49ers notes: Pierre Garcon goes on injured reserve

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SANTA CLARA — The San Francisco 49ers placed wide receiver Pierre Garcon on injured reserve Thursday night, ending his 2017 season.

Garcon injured his neck last Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles and had to leave the game early. On Thursday, the team learned his injury is a non-displaced fracture of the C5 pedicle, which is a cervical vertebrae near his skull. The injury typically takes eight weeks to heal.

Garcon hasn’t missed a game since 2012, when he suffered a pedal foot tear which required surgery.

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          1. Draft expert Matt Miller calls Penn State RB Saquon Barkley “the best running back prospect I have ever seen. I’m all in on Saquon Barkley. If the Niners end up with the 2nd pick, that’s who I want!”

            1. MATT MILLER is, of course, a lifetime 49ers fan. He’s Bleacher Report’s NFL Draft Lead Writer, and his work has been featured in the last three Madden video games, on ESPN, SiriusXM, NFL Network, CBS Sports Network, SI.com and USA Today as well as utilized by NFL, CFL and AFL teams. Matt was the secondary and special teams coordinator for the three-time league champion Joplin Crusaders of the Central Football League. Matt is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

              Here is Matt’s current 2018 Mock Draft (Top 15):

              1. Cleveland: QB Josh Rosen, UCLA

              After failing to send in the paperwork to acquire AJ McCarron, the Browns are back on quarterback watch. Rosen is the best passer in this year’s class and the most NFL-ready.

              2. San Francisco: RB Saquon Barkley, Penn State

              Trading for Jimmy Garoppolo marks off the 49ers’ biggest offseason need. Now the front office is free to grab the best player in the draft in running back Saquon Barkley.

              3. New York Giants: QB Sam Darnold, USC

              Darnold may decide to stay in school when it’s all said and done, but for now, he has to be considered a top-three pick given the needs at quarterback. If the Giants are drafting in the top three, a quarterback of the future has to be the pick.

              4. Indianapolis: EDGE Bradley Chubb, North Carolina State

              General manager Chris Ballard will want to build up the lines on both sides of the ball. North Carolina State’s Bradley Chubb has the speed, power and production off the edge to be a difference-maker from Day 1.

              5. Tampa Bay: S Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama

              The next great ‘Bama DB could be Minkah Fitzpatrick.
              The next great ‘Bama DB could be Minkah Fitzpatrick.David J. Phillip/Associated Press
              The Buccaneers could go offensive line here, but Minkah Fitzpatrick is too good to pass on. He’s a versatile safety/cornerback with a character grade off the charts good. Fitzpatrick has the goods to be a Pro Bowler as a rookie.

              6. Los Angeles Chargers: QB Josh Allen, Wyoming

              Josh Allen is not a plug-and-play quarterback but has the athleticism and tools to be the successor to Philip Rivers once he retires. This doesn’t fill an immediate need but sets the Chargers up for the future.

              7. Chicago: OT Connor Williams, Texas

              The best offensive lineman in the draft class goes to Chicago to protect the back of Mitchell Trubisky. Williams has missed all but two games this year with a strained MCL, but when healthy, he has the athleticism and production as a blocker to still be a top pick.

              8. Oakland: OT Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame

              The Raiders have to fix the defense, but that may come with the development of Gareon Conley and Obi Melifonwu. Don’t sleep on left tackle, given the age of Donald Penn and his holdout earlier this year. McGlinchey is a Taylor Decker-type blocker who can step right into the lineup.

              9. New York Jets: EDGE Harold Landry, Boston College

              The Jets need a quarterback but just miss out on the Big Three and shouldn’t reach for a passer. Instead, the front office can keep building a monster defense by adding a speedy edge-rusher in Harold Landry.

              10. Arizona: EDGE Arden Key, LSU

              The Cardinals are an aging team with needs in the near future at quarterback, left tackle and wide receiver, but their focus early in Round 1 will be on a best-player-available pick. Arden Key has the talent to be a top-five pick if teams sign off on his shoulder injury and his leaving LSU briefly this spring.

              11. Cincinnati: OG Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame

              Losses in free agency and a lack of development have left the offensive line in shambles. A quick fix comes with Quenton Nelson. The Notre Dame left guard is huge in the run game and has the agility to succeed in space as a pass-blocker.

              12. Cleveland (from Houston): WR Calvin Ridley, Alabama

              Whoever is playing quarterback for Cleveland next season will need more talent around him at wide receiver. Even though this front office has spent a large number of picks and money on receivers, it’s still a massive need. Calvin Ridley is a natural route-runner and pass-catcher with No. 1 receiver potential.

              13. Detroit: DT Christian Wilkins, Clemson

              The middle of the Detroit defense is solid but could use an upgrade in the way of a three-down player. Christian Wilkins has the first step to penetrate offensive lines and the power to shut down the run game. He’s also versatile enough to line up in any of the defensive-line techniques.

              14. Denver: S Derwin James, FSU

              The Broncos have to figure out the quarterback position but are unlikely to spend another first-round pick on one. Instead, look for the secondary to get younger with a high-upside player in Derwin James, who is a fantastic athlete but looks a little timid coming back from a 2016 knee injury.

              15. Washington: RB Derrius Guice, LSU

              The one area former GM Scot McCloughan was never able to solidify for Washington was at running back. Throw Derrius Guice into the mix with Chris Thompson and this is a potential top duo in the NFL. Guice has the power and agility to beat defenses in a number of ways.

              1. I would want Chubb in this case.
                The position is just more valuable and upgrade is greater. Even if we drafted Barry Sanders the greatest rb ever in my opinion… the team would have been more improved if had a very good edge rusher ala a Vonn Miller or Jason taylor.

              2. That would be a stupid move. If the 49ers have the 2nd pick and Rosen is taken at 1, then the obvious choice is Sam Darnold.

  1. What a distraction the 49ers front office has created. And it’s working. Trade for a QB and take the focus off a disastrous season.

    1. So I am a racist pig eh! That is really quite funny, Mr. snowflake you have a really fine day, keep your chin up, your zipper closed and then just maybe your brain might engage before your hero Kaep gets another job in the NFL.

  2. Garcon unhappy about garappolo. And not cousins. So cover it up with done for season. Don’t know what office doing.

  3. Garcon unhappy about garappolo. And not cousins. So cover it up with done for season. Don’t know what office doing.
    Typical

    1. “On Thursday, the team learned his injury is a non-displaced fracture of the C5 pedicle, which is a cervical vertebrae near his skull. The injury typically takes eight weeks to heal.”

      You’re full of crap. If he were faking, the team’s medical staff would know it and he would be cut.

  4. The real scoop on this injury is it happened on a tackle out of bounds if I’m not mistaken, of course it wasn’t called. No Oline, no Wr….I’m sure JG can’t wait to get under center. He walks in Feb., book it.

    Muscle spasms is Fosters diagnosis?? Bowman he is not.

    1. Walks?
      Doubtful… considering there is this little thing called a “franchise tag.”
      If your argument is that they are too cheap then how do you explain the Navorro Bowman contract extension for 77 million when he still had 3 years left on his old deal? Or them making Kyle Juszczyk the highest paid FB in the league? They could easily tag him, sign several Free agents and still be under the salary cap by quite a bit.

      If your argument is someone else will sign him, the niners could match the contract to keep him or if they let him go… they get the other teams first round draft pick.

      So how exactly can he “just walk”?

      1. JG can decide he wants to go to a team that is not rebuilding, and has a chance at the playoffs. Smart move on his part and I am sure Don Yee is proposing that very thing. Who in his right mind would want to play behind the Niner O line?
        .
        Yes, the Niners can franchise tag him, but if he does go to another team, at least they get a compensatory first round pick. Bet the Texans, Broncos and Jags are salivating over the possibility of snagging Garoppolo.
        .
        Of course, if Brady becomes injured, the Patriots would probably be glad to give up a first round pick to get him back.
        .
        Therefor, the Niners lose a second round pick, but could gain a first round pick.
        .
        Then the Niners could still need a QB. That PC said little, but spoke volumes.

        1. It doesn’t even really work that way.
          Even if he wants to go go somewhere else and another team is willing to pay him and give up a first (which is still a net gain for SF) all SF has to do is match it, and Garapollo can’t go anywhere.
          The only way he just walks is if he gets a terrible injury or pulls an Aaron Hernandez.

      2. Garoppolo can’t simply “walk”. Niners can, and will, franchise him if they need to. JG will sign a long term deal with SF. Book it.

        1. Agreed. And the sooner the better… both sides might be better off to sign a shorter contract for less money overall but more guaranteed. This gives both sides some safety

  5. Andrew Luck was put on IR. His stock is down.

    A bold move by the 49ers would be to trade Jimmy G for Andrew Luck.

    1. Yeah let’s trade for guy who’s had shoulder/throwing arm issues for 2 years?
      That Cal education seems like such a good investment into being dumb!

      1. 49reasons,
        Is that what your hero Matt Miller told you?

        Is Jimmy Garoppolo a generational QB? Hell no!
        Is Andrew Luck a generational QB? Hell yes!

