The top-five 49ers under contract

Who are the top-five Niners under contract right now? Recently, we’ve focused on players who don’t have contracts, like Coby Fleener and Carlos Rogers and Alex Smith, to name a few. What about the players the Niners have currently? Who are the best ones? Here’s the top-five. 1. Justin Smith – He’s the best player on the team, arguably the best defensive player in the NFL. He’s a great run…

February 27, 2012
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Grant’s top-five favorite 49ers

This year the beat writers voted Donte Whitner the Garry Niver award winner for the player most accommodating with the press. Garry Niver covered the championship 49ers teams for the San Mateo Times. He died in the early ‘90s of a heart attack. My dad knew him very well and says he was a lovely man. The award is named in his honor. Whitner was a great choice for the…

January 31, 2012
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How the Niners offense can improve on third down and in red zone

This is a blog about Stanford tight end Coby Fleener, but first, some context. According to Matt Maiocco, Dashon Goldson is the Niners’ top candidate for the franchise tag. Franchising Goldson would cost the Niners $6.2 million in 2012, while it would cost them $10.6 million to franchise their other top free agent, Carlos Rogers. So, Goldson most likely will be a Niner next season. But, will Rogers? He wants…

January 28, 2012
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Cosell clarifies

Greg Cosell expanded on his NFC championship commentary Thursday morning on KNBR’s The Murph and Mac Show. Here’s what he said. Q: For everyone who didn’t read your blog, tell us your evaluation of the game. COSELL: “Let me just start with this: It was 49ers football. They played true to their character. It’s a run-based offense. It’s a high percentage of two backs, two tight ends, two backs and…

January 26, 2012
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How the Niners offense will attack the Giants defense

Here’s how I expect the Niners offense to attack the red hot New York Giants defense. I expect the Niners to split out Vernon Davis at wide receiver often, much more than usual. The Giants are going to double team him, probably with a cornerback and a safety. I expect the Niners to use that against them. They’ll split Davis out wide and have him run deep. Two Giants defenders…

January 19, 2012
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Vernon Davis transcript

SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Vernon Davis’ Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Vernon, obviously you guys aren’t in that underdog role have you have been in earlier in the year. Does anything change now that you’re not in that role anymore? “To answer your question, no it doesn’t. We can still go out and play our game. We’re not worried about everything that everyone has to…

January 18, 2012
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East Coast vs. West Coast: The Battle of the Wide Receivers

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s sports section is doing a special playoff package every day this week, and for Wednesday we’re focusing on the Giants and 49ers wide receivers. The great Phil Barber was assigned to write on the Giants wide outs. I got the Niners wide outs. Quite a contrast. To read about the Bi-Coastal Battle of the Wide Receivers, please click on the following two links. Phil on…

January 17, 2012
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King Harbaugh and the Knights of the Round Table

SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh was especially talkative today. His Monday press conference transcript was almost 5,000 words. I’m focusing on about 80 of them. One writer asked Harbaugh an Alex Smith question. Harbaugh responded by calling his quarterback tough. Then he went on this tangent: “These guys are my heroes. All of them. Alex was heroic in this game. So was Justin, so was Donte, so was Aldon, so…

January 16, 2012
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How the Giants defense will play the Niners offense

Part of the reason the Saints lost to the Niners on Saturday is that their defensive game plan was too simple. They acted as if stopping Frank Gore would stop the entire Niners offense. They committed eight, nine, sometimes ten defenders to the box to shut down Gore and they left every single receiver in single coverage – even Vernon Davis. This was a bad strategy. You can’t single cover…

January 15, 2012
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Alex Smith saves the day (Lowell column)

My dad wrote his column on Alex Smith. In it, he gives the quarterback his due – Smith did what almost everyone said he couldn’t. He won a shootout. He led not one but two game-winning touchdown drives. And he did all this in a playoff game. To read the column, click here.

