that is where he’ll end up full time eventually.

      4. If a Tweet caused you to go 1-4 over the last 5 games as a head-coach… You don’t belong in the NFL.

        1. See above…

          In Harbaugh’s worst season the team won 8 games. In the 2 1/2 season since the team has won 7.

          But yeah, he doesn’t belong in the NFL.

          Damn fools.

  38. on guys the 9ers cant win every super bowl chill let it play out a few years with the HC because if they will win u will be like damn he good , I told u they will win , this is the best draft yet or something like that u see only those comments when they win lol

  39. Can The City buy the name, history and colors of the 49ers and get an expansion team? Then the Yorks can run The Silicon Valley Chips and the new 49ers can bring JH back. There … solved!

  40. Oh … and forget Cousins. He’ll be 35 or older before this team is decent.

    Keep losing and the solution is simple (but ONLY if you do primo drafting). 2018 draft, first best QB prospect and then OL OL OL. Free agency DL OL. Then in 2019 WR DBs. Lots of ’em.

  41. All this arguing..and same simple facts …Bad drafts bad teams…Juju just went off for an 80 yard touchdown..Geez who would have ever thought he was going to be good?Just another playmaker the Niners didn’t pick
    .Let’s take Akillo weather spoon instead

    1. This ‘we should have picked this guy posts’ are stupid. Every clown in the world can go back, post draft, and say where everyone went wrong and how stupid their GM is… That includes the GMs of all 32 teams that passed on Tom Brady for 5 rounds. Belichick wasn’t a genius for doing that, he was lucky.

  42. You guys are some jokes. Grant your some loser who seriously believes hes a mastermind. Get off it dude, grow up. I can tell you never been punched in the mouth before. The only football yall watch is whatever is on the local channel. No perspectives. Shanahan is an outstanding play caller, and has time to build the team the right way to sustain success. When were balling out in 3 years, remember you were trying to run him out of town. Yall make me sick for real. Ward can’t ever stay healthy, Foster can’t stay on the field. Armstead is a bust, Soloman is improving, yet slowly. Years of bad drafts and this is the result. Period. Wait til Shanahan builds the offense this offseason, drafts top end talent. Hes done A GREAT JOB WITH BREIDA, TAYLOR, AND KITTLE. Yall are completely missing the facts of this past off season, and fixing the run defense, without Foster and without Bowman. FOH
    You can bet we won’t miss this coming draft, Rosen out of UCLA and another trade for one of the top WRs coming out. The dude from Notre Dame is more gifted than any WRs coming out the past few years. Never gets a chance to shine tho. Shanahan and Lynch are directly connected to our past, they get it. The majority of yall weren’t even watching football last time we won a SB. They get it, yall don’t, and your ignorance shows your intelligence.

  43. Jack hammer your an idiot
    Go root for Michigan then. You act like u know what’s up all time, it’s pathetic. Go suck Grant off while u at it

  44. It’s a huge mystery…there are some suprised but for the most part the big names in the pros were the big names in college..And we take Saloman Thomas and you guys are blaming Shannahan..Just funny to me

    1. What’s funny is you unabashed hate of Thomas. Seriously, the guy is one of the top rookies in the NFL this year and you’re acting like he’s a bust.

  45. Here’s a crazy idea..Maybe if we draft the playmakers from college we might have players in the pros..We draft projects who are unproven and everyone is up in arms..Jeez maybe we should have taken Fournett or Watson instead of one hot wonder Thomas..We might have only won two more games but we’d have hope and something to build around…Now we have a Sahara desert outlook with no one to get excited about..Jeez wonder why

  46. Harbaugh inherited a supremely talented team. Choked on the goalline in the SB. Didn’t add one impacrful player. Even with all that talent, it was ugly wins. Barely 200 yds passing a game.
    Wait til Shanahan restores real 49er football, record breaking offenses. I’m gon get back on here and remind u lames your comments. Til then I’m done this blog has pissed me off too much. I’ll take Shanahan and Lynchs vision over anybody right now, understand gonna take a few years. Any great coach u think u know, had great players to work with. This is the NFL, you need talent. Foh

  47. Wierd I’m just an average guy on my couch who watches college and the pros and cons antlers find myself looking at other teams who pick guys from college who are consistently productive and say..nice pick…but every time the Niners pick I’m like why???????No wonder we’re no good….No matter the gm since SM this team is the most horrible at drafting period..Eli Harold?!!!30 other teams are still pulling productive big name starters at that point..Looks like Lynch is copying Baalkes draft notes he left behind

  48. Pretty simple another wasted draft…Foster was a no but made of glass..he’s played one game and I’m more excited about him than Saloqueen….he might be made of glass..Niners haven’t had a good draft since Scott McChloughan..I don’t care who you hire..as long as your dirt bike runs like crap you ain’t winning any races..And instead of getting the best race Piston for their bike the 49ers choose the second best handlebars

  49. With the #2 pick we shouldn’t draft Barkley or a QB..We should draft another d lineman from the pac 12 ….Cause defense wins Championships fellas!

  50. Some may say that criticizing this team is unfair. I say that they are really not trying hard enough to win. Also, a team that is 0-8 deserves to have some second guessing.
    .
    First of all, it all starts at the top. Too bad Jed will refuse to grow up. He needs to be a leader, not a shill for the league. He may say that he does not think Kaep is being blackballed, but he is part of the collusion. Hoyer? No way in hell did Hoyer deserve to be placed ahead of Kaep, and my prediction came true. Hoyer would pull a Gabbert.
    .
    Next, starting with Free Agency, the Niners did get some decent WRs, but they whiffed on getting a decent FA – O lineman, They tried to go cheap, with cheap results. With 62 mil in cap space, it was miserly to skimp on fixing the O line.
    .
    Then they decided to blackball Kaep. I could write tomes on why they blundered, but 0-8 says it all.
    Now they have CJB, who should be examined for concussion induced symptoms. Eagles were impressed with CJB. They said they hit him with everything they had, but he still got up and competed. Still, his cranium endured many vicious blows, so the accumulative effect, coupled with the beating he took the week before, makes him a good candidate for the concussion protocols. If they keep playing him, and he incurs another massive hit, he may suffer severe consequences. Saying he is just fine and he is perfectly healthy after being beaten like a pinata, is why the league is in such a mess about CTE. Denying the effects of concussive blows, just makes the game more dangerous.
    .
    Back to the autopsy. The draft brought Solomon Thomas. I like him. He has an explosive first step and a high motor. It is unfortunate that he suffered a knee sprain, but he will be a starter and contribute for years. Additionally, trading back gave the Niners 2018 second and third round picks, so no one can assess the draft until those players are chosen. Overall, this draft was a success. They got 3 defenders with the first 3 picks, then picked up good talent later. My main quibble was that they did not avoid the unforced errors. They should have been more patient, and saved their later picks instead of moving up to select CJB and Joe Williams. Both those players would have been available if only they had waited.
    .
    Still, the draft was a huge success. It is unfortunate that Thomas, Foster and Williams became injured, but Witherspoon, CJB, Kittle, Trent Taylor, DJ Jones, And Adrian Colbert all played last game. Pita was inactive, but still on the roster, so all those draft picks have contributed.
    .
    Then came TC. It was interesting to see KS have the QBs roll out and throw on the run. Glad they finally rolled out CJB last game. He showed good mobility, escapability and used his legs to gain first downs. Back in the TC, I questioned the decision to go without an OC. Hindsight has proven me right. No OC and an 0-8 record. Even back in TC, Grant was mentioning that Hyde was not a good fit and Bowman looked slow. Sure wish they had retained veteran leadership, but they jettisoned many Niners from the 2016 squad. Guess it was their prerogative to decide to move on from many players, but it was telling to see how many players got signed up quickly onto other teams. Instead of cutting them for nothing, they should have traded them away. Maybe even bundling them to get a higher pick.
    .
    The team went through TC and the cutdowns were brutal. Still, the team had promise. If only they had not gone all emo, and decided that they would rather not win with Kaep instead of losing without him. There were 4 games that were very winnable, but Hoyer just could not lead them to victory. CJB started off well, but once the other teams game planned against him, his flaws were exposed. CJB proved that he was rated 215 for many reasons.
    .
    Now we are at the halfway mark. The coaching has proved to be lacking. They need to coach up the basics, and put players into positions so they can succeed. Forcing players to adapt to a scheme instead of adapting the scheme to the players, may have been the difference between winning and losing. Playing players out of position is all on the coaching. The coaches need to prepare the players better, and make them flexible to adapt to any situation. The HC thinks he can wear a cap and hood in the rain, but we all know why he wants to be as incognito as possible. The team, while struggling, has shown vast improvement over last season. With better coaching, the Niners could be competitive. If only Lynch would keep his word, he could easily improve the QB position. If the Niners truly want to win, Kaep is a phone call away.
    .
    The Niners are poised to face 2 teams with very beatable squads. Kaep would give them the best chance to win, and the only real reason to not sign him is to tank for a good draft position. The hatred against Kaep is not a good excuse to blackball him, because he is for social justice. Conversely speaking, the haters are for racial profiling and police brutality, and history will not be kind to people espousing those kinds of views.
    .
    KS, with an 0-8 record, is not above reproach. I wondered before the season, whether we would get the first half KS, or the second SB half KS. Now we know.
    .
    I was wondering if KS could be flexible, or rigid. Now we know.
    .
    Will KS make honest assessments and the proper adjustments? Time will tell.
    .
    I hope KS does 3 things. I hope he concedes the need to get an OC. I hope he fits the scheme to the players, and I hope he can concede that he needs QB help, before CJB gets sacked 9 more times.