        Jimmy G is unproven and greatly over hyped. Bill Belichick didn’t want him and fleeced John Lynch in the process. But, what’s done is done. The 49ers have Jimmy G, but they’ll also have – if the current losing trend continues – a top 2 or 3 draft pick. They’ll have the opportunity to draft either Darnold or Rosen. If they can flip a career backup for a generational QB – even with the risk of him not playing again – that’s a smart, bold move.

  6. The nitwits must babble, let them. They always stew in their own bitter juices and their muttering voices have some entertainment value. Meanwhile, accidents and injuries happen and the bigger picture clarifies itself. You don’t clean up a major train wreck in only one or two seasons. Garcon was turning in a respectable performance in the 49er’s historically worst offensive year, so he will be a keeper.

  7. Sounds like it’s not too serious so this Garcon injury isn’t the end of the world. Give your young guys more reps and see what they can do. I picked up Trent Taylor on my fantasy team. Hoping he gets more targets.

    1. Garcon’s IR isn’t the end of the world, but it increases the odds of an 0-16 season, helping odds of getting 1st 2018 pick….get ready for much consternation & whining…

    2. Houston 9er

      Exactly…I’d love for the ‘Brain trust’ to add DeAndre Smelter to the active roster and see just what we’ve got with him …lets try some Bourne, Taylor, and Aldrick Robinson….Other than Taylor, these are the Tallest (longest) WR on the roster. Let’s give some larger targets to JG…..Can’t hurt for trying….

    1. Bob “Chain Gang Boss” McNair didn’t jump at the chance to work out Kap? Really?
      I’m so shocked! The hyperbolic rhetoric surrounding CK’s unemployment is astounding, Mike Florio leading the way.
      For mine, I’ll be fine if and when Kap signs elsewhere. Then Non-Niner fans and non-football fans who’ve annoited CK as their cultural hero can buy and wear his jersey from another team. He’s not a Niner and he’s not coming back and I fail to see how he’s making any strides against unequal protection under the law for minorities. Some guys, like Boldin and Jenkins, are actually walking the walk. Kap might be a backup in Baltimore right now if Nessa had kept her Slaveholder & Uncle Tom vitriol off of social media.

    2. What about RGIII?

      Better peak junk-offense QB rating: 102.4 vs 98.3
      Better accuracy (despite playing on worse teams): 63.3% (including at Cleveland) vs 59.8%.
      He was a better runner (fast AND elusive) and showed, last year, he was fully recovered.
      He can actually make half-field reads while Kaepernick is ****ing clueless.
      Lifetime QB ratings virtually identical: 88.4 vs 88.9.

      I don’t see a single one of you crying about RGIII. And unlike Kaepernick, he’s not a toxic PR disaster.

      1. RGIII is better than all those other Qb’s that have been hired this season as well. You forget to include some of the other reasons he’s not playing though. He’s injury prone and has a rap for not doing well with his coaches. CK isn’t either of those things. Those QB’s hired are much worse than CK or RGIII. RGIII didn’t play here either so people don’t care about him.

  8. Greetings all,
    As a newbie here, just wondering… Does anyone know why a post gets lost “in moderation”?

    1. Usually if you have more than one link in your post. Or edit a post to add a single link. Both those have triggered moderation for me.

        1. Links and the occasional unfortunate combinations of letters in parts of words. They often put them through, but not always.

  9. What does that say about conditioning? To have so many players on IR. Is it a sign that the Hill didn’t have the effect the staff wanted or just plain bad luck?

    1. why so many injuries against PHI? They physically beat the S**T out of us…we’ve taken 2 physical beat-downs in a row from the most physical teams in NFC.
      Losing Garcon for the rest of season’s gonna hurt– especially hurting CJ– who will he use as hot read safety valve? Kittle? Celek? Hyde?
      I thought Hyde’s ball juggling drops in PHI due to rushed/early throws by CJ due to OL collapses.
      Man, CJ is in the s**t for next 2-3 games, with jury-rigged + depleted OL, no Garcon, no run game –god speed to you CJ.
      The hill was not a replacement for more weight room time…strength+mass is more important now than the hill’s effect on late game stamina.

    2. Interesting… I wasn’t aware the conditioning could prevent broken bones, concussions or spinal injuries.
      Sometimes teams just have bad luck… I would be more concerned if the injuries were more muscle or ligament related.

  10. ” (Garcon)He is an elite wide receiver who was supposed to lead the team. ”

    Elite? What?

    1. Garcon is “elite” on this roster this season…wait till you see what we can’t do in his absence…

  11. I love how franchise tag is thrown around so loosely, but tell me this……when is the last time SF franchised someone? Not even gonna waste my time debating the frugal ways of our squad, that’s well documented.

    1. Dumb question dReed209!

      When was the last time the 49ers traded a second round pick for a potential franchise QB who was on the last year of his rookie contract? That’s a much better question.

      If ShanaLynch allow JG to walk after this season, they look foolish. That won’t happen.

    2. 2012 the tagged Goldson… and yes they had the same ownership at the time. Now, can you name a free agent the niners had that was worthy of being paid one of the highest contracts in the NFL since then???

  12. JG is not going anywhere. They’ll work out a long term deal most likely, and if not and they don’t come to agreement, they will indeed franchise tag him. They’ll come to an agreement I predict. KS has the guy he wanted all along. When in Cleveland, he ranked JG second only behind Derrick Carr in the draft only to watch as the Browns picked Johnny Football. Typical dumb move by Cleveland.
    Injuries are never a good thing obviously but Garcon’s injury will allow the team to analyze the other receivers on the roster more closely for who the keepers will be, if any.
    The only equipment Kaep will be picking up anytime soon is a pen to write his silly little book. Look for it in the children’s section on Amazon.

  13. Sounds like Jimmy G is pretty happy man!!

    http://www.49erswebzone.com/articles/111175-peter-king-jimmy-garoppolo-euphoric-about-joining-49ers/

    “Jimmy Garoppolo was, to put it mildly, euphoric at getting traded to San Francisco,” King told Eisen. “I don’t think he might have said all the right things if he got traded to Cleveland but he would not have been euphoric. He was euphoric going because he knows that Kyle Shanahan had the seventh-best offense in NFL history last year in Atlanta, that they have a six-year contract, he and John Lynch, that there’s a history there, and they’ve got some really good building blocks on defense. And he thinks if you got to go to a bad team, that’s the best bad team you could go to.”

    1. Wohoo! The best bad team in the NFL! What an award! Anyone remember all those GM candidates who didn’t want to come here? Wonder why?

  14. Agree tjf, Garcon is a solid receiver and will be back next year. The question is who else will be?
    Congrats to the Astros!! I might need surgery to remove the smile from my face watching the Dodgers lose. That’s the good news. The bad news is they have the best team in the NL, and unless the Giants make dramatic improvements, they’ll be looking up at them again next year. It seems like there were more HR’s in the WS than the Giants hit all year! Hopefully management was taking notes.

    1. I’m with you on the Dodgers loss. However, the scoring was terribly different. Except for the fluke 13-to-12 game, the Dodgers-Astros didn’t any sort of special scoring. Their other 6 games were basic WS scores. I wrote this some where else:

      The offensive aspects were vastly over-hyped. The teams scored 68 runs in 7 games. But that is skewed like crazy by the 13-to-12 game. The rest were your basic baseball games with an average of 7 runs a game. The Giants and Royals averaged 8 runs a game in 2014. Royals & Mets averaged 9 in 2015. The Indians & Cubs averaged nearly 8 runs in 2016. If that 13-12 would have been a more normal 8-7 or some such, it would been an 8 run/game WS which is perfectly normal.

      The thing with ‘air ball’ vs ‘small ball’ is this:

      In last nights game, 21 of 23 RISP never made it home. Both teams had their chances to put it way away or take it back and couldn’t.

      When you’re going for the HR, you strike out a lot. You get a lot of fly outs. You strand a lot of runners.

  15. Cam Inman put up a tweet that had a clip of Garappolo and Beathard throwing in practice. Garoppolo looked to have much more zip on his passes.

  16. Also, the 49ers had one of the best defensive performances against the Eagles this year:

    SF held Wentz to his lowest passer rating since Week 2, #Eagles RBs to 3.6 yards per rush, offense to 10 first half points on offense.

    So, despite all the over-reactions, it should be clear the 49ers are moving the right direction. Last year they’d have give up 5.0, or more, YPC and 21 points in the first half then teams would just start the second half running out the clock and stoning Kelly’s College offense while Kaepernick, the worst second-half QB in the NFL, did nothing.

    1. “despite all the over-reactions, it should be clear the 49ers are moving the right direction.”

      In 2016 the 49ers were -10.7 in points per game. So far in 3027 they are -10.8 in points per game.

      That’s great improvement!

      1. 111 seasons to get from 10.7 to 10.8 pts./gm. — talk about slow and steady improvement, could the York clan still be around in 3027? Cryogenics?

