The 49ers made their first player cuts from 90 down to 75 fairly painlessly. A few camp fodder lads were released, Parys Haralson was traded to the Saints, and about ten guys were pushed off the roster and stashed onto the various injury designation lists provided by the league. The next cut from 75 down to 53, after Thursday night’s game in San Diego, won’t be nearly as ouchless.
The Charger game will not be blacked out in San Diego, as expected, which will give the fans in that city a chance to see what their own team had a chance of becoming before the owner made the ghastly mistake of hiring Norv Turner as the head coach. Norv was fired in January after six years on the job, having completed his task of turning a Super Bowl contender into a mediocre AFC West also ran. GM AJ Smith deserves much of the blame for the team’s downward spiral, but it’s more fun to dump on Norv, and so we did.
It’s tempting to say Norv ruined the 49ers, too, by leaving abruptly late in the offseason of 2007, but his departure inadvertently hastened the demise of Mike Nolan, so who’s to say whether Norv’s lasting impact here was negative or positive?
Having momentarily dragged our thoughts to the bottom of the State of California, it’s hard not to mention the vast vacuum slightly northward that we’ve passed over while drifting southward. Los Angeles. The great NFL black hole. It’s been 19 years since the Rams and Raiders both escaped town and no team has yet risked moving to the second most populous city in the United States. Mon Dieu!
Nobody really wants to live in L.A. They’re just too dazed from “freeway stupor” to escape — or even know how. It’s an all day drive just to get out of the city and another all day drive to get anywhere worth getting to. The only way to get L.A. fans to attend a game would be to re-route a freeway through a toll booth to circle the stadium in a simulated traffic jam so the fans could rubber neck the game while they’re idling their way back out of the loop and on to whatever nowhere it is they were going to for whatever useless purpose they will have forgotten by the time they get there.
Meanwhile, back up north among the rivers and lakes and wildlife and scenery and God’s green earth in full abundance, we have your basic us — 49er fans. Riding atop the NFL world. Tis a great and glorious time. Unless we lose the second game of the season to the Seahawks. That would rearrange the furniture a bit. Not a good thing at all.
One more practice game and the 2013 season begins for real. And this site ramps up from mindless drivel to hard-hitting, fact-based drivel.
Kawakami must have run out of ideas for a story. Harbaugh has 2 years left after this season on his contract. He’s not even half way through.
Dolphins offered him more money so it’s asinine to think that’s what motivates Harbaugh.
A total non-story that will be addressed towards the end of 2014.
Kawakami just trying to stir the pot before another run for six.
http://www.mercurynews.com/tim-kawakami/ci_23958290/kawakami-jim-harbaugh-mum-contract-extension
What will Harbaugh do about Marecic?
http://blogs.sacbee.com/49ers/archives/2013/08/harbaugh-has-second-chance-with-stanford-favorite-son-owen-marecic.html
Do you believe in the SI cover curse?
http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2/Colin-Kaepernick-on-SI-Cover/60f8ea8c-2092-4392-97ac-f7074fe799cc
“Patriots have cut cornerback Ras-I Dowling. They took him with the first pick in the second round of the 2011 draft.”
Not an AJ whiff, but close.
Dowling was a first round talent
but was hurt in college and fell into the second round and couldn’t stay healthy enough to log significant playing time.
Surprised they didn’t put him on IR or PUP.
I was very high on him hoping he would drop to the Niners. Would be interested to know if there’s a back story here.
His college scouting report:
“After being named All-ACC second team and recording 58 tackles and three interceptions during his junior season at Virginia, Dowling was named to the Nagurski Trophy, Thorpe Award and Bednarik Award watch lists, but he appeared in only five games in 2010 due to a sprained ankle and other injuries. While his health remains a risk, there isn’t much else holding Dowling back from being one of the first defensive backs selected in the draft. Currently projected as a likely second-round pick, Dowling finished in a tie for seventh among fellow cornerbacks in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.46 seconds at the NFL combine. Dowling also has impressive natural instincts to go along with a tremendous frame, attributes that should help him catch on quickly at the next level. Dowling showed off his big-play ability with eight interceptions in his first three seasons with the Cavaliers and was also a solid contributor against the run. His size enables him to be very physical at the line of scrimmage and he has little trouble fighting through blocks. Dowling plays a very physical game and should consistently cause problems against smaller NFL receivers.”
I really liked Dowling too. As far as I can tell, he can’t stay healthy.
The 49ers are trying to save as much money as they can this year so they’ll be able to re-sign more next year. This from Matt Maiocco’s recent article: “The 49ers are watching their cap dollars closely because unused cap money from one season can be rolled over into the next.” The 49ers are about 7-8 million under the cap, and Baalke can certainly use that next year to retain guys like Aldon, Crabtree and Kaep. This is why Baalke has been restructuring and asking players like Colt, Parys and Goodwin to take pay cuts to stay with the team. It’s also why good drafting is so important. Can’t ask Goodwin, Colt and Parys to take pay cuts without Lemonier and Kilgore and Daniels on the team.