      1. I know you advocated for Trubisky, who just lost, and could only lead his team to 3 points the game before.
        .
        Trubisky is only starting because Glennon sucks worse.

      2. And what do you know?
        I a gree with Seb that Kap would have given 49ers a better chance at winning.

      1. Seb-ninny

        YOUR little world may revolve around Kaep…………OURS does not. Sheesh, a S.F. Jim Jones follower if there ever was one………….

  51. Team needs a complete overhaul on the OL. And also the secondary. Ward is never going to play close to a full season.

    1. A position group can go south very quickly. Just think of how much Staley has regressed in just one year and multiply it. One of the problems was that people were so concerned with blaming Kaep that they refused to see the decline of the O-line. It began to show in 2014 and really became evident in 2015. The line was always over rated. They were never that good at pass blocking and Gore made their run blocking seem better than it actually was. The O-line in 2015 was at least as bad as it is now, but the Kaep haters closed their eyes to that fact because acknowledging that would have detracted from their criticism of blaming him for all the Niners offensive woes. So now all of the sudden the line is bad. Well it has been bad for many seasons and could not be fixed over night. Even Staley needs to now be replaced. Players get old and their abilities suddenly take nose dives.

  52. http://www.espn.com/blog/new-orleans-saints/post/_/id/28259/rookie-marshon-lattimores-legend-grows-as-he-seals-saints-fifth-straight-win

    “I just knew they were going deep and I just made a play on the ball. I had a pick earlier that I dropped and I had to come back and make a play for the team and seal the deal,” said Lattimore, who admitted that he has a checklist in the back of his mind of teams like Chicago that passed on him with the first 10 picks of the draft.”

  53. Interesting. Before the Texans- Seahawks game, all but 6 Texan players knelt down.
    .
    I wonder why?

      1. Does prison have anything to do with race? Bad choice of an example on his part but anyone he could have given would have been dissected and criticized. He could have said letting the “lunatics run the asylum”. I am sure that would have gone over big. Or perhaps he should have said “let the students run the school”, but then they are already doing that. Or “letting your children run your household.” The whole thing is just silly when we have to watch our words that carefully.

        I don’t know this guy or if he has racist attitudes or not. All he did was use an often used available platitude. The statement in itself tells you nothing. Of course people will use any means to promote their agenda. Nothing like throwing a little guilt to get an advantage.

        1. It’s a common aphorism. It dates back at least a hundred years and originated in cult-classic movie that wasn’t about prisons or blacks or anything else that these kneelers have decided it means as what it’s really about is a reversed (bottom-up) power-structure.

          There are tons of those pity/moralizing expressions in the English language. FUBAR. SNAFU. It’s not over till the fat lady sings. Life’s Tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late. Lord, what fools these mortals be! To err is human, to forgive divine.

          We even have modern ones:

          “The first rule of Fight Club is–you do not talk about Fight Club.”

          “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”

          “Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”

          1. “The first rule of Fight Club is-you do not talk about Fight Club” We can argue the First Amendment and every individual’s rights forever and ever and judging from those who post here, you all probably will. But the reality is that by not keeping all this BS in house, the NFL has suffered immensely. Doctors have a saying (I let Moses tell me if it’s an aphorism): First, do no harm. Not bad words to live by.

            1. Which was the harm? The innocuous statement or the childish protest? Stick and stones… and all that…

  54. It is very clear to me that Niners should have kept Kelly and Kap and instead got a good D-Coord, and a good GM like Scot McCloughan. Shanahan is out of his league in terms of coaching and Lynch has made quite a few questionable draft picks.

    1. That would have been one way to go but I think Chip was just collateral damage to getting ride of Baalke. It would have been hard to get a competent GM to take the job unless they had some input into who the coach was going to be. York pretty much stated it was a top priority for the coach and GM to be on the same page.

      I would have liked to see what Chip could have done, but I understand why they went the way they did. All this was set up by the bad Baalke hire. He just was not suited to be a GM. Wrong type of personality.

      1. You are right maybe the bad Baalke hire set the whole thing in motion
        I think McCloughan would have come back with Chip as the HC
        But I understand the decision

    2. Terry Donahue got all A’s and A-‘s for his drafts by fans and the press. THey were virtually all failures. Truth is, that it takes years to determine whether or not a draft was a good one. And McCloughan, despite the rose-colored glasses, wasn’t any better than Baalke. He tons of failures.

      2005: Smith & Gore and that’s it for quality players.
      2006: Davis & Walker were the only really good players with Lawson being ‘okay.’
      2007: Willis, Staley, McDonald, Goldson & Brown. Really good draft.
      2008: Round 1 Bust (Balmer), Round 2 Bust (Rachel), Round 3 Bust (Smith)… Morgan the only good player.
      2009: Pass dropping ‘possession WR’ with little big-play potential — Crabtree. The rest ‘bust.’

      Nothing personal, but that’s not much of haul there. Twelve NFL quality players in five years. With Baalke:+

      2010: Davis, Iupati, Bowman.
      2011: Aldon Smith, (Kaepernick if you want him), Culiver, Hunter, Miller
      2012: Bust city. Just one player worse than McCloughan’s 2008 draft.
      2013: Reid, Dial could argue about McDonald & Carradine if you were desperate to win.
      2014: Ward, Hyde, Borland, Lynch (till he got fat and lazy), Johnson (a good nickle, not a good starter).
      2015: Armstead, Tartt, Brown,
      2016: Buckner and too early to tell about the hold-overs (Garnett, Robinson, Burbridge).

      Baalke’s bigger problem was more with roster management. He decided to become “Mr. Draft and Develop” and let more good players go in FA than he could replace as he let his early success go to his head. Had he been smarter about FA, things would probably be a lot different right now.

  55. I can’t get the image of Chip Kelly outta my head, jumping an inch off the ground and pumping his fist in delight when Kap scored the 2pt conversion last season to beat the Rams, effectively giving the number one pick to Cleveland. So a bunch of ppl who are not even with the team anymore could feel good for a night. You wanna blame the current management for the number 3 pick, who IS flashing signs has a run stopper and an interior pass rusher? Blame it on that pathetic victory.

    On a different note Breida, an undrafted free agent, is probably the teams best weapon, especially as a receiver. He has great burst in the second level, kicking up dust. That also shows the state of the team tho, coming into this year. Please tell me who we are more talented than? That’s NOT coaching

    1. Honestly?

      We have a better offense than the Giants, Dolphins, Browns and possibly the Bears.

      Our defense is in the bottom-five scrum with the Redskins, Texans and Cardinals with the Colts being the worst. The Browns are not much better.

  56. I’m still trying to look at this team as in a rebuild stage – the infancy stage. I have game pass and I watch it over again and again to look at the problems. Ive seen one decent qb in hoyer and one that might be in the future, not franchise qbs. I see what could be a very good running game! ive seen the tight end and several receivers coming along little by little. while they all are still making mistakes at this stage they are developing. Ive seen pretty much complete failure in the oline from the start. its where we have to build first!! this is where the offensive franchise is built! its the very foundation. nothing can stand without it! we must build it with the best in football – and we must have quality depth there. this is where we must have the supermen! when you have this, then you look for a qb. this should be our only focus with our top picks and in free agency – the oline! we need at least 4 top starters. if you disagree with me, go back and watch the ganes again. without these players we cant get to stage 2 in year 2 on offense. I’m talking about the kind oline that picks up the blitz and pushes the defense backwards for the rbs to run over them. just my opinion.