      2. The 49ers won two games with a +14.5 ppg differential.
        The 49ers lost 14 games with a -14.3 ppg differential.

        Our losses, last year, were 3.5 PPG worse than our losses this year. We just didn’t get a 28-0 blow-out gift win over the Rams and squeak-by win of 1 point over the Rams. Last year:

        We scored 9 TDs in the first quarter. Gave up 12.
        We scored 12 TDs in the second. Gave up 18.
        We scored 2 TDs in the third. Gave up 11.

        By the end of the third, virtually all the games were out of reach. The 2016 49ers were so uncompetitive by the end of the thrid quarter, in virtually every game, that teams, literally, stopped trying to score and went to the old ‘run out the clock’ strategy in most of those games. Meanwhile they played prevent defense, and we got:

        We scored 11 TDs in the fourth. We gave up 10. Our defense, FWIW, did not get better in the 4th quarter. Teams ran 179 times in the 4th quarter. Which is 53 more (43%) than the second highest quarter. Meanwhile they only passed 108 times, the lowest number of any quarter.

        Our offense didn’t get better, either. Teams, pretty much, played soft in order to run out the clock. That allowed us to score quite a few garbage points. Like those worthless TDs and FGs late in games we lost by 14 or more points. I mean, 15 points in the 4th quarter against the Seahawks? We lost that game 37-18. Or 17 points against the Panthers? We lost that 46-27.

        PPG is a nice tool. But you still have use your head to make it work.

        1. So many words. It’s pretty damn simple. The offense is worse this year, and the defense is better.

        2. Speaking of touchdowns, this team is currently on pace to score 12 fewer than a season ago. Great improvement! Way to build it Lil Shanny!

    1. If you watch the two powerbrokers on the outside (jed and trent), purposely in small case due to their ‘smallness of mind’, so absorbed in pushing around the coach, as if fans come to see them……Watch carefully, the smirk on Baalke’s face when he pushes Tomula around and Jed, acting as if all are beneath him, then the suit saying: “I think somewhere in there he means we’re going to run the football….

      What a painful memory of what it took to wipe the smirks of the suits’ faces– all those walkouts by 49er fans, leaving Levi’s empty.

      Fans, we really don’t want to go back to that, so ignore Jack and Steele unless your plans are their plans–to bring back Baalke.

      1. What’s your problem Tom, they obviously don’t like what they are seeing it certainly does not mean they are wrong. I don’t like it either.

      2. Nice. You know exactly what both Jack and I want! Funny how the sycophants can’t see a bit of criticism thrown Shanahan’s way. I do not wish to return to losing season after season with hope always guiding the season.

        I suppose Grant also wants Baalke back by that logic.

  17. Hey Jack and East what are you guys looking for? I guess my question is are you guys suggesting that we get a new HC or GM or both. New owner is not going to happen so….

    1. How about a win. Maybe having a player they bring in actually make a positive impact. Not be worse than last year.

      Too much to ask?

      1. Not at all. I am still looking for one play one great play something to change the game. Been a long time for that. Yea Jack I am with ya. I was just checking in seeing what’s up.

        1. The 4th quarter comeback to force OT in Indy was nice. Too bad they couldn’t keep it rolling.

      2. Meanwhile, the so called greatest coach since Walsh (Harbaugh), currently sits at 24th in the coaches poll and unranked in the AP poll. He has control over everything and is unranked.

        1. So called? What 49ers coach in the last 20 years has been better?

          Find it laughable that folks want to take shots at this guy.

          1. Not just talkng about us. You’d think he was better than Belichick if you read some of the comments on this blog.

              1. Too much hype on Harbaugh. Mariucci is twice The coach he is.
                That was York’s worst firing.

              2. I do. Some of you were so on top of his knob it was embarrassing. He was handed a championship team. He choked.

              3. “He was handed a championship team.”

                LOL! Yeah, they went from 6 to 13 wins his first season and he had very little to do with it. This is awesome!

              4. Harbaugh CHOKED! Bottom line.

                He was handed the league’s most talented roster, and couldn’t get it done. His Super Bowl team basically sleepwalked through the first half of Super Bowl XLVII. Unprepared mentally, and out-coached by his little brother. The so-called QB whisperer drafted Kaepernick and benched Alex Smith in favor of Kap, before eventually trading away the better QB, likely costing the 49ers their first Super Bowl loss. Overworked his veteran players at the expense of developing talent behind them, leading to the biggest roster collapse in team (and perhaps NFL) history.

                Jim Harbaugh = overrated

              5. If you want to say Harbaugh choked that’s cool. Kinda similar to a certain OC screwing the pooch with his team in field goal range late to seal a championship, but instead of calling a run he calls a pass. Whoopsie.

              6. Oh yah, did I mention that Jim Harbaugh managed to become Pete Carroll and the Seahawks’ whipping boy? It’s a wonder Harbaugh isn’t shining Pete Carroll’s shoes these days, since he left the 49ers as Carroll’s personal bit_h.

              7. Good point 49. Let me update that for the blog.

                Oh yah, did I mention that Jim Harbaugh managed to become Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes’ whipping boy?

              8. Last time I checked all play calls went through Harbaugh who actually radio’ed them in.

              9. Both Harbaugh and Mariucci were competent coaches who assembled a good staff. Who ran them out!

              10. Mariucci ran himself out by not having the team prepared to play on that crushing playoff loss to the Bucs, and Harbaugh thought he was bigger than his owner by embarrassing him in front of the team.

          2. What did Harbaugh win again?
            Did he ever develop a QB?

            Yeah he won a lot of games but not the big one.

            He was suppose to come in and be a guy to revitalize the SF offense. He even went to the Bill Walsh archives, made that public as well.

            In the end, he didn’t accomplish anything he was suppose to do!

            1. Ugh, the Harbaugh offense. He had a good OL, HOF HB, VD in his prime, decent Bolden and Crabtree, ass kicking FB, legit QB (until he benched him for a gimmick). Yet the offense never did get going on a consistent basis.

              1. “Yet the offense never did get going on a consistent basis.”

                The offense was 11th in points scored in years 1-3. Top 1/3 of the league ain’t too shabby. Way better than 29th I think. But hey, Shanahan is an offensive guru.

              2. He had a good OL, HOF HB, VD in his prime, decent Bolden and Crabtree, ass kicking FB, legit QB

                Pretty sure Shanny would have been top 8, if not top5.

              3. “legit QB”

                It’s awesome how time has changed the perception of Alex Smith. Wonder why so many wanted him out of SF after 2010. ?

              4. The perception of Alex changed when he eliminated the Saints. He was playing well the next year too. Now he is a MVP candidate. One could argue that Andy Reid is a better QB whisperer than Harbaugh.

    2. Not at all. I think we need to stick with this system for the foreseeable future (4 years). The thing I don’t understand is why Shanahan are beyond serious criticism of what is going on with the team. They need a bit more critical analysis so they improve what is going on, rather than blind adulation for every move they make.

      Everyone should remember I was cautious about all the great things this team will do. I knew we wouldn’t be very good but they have underperformed even that.

      Obviously, my two cents comes in late.

      1. East, got ya. I was just curious, as the complaints seem to be at KS/Lynch and the only thing to do there would be replace them. Losing sucks, I know some in here want them to lose out – I am not one of them.

        1. Neither am I. But I believe that they have made many errors. They are just starting and hope they improve. I’m just not ready for an empt and early coronation.

      2. East, isn’t being 0-8 critical enough?
        What else do you want to happen to him that holds him accountable?

      3. It’s a fair point East.

        I think Kyle does deserve some criticism. He certainly picked the wrong QB to lead his first season rebuilding a talent deficient NFL roster. And there is an argument to be made that he could have called better 4th quarters on a couple of the teams defeats.

        However, the 49ers were picked to finish dead last in the NFC for a reason. First, ShanaLynch were making massive changes to the roster, bringing in a large number of new players, many of whom are very young and inexperienced, while at the same time installing one of the league’s most complex offensive systems and transitioning from a base 3-4 to a hybrid 4-3 defense. Making all of these changes is a process that takes time, to get right.

        While you never go into a season with the conscious mindset that wins are going to be hard to come by, particularly early in the season, I think enough of these players have been around football long enough to realize, at least subconsciously, that this year was likely to be an uphill battle from the word go.

        I mean, there’s a reason why most of the so called “experts” were expecting the 49ers to finish dead last in the conference. And I think most of those same experts understood that ShanaLynch would be judged, not by the success of their 2017 season, but where this team is 2-3 years down the road. My gosh, the 49ers didn’t even have their QB of the future on their roster, and most agree that excersizing a little patience to find the right guy behind center, was probably the right approach. The smart play was to use the first season to evaluate the roster, weed out the players who weren’t going to part of the future, and get to work installing the new systems and getting players up to speed through practice and in-game repetition.

        The way I see it, the reason so many people are giving Kyle a pass right now, including myself, is that they realize this was going to be a multi-year process. It was never about winning enough games to keep the team out of the conference basement, as long as guys are playing hard, and ShanaLynch are staying true to their plan. And I think they’ve accomplished that so far, especially considering the blockbuster Garoppolo trade, which could very well accelerate the rebuilding process in a very significant way.