January 14, 2012
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The Niners beat the Saints 36-32: Grades

Here are my divisional playoff grades for the Niners, who beat the Saints 36-32 and will play in the NFC Championship game next weekend. Alex Smith: A+. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first – he didn’t play well in the middle of the game. Ok, now that we’ve established that, let’s talk about the positives. He made two plays to win the game. The first was the…

January 14, 2012
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Greg Roman: “A lot of what we do during the game is aim to deceive.”

SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Greg Roman’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “Good afternoon. Obviously, we’re preparing for a really good team. Defense for the Saints has been very productive this year. I think, how many games have they played now, 17? They’ve played good enough to win 14 of them. They have a very active, aggressive defense. They play fast, got a lot…

January 11, 2012
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Vernon Davis: “When I first got in this offense it was almost like I wanted to quit.”

SANTA CLARA – Vernon Davis spoke in the media tent this afternoon. Here are selected quotes from his group interview. Q:  We just talked to Greg Roman, and he said the past four or five weeks that he can tell you’ve become really comfortable in this offense. Would you say that time is right for you, too? VERNON DAVIS: I’d say the time is right. When I first got in…

January 11, 2012
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Vernon Davis says a bad word (Lowell column)

My dad drove down with me to Santa Clara today to interview the 49ers in their locker room. He happened to participate in a group interview with Vernon Davis, and he wrote a fun column on the colorful tight end’s use of a very picturesque word in Americana. To read my dad’s column, click here.

January 5, 2012
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Braylon Edwards cut

The 49ers cut Braylon Edwards, according to multiple reports. Edwards made this statement on his website: “I was released today by the 49ers due to my injury that required more time to rehab and hasn’t allowed me to re-sync with the offense. I wish the 49ers organization the best of luck during the Playoffs. “I will be working hard this off season to strengthen my knee and prepare for the 2012…

December 27, 2011
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Week 16 picks

I didn’t do so well with my picks last week, and I’m accountable for that. I rush to my computer to take accountability. Now that I’ve taken accountability, let’s move on to this week’s picks. 49ers @ Seahawks: 49ers 16-3. Marshawn Lynch has rushed for at least one touchdown in the last 10 games, and I’m sure he thinks he’s going to be the first running back to score a…

December 23, 2011
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Vernon Davis on Braylon Edwards: “I don’t know what’s going on. Is he still rehabbing?”

SANTA CLARA — Vernon Davis spoke at his locker today for the first time in a couple weeks. Q: Were you happy with how you were utilized on Monday night? VERNON DAVIS: “Yeah, I was very excited that I was able to be involved in the passing game and help my team win. It’s a credit to Alex Smith and our defense for keeping us out there and keeping things…

December 21, 2011
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Harbaugh heaps praise on Aldon Smith, Tarell Brown, Ahmad Brooks, and more.

SANTA CLARA – Here are more quotes I selected from Jim Harbaugh’s Tuesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Larry Grant has played really well with Patrick Willis out. Have you thought about, are there different ways you’re going to look to get him involved when Willis comes back? Are there other ways to get Larry Grant on the field more than he had been before the last few weeks?…

December 20, 2011
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Harbaugh: “Know this – we’re trying to score touchdowns.”

Here are some quotes I selected from Jim Harbaugh’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. If his Monday theme was “man up,” his Thursday theme was “embrace challenges” – specifically scoring touchdowns on offense and beating the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. Has T Joe Staley been cleared to practice? “He’s been cleared to do some walk through, but no, he’s still going through a series of – as…

December 15, 2011
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Alex Smith on the Steelers D: “They’re all very skilled at reading routes, reading the QB, especially the two safeties.”

SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Alex Smith’s Thursday press conference from the media tent. Q: Jim Harbaugh just said that you guys are going to spend more time on red zone offense this week in practice than you normally do. Do you think that will be beneficial? ALEX SMITH: Yeah, I think you find some little things here and there. Obviously with more time down there, there’s more…

December 15, 2011
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