    1. James- Makes a lot of sense, But it is just easier to believe that changing one player will solve the problem rather than being objective and thinking one has to replace a number of O-lineman. Fans in general are immediate gratification junkies and prefer illusion and quick fixes to reality and long rebuilds. So lets just blame the QB for everything.

      1. well they blamed hoyer for a bad team and screamed for cj beathard to be the hero and found out that cj has to play for the same team that hoyer did. its just gotten worse I feel bad for the rookie and I feel bad for hoyer. forget what fans think, I’m wondering if lynch and shanahan are going to make the right moves and rebuild that oline this offseason. they closed their eyes last off season and tried tp patch it up. we need a top oline so we can give our qbs and rbs some hope and a real shot.

        1. Some did. Some didn’t. Hoyer was, because of his penchant to throw unforced picks and routinely inaccurate passes, a problem. That’s something you expect out of a rookie. Not a guy who was brought in as a poor-man’s game manager.

  57. Agree with your grades Grant, but think you are being too hard on Beathard.

    He may or may not be the answer, its difficult to make any objective appraisal of him under the conditions he finds himself in.

    Hoyer got 6 starts for the Niners to prove to the world that he was, in fact, the seriously average journeyman QB that the world already knew he was.

    Beathard should get at least the same amount of starts to prove whether he can improve on those negatives you highlight,

    Also, Hoyer managed to lose 6 games at the start of the season against relatively easier opposition, at a time when there was still a spark of enthusiasm in the team (call it hope, call it denial, whatever…). Beathard’s 2 starts have been against Dallas and Philly, two teams that will make decent inroads into the post-season, and playing for a Niners team that is decimated with injuries and players that are either exhausted or have given up. Give the kid a break!

    1. brittish, if you hire and average journeyman – that’s what you get. they didn’t pay for a big time 30 million starter but that’s what you expect him to be. you make excuses for beathards play and you shouldn’t because you cant find any for hoyer. I can simply watch any one of the games this season and see that both qbs are decent and competent. under the circumstances that’s the best I can judge either. its gotten worse since the qb change, and we cant expect different because we didn’t fix any problems with the change. just my opinion.

      1. they didn’t pay for a big time 30 million starter but that’s what you expect him to be.

        Not sure I ever said that. In fact, from what I had seen of Hoyer before the start of the season I expected anything but a big time player.

        My excuses for Beathard were simply to point out that if people are going to evaluate the relative merits of Hoyer vs Beathard then its surely only fair to give them both the same crack of the whip – as far as is possible?

        Personally I think the Hoyer vs Beathard debate is a massive red herring. There are far bigger problems that need to be fixed first. And I doubt that Beathard will even make it to next season the way he is being beaten up each game.

  58. Shanahan demoralized his players with his pregame speech about the 1979 49ers a week ago. Before the speech, the Niners were outscored by only 33 points in five games. They played hard. Since the speech, the Niners have been outscored by 53 points in two games and a lot of players have gotten injured. They won’t fight through aches and pains for Shanahan. Can you blame them?

    Couldn’t agree more and I made exactly this point the day after the Dallas game.

    Why tell a room full of players (and a lot of rookies and players with potential careers ahead of them) that they aren’t the players that Shanahan wants on his team a few years from now. Even if its true he should’ve kept that to himself. I feel like that could be a rookie coaching mistake that wont play out well for the rest of this season.

    1. He doesn’t know that. He asserts it. Grant’s observation is pure fiction. and despite his assertion, they don’t fight through the pain, they have been fighting through the pain. They can’t fight through broken bones, torn ligaments and ripped muscles. Nor can they fight through concussions.

      As for the so-called ‘demoralization’ the truth is far simpler than his fiction. The 49ers lost to the teams with #4 and #5 offenses in the NFL. Two teams with elite offenses beat up a team with a marginal defense that’s good enough against ‘so-so’ offenses but can’t hang with the elites.

      That’s the reality of what happened the last two weeks. Not Grant’s pointless, fact-free assertions.

      1. The only people who genuinely know how shanahans points were taken are the players themselves anything grant or anyone else – myself obviously included – is speculation based on witnessing the teams performance since.

        My assertion is simply that if you intimate to someone that no matter how much they battle through the pain for you every week they are still very possibly not going to part of long term plans going forward then that is quite a demotivating statement to make. Or even imply.

        I take the point that many of these players will still want to put themselves out there on the shop floor, so to speak. But if you’re struggling to make the long term plans of an 0 and 8 team then what does that honestly say about your future prospects? Again, it’s demoralising.

        1. KS and JL spoke volumes before that alleged speech by cutting many veterans before the season.
          .
          Then they cut Bowman, a team leader and a connection to the last SB.
          .
          However, since the Niners like to cut players on the team bus, every player should realize that the Niners like to move on from players once they perceive they cannot help a team win. Except for Hoyer. They benched him, but still keep him, because they do not want to improve the QB position. Putting in a green rookie for cannon fodder is just their way to rearrange deck chairs on a sinking ship.
          .
          Since the team is winless, every player who has not helped the team win should be looking behind their back. Backstabbing is also in vogue at the Niners, a Jed and Paraag specialty.

  59. ….lots of whinning….but seriously – you mean we can’t win 1 freaking game……

    I am all for kyle and his offense…..but cmon we can’t win 1 game

    I have yet to see one strategy employed by KS that would even give them a shot at winning.

    I am disgusted……

  60. While the season has certainly been disappointing, those of you who predicted a winning season were just fooling yourselves. Until this team beefs up it’s horrid OL and overrated DL to start with, it will continue to lose…. FA and the draft can’t get here soon enough.

  61. I try to resist grandiose conclusions, but I had the same thought yesterday as Grant while watching the game: this may be the worst Niner team I’ve seen, going back to 1967.

    A related thought: if Shanahan didnt have such a good resume/track record, the team’s performance is so bad it would suggest his job would be in jeopardy. But his job is not in jeopardy, if only because Jed can’t afford another early jettisoning of a coach, so he and Lynch are flipping through the roster as if they just inherited the Land of Misfit Toys. Maybe they’ll find a winner or two for 2019-2022.

  62. we can’t draft ourselves out of this nightmare……they better be ready to spend money on FA……..

  63. Grant, if this job doesn’t work out for you, may I suggest you apply for a job with Trump’s 2020 campaign? It’s become increasingly clear that you flip flop however often is necessary to incite anger rather than contributing any meaningful analysis.

  64. Grant, I like reading your work. I even promoted my area radio stations to get you on this past week. But your fire everyone one week to the next is a bit impulsive. One week you say Carlos Hyde is good. The next it’s he can’t do much. Which is it? I know you have deadlines to reach but you may have to wait a day before you grade. Take some time to cool emotions.

  65. Easiest way out of this mess from where I’m standing is to sign Cousins. Trade down, and grab McGlinchey/Nelson in the first round, similar to the Davis/Iupati picks….

    1. Why cousins?……what has he done to deserve a signing?

      Please don’t say familiarity with KS, because Hoyer and Garcon had the same familiarity

      so please sell us Cousins….

          1. Sure, but it seems your green is better than mine since your remark suggests you believe yourself more knowledgeable on the topic than Mike Shanahan.

            “There’s no question he’s a franchise guy,” Big Shanny said. “You give him a good system and Kirk Cousins will win you the Super Bowl. There’s no question. He’s got all the intangibles that you look for.”

            1. Wait. Didn’t KS also say that Hoyer will lead the Niners to the SB, too?
              .
              No? I wonder why. ;p
              .
              Cousins is just leveraging the Niners to get a long term deal with Washington. Snyder may be unctuous, but he is not brain dead.
              .
              However, if Washington has a bad season, they might move on from Cousins. Still, he is a mobile QB, and I do not know if KS will know how to utilize him properly.
              .
              I still prefer Kaep, but Cousins would be an acceptable alternative. Even so, the Niners should use an early draft choice to select a QB in 2018.
              .
              I agree, McGlinchey may be a solid choice.

              1. You can’t be serious. Washington isn’t getting leveraged by Cousins. In fact, they have an opportunity to leverage whatever team is interested in signing Cousins. They can tag him with a non-exclusive tag, having no intention of signing him but essentially mortgaging the last two tags into 2 first round draft picks as compensation.

                It would take a complete buffoon to sign a 30 year old qb for (2) 1st round draft picks unless you are contending for the super bowl and the only piece missing is a serviceable QB.