        The 49ers were, by and large, pretty darn competitive before the injuries have depleted an already thin roster. Despite a string of heartbreakingly close losses, the team has been playing hard, with the exception of the Cowboys game. That’s a good sign. And a lot of people think that the 49ers were able to land the QB of the future sooner than expected. A significant number of draft picks appear to be developing as well.

        With a ton of money to spend, and what appears to be a favorable draft position heading into 2018, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a an 0-8 team whose future looks as bright as this 49ers team. And because of that, Kyle and John Lynch deserve the benefit of the doubt, for now. GO NINERS!

        1. 49r:

          I appreciate your response. Please know I thought that the team would be near the bottom of the heap. I asked the question, a long time ago, of what would be a sign of progress? I postulated that a similar outcome to last year would not suffice and that perhaps the team could do even less well. I conceded that doubling the wins from the previous year would be a sign of great progress. Posters posited that there was NO WAY the team would do worse because of Shanahan.

          I think at this point with an 0-8 start it is fair to call this short of the goal. Mind you there is more to come and I will wait, hoping that Shanahan becomes all that we wish to become.

          However, he is a very new coach and therefore, should proceed with a certain amount of deliberation. What we got was a shotgun approach to FA and that was I think not a good call. The very first thing he should have done is ahore up the OL and the DL (specifically Edge Rusher). Many state, rightfully, that they tried to address he front. However, either their evaluation process was faulty or they were too late in bringing in additional help, but to my mind it is difficult to evaluate the team when the QB is running for his life. This was a problem last year and everyone knew it. Not addressing is an issue.

          The DL is a bit tricky because they did bring someone in but it was the wrong guy for the position. It may be that picking a DJ Watt was not really practical and trading down was not an option. But here’s the thing, M. Lattimore was available and could have been picked as well. Would have been a little high but they seemed ok doing so (Beathard and Williams). Either way it was a lost opportunity to fill a glaring need.

          During he season there have been calls that were suspect (those pick plays should have been retired after the first one two were called but…). If they wanted a system QB they should have stuck with Hoyer longer, but they put in a rookie, which makes me wonder why they didn’t bring in a better veteran given they were ok to fastrack a QB (Garoppolo). Letting go of Bowman without a proper replacement was/is a mistake and the last couple of weeks have illustrated that. The move of Armstead out of position is also a poor move and one they should have known better about (Carradine).

          Now all this is part of going through the growing pains, but I don’t think we should lavish praise on these guys until they accomplish something. Harbaugh for all his faults took an underaching team and made them winners – same as McVay – that takes Good coaching – losing anyone can do.

          1. I agree East.

            Personally, I think we need to continue with a “wait and see” approach when evaluating ShanaLynch’s performance. Not to take anything away from the job McVay has done, but I don’t think anyone thought his situation was comperable to Kyle’s. The Rams have been stockpiling high draft picks for the last decade, and were the beneficiaries of the kind of trade that most NFL executives can only dream about. Thus, the Rams had the benefit of starting their rebuilding process years ago, and came into this season with more talent on both sides of the ball, than the roster Baalke left in his disastrous wake. The Rams also have the best DT in the entire league. Robert Quinn was in the conversation for DPOTY as recently as 2014, before injuries have derailed the last couple seasons. They also now have one of the most accomplished defensive coordinators in the league, while the 49ers have a first-time DC, and the jury is obviously still out on Saleh. The Rams had the look of a team that was on the doorstep of being a playoff contender before McVay ever came aboard. Not so for the 49ers.

            Thankfully, Jed York seemed to understand the enormity of the task at hand, and smartly brought in an offensive mastermind along with a smart and charismatic GM, and gave them the kind of breathing room necessary for the task at hand.

            Believe me, I’ll be the first guy to call ShanaLynch out if this process stalls, or goes off the rails after next season. But it seems clear to me that this is a franchise in the infancy of a massive rebuilding effort. It’s a process that ShanaLynch appear to be attacking in methodical fashion. Next on the wish list is the OL, secondary, and DE. By securing a potential franchise QB now, the 49ers have set themselves up for an exciting offseason, and I expect to see this team make strides towards relevancy in 2018.

            I’ve circled 2019 as the season in which all of the pieces of the puzzle ought to realistically come together, and if this team isn’t back in the playoff conversation by then, it’s time to start questioning the new direction of this franchise. Until then, I am exercising patience and reserving judgement, which I believe is fair, given the state of the franchise ShanaLynch inherited.

  18. Having been given the opportunity to start, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was excited to head to the San Francisco 49ers. “Euphoric” might be a better word to describe

    King appeared on the Rich Eisen Show and shared what it meant to Garoppolo to join the 49ers and not some other team.
    “Jimmy Garoppolo was, to put it mildly, euphoric at getting traded to San Francisco,” King told Eisen.

    “I think a lot of this also, some part of this, had to do with the fact that Bill Belichick has as much respect as he does for John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan,” Schefter said. “And when he looked at it, he could have traded Jimmy Garoppolo anywhere. Cleveland was dying for Jimmy Garoppolo
    http://www.49erswebzone.com/articles/111175-peter-king-jimmy-garoppolo-euphoric-about-joining-49ers/

  19. Foster is that Ferrari sitting in the shop , looks all fast and shiny , but a part always broken

    1. More of 1960s Jaguar… :) When my dad was in medical school (UCSF), to get back to student housing from most of the places we go, we’d drive by some gas station on Clarendon. One of my best friend’s dad owned a Jaguar. Four the four years we were there, that car was at the shop more times than it was gone.

      Cool car when it worked. Had a radio phone and everything. But. mostly, it didn’t.

      1. Yah, and Deshaun Watson is injury prone as well I guess.

        How many people on this blog wanted Malik Hooker? Out for the year with torn ACL, MCL. What a bumm.

        Oh wait, I almost forgot ……. it’s a rough sport. ILB’s and Safeties get hurt often. Bowman lasted how long as an elite player?

        Willis was constantly battling foot issues. Willis: “You’ve seen me break my hand on Sunday, have surgery on Monday and play on Thursday with a cast on,” Willis said. “But there’s something about these feet. And those are what made me who I am. They had you all saying, ‘Wow, where’d he come from? I know I no longer have it in these feet to go out there and give you guys that kind of ‘Wow.’” Willis retired at the age of 30, after battling injuries throughout his final few seasons.

  20. SF has lots of work to do next year, it does not even matter what they do this year. I was just looking at the free agents for next year and the class is weak. the top players will get tagged and everybody else will be fighting for the same player and the price will go up. along with who would want to play for a bad team. but they have to spend some money but it just seems like they always roll over cap space. i already mention what they should do at QB and heard alittle bit on TV about it last night on the NFL network. how they have the upper hand on the QB because either A they have their guy in JG or B could go after Cousins and trade/get comp picks if he signs elsewhere or C draft a QB. if they can just sign a few good players and draft good players and not another DL, they should be good regardless who they have at QB. but they just have so many needs on offense i am very curious to see what this front office does

  21. Prime, this one’s for you:

    San Diego Tribune
    NFL Mock Draft 2018: First-round projections:

    1. Cleveland (0-8) — Mason Rudolph, QB, Oklahoma St., Sr.
    2. San Francisco (0-8) — Minkah Fitzpatrick, FS, Alabama, Jr

    Matt Miller’s Scouting Notebook: Updated Post-Trade Deadline 2018 NFL Mock Draft
    MATT MILLER
    NOVEMBER 3, 2017

    2. San Francisco: RB Saquon Barkley, Penn State

    Trading for Jimmy Garoppolo marks off the 49ers’ biggest offseason need. Now the front office is free to grab the best player in the draft in running back Saquon Barkley

  22. Walter Football 2018 mock draft:

    San Francisco 49ers: Saquon Barkley

    I’ve repeatedly written that I wouldn’t be mocking a quarterback to the 49ers because there was a good chance they would obtain Kirk Cousins. Well, they traded for another signal-caller instead, acquiring Jimmy Garoppolo. I have NFL Trade Grades posted for this in the link.

    Saquon Barkley ran a 4.33 at the Penn State pro day in March and happens to be an even better prospect than Ezekiel Elliott. It’s quite possible the 2018 draft.

    http://walterfootball.com/draft2018.php

  23. Funny read.

    https://www.thesportster.com/football/15-current-bizarre-nfl-rumors-we-hope-arent-true/

    SUPER BOWL LI WAS RIGGED

    “First rumor is that Trump played a role since he is close with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Others say the NFL was in on it the whole time, since Atlanta refused to kill the clock, or that dumb Atlanta fans took the meaning of an on-screen graphic too far. But, the most interesting and convincing case is the guy who claims the Illuminati rigged the game since football is a mind-control device of the masses.”

    12. JIMMY HOFFA IS STILL UNDER GIANTS STADIUM

    8. ED HOCHULI HATES THE PATRIOTS, SPECIFICALLY BRADY

    3. TEAMS ARE STILL PAYING PLAYERS UNDER THE TABLE

    2. NFL CONTROLS THE MEDIA’S TALKING POINTS

    1. TRUMP HAS A PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST NFL OWNERS

    Number 1 is probably true.