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Will 7-8 million this year rolled over to next be enough to retain guys like Aldon, Crabs and Kaep? Kaep will stay for sure, but Aldon and Crabs? Forget Iupati.
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I think it’s this roll over option that puts Brian Jennings on the endangered species list. Fangio said it himself – “If it’s even competition between a vet and new comer, we’re often going to go with the rookie or younger player. He didn’t say it, but that’s because the younger player is usually cheaper and that allows the 49ers to retain more of their own. Jennings is in trouble.
Forget Iupati?
You seem to forget how things were when we had Chilo Rachal, Tony Wragge and David Baas playing guard.
I know you long for the good old days when the Oline was like swiss cheese.
We have a road grader much like Larry Allen in his prime and you want to let him walk?
Iupati will be one of next guys they’ll sign.
bullit- I agree. If Football Outsiders are dissing Iupati as chopped liver, then I have no use for those idiots. The guys who play along side him think he is fairly decent. The guys that play the game voted him to the All Rookie team and the 1st team All Pro Team last year. Because of that difference I have to question anything that comes from Football Outsiders.
It took 10 years to shape this team into a playoff contender and 3 front office regimes.
Think back 2 years at this time
and if you were a Niner fan you were wondering is Harbaugh going to be like Erickson (Donahue), Nolan (McCloughan) and Singletary and give us false hope?
Harbaugh (Baalke) took us to the NFC Championship and then to the Super Bowl and now we have guys that want to blow it up because they think they’re smarter and want to mess with success.
Berger, You can question anything you like: Global Warming, Obama’s birth certificate, if Alex Smith would have been cut if he wasn’t traded, if Alex Smith had a bad offensive line, if Alex Smith had bad receivers, if Blaine Gabbert is a HOFer. Question away. That’s your game. Bottom line is that I’ve been saying Iupati is a bad run blocker for a while, and now Football Outsiders is too. Watch Iupati pull and trap. He can’t get to the next level and block well. He’s too big. And getting to the next level and blocking well is huge. He can pass protect with the best of them. We’ve all seen the pancake on Clay Mathews. But for my money, I don’t pay a guard big money ever, and I certainly don’t do it when the guy’s not a good run blocker. It’s all fantasy anyway. Baalke’s gonna do what Baalke’s gonna do. We’ll see. But why did Baalke extend Anthony Davis before Iupati? Interesting… your polar ice caps are melting.
Spitty- So what you are saying is when the replay shows him pulling and blocking two guys out of the play I should ignore that? When the people he plays with and against vote him 1st team All Pro I should ignore that? I should go with what you say instead? Got it.
I watch just as many games as you, and just as much tape, and I don’t see Iupati pulling and blocking two guys out of the way very often on run plays. If you have a clip or someone’s article about Iupati’s dominant run blocking, I’d love to read it or watch it. Football Outsiders says Iupati excels at pass blocking. He could have been voted 1st team All Pro because of his pass pro. You really don’t know, Berger. But you’ll pretend you do.
So what you are saying is you don’t see it very often on run plays? Which means you see it sometimes. Thanks for agreeing with me.
You wanted a clip to show him pulling and run blocking. Here you go. He even blocks two on the 2nd play!
http://youtu.be/glifF2cKeLk
To be good you have to do it consistently. That’s why Iupati wasn’t extended and Anthony Davis was. And the 49ers have Joe Looney waiting in the wings, creating leverage for the 49ers to say to Mike at the end of the season: “We’ll offer you this and if you can get more else where, we wish you well.” Did you see that Looney block on Williams? It’s like Bobb was standing next to Yoda in a hologram and said, “Take his knees out, you will.” Kid’s ready.
Davis got extended first because Iupati is harder to sign. You go ahead and believe anything you want.
Davis got extended because he’s a complete, consistent player. For the record, what do you think the future holds for Iupati? I think he plays somewhere else when his contract’s up. I don’t see the 49ers using the franchise tag on him. He might, but it’s a long shot, take less to play in SF.
I’m down for hanging onto Iupati as well.
It’s always been Baalke/Paraags’ MO to offer extensions early to manage the Cap.
I think the same principles apply to him too.
It’s also going to involve a cooperative Agent.
Both Davis and Iupati were 1st Rd Picks of course so, I think they value both very highly.
Very possible that Anthony’s Agent was easier to get things done with too?
Things just get a little more complicated now with Kaep and Aldon needing to be paid.
They won’t lose any sleep if Iupati isn’t cooperative but, it will have to be at the right price certainly.
Fact is, Anthony could easily play on the left side or go inside to Guard as well.
He’s got sweet feet and a nasty attitude.
Jersey Boy.
To the Jennings/McDermott decision.
I’d look to work a Trade for Jennings before I flat out released him.
Assuming of course that the competition is really is as close as it’s being suggested.
Definitely take the younger cheaper guy in that situation.