              2. Matt, they can tag him, but if the Niners do not fall for their ploy, they will have to eat that salary and keep him.
                .
                Niners are not complete buffoons. They will not give up 2 first round picks for Cousins.
                .
                The Niners should just sign Kaep, and give away no draft picks.

      1. I’m not a huge Kirk Cousins guy but he is a serviceable NFL QB. If not, Cousins then who?

          1. I know I’m in the minority here but I don’t think Garropolo is any better than Brian Hoyer.

            1. Houston, we may not agree on much, but at least you were also correct on doubting Hoyer.
              .
              We also agree on Garappolo. First, the Patriots will not let him go with Brady’s age being a factor.
              .
              Also, the Pats will not let him go without a King’s ransom.
              .
              Finally, JG may do well with an elite team, but he will not carry the Niners on his shoulders.
              .
              BTW, grats on your baseball team. Hope they dump the Smog Doggies.

              1. He is a free agent, wont cost us a dime, and Brady looks like he can play another 4 years!

                And he is better than Kap!

              2. ‘He is a free agent and wont cost us a dime’ .
                .
                This is why I think you have not one scintilla of football acumen.

            2. Hoyer is awful, at least the potential is there with Garropolo who in 2 short appearances, looks to have all the tools.
              He was also highly regarded before his draft year. Id say, he is better prepared than any prospect coming out and it would not cost us a pick.

              1. Prime Time says:
                October 30, 2017 at 11:07 am Id say, he is better prepared than any prospect coming out and it would not cost us a pick.

                BB views him as their future franchise quarterback. He’ll offer to pay Garoppolo the full $20 million franchise tag, but split it over two years, lessening the cap hit, delaying his free agency by a year, and engendering goodwill with Garoppolo. That’s how the best franchise in the league operates….

              2. When have the Pats ever paid a free agent big money? Its not the Patriots way especially when Brady can play many more years.

                As for the player, why would he want to sit and be a back up another 2 years? If that’s what he wants, then we don’t want him. We want competitors, not clip board holders.

                If anything, they will trade him at the deadline.

              3. The last time we wagered you went all postal on a stipulation you made and then accused me of backing out.
                Yeah, no thanks!

                I don’t do business with babies!

              4. Just as I suspected. You do not have the confidence in your beliefs to put your money where your mouth is. You really need to get over your fears….

              5. Sebninny has now proven to be overloaded with hot air, and ALL his rants and raves must now be eaten with a fork and spoon!!! PRIME was right and their aint nothin Sebninny can do about it!!!!!!!!!!! (………..except more “hate this” and “hate that”).

          1. They won’t have to give up two firsts for him. He’ll either be franchised again or an UFA. The transition tag is a waste of time considering any team wanting to sign him can just give him terms the Redskins have been reluctant to give. If they franchise him again then the Niners will have to draft somebody/sign a different FA, but if the Skins haven’t been able to sign Cousins yet, I doubt they will next year either.

            1. cousins is gargabe…….How come all you “cousin’s fans” are not defending him with stats…….all i keep hearing are words….

              so KS said Cousins was a good QB……..lol…….what did you expect him to say?

              Note: JH also thought Kap was going to be a great QB

              Razoreater you needs to wipe that pie off your face – it is interesting you are not using numbers to defend or sell your guy…….especially since you “know it all”

              1. Are you that lazy that you can’t bother to look up his numbers yourself? He’s been ranked in the top ten for the last 3 years look it up.

              2. keep it real dotard…….cousins is not even in the top 20 best QB’s in the league

                Cousins is not better than any in the list below……Cousins=mediocre

                Tom Brady, New England Patriots
                Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
                Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
                Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons
                Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions
                Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
                Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders
                Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
                Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
                Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers
                Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
                Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
                Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles
                Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
                Deshaun Watson, Texans
                Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
                Sam Bradford, Minnesota Vikings
                Eli Manning, New York Giants
                Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals
                Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
                Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans

                I could even add Andrew Luck…..an injured Luck is still better than cousins….

              3. keep it real dotard…….cousins is not even in the top 20 best QB’s in the league

                I’ve read some dumb things in my life… But holy **** that’s up there with the dumbest.

                At 103.3 he’s #3 in QB rating this year and 4th in YPA, meaning he’s no dink-and-dunk stat passer.. At 97.2 he was 7th last year (3rd in YPA). At 101.6 he was 5th in 2015 (8th in YPA).

      2. Cousins is a top ten QB. If you’re holding out for more than that you’ll be waiting awhile. If you draft one instead you run the risk that the player doesn’t develop and if you are using what figures to be a top 3 pick on one, you’d better be right. Cousins is an excellent QB playing on a marginally talented team so coming to SF won’t be that big of a change honestly.

        The biggest benefit to signing Cousins is you then can use the #1 pick on an elite player at another position or better yet, trade down and acquire a bounty of picks to use in the rebuild. Once you have the QB question answered, the rest falls into place a lot faster.

        1. this your cousins top ten is stupid-drunk talk…..please show us the numbers…..or stfu

          drafting a rookie is better than mediocre cousins

          1. Dude, his #s are TOP-5. Maybe you’re thinking about some other QB named Cousins. But not the one we’re talking about.

  66. In last weeks inside the 49ers grade I stated even “Grants gifted creative writing” style could not express the wretchedness of this organization—that you can’t make this stuff up.

    I take it back. Grant described it:

    “No quarterback will play well when he gets hit that much. Joe Montana would play poorly on this team. Same with Kirk Cousins.

    Speaking of Cousins, why on earth would he would want to sign with the 49ers? I’m guessing he values his health more than the few extra million the Niners can offer him.”

    TomD’s Take: This is why I stated that fans have to give Shanny/Lynch a 5 year contract—Time to cycle out Baalke’s players (which was accomplished this year) and then grade them on the players they draft–not the players Baalke drafted….This year was all about appraising what they have. ’18 is about replacements.

  67. When Shanahan was hired I made myself a promise not to post here until halfway through the 2017 season. I did read all the comments throughout the offseason.

    It seems to me that certain people who were virulently anti Kaepernick became Shanahan and Lynch Acolytes as soon as the Niners officially moved on from Kaepernick. Hoyer was supposed to blossom in Shanahan’s system and lead the team to 10+ wins. No thought was given to the fact that Shanahan / Lynch had made no improvements to the WR corps (which was the weakest link last year) or the O line (which was the second weakest link).

    A standard disclaimer by the financial industry is “past performance is not indicative of future results”. In football it is the opposite. Hoyer’s past performance (mediocre at best) told all of us who were not blinded by our dislike of the previous quarterback that not much should be expected of Hoyer. As for Beathard, almost all NFL scouts had him pegged as a backup at best. Drafting him as high as the Niners did was a total reach. At 0-8 at the half way mark it is hard to argue that Shanahan and Lynch made the right choice in going into the season with Hoyer and Beathard. And, that passing on Deshaun Watson to draft Solomon Thomas at #3 was the right move. As much as I liked the Shanahan and Lynch hire, I have to call a spade a spade. They failed badly in their first draft. The failed 2017 draft will set the team back at least two years before they become respectable.

    NFL is a QB league. Unless they can find a franchise QB in 2018, passing on Watson is something which will haunt Lynch and Shanahan for years to come. It will be like Nolan never being able to escape the stigma of passing on Rodgers.

    As a Niner fan I dont want Shanahan and Lynch to fail. We simply cant afford to go in yet another direction in a couple of years. I hope they have learned from their failure this year and put finding a franchise QB #1 on their priority list for 2018. Enough with the Hoyers and Beathards…

    1. “No thought was given to the fact that Shanahan / Lynch had made no improvements to the WR corps (which was the weakest link last year) or the O line (which was the second weakest link).”

      OL – Tim Barnes, Brandon Fusco, Garry Gilliam, Jeramy Zuttah,
      WR – Aldrick Robinson, Pierre Garcon, Marquise Goodwin, Jeremy Kerley, DeAndre Carter, Trent Taylor

      You really should refrain from posting comments that are so easily proven false. The 49ers made dramatic improvements to their roster over the offseason. The WR corps in particular had a dramatic improvement over the receivers from last year. Some of the moves haven’t worked out, especially on the o-line, due to injury and poor performance. I expected maybe 4-6 wins. I didn’t expect 0-8 but it isn’t because the 49ers failed to address weaknesses. Lynch/Shanny are in a multi year rebuild. The roster they inherited was the worst roster in the NFL – bar none. They need a franchise QB and then the rest will follow.