    1. # 80,

      Ha ! I heard another one on the Late Show Monologue by Seth Myers:

      “Donald Trumps campaign manager apparently has a new log on code: 007–James Bond.
      Recently he was sending postcards to campaign headquarters entitled: From Russia with Love !”

  24. I understand why there are a lot of people currently excited about the idea of drafting Barkley, but honestly, unless they fix the OL it will be pointless drafting a RB that high. There will still be no holes to run through and the QB will get killed. They can only afford to take a guy like Barkley if they add a couple of good OL through FA first.

    1. 60 million in cap space, 11 draft picks? They can target the oline and the secondary and pass rush with those type of assets.

      1. Sure… but who are the good OL that are going to be available that the 49ers are going to sign? Not looking like a great year for FA OL I am sorry to say. So the draft is likely the best avenue to fix the OL. Use FA for other positions.

        1. I think Boone is going to be available next year. What do you guys think about bringing him back at a reasonable salary? Don’t know if can play well in a zone scheme (not sure what the Vikings offense predominantly plays).

          1. He’s better than what they currently have at OG, but he’s not the answer in and of himself. This OL needs a lot of work. All 3 interior OL spots need upgrading (one of those may be Garnett, but he’s still very much an unknown), and they need a succession plan for Staley.

          2. Boone coming back to SF? Not likely:
            1) Boone won’t be “reasonably priced” and
            2) His stint at SF had him as a power run scheme OG, not sure if MIN used him differently.

            FA C/G’s should have a background (hopefully positive) in OZ and IZ run schemes, if you need to teach zone scheme it should be to a promising rook/s– not an FA who’s not done it much/at all.

            1. Agree. I knew Boone played power scheme while in SF. I think he will be reasonably priced, because IIRC, he was actually demoted in Minnesota before he got hurt. I could see Boone playing the LG position next to Staley (assuming Staley stays at least one more year).

              1. moderation filter again…reposting–
                to close out the Boone to SF theme:

                MIN ESPN 1500 article from 9/2/17:
                quote in article: “it appeared he (Boone) was having trouble adjusting to zone running scheme” etc. Upshot of article– he was more trouble divisiveness-wise than any upside shown on field, ZBS deficiencies doomed him, so was to be $6mil backup– Spielman pulled the chain on his remaining $$ contract– Vikings ate the $$ and escorted him off the premises …
                tried to add link but, well you know….

        2. The prudent move for the 49ers is to trade their (presumably) #2 pick, and stockpile picks.

          However, if a sensible trade doesn’t materialize, you’ve got to go with the best player available, and that’s clearly Saquon Barkley. He’s a very rare talent. He’s the kind of player who completely changes the way defenses can sheme against even an average OL, because he’s so much more than a RB. He’s Christian McCaffrey on steroids. He’s Marshall Faulk plus 20 lbs. He’s the next “big thing”, and I have no doubt he will light the NFL on fire, like few young players ever have. He’s that talented!

      1. No, its really not. Much easier to find a good RB than a good QB. Taking a potential franchise QB before fixing the OL makes sense, if you really believe in the guy and the opportunity presents itself. And seems Shanahan and Lynch really believe in JG. Now they need to get the pieces around him.

    1. I was wondering when they would dial him up. I thought he showed he could play in the preseason. Eager to see what he does with this opportunity….

  25. http://www.knbr.com/2017/11/03/pierre-garcons-injury-underscores-just-how-unlucky-0-8-49ers-have-been/

    “Consider that the team has lost two games with horrendous calls at game’s end.”

    “And granted NFL schedule makers have a tough task to make things fair, but scheduling four East Coast trips in three weeks with teams coming off of bye weeks for the 49ers just seems like bad scheduling.”

    “For a team with a constantly changing roster and a completely new offensive and defensive scheme, limiting practice is a big deal.”

    “The team was so ravaged on the offensive line, coaches pulled tight end Garrett Celek aside during halftime of the Eagles game and were teaching him pass sets.”

    “The defensive line has also gone through it, with Tank Carradine (ankle), Arik Armstead (hand), Aaron Lynch (calf) and Ronald Blair (thumb) all sustaining what look like long-term injuries. It’s forced the 49ers to rely on players like Leger Douzable and Tony McDaniel, who were plucked off the street.”

    But it’s all Shanny right?

    1. Not at all but Tomsula has historic losses of many pro bowlers and no one gave him a pass. That is what I am looking for. A bit of balance.

      1. I hear ya. If you can’t evaluate someone at the mid season mark, then when can you? I think he has been subpar so far. I’ve disagreed with some of his 4th dowm decisions and I didn’t like his speech about losing. And yes, the offense isn’t where I thought it would be at this point.

        But I think it’s too soon to write off our 2017 draft. Thomas and Foster will benefit from having a full off season. Witherspoon is coming on strong. CJ, well let’s hope we can flip him at some point. Williams, who knows, but he looks like a natural OZ runner. Kittle needs to catch better, but he can get open. Taylor is reliable, his small catch radius won’t be as big as a problem with Garoppolo. DJ Jones was a good late find, as was Colbert.

        So I agree that his coaching is fair game, but some of the roster moves could still pan out. Oh, BTW, I will be all over KS if there’s not a big improvement next year. Jimmy G raised the bar.

        1. Very true, 80!

          I really wanted the team to show improvements, especially personnel wise. I have high hopes for Foster because he can be a game changer but he has to stay on the field. Kittle has the same dropsies that McDonald had, and isn’t a better blocker. Witherspoon, too early to tell. Williams a total unknown but he seems like a head case. I do think that DJ Jones has been a good pick up though.

          I do think that the weak link in all this is the OL. As you say, I think the fan base will be expecting a big turn around next year, but if they cannot find a decent OL (and it seems like they need at the very least a Tackle, Guard and Center – that’s a lot of pieces) for that to start occurring. Scooter already pointed it that the FA market is limited, which leaves the draft. Risky, and my confidence in evaluation is somewhat diminished because of 2017.

  26. Kyle Shanahan has been an offensive coordinator for 9 years prior to this. In those 9 years his offenses have ranked in the top 1/2 of the league just twice.

    In 2012 with the help of the read/option catching defenses off guard they ranked 4th. Then last season with a QB who was already a Pro Bowler, a #1 WR who was already a Pro Bowler and a myriad of other weapons they ranked 1st before losing in the Super Bowl.

    In his other 7 seasons the offense ranked in the 20’s on 5 occasions (25,26,23 in Washington, 27 in Cleveland, and 21 in Atlanta). That makes bottom 1/3 for a third of his career.

    A lot has been made about the development of the QB. Did he develop Matt Schaub? No. Did he develop RGIII? No. He and his dad drove over Griffin with a bus after his injury trying to pass the blame for their failings. Did he develop Cousins? The results during their time together don’t show it. Did he develop Hoyer in Cleveland? Nope. Ryan was already a Pro Bowl player who’d been to an NFC Championship game prior to Lil Shanny’s arrival. So now let’s believe he’ll develop Jimmy Garoppolo. Sounds like a plan.

    This guy got this gig based on 1 great season, his last name, and the need for Jed to win the PR battle and motivate a fan base starving for success.

    1. What have those QBs done without him? Ryan is still decent, but as you said, he was already a Pro Bowler.

      The Shanahan’s never wanted RGIII. But they still made it work. Now RGIII is out of the league. RGIII has nobody to blame but himself for his knee with his ridiculous slides.

      I’m sure Mike and Kyle coached up Cousins.

      1. Cousins with Shanny as OC – 80.90 rating more int’s than td’s

        Cousins with McVay as OC – 97.34 rating 2 td’s for every 1 int

        Which OC showed better success? Which OC is now showing better success as a HC?

        If you’re going to hire someone, it’s generally better to hire the person with a history of success.

          1. The Rams won 4 games last year and their GM Les Snead was considered a buffoon.

            The Rams hired a guy with a track record of success, not a recognizable name.

            1. “The Rams hired a guy with a track record of success, not a recognizable name.”

              That would be a good comparison for McVay and Jeff Fisher (the name).

        1. MCVay and Shanny got hired into 2 complete different scenarios. One had everything you needed, Goff and Gurley and a pretty good defense, and one had, well nothing.
          Bad example.

        2. McVay also picked from Kyle’s coaching tree. What does that tell you?

          https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/offensive-crisis-for-falcons-has-roots-in-loss-of-shanahan-and-top-assistants/

          “LaFleur was Shanahan’s primary sounding board on the passing game; he was allowed to leave to join wunderkind Sean McVay, the youngest head coach in the NFL, in Los Angeles. They are doing tremendous work with Jared Goff and league sources anticipate McVay letting LaFleur leave in the offseason to become a play caller elsewhere.”

          So how much credit does Shanahan’s guy LaFleur get with the Rams? And it should be noted that if there wasn’t a bogus call, Shanahan would have beaten McVay and the Rams.