      1. OL – Tim Barnes, Brandon Fusco, Garry Gilliam, Jeramy Zuttah,
        WR – Aldrick Robinson, Pierre Garcon, Marquise Goodwin, Jeremy Kerley, DeAndre Carter, Trent Taylor

        Sorry, but the players you mentioned are no better than those who were on the team last year. BTW, I am sure you know that Kerley was subtracted not added. Also Also Zuttah did not even last the preseason.

        Dramatic improvement? What are you smoking. I hope you are being sarcastic.

        1. 2016 – Torrey Smith, Quinton Patton, Jeremy Kerley
          2017 – Pierre Garcon, Marquise Goodwin, Trent Taylor/Aldrick Robinson

          Yes, I think the 2017 WR corps is much, much better than the 2016 group. I don’t think it’s close. I do know Kerley was signed as part of the teams plans and then he couldn’t make the team. He was part of the offseason roster adds before he was gone. Same thing with Zuttah. My point is you said no improvements were made. The entire roster was revamped. The QBs are killing the WR production and the o-line moves haven’t panned out BUT Lynch/Shanny did make a number of moves to improve the roster and I expect that to continue this offseason.

          I like Watson a lot. What’s not to like. The kid seems like the real deal. This kind of production from a rookie QB is absolutely amazing. The only thing that concerns me with him is that part of his game is running with the ball. He seems to have somewhat of a slight frame so I worry he could suffer the same fate as RGIII. Great QB who can’t stay healthy.

          1. 2017 WRs are a bunch of smurfs. Nobody of any size who can go up and wrestle a 50/50 throw away from a DB. League wide the trend is towards bigger receivers. Alshon Jeffery would have been a perfect free agent signing. 49ers did not even made a play for him.

            How do you define improvement? Merely switching a set of warm bodies around does not mean improvement. I will give you Revamping yes, but in order to claim improvement you have to show evidence on the field. 0-8 vs 1-7. Improvement is certainly not the word that comes to mind.

            I think Watson stands a better chance of developing into a pocket passer than Kaepernick. You won’t see him running that much as he develops his pocket game. Mark my words, Lynch and Shanny will regret passing on him. Too bad…we could have had our franchise QB in place for the next 10 years if they had taken Watson.

          2. 2017 wr group is so great they are part of a team leading the league in drops and other than Garçon are almost invisible.

            1. Harbaugh on A.J. Jenkins, “A.J. Jenkins was an outstanding football player when he got here. His progress has been very, very good and exceeded expectations. For those scribes, pundits, so-called experts, who have gone as far to say that he is going to be a bust, should just stop.

              “I recommend that because they are making themselves look more clueless than they’ve already did. To go on record, A.J.’s going to be an outstanding football player”.

              I think he’s available;>)

    2. I agree. They did sign Garcon, but I wanted Alshon Jeffrey, who the Niners should have drafted instead of AJ Jenkins. The Niners did sign a bunch of FA WRs and O linemen, but they did not pull the trigger on a bona fide potential pro bowler. They tried to go cheap, with cheap results.
      .
      Still have the opportunity to improve the QB position. CJB will soon be battered so much, Hoyer will have to replace him, and we all know how that will turn out.
      .
      If they sign Kaep, at least I will know they are trying to win. If not, then they are content to lose.

      1. “If they sign Kaep, at least I will know they are trying to win. If not, then they are content to lose”

        The book according to the dumb one!

            1. 0-8 teams need all the help they can get.
              .
              I said Hoyer would pull a Gabbert, and was proven right.
              .
              I said CJB should sit, study hard and work out to get stronger. So far, he has managed not to bite off his tongue, but if he keeps doing that, some DE will smack him from behind and he may not be able to call the signals. So far, CJB is getting the Alex treatment.
              .
              You, yourself have said that the Niners need to improve the QB position. Kaep is the best available FA.

              1. What’s a one dimensional QB going to do to help the 49ers?

                Just be quiet Seb, Kap is done and so is your broken record dream!

  68. Like I said, lets start grading Shanny/Lycnch next year with their draft picks:

    Niners May Have Found a Cornerback in Philadelphia

    Rookie third-round pick Witherspoon has a strong game in first NFL start, even as San Francisco suffers another loss, this time to Eagles

    “In his first career start Sunday, 49ers’ rookie cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon was impressive.”

    http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Niners-May-Have-Found-a-Cornerback-in-Philadelphia-454100543.html

  69. Leger Douzable—Undrafted Free agent (Vikes): Signed 2 weeks ago had 2 sacks and 5 tackles.

    Solomon Thomas: 1st Round Pick 2017: 2 tackles and an MCL sprain.

  70. The NFL is reviewing the play on which Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox broke San Francisco 49ers right tackle Joe Staley’s orbital bone for potential discipline and possible suspension, a source tells ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The injury occurred on a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown by Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills in the second quarter Sunday. The broadcast cameras showed Staley tumbling to the ground during the play as Cox put his hands in the air. No penalty was called.

  71. Eagles DT Fletcher Cox reportedly faces possible suspension for block that injured 49ers’ Joe Staley

    ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday morning that the NFL is reviewing the play “for potential discipline and possible suspension, per source.”

    Sacramento Bee reporter Matt Barrows said Staley said Cox’s hand got inside his face mask on the block.

    http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/eagles-fletcher-cox-nfl-suspension-block-injured-49ers-joe-staley/7iql6lf2uzb213xkb4nphw9cl

    1. Genuinely intrigued… how does one go from getting hand(s) inside an opponents face mask to breaking their eye socket?

      Is it a finger-in-the-eye-then-pull type thing?

      A team mate of mine got his cheekbone smashed in five places from a hard hit during a rugby game, but that was full on shoulder to head hit at high speed.

  72. I think the NFL has one foot in the grave anyways. The grandiose of the league has eroded, while attendance, and viewership has fallen precipitously. Meanwhile, the world series is killing them….

      1. In my opinion, athletic talent is higher than it’s ever been. With athletic training and all the science around nutrition, players are able to get bigger faster stronger than ever before. The worst team of today, probably the 49ers, would beat the Steelers of the 70’s without a shadow of a doubt. The problem for the NFL is the legislation of the game. The NFL is trying to legislate the violence out of football but it’s a violent sport. That’s just the way it is. The officiating is making the game almost unwatchable. Players are adjusting their games so they don’t get penalties but it’s hurting the game. Also, the players union has negotiated certain aspects of training that limit the amount of time a team can actually practice which I think is hurting some teams ability to function in unison. I really feel like we’re watching the demise of a great pro sport. The NFL is in a tough spot with all the long term effects on the athletes so maybe it’s ok that the NFL lose its popularity. But it’s kinda sad to see.

    1. The Landscape has changed as has the game, but the NFL isn’t going away anytime soon. Even with the decreased numbers in TV viewership it’s still among the top rated programs every week, often the top rated. The WS beat the Steelers-Lions game, but it was a major drop off from the Skins-Cowboys game that preceded it. Football is still the most popular sport in the country by a wide margin, but times change and the younger generation is not as focused on sports it appears and the ones who are, are watching it on platforms that don’t show up in TV ratings.

  73. Prime,

    Thought you’d enjoy this article as another arguement in your arsenal vs. ‘The Seb’, on option QB’s with subpar reading skills:

    “Why doesn’t Bill O’Brien trust Deshaun Watson with the game on the line?”
    By Bill Barnwell, ESPN staff writer:

    “O’Brien has shifted his offense to play to Watson’s strengths and reduce the rookie’s adjustment time, adding option concepts out of the Clemson playbook to a scheme that employed the option just twice last season.”

    TomD’s Take: Although Watson clearly is better than Kap, it shows the option has to be included with these types of QB’s.

    1. No chit Sherlock. You didn’t think Watson was actually running O’Brien’s complicated offense, did you?

      1. Razor,

        Any QB drafted that high and at the mid season pt. s/b be able to.

        1. You sound like a man who wants to talk strategy…Razor, what play would you call on zone, with a man over the top, nickel coverage ?
        2. Zone, man outside
        Sounds like O’brien suffers from Kapidis, lack of trust in crunch time in passing situations.

        1. Easy Out/Comeback/Curl are three options in the passing game to defeat off man coverage or zone.

          1. Gottcha, Razor/Seb

            Trick question

            Unfortunately, your ‘out’ call was never called during Kap’s tenure, as Grant stated, Kap was abysmal at throws outside the hash marks or any timing routes due to his inaccuracy…
            Since most option QB’s suffer this malaise, it’s a mystery why Seb/razor advocate option QB, Kap, at this late stage, like an invalid, bouncing their head off the wall in public.