    2. They didn’t even want RGIII, that was mandated by the owner. They got Cousins and under Shanny Cousins comes on the scene as a franchise QB.

      No coincidence Matt Ryan has his best career year in year 2 with Shanny. This year ATL offense with the same pro bowl QB, WR, and RB tandem are struggling.

      “So now let’s believe he’ll develop Jimmy Garoppolo. Sounds like a plan.
      He’s already developed and what they are doing is developing him into their playbook and scheme.

      I think he got this job because everywhere he’s been, the results double in production in his offenses and players have career years after being in the scheme in consecutive years.

      I suggest you wait till next year before trashing the guy when he hasn’t even had time to build his scheme, bring in his players and let them play in it more than a season.

      1. “everywhere he’s been, the results double in production in his offenses and players have career years after being in the scheme in consecutive years.”

        That’s false. He was in Houston 2 years. 17th in points per game each year. No improvement.

        He was in Washington for 4 years, 25,26,4,23. One good year, 3 bad.

        Atlanta is the exception but that has more to do with having a group on offense that had already been to the playoffs and Pro Bowls. It’s the outlier in his career.

            1. It was horrific.

              http://thebiglead.com/2015/02/18/mike-shanahan-talked-about-not-wanting-donovan-mcnabb-robert-griffins-demands-in-washington/

              “Former #Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan on @ESPNRadio980 “I didn’t want to give up draft choices for Donovan McNabb”

              — ESPN 980 (@ESPNRadio980) February 18, 2015

              “Shanahan on McNabb acquisition: “Bruce [Allen] had the leeway to make the deal and I think he knew how much Dan [Snyder] wanted Donovan.”

              — Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikCSN) February 18, 2015

            2. Kyle Shanahan’s REAL Offensive Coordinator track record:

              Houston: 2008 ranked 3rd in Total Offense. 2009 ranked 4th in Total Offense
              Washington: 2012 Ranked 5th in Total Offense. 2013 ranked 9th in Total Offense.
              Atlanta: 2015 ranked 7th in Total Offense. 2016 ranked 2nd in Total Offense

              6 of 9 years ranked in top 10! Come on Jack Hammer, get your facts straight for crying out loud, lol

              1. Case in point, in 9 years as a coordinator Shanahan’s teams have had a winning record only 3 times and made the playoffs just twice. Those 2 seasons? The only 2 that his offense was in the top 1/2 of the league in scoring.

                Sean McVay did in 2 seasons what took Shanahan 9, and he did it back to back, something Lil Shanny has never done.

    3. In the 2014 season, KS took over as the OC for the Cleveland Browns and took a team that had not had a winning season since 2007 (only two winning seasons in the last 20 years) to a starting record of 6-3 with Brian Hoyer at QB (best record after nine games in twenty years). Two of those losses came on last-second scores by the opposing teams. After that the Browns played poorly for several games with Hoyer getting most of the blame and he was benched in favor of Manziel. The Browns only won one more game and finished 7-9.

      KS resigned at the end of the season because of the FO’s mandate that Manziel start.

    4. Come on Jack, get your facts straight.

      As offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan has had a top ten team in total yards in six of his nine seasons. Everywhere he goes he has had offensive success.

      Doug Farrar of Bleacher Report recently ranked the 10 best offensives schemes in the NFL, and Shanahan’s “pre-snap passing game” landed his offense at No. 1.

      And boy do the Falcons miss him: http://www.nbcsports.com/video/atlanta-falcons-miss-kyle-shanahan-offensive-coordinator

      1. Kyle Shanahan’s REAL Offensive Coordinator track record:

        Houston: 2008 ranked 3rd in Total Offense. 2009 ranked 4th in Total Offense
        Washington: 2012 Ranked 5th in Total Offense. 2013 ranked 9th in Total Offense.
        Atlanta: 2015 ranked 7th in Total Offense. 2016 ranked 2nd in Total Offense

        6 of 9 years ranked in top 10! Come on Jack Hammer, lol

  27. In an appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” program Friday, Edelman shared his thoughts on Garoppolo going to the 49ers.

    “They’re getting a stud, man,” Edelman said.

  28. NFL going to run out of players worth watching unless someone figures out how to prevent all these
    injuries putting stars on season ending IR……….

  29. Since the Niners are officially tanking because they acquire JG and now will not play him, guess looking at the offseason may be worth speculating about.
    .
    The Niners must improve the O line.They should use a two pronged approach. They must sign a decent free agent like the Rams did with Whitworth. Niners could have out bid the Raiders for Osmele, but declined to try. FAs are experienced and have had time to bulk up and get stronger, but more importantly, they have a track record to look at and compare with others. Niners should look at FAs from teams that have pro bowl players. Those FAs may be talented, but not enough to supplant the starter.
    .
    The Niners also need to draft multiple O linemen. The Niners should resign Hyde, so they are not tempted to draft Saquon Barkley. Then, they should follow my advice again, and trade back to accumulate more picks. In fact, they should trade back more than once. The Niners should strategize to obtain as many second, third and 4th round picks as possible. They should also accept as many second and third round 2019 draft picks as possible. If the Niners play their cards right, they can turn their 4 picks in the first 3 rounds into 7 picks, with second and third round 2019 picks, also.
    .
    Right now, the Niners are slated to pick second. If they can manage to trade back twice, they might start picking at 16, but with 3 more picks in the first 3 rounds. With those picks, they could draft an OT, QB, OG, CB, WR, DE and C. Not sure the exact order. No matter what, they should still draft a QB, and several good ones should be available in the first 3 rounds. First pick should be an O lineman, and it should be a tackle or guard, depending on who the Niners signed in free agency. A center can be found in the third Round.
    .
    A big WR like Marcell Ateman or Simmie Cobbs Jr, could be available late second early third round. Both are 6′ 4″, 220 lbs. A DE is needed because the Niners need a better pass rush. A CB could be found in free agency, but they should draft one anyways.
    .
    The Niners should save all their later round picks, and maybe even obtain a couple more by trading down in the 4th and 5th rounds. They should try to get as many draft picks as possible, because they will be locked up into rookie contracts for 4 years. Remember, Trent Brown was found in the 7th, and Boone was an UDFA.
    .
    Niners are in a full rebuild. JL and KS should be questioned about their decisions. but posters should also realize that they may not win a game, but they will still not be fired. Jed wants to stop the HC merry go round, and that is why they received 6 year contracts.
    .
    JL and KS should not receive any credit foe Garoppolo falling into their laps. They did nothing and it was JG’s decision to not be content backing up the starter. Bellichick got something for him, instead of waiting and getting nothing for him, and he directed JG away from the Pats, into another conference.
    .
    It was pure luck JG fell into their laps, but I would rather be lucky, than good. Niners were lucky, and that’s good.
    .
    Still think they will play JG, because he waited 4 years to play, so he is chomping at the bit. They should start CJB, and see how the O line is holding up under the pass rush. Then they should let JG go in for a series or 2, maybe just to hand off the ball. If they allow him to drop back to pass, they should instruct him to get rid of the ball quickly, before they can get pressure.
    .
    If the Niners win these next 2 games, it might save the season. Bears, Texans and Jags could be winnable with their QB concerns, so a 5 win season is possible.

  30. http://thefalconswire.usatoday.com/2017/11/01/can-kyle-shanahan-turn-jimmy-garoppolo-into-the-next-matt-ryan/

    “Since Shanahan’s departure, the team hasn’t been nearly as explosive on offense. It has fallen to 16th in points scored, plus Ryan has been somewhat average this season.”

    “The 49ers have been bad in 2017, as in 0-8 bad. Their struggles were to be expected, though, since they were one of the worst teams in the NFL and had no long-term answer at quarterback.”

    1. Actually they did but chose to cut him cuz he didn’t fit the system like Hoyer did….Lmao.

    2. Of course the Falcons are struggling on offense. Their new coordinator is freaking Steve Sarkisian.

  31. If I hear franchise tag again my head will explode, can someone tell me the last time our squad used it. Asked the day of this trade when you dudes were proclaiming we struck gold getting a guy on an expiring deal….qb of the future…..if he was so willing to stay they would have had a deal in place before he came.

    I called T. Browns move to LT weeks ago, albeit it’s due to Staleys injury…..I can promise Joe will be at Rt when he returns.

    U cats that love to bash Baalke, just remember he was GM of the year……convenient omission. So many love to bad mouth the Baalke, Harbs, Kaep era…..but we are light years from even dreaming of being on that level. I got much more faith in Lynch than I do KS who I think is a fraud that benefited from having the most dynamic offensive roster last couple years in Atl. No thanks on that kool-aide, too watered down for my taste. Never seen a rookie coach with zero wins be so smug, even the worst teams stumble into a win here and there…..unless they are tanking like our boys.

    I hear #7 still most worn uni at the SF games, the legend lives on……cant stop it haters! We love yall tho!

    1. Baalke was GM of the year in 2011. He inherited a lot of pieces from McCloughan and he used McCloughan draft board in 2010. Lets revisit the 2011 draft.

      Aldon Smith – Gone
      Colin Kaepernick – Gone
      Chris Culliver – Gone
      Kendall Hunter – Gone
      Daniel Kilgore – Terrible
      Ronald Johnson – Gone
      Colin Jones – Gone
      Bruce Miller – Gone
      Mike Person – Gone
      Curtis Holcomb – Gone

      And who can forget 2012.

      AJ Jenkins
      LaMichael James
      Joe Looney

      1. To be fair, this kind of scrutiny would be true for a lot of teams:

        Seattle’s 2011 draft only has two players still on the team with many of the early round picks out of football. Granted, one is R. Sherman and the other is KJ Wright but it just underscores how challenging it is to keep football players and how so few of them pan out.

    2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2017/04/27/the-worst-gms-at-the-nfl-draft-in-the-past-20-years/

      One general manager who deserved to be on the hot seat was Trent Baalke of the San Francisco 49ers. Over the past three seasons, no active general manager produced a worse deficit of draft value than Baalke (minus-25.7). None of his 33 picks has made the Pro Bowl and just two, running back Carlos Hyde and center Marcus Martin have produced a career AV in double digits.

    3. And about Harbaugh. He still can’t win the big one(s).

      https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/starting-11-jim-harbaugh-overrated-edition/

      Think about this, Harbaugh is now in his third year at Michigan and his team is just 1-4 against top rivals Michigan State and Ohio State and has never finished a season better than tied for third in the Big Ten East. Given that Michigan still has road games at Wisconsin and at Penn State and a home game against Ohio State, there is a very good chance the Wolverines finish year three under Jim Harbaugh at 8-4.

      Right now Jim Harbaugh is the fourth best coach in his own division. Maybe that changes in year four, but in his third year at Michigan Harbaugh is the most overrated coach in college football.

      1. 80,

        It’s very easy to do this sort thing:

        Who is Kyle Shanahan?
        The offensive coordinator of the high-octane
        Atlanta Falcons? Number one scoring offense in the league? A trio of inherited weapons? Such as Matt Ryan, wide receiver Julio Jones, and running back Devonte Freeman, to name a few?
        Or The Kyle Shanahan who coached quarterback Robert Griffin, A.K.A. “RG III”, in his promising rookie season? Or Kyle Shanahan
        of the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, and
        Washington Redskins offensive coordinator with his dad being the head coach for four out of nine years he’s been an offensive coordinator in the NFL? ..,

        1) No championship culture on his resume
        –No disrespect to Kyle Shanahan, but you have no championship culture that you’ve established on your own with a known proven identity or been an intricate part of one with a proven track record for success. Ouch. But that’s just the cold reality of the truth.

        2) Lacks head coaching experience–
        Shanahan hasn’t been a head coach before and, therefore, he’s going to come in and have growing pains small, medium or large on some level. Ask yourself this question: is that going to be the best fit for the San Francisco 49ers? The 49ers have been rebuilding the last two years since Jim Harbaugh departed and since then have fired two head coaches and a general manager. I think it’s safe to say whoever takes this head coaching position has to be able to handle immense scrutiny on a multitude of levels. Is Kyle Shanahan, who’s unproven as a head coach, that guy?

        3) His teams have been career underachievers–
        What if I told you that the last two years 2008-2009, respectively, with the Houston Texans Shanahan, then the offensive coordinator, had a potential future Hall of Famer in WR Andre Johnson, a 1,200 yard plus running back in Steve Slaton, QB Matt Schaub throw for 4,770 yards passing, and a tight end in Owen Daniels
        who accounted for 100 plus catches, 1,300 plus receiving yards to go with seven touchdowns during that span but none made the playoffs under Shanahan’s watch. Not to mention Pro-Bowl fullback Vonta Leach
        and strong #2 WR in Kevin Walter, all on one team together. Let’s go a step further. During his whole tenure between 2006-2009, those Texans teams never made the playoffs until after he left the team two years later.
        Interesting to note:
        While serving as the offensive coordinator for the Redskins and working under his dad
        Mike Shanahan, Kyle between 2010-2013 made the playoffs one time in 2012. In QB RG III’s rookie year, they went 10-6 and was ousted in the first round by the
        Seattle Seahawks 24 to 14. Since becoming a new OC back in 2008-2016, Shanahan has made the playoffs twice with this weekend’s showdown against the Seahawks being his second of the two.

        Did the Atlanta Falcons in 2015 underachieve with an 8-8 record? What do you think? Are your eyes wide open? In 2015, the Falcons lost seven out of their last nine games, via ESPN.com.

        When former Falcons’ WR Roddy White
        was asked last year about the offense being too complex or what happened last season, here’s what he had to say regarding Shanahan:
        “No it wasn’t, besides the things [Shanahan] was doing in making six variations to one route,” White said. “It was just episodes throughout the game where I think he mismanaged things and screwed up and we didn’t have the opportunity to win the game, which, I thought, was on him as the offensive coordinator. It wasn’t sound football, but it was things that he was used to doing and things we weren’t used to doing as an offense, and it literally cost us like two games.”

        If Atlanta had won those two games, they would have been 10-6 with a potential playoff berth last year. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Are your eyes wide open? Hold that thought…
        Allow me to leave you with this:
        Although Kyle Shanahan had middle of the pack numbers to some below average numbers before taking over a loaded Atlanta team with weapons at every position, he’s been mediocre at best and the teams he coaches from an offensive standpoint have been underachievers and disappointers to their respective fan bases at his previous stops he’s been at. That’s why he wasn’t retained by ownership who at the time elected to take the road of cleaning house completely — out with the old and in with the new.
        If you’re reading this article, by now you’re asking yourself how is Kyle Shanahan going to look in the eyes of a 49ers’ 2-14 team from the previous year while his teams’ have been repeated underachievers under his watch and how is he going to motivate them to play hard for him and provide a winning culture/attitude? You are not alone… When you’re the head coach of a historic franchise like the San Francisco 49ers mediocracy just won’t get it done.

              1. That makes it even better.

                This guy has had very little success in his career yet has been given the guys to turn an entire franchise into his own making?

                It’s like drafting a QB in the first round who hasn’t really accomplished anything of significance, except he’s strong as an ox and has a howitzer for an arm. I mean, who’d do that? Oh wait…..

              2. “It’s like drafting a QB in the first round who hasn’t really accomplished anything of significance, except he’s strong as an ox and has a howitzer for an arm. I mean, who’d do that? Oh wait…..”

                Replace first round with second round and you got Harbaugh and Kap.

        1. No, the Falcons in 2015 under achieved because their defense was bad. In 2016, they acquired a good pass rusher and good LB, and the offense took off.
          .
          ‘When you are a HC of a historic franchise like the SF 49ers mediocracy just wont get it done.’ Exactly. That is why Baalke should have been fired instead of JH. Then we would not have had to endure Tomsula and Chip, the definition of incompetence and mediocrity.

          1. It still has nothing to do with KS and the turnaround in Atlanta. Certainly agree that JH should have been retained and Baalke shown the door, but that is water under the bridge. I think the author’s point is buyer beware. I’m ok with that. KS has been given the reins and he should be under scrutiny as should Lynch. Just because they have 6 year contracts doesn’t mean the press should give them a pass. Although it looks like just about everyone is.

            I have no problems with mistakes. These happen, especially to rookies, but they should move to correct versus acting like this all part of the plan all along. Especially when they spoke in different terms mere weeks before.

            1. You know me. I have been very critical of KS. I think he should hire an OC, and his touting of Hoyer made me question his desire to win.
              .
              Still, with Lynch helping him, I think KS will learn and grow as a HC.

      2. I beg to differ. JH has forgotten more football than many of us will ever learn in a lifetime. This year is unfortunate because he does not have a Tom Brady leading Michigan.
        .
        It is all about recruiting, and JH is hampered by the high standards Michigan requires. Those Mich St games were very winnable, and they squeaked though by the skin of their teeth. Ohio St has Urban Meyer, who is a worthy opponent.
        .
        Over rated? There are about a dozen HCs more over rated than JH.

      3. LOL. How many games did Big Blue win the year before hiring Harbaugh? Oh that’s right it was 5 games. They’ve won 10 in each of his first 2 seasons, and despite struggling after losing the starting QB to injury are still above that 5 win mark at 6-2.

        Nice try though.

        It’s hilarious watching you try to trash a winning head coach for a guy who’s been over .500 in 3 out of 10 years as a coordinator.

        1. But he will never win the big one, cause that’s him. He is a coach that can only take his players and teams so far, before wearing everyone out. SHELF LIFE type coach.
          Harbaugh reminds me of that cousin who you only visit every 3-5 years.

          1. Maybe not. Doesn’t mean he’s not a damn good coach and the best the 49ers have had in 20 years.

            As a fan I want to see a team win the championship, and if they don’t do that at least be in the running. He did that here and at every stop.

            1. He is a good coach but damn good? Not sure about that in the NFL. He had talent when he was here and in the NFL, you have good talent and a decent coach, you will win a lot of games.