            Probably the same reason O’brien fails to go to Watson in similar circumstances !

            Razor, come up with another play, your qb c

            1. *Razor,

              Time’s ticking down, go down your rolodex of plays, quickly, don’t wait 12 min. for a play call to beat these defenses because Kap can’t make those throws….Be quick, tick- tock, tick- tock, your owner is watching your draft pick who can’t beat zone, man outside, due to inaccuracy.

              We all saw the out throw that knocked out Kap’s trainer on the sideline, overthrown by 10 yards:

              “Moment Colin Kaepernick’s wild throw nails 49ers trainer in the face during ugly loss”

              http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3286345/Colin-Kaepernick-hits-49ers-trainer-face-pass-San-Francisco-s-loss-Seattle-Seahawks.html

              1. Are you really that obnoxious in real life or are you still walking around with your johnson tied up underneath your buttocks?

            2. Tom’s such a dumbass he doesn’t even know that Razor is not a Kaep fan while SEB is.
              TOM since you love to copy and past so much you might want to look back, because you will see posts where Razor talks about Kaep. You might even notice that razor doesnt worship him like seb and talks about his inability to read defenses…
              But hey, be you and don’t let those pesky facts get in the way. Razor and SEB are the same, the earth is flat, and the female orgasm is a myth.

    2. Texans wondering if Bill O’Brien is the right coach for the Deshaun Watson era
      By Thomas George

      “Nothing rankles ownership more in this league than coaches who swipe the ball away from their best players in critical moments. Coaches who fear taking proper risks at greatness. Coaches who do not play boldly with smarts to win.”

      “With 1:53 left, O’Brien froze. On third-and-four from his own 26, ahead with 1:53 left and a chance to close, O’Brien took the ball away from Watson and settled for an unimaginative, two-yard run and punt. “

      1. Yea, I watched the game. It was a conservative call, but one I’m not qualified to second guess.

          1. TomDcopynpastealot/Prime

            That knot is too tight, and restricting the blood flow to what’s left of your brain.

            1. Kap can’t throw an out. Ha, Ha, Ha… Still waiting for that other play Kap can make to beat zone, man outside, Razor.

              TomD’s suggestion. How about a read option….Ha, Ha, Ha….Oh, the league’s caught up to Kap’s only go to play….Try another, liar and loser, Seblosealot/Razor vs. TomD wins alot.

  74. Another Liar and Loser:

    The Associated Press‏Verified account

    BREAKING: New York Times: Trump’s ex-campaign chairman and a former business associate told to surrender in Mueller probe.

    Separately, one of the early foreign policy advisers to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about a contact with a professor with ties to Kremlin officials, prosecutors said on Monday.
    News of the plea came Monday morning, shortly after Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and Manafort’s longtime business associate Rick Gates were indicted on charges including conspiracy against the United States

    1. Aww, Tom-you’ve given in to Seb-onia…………the Darth Vader of this blog………..

  75. the oath
    I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

    1. Why do you insist on posting political comments on a sports blog? Give it a rest please! You are as bad as Seb and his never ending Kap, Kap, Kap posts.

  76. overreaction monday….
    — KS has not lost the locker room,
    — We’ve had 2 good beat-downs by really good NFC east teams, and we played the 3rd best East team (WAS) competitively,
    — you guys (incl. Grant) need to cool it with the release/trade/fire/hire narratives… 2017 is not salvageable regarding W/L’s…get over it.
    For next year– Top 2018 FA $$ are needed for:
    1) G, C, and Staley replacement– TOP priority! (hopefully taken from good OZ scheme teams- ATL, etc.)
    2) #1 WR to compliment Garcon — don’t think Garcon can last more than 2-3 more seasons.
    3) ILB
    4) CB & S
    5) Edge

    — all the listed positions above will eat up most of the FA $$ slated for 2018.
    — we need to see if CJ develops better timing, awareness, & accuracy this season– tough to do with this OL.
    — you’all need to accept that CJ will be starting 2018 — barring injury.
    — KS’ offense won’t be ready for a super $$ FA QB till 2019.
    — not much improvement in run game till next year with better OL and more RB’s to try (Washington, etc.)
    — all desires for a QB savior in 2018– Cousins, Garrapolo, etc., are pointless until OL and run game are MUCH better. Our OL has been b***h slapped over the last 2 games…
    — and…Saleh has gotten his squad to do better– perhaps we’ll see Stanton pulled for Gabby next game??? Just a hope for now- but at least we put some pressure on Wentz.

    1. For the sake of argument, and just for fun, let’s say no Cousins, no Jimmy G. The 49ers are on the clock at #2. I trade back to #6 with the Jets, and get two 2nd rounders. We’ll use https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings as a point of reference. If you’re so inclined, make your selections, and/or create your own exercise in futility;>)

      #6)Mike McGlinchey, OT, ND
      #34)Josh Allen, ILB/OLB, Kentucky
      #38)Billy Price, C/OG, Ohio St.
      #60(Saints)Deon Cain, WR, Clemson
      #66)Baker Mayfield, QB, OK
      #73(Bears)Marcus Allen, S, Penn State

      1. Please stop, the draft is months from now.
        Once we sign Kap we will finish 8-8….

        Go Niners…..

      2. I still think we need to get the best available center in free agency and then draft OL (like the guys you suggest).

        1) The OL has been in decline since Goodwin was replaced by Kilgore.
        2) IIRC, Atlanta brought in a FA center in 2016 and that made a big difference to their OL (I could be wrong on this).

        1. McGlinchey, and Nelson have been parting the defensive seas for Josh Adams. I’d like ’em both, but coupled with the fact we can only have one or the other, and that they’ll probably want to give Garnett another training camp, and the fact Price can play Center/Guard, I went with McGlinchey….

          1. don’t count on Garnett being here in 2018…even b4 injury– in TC there was scuttlebutt that he wasn’t an ideal OZ OG, more suited to power/inside Z schemes, but he’d still be an improvement over Fusco, Beadles, etc.– so we might see him work out for us in 2018, but I think he’s gonna be trade currency.

            1. What do you think they can get for him considering he’s coming off a season on IR, and no NFL productive tape to speak of? I’d hate to give up on him already for a late round pick, given the investment we made on him….

              1. certainly nowhere near what he cost us as a pick…maybe he’ll get a 2018 TC shot to see if it’ll work, but ultimately it looks like he’ll be turned into additional 2018/19 3rd/4th round pick(s) or an FA deal. Hate to see his draft round status wasted as a backup next year…
                it would be great to see him fit KS’ system tho’….so we’d just need 1 good FA G next year…here’s hoping….

          2. I guess my point is that I think we need to have serious experience on the OL. If there are too many inexperienced guys, it’ll be hard for them to gel and, despite high levels of individual talent, the OL might not show much improvement next year. Do you think that is a fair concern? So:

            RT – Brown
            RG – rookie
            C – top available FA with substantial OZ experience
            LG – Garnett/rookie
            LT – Staley or a top FA.

            Something like $20 to $25 million/year would be invested in the OL via free agency.

            1. I think it’s fair, but I look at the way the Cowboys built their offensive line. The desperate dearth of competent NFL linemen suggests to me that pickings will be slim in F/A. I think you need to build it through the draft. You’ve got two good Center prospects in Price and Ragnow….

              1. drafting the OL help would be best long term — but you realize that pushes the ETA for a big FA QB signing out till 2019 at least, possibly 2020…
                — FA help– if good C/OG FA help is attainable (NOT Zuttah/Fusco mk.II), would move that schedule up , drafting Staley’s replacement (unless Williams Jr. works out) makes sense tho’

              2. Yeah, I wonder if KS’ complex scheme applies to the OL as well; I think it does. Hence if the OL is mostly comprised of rookies, it will, as you say, take longer for the team to be successful. Some top, experienced OL would be prudent, imo. But I don’t know who will be available. Also, with an 0-8 start, the bloom may have wilted off the rose and FAs might not be so willing to come to SF — it might take major money to attract them. We’ll see what kind of “star” power KS has when FA comes around.

              3. it’ll take mucho FA $$$ for OL FA help next year– the shine is already off KS’ rep, so lots of $$ for C & G needed…and knowing the outside zone will be on the job qualifications list…imagine where we might be this year if they’d spent far more than Zuttah’s deal…on better guards than Fusco & Tomlinson– Kilgore would be the weak spot, and he’s serviceable if he’s got good guards beside him…

  77. Grant you are so full of yourself about Beatherd. When can he complete a pass when the line is doing ole blocking. You knew this before the season even started. How can you know that Beatherd is not capable. Sometimes I think you are like a hot air baloon. Full of Hot Air.

  78. Is there any reason why KS couldn’t hire big Shanny as his OC? I’m assuming that Mike would accept the job and that Kyle would not have any “ego” related issues. On the surface it would seem to make sense because Mike knows KS’ system and because MS has been a successful head coach. I don’t think it makes KS look weak at all, but instead is a potentially prudent decision by a young HC.

    1. Gee ..Cubus …

      That sounds like a great idea ! …
      (Seems like I’ve heard this one before, though)

      Here .. perhaps ?

      (lol .. just razzin’ ya)

  79. On Rotoworld:

    49ers placed OT Garry Gilliam on injured reserve with a knee injury, ending his season.

    49ers placed FS Jimmie Ward on injured reserve with a broken forearm, ending his season.

    1. Jimmie, are you coming back? Can’t stay healthy, so I don’t see him back. $8 million in 2018? Can that be right? No way in hell he’s back here if that’s the case….

      1. Yeah, spotrac has Ward at a cap hit of $8.526 million – currently, the second highest cap hit behind Garcon.

        1. In 2018, the 49ers will have a cap hit of $4.8 million for Bowman and $4.2 million for Vance (for that last one, we can thank he who shall not be named.)

          1. Let the names of Baalke/Kaepernick be stricken from every book and tablet, stricken from all pylons and obelisks, stricken from every monument of San Francisco. Let the names of Baalke/Kaepernick be unheard and unspoken, erased from the memory of 49ers for all time!

            1. Yup, I was holding out hope, but now that the Niners have finally gotten a decent QB, I will cheer JG on to victory.

    2. Ward out for season again. Single high saftey is pretty important. Ward isn’t a long term option. Yet another position to address.

      1. you’ll see Mostert get snaps with Hyde getting majority of snaps…let’s hope Hyde stops-the-drops…

        1. Thanks, Grant. Would you consider asking KS if he has any help, from an offense perspective, up in the booth during games. It’s been a topic of considerable discussion here on the blog. Thanks.

    1. Tartt’s been getting a lot of love this season. It would be interesting to see how he would do at free safety.

      1. it won’t be pretty with Tartt as strong S…Colbert may see more time here than Tartt…I think the Reid LB experiment will continue…

            1. there was a news story today about JL working trade deal ideas with other GM’s, and KS possibly being on sidelines/out-of-loop while this is goin on…

        1. Great idea, I will take a helping.
          The queue for those criticizing the move (“Bill Walsh wouldn’t have made this trade’) starts right there….

  80. Adam Schefter‏Verified account @AdamSchefter 2m2 minutes ago
    More
    To repeat: 49ers are trading a 2018 2nd-round draft pick for Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo, sources tell ESPN.

    Take that, Pete!

      1. there goes my CJ thru 2018 narrative….Kyle must’ve seen all he needs to from CJ….
        good luck JG, get ready for lots of attn. from DL’s, LB’s, etc….can he pull out of this deal/refuse to play?
        not sure if I’d take this pounding considering what I could fetch as an FA….he might have a bout of the old hollywood syndrome: “who do I screw to get out of this movie”

  81. This is great Jimmy G is younger and cheaper than Cousins. More proven than the 2018 class. Get in here and take a bow Prime. Good call and on the very day. Scratch that, epic call.

    1. Nope. anyone could have made the call if only the Patriots wanted a second round pick for him. Posters were speculating that it would take 2 first round picks for Cousins.
      .
      Now, who do the Patriots pick up to replace Garoppolo? Kaep?

        1. He is the top rated FA QB out there, and they can negate the grievance if they sign him. BB is too mature to be swayed by emotions or politics.

        1. I said it would take a kings ransom to get him, but will gladly admit I was wrong. This is good news.

          1. Yeah you were wrong! You are always wrong cause you open your mouth way too soon!
            DA!
            Where’s the storm?

      1. More, and even more, sour grapes from the sourest grape on the blog!!!!!!!!!

        Prime called it, sebninny–put that in your bong and smoke it!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. BB must have shares in Aging prevent/Life Extension meds companies — he’ll need to keep Brady goin’ till his mid forties!

    1. No, it was our own 2nd pick. So I think it will be 33rd or 34th overall pick. :( BB will turn this into another dynasty!

  82. Glad the Niners are being proactive. Sounds like they are trying to win, so kudos to Lynch.
    .
    Now, I am wondering if they gave up their second round pick, or did they manage to trade their other second round pick from the Saints.
    .
    Bet Garoppolo starts.

    1. I posed the same question. It’s got to be our first round pick.
      Now they can let Hyde walk and draft Barkley to be the future back

  83. Wow. And who’s going to keep Jimmy G. from getting pounded into the turf on every play from our porous OL? I’m sure JG is thrilled to be coming here for that.

    1. Especially when it was being reported that the Patriots rebuked the Browns lucrative offer of multiple picks.

      1. Guess JG nixed the Brown’s deal, and I do not blame him. Jed may be clueless, but Haslam is evil.

        1. Yea, that’s what I was thinking. Jimmy G must have been explicit that he did not want to go to the Browns. Kraft respected that. I bet Haslam is fuming, and Snyder might want a word….

          1. So, I gotta believe then, that JG is excited to work with KS to put together an “epic” offense.

            1. Sounds like the vision he sold him on. It also shows the respect for Shanny’s offensive acumen.

    2. I agree. Patriots are taking a gamble with no firm backup to Brady. After Bridgewater, Tannehill, Luck, Bradford, Stafford, Flacco and now Rodgers going down due to injury, they are taking a risk that Brady can stay healthy.

  84. You ripper! This is the move I wanted them to make in the offseason!

    I know some people are concerned he is the product of the Patriots, but I see him as much better than just that. Very good move.

    But seriously, if they don’t also acquire some OL to protect him, he will also struggle. Plus coming into a new system midway through the year. Anyone expecting him to do well this year is being pretty unreasonable. He may do well, but expecting it will be a stretch. Lets just look at this is a chance to acquire a good QB prospect for next year, no matter if he doesn’t look great this year.

    I also hope this doesn’t mean they ignore the QB spot aside from this acquisition. He is still largely an unknown quantity in the NFL. There is no reason not to still grab a QB in FA or the draft fairly early. Let the best man win the competition, in a competition that isn’t between subpar talent.

    1. Any chance the team takes Saquon Barkley? I wouldn’t have believed it, but if they can bring in a lot of OL help in FA, who knows.

      1. I don’t like drafting a running back in the first round. Especially when you can have the success that Shanny has had with drafting them late….

        1. I agree with you Razor, but these guys are doing some interesting things. Speculation is starting that the 49ers will select Barkley.

          Kevin Jones

          @Mr_KevinJones
          Noteworthy: This opens the door for the 49ers to take Penn State RB Saquon Barkley. Another WR, and the offense is all of a sudden cooking

          1. Mr. Jones left out a MAJOR ingredient for offensive cooking– the OL?.
            –WR, sure, RB, not so much…
            — certainly not after JL will deal high draft spots for the approx. 10-12 substantive holes still remaining on both sides of ball…

        1. I agree Scooter, but maybe they will try to implement a FA plan for the OL and if that works they’ll take Barkley. Personally, I think KS has been highly successful at taking late round RBs and turning them into top players – but Barkley is very special and …..

  85. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18725360/is-jimmy-garoppolo-overhyped-budding-star-new-england-patriots-2017-nfl-offseason

    “Through six quarters of playing time as the New England Patriots’ No. 1 quarterback in 2016, Jimmy Garoppolo completed 42 of 59 passes for 496 yards and four touchdowns. That’s good for a 71.2 percent completion percentage and a Total QBR of 90.9.

    “Garoppolo reads the pre-snap rotation of the safeties and takes advantage of the matchup outside of the numbers with Chris Hogan.”

    “Garoppolo is very good with his eyes. He understands how to manipulate the defense. Whether that is moving a linebacker to create a window underneath or freezing the safety in the deep middle to generate a lane to hit the seam, Garoppolo’s vision creates opportunities to expose coverages.”

    “During the first two weeks of the season, Garoppolo went 13-of-17 for 205 yards and two touchdowns versus the blitz (five or more rushers)”

  86. At least we know Lynch and KS are not standing pat. Bold move, good move allows JG time to learn the system before next year.

    1. So much for being “rookies”, and hard to deal with. That’s why I never trust anonymous sources. If you can’t put your name to it, doesn’t mean diddly poo….