              You keep trashing Shanahan because of his history but every where he has been with talent, his offenses are really, really good.

              My point is, being critical of him and the situation he is in right now in San Fran is unwarranted.
              I think he gets the year and the offseason to show what his plan is and if its working.

              1. “every where he has been with talent, his offenses are really, really good.”

                That’s simply not true. His offenses has ranked in the top 1/2 of the league in points per game twice. By the end of this season that will be 20% of his career.

                He got lucky in 2012 with RGIII catching teams off guard and last year he had weapons all over the place and they were relatively injury free.

                Shoot, look how Cousins’ career and the Redskins offense in general took of after he left.

              2. Yeah cause they are using his offense. Its the familiarity.

                Its the same situations as it was with Norv Turner. Everywhere he goes, the second and third year, the offenses improve dramatically.

                Spare me the stats Jack. Kyle Shanahan has proven he is a good offensive coordinator. Trying to convince the board he is not, well, that just looks like you got a hate on a guy.

                As for being a good head coach, well, that is still to be determined.

              3. “Kyle Shanahan has proven he is a good offensive coordinator.”

                How can someone in lieadership in any field be considered good when the unit they are responsible for is regularly in the bottom half of their field in the most important area.

                If his last name was anything other than Shanahan the whole narrative around this guy would be completely different.

            2. Sadly it’s a criticism that applies to the current coach too, so it’s a double edged sword to wield that argument. Which is more inspirational Brick by Brick or who’s got it better than us…

              One inspires confidence in ones own abilities and unity . The other states you are merely a piece in the puzzle.

        2. Harbaugh is good, not great.

          “It’s hilarious watching you try to trash a winning head coach for a guy who’s been over .500 in 3 out of 10 years as a coordinator.

          It’s hilarious watching you blame a W/L record on a coordinator.

          1. I’m not blaming a win/loss record on a coordinator. My biggest take on Shanahan is that his offenses have been in the bottom half of the league for all but 3 of his seasons as a coordinator. It just so happens that those were the only 3 seasons that those teams had winning records. And he’s never been able to do it in back to back seasons.

            There’s a pretty strong correlation between scoring points and winning games.

    4. Reed, your attitude is a little over the top. You can have opinions, but that is just what they are, opinions, that may sound nice, but are not the truth..
      .
      For example- JG came to the Niners because BB steered him here. He could have gotten way more draft picks from the Browns, since they were willing to part with second and third round picks for McCarron, a way less valuable player than JG. There could be no contract in place because they were up against the trade deadline, and JG himself said it was a whirlwind day with lots happening quickly. I bet they are working real hard on a deal right now, but there was no time before BB called to propose any long term contract. Lynch is considering JG to be the franchise QB of the future, because he looked giddy with delight that JG was sitting next to him. JG may not turn out well for the team, but right now, he is light years better than Hoyer and CJB.
      .
      While I still wish Kaep could have signed with the Niners, now that JG is here, they have closed the door on that scenario, and I am not unhappy, because all I wanted was for the Niners to obtain a strong armed QB who is mobile. Hoyer was immobile, and CJB has a weak arm.
      .
      Yes, KS looked less enthusiastic with JG at the presser, but maybe the 0-8 season has tamped down his hubris. KS has a lot to learn, and needs to play the hand dealt him, but I was not looking for wins per se, but more that the team is improving, and headed in the right direction. We all were cutting him slack when he lost all those winnable games. After those 2 losses, I am not going to call for his ouster. They are all teachable moments, and there is a reason why Jed gave him a 6 year contract. KS is not a fraud, he just needs time and a better roster. I hope he becomes more flexible, and learns from his mistakes.
      .
      While I miss Cassie because she gave me more opportunities to rip the stench of Baalke, I will defend JH because he made the Niners relevant. Going to 3 straight NFCC Games brought back memories of the Glory Years.
      .
      Baalke liked to cut players on the team bus, and both JH and Kaep probably felt like pin cushions due to all the backstabbing. Sure am glad Lynch is stopping the leaks and smears. He is the Anti- Baalke. The run defense is light years better than last year’s team. Lynch is trying hard to improve the team. Before JG, I was questioning his effort, but all his tryouts of D linemen and O linemen, and his luck to have a franchise QB fall in his lap, has changed my mind.
      .
      I will not drink the Koolaid. I will stick with Pliny, hope for the best and expect the worst.

  32. Morning Rant-
    Among all the myriad reactions, over-reactions and panic attacks with regard to the anthem protests, my favorite ludicrous assertion is that players kneeling has caused a loss of sales of Papa John’s pizzas. Marvelous! Bravo! Find blame anywhere but at home.
    Let’s examine that logic: I’m hungry. Pizza seems like a good choice. Let’s presume I haven’t been exposed to good pizza pies so I’ve regularly been buying Papa John’s. But now, despite being hungry for a regularly selected item, I’m offended by the pizza purveyor advertising on NFL games, since a minority portion of its players take a knee during the anthem and are thereby disrespecting everybody who ever served in the military and all their mothers as well, soooo…….I’ll go to Subway instead and deny myself what I wanted in solidarity with…..uh…um, well the point is………….uh…?
    Alternatively, any chance a crappy product contributes to overall sales volume, or lack of same? You can get Domino’s or Papa John’s delivered to your home, but then what do you have? Crummy lukewarm goo made from ‘industrial’ ingredients.
    I like the billboards for Clover Dairy products. They’re cute in a Granpa-jokes kind of way. But I buy their products because they are high purity, quality, and they taste good; NOT for the advertisements or some vague sociological-political stance.

    1. “Let’s presume I haven’t been exposed to good pizza pies so I’ve regularly been buying Papa John’s.”

      Ha! Good one.

  33. Brotha,
    +1

    Having grown up in PA and MD, I crave New York style pizza. Hard to find in the LOU (we have this God-awful Provel “cheese”). Papa Johns… no thanks, with or without the socio-political stance.

    1. Isn’t there some irony in the Papa John’s “controversy”?

      The white supremacist website the Daily Stormer announced Thursday that Papa John’s pizza is the official pie of the alt-right, posting a picture of a pizza with a swastika fashioned from pepperoni slices. The caption reads, “Papa John: Official pizza of the alt-right?”

      Papa John’s founder and CEO John Schnatter is notorious anti-regulation, pro-free market conservative. Way to go conservatives …….. there is nothing like eating-your-own in order to make a political statement.

      Of course, playing politics cuts both ways. Schnatter came under fire in 2012 for saying that the Affordable Care Act could be “lose-lose” for Papa John’s franchisees and employees. Schnatter argued that Obamacare would cost Papa John’s $5-8 million annually and ultimately drive up the price of pizza. The backlash was swift, with many promising to boycott Papa John’s in response to Schnatter’s comments. Papa John’s shares slumped about 4.2% during the controversy, Forbes reported. How about treating your employees like human beings, and not simply business assets. And how about making pizza people actually want to eat? Isn’t that the way to take advantage of free-market principles?

      Keep up with the politics John, you are on a heck of a roll!

  34. Predictions for this weekend’s contest? I believe that Arizona will win out 15-12. More than likely it will be an ugly affair. Too many injuries and ineptitude on both sides.

      1. 20-16 huh? very optimistic score prediction– thinking TD’s will happen— I’d keep score predictions in this game at multiples of 3 pts.

  35. This team and column are a tragedy.
    I am calling FEMA right now.
    Maybe we can sift thru the destruction and
    find something of value.

  36. Ha!

    http://nfltraderumors.co/browns-tried-trade-jimmy-garoppolo-patriots-said-werent-interested-moving/

    “Garoppolo’s agent reportedly said his client didn’t want to play in Cleveland, but the Browns weren’t discouraged by this or the fact that Garoppolo is in line to be a free agent next March.”

    “Some have speculated that the Patriots wanted to do right by Garoppolo and send him to a team that he and his agent felt good about moving forward.”

    1. Another good indicator that this is a good trade for us. Belicheck wanted Jimmy G out of the AFC so when he does well he won’t be facing him regularly. I feel better and better.

      1. Yup. And Garoppolo didn’t want to go to Cleveland, but he was OK with coming here, probably because of Shanahan.

          1. The trade was made by Belicheck and he always does what is in the best interest of his team. If he thought he could get more and that Jimmy G would not hurt him in the future Jimmy G would be a brown right now.

    1. Razor: “Quenton Nelson is a man among boys.”

      ** The Search for Franchise Players in the 2018 NFL Draft Class: there are 6 guys in this year’s class with a chance to make a leap into the elite tier, here are six names to pay attention to . . .

      1) ​Bradley Chubb, EDGE, N.C. State: Premier edge rusher. 2) Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama: uniquely equipped at CB and S. 3) Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn St: The top athlete in the 2018 draft? 4) Arden Key, EDGE, LSU: A high-ceiling- with -baggage prospect, but has freakish ability. 5) Quenton Nelson, G, Notre Dame: A guard worth taking in the top five? 6) Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU: Has over 1,800 yards and 19 touchdowns since the start of the 2016 season.

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