    2. Yeah, if they decide to only let him only play a few quarters against weaker teams, I’m OK with that.

  87. Fantastic trade by the 49ers. Hopefully this will lower the level of prority for the QB position given the needs on the OL, secondary (especially CB), and RB.

      1. I’ve been mostly staying away because of the incessant need by some on here to transform Grant’s blog into the Fox News and MSNBC forums. However, I have been keeping abreast of what is going on with the team and checking in every now and then to see what you guys are talking about.

    1. add safety to that priority list along with CB
      there was talk of Tartt being SS before the Garappolo bomb hit…

  88. A 2nd round? Sounds low for the Patriots. Are the Patriots acquiring assets to get one of the top QB prospects in next year’s draft?????
    Or worst, they believe he is not that good???? This does not make sense since they claim just a few months ago that they will not trade JG for 4 1st rounders!

    1. Yeah, Gruden was just saying he doesn’t know who’s backing up Brady. But hey, let us be “punch drunk” for a day because we 49er fans really need it.

    2. Yea, that must have been just for the Browns. I’m wondering if Mr. Kraft did us a solid, given he learned how to run his franchise from Eddie. Maybe he got a call from Eddie, “Remember when I said, someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me”? That day has come….

      1. Hope that is the case Razor :) Because I’m a little a bit nervous about this deal. It is so un-Patriots of a move.

      2. I’d love to see the “Eddie D. as mortician” cleanup job on the corpse Kraft had….
        this trade smells like there’s lots more going un-reported…

  89. What’s the deal with JG’s contract. Wasn’t he an UFA at the end of this year? Did he agree to a contract with the niners?

    1. No. The 49ers will have to work out an extension with him. If for some reason that is difficult they might have to franchise tag him. Let’s hope JG is excited to work with KS.

      1. I gotta believe the premise of a contract was agreed upon prior to finalization of the deal.

        1. Schefter than some other news guy said on knbr that jg agent will want him to play out the year, have the niners franchise him and then work out a long term contract with the money front loaded, not cheap but a big piece, need lots of oline help!

    2. Who cares? Niners have a boatload of cash. Hope they sign him up for a long term deal with a big signing bonus.

        1. Prime, all this time I have been calling on the Niners to improve the QB position because I knew Hoyer would pull a Gabbert, and a raw green rookie would struggle.
          .
          I wanted Kaep, but would have accepted Cousins, because at least he is competent. JG is also a competent QB, so now that they have acquired JG, Kaep is not needed.
          .
          I still hope Kaep gets an opportunity to play, and he goes to a team with good offensive weapons and a stout defense. I hope he takes the league by storm , but concede that now there is no hope he returns to the Niners.
          .
          I just want the Niners to win, and am high as a kite over this trade. GO NINERS !!!!!!

          1. I’ll bet you a $1000 dollars that at some point the rest of the season you will bring up Kap and the 49ers signing him or they should or this or that Kap/49ers?

            1. be sure and log this post date/time for Seb: “Kaep is not needed” “concede that there is no hope he (Kaep) returns to Niners”

      1. Because if he plays alright for the rest of the year and decides he wants to go with another team he can walk. We lose a 2nd rounder or are forced to franchise tag him, which is EXPENSIVE af for a QB, particularly one with little experience.

          1. MWD, that’s my point. I hope he isn’t. I was just referring to the fact that he becomes a UFA at the end of this year under his current contract.

      2. Because we’re giving up a Round 2 pick for an 8-game rental. With someone who doesn’t know the system and will take some time to get on the field.

    3. Yes he is a UFA not sure about contract, Niners can Franchise him till one is hashed out. I suspect its already in the works to get him signed.

  90. Yeah, there must have been a discussion between his agent and Lynch. You don’t sign a guy who has 8 games left to play in his contract for a second rounder.

    1. Hopefully it’s a trade-and-sign with the parameters already worked out. If not, it’s a dumb move.

      1. Pretty sure that was part of the trade, that the 49ers had a chance to talk to Jimmy G’s agent about a long term contract.
        Otherwise it is a bad trade.

  91. Garoppolo will probably get 18-20 million a year. Much cheaper than Cousins. Plus we will still have plenty of cap space, The money isn’t an issue.

  92. Fellas, this is a great move! Now we can start building back our storied franchise.
    It always starts and ends at the QB position. Now we can focus on oline, RB(I’d love Barkley) and some pass rushers.
    I could not be happier! Great to be a 49ers fan today!

    1. If there’s a contract outline agreed upon between 49ers and Garoppolo’s agent its a fantastic move. if not it harshes my mellow a bit.

      Agree about the draft. 49ers could focus on BPA, or trade back for big haul like Browns for in 2016.

    2. IVe been on board with your thoughts since last season Prime. Wanted him over cousins although I liked a cousins/ shan team, as a second fiddle. My first choices were Gase and Garop. After NE tried to lowball everyone with their insane trade demands I thought for sure he was their future and untouchable. Great call. I’m a happy fan again. If you have any Ju Ju left use it on a healthy 8 games. Gonna need it with that O-line.
      Garop!!!!!! I’m stoked .

  93. Bellacheat is one of the best minds in football, why would he let a trained backup go mid season???
    What am I missing?

    1. He doesn’t want to spend 23mm to franchise a backup QB? I hear you though, trading with the Patriots is normally a fools errand.

      1. Given where the team is currently, I can see that there might be some risk that a deal has not already been fully consummated with JG. But I think it is a good risk/reward. It might also explain why we only gave up one 2nd round pick. Patriots received less because a contract extension has not yet been worked out. In this case, I’m hoping that JG will be excited to work with KS. If as #80 suggests, we would pay $18 to $20 million anyway, then I don’t see a franchise tag of $23 million as that big of a deal.

        1. Yeah, he could ask for the 23 mil. I think they would agree to something less per year, but front loaded. Either way, he’s rich and we have our QB of the future. I’m a happy camper tonight.

      1. Not so fast. The Patriots have been trying to sign Jimmy this whole time, and he refused.

        1. The only reason we had a chance to get him is his desire to start, and play for a proven offensive mind.

          1. Makes sense, but if they only started talking this morning, then an extension deal is not in place. But the parameters of a deal might have been agreed to. Still as I mentioned below, it might explain why we only gave up one 2nd round pick. I think it’s a good risk/reward move.

            1. They only started talking this morning, because the Patriots have been trying to sign him up to that point, and Jimmy refused. That’s my take on what Schefter was saying….

      2. Unless he got Hoyer in the deal, it doesn’t make sense. Bellacheat knows he can’t win without a good backup. Maybe he liked what he saw from Hoyer. Let’s not forget that he tried out Tebow!

    2. I remember when Eddie had his HOF ceremony at Levi’s. BB made sure to include his undying gratitude to the parents of Eddie D, for the way BB’s parents were given opportunities and help.
      .
      This sounds like BB is returning the favor.

  94. Goodbye Hoyer, hello Garoppolo! I hope Garoppolo is ready to get hit hard and often behind this abysmal OL. I guess this ends the Kirk Cousins debate, although they still might draft a QB. I think OL is now the #1 priority this offseason.

  95. Schefter just said that Patriots knew they couldn’t re-sign JG and talks just started this morning. Hoyer released and he might be signed by Patriots as a backup.

        1. You mean Bavusco/Montani? The greatest quarterback of all time? Sure I remember something about him;>)

      1. Celebrate dis sheet? Thinking Mad Dog 20/20!
        Hi guys.
        I’m revisiting 79, hoping for the best.
        Seriously, I’m using my Senior Discount at National Parks while they are there.
        Yo yo, Zio, Bryce, Grand Canyo, Grand Staircase/Escalante, etc.

  96. My feelings are binary. If parameters for an extension are already worked out, I’m ecstatic. I like Garappolo in the draft. Shanahan has mentioned before he was interested in him.

    But if no extension is pre-worked out, I’m really apprehensive. We can franchise tag him
    1 year – $20m
    2 years – $24m ($44m total)
    3 years – $32 ($76m total)

    So I’m really hoping an extension is in place.

    1. Don Yee is his agent. I have no clue as to his track record as it pertains to hold outs, or negotiations….

  97. Excellent move.
    Pats would have had to tag him, which they wouldn’t do.
    Niners will either franchise tag Jimmy or sign him to a new contract. Either way he will be here in 2018.
    If He is smart he will want to see what the Niners do to improve this off season. Draft a playmaker and O-lineman or two and sign at least 1 O-linesman, before he signs a long term deal.

Comments are closed.