Sure, Berger. A guard’s harder to sign than a tackle. Maybe in your world.
Okoye has cleared waivers and might get an injury settlement so the Niners can sign him to the PS.
S Darcel McBath was also given an injury settlement and is now a free agent and no longer a Niner.
Spitty
No matter how you look at it Looney’s block was a cheap shot and totally unnecessary.
For you to praise Looney for that type of action shows you have zero class.
What has been the main complaint
all through preseason? The backup Oline sucks and Looney is one of the main cogs to that.
Spitty- It depends on who the guard is and who the tackle is. Also, are you talking LT or RT? Your general statement needs to be more specific for a better answer.
This Rolling Stone article about
the (alleged) murderer is interesting and is not kind to Urban Meyer, Bellichik and Kraft.
Hernandez paranoid and constantly high and a fan of angel dust.
http://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-gangster-in-the-huddle
Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone contributor, in an interview after the article appeared, thinks Hernandez will be back in the NFL.
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“I think [the case] is not only beatable, I think he will be back in the NFL within three or four years,” Solotaroff said. “I think they’ve grossly overcharged him based on the case they’re building – no direct eye witness, no murder weapon, no plausible motive.”
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If he somehow gets acquitted, Jerry Jones would sign him in a heart beat.
Now I wish Goldson had hit him even harder.
“NFL, players reach proposed $765M settlement of concussion-related lawsuits.”
Good to know they solved that problem.
Ahh, the fourth and final preseason game. It’s about as riveting and captivating as watching C-SPAN or reading an Ayn Rand novel. Can anything be worse? I just remembered. C-SPAN does book reviews. The final preseason game or watching C-SPAN discuss Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged? If ever there were a good time for the cable to go out…
But there is real football on tonight — NCAA. Battle of the Carolinas. North vs South. The forecast for South Carolina tonight calls for most Clowney with a 100% chance of pain.
Nicely done, Dennis.
Berger – I’m talking about two offensive linemen drafted in the same year, pretty close to one another. I’m talking about a RT who could play LT on another team. I’m talking about a guard who’s lost a great deal of agility in the short time he’s been in the league because of either his weight gain or his workout that’s changing the form of his body. Football Outsiders works on a year by year basis. They were only talking about Iupati last year. Your clips is of Iupati’s rookie year. He’s not the same player. I’m talking about a RT getting better, and a LG declining. That’s why Iupati came out this year and said, “I can get better.” It’s also why there was talk but nothing more regarding Iupati’s extention.
Iupai’s fellow players and coaches voted him All Pro 1st team. I do not need to know more than that.
Spitty
How funny you fail to mention Football Outsiders predictions for total wins for the Niners
2010 6.1
2011 7.5
2012 7.1
These guys obviously don’t have a clue what they’re talking about
yet you rely on them like the gospel.
Spitty I would change my source of info because they consistently are wrong, and wrong by a lot.
If you are paying them money for the info you are getting fleeced.
Spitty
I also looked up what Football Outsiders said about the current Oline.
How is it they contradict everything you said earlier? Are you up to your old tricks because this is what they said about Iupati
“Staley and Iupati form a tremendous tandem — one that’s only getting better, too. Iupati, in particular, is on the cusp of greatness, he just needs to be become a more consistent week-to-week player”
FO lacks creditability in my eyes but they were not negative on Iupati, you were. See for yourself
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/state-team/2013/state-team-san-francisco-49ers
Berger – What do you predict with Iupati? With your history of being wrong, I’m betting you won’t commit. Man up. I say he’s gone.
And Berger…. is that a parrot on your shoulder?
No, it’s you!
Can’t predict, can you? Too bad, no nuts.
I could see a scenario where our current wide receivers of Moore, Williams, Boldin, Baldwin and Patton get the job done so well that Crabtree is left to wonder just how much the 49ers need him. Crabtree’s not the kind of guy who would let 49er passing success without him hurt his NFL value. He’d just go somewhere else. And the 49ers aren’t in the franchise tag game anymore because they’re looking for discounts, not to overpay. If the current batch of 49er receivers does well enough to win a Super Bowl without Crabtree, why’s he necessary, especially at a bloated salary that he’ll receive when his contract’s up?
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I think the 49ers’ first priority is obviously Kaep, but then it’s Aldon. Pass rushers like Aldon are special, and they’re game changers…. and his hair is entertaining… and he’s a HOFer, easy. You don’t trade or let a HOFer go. Iupati isn’t a HOFer. Crabtree? Marginal.
1.) Kaep
2.) Aldon
3.) Crabtree (with the hopes our current receivers do well enough to push Crabtree either off the team or drive his salary way down).
4.) Fat Iupati who can no longer run block.
OK. Prior to last year, since 1998, the average turnover rate for playoff teams is 6.14. Five to eight teams that made the playoffs one year won’t make it the next. Since 1996, no fewer than five teams a season have failed to repeat.
Last year was a bit of an anomaly. There were only four non-repeaters. Let’s say the turnover rate returns to par again this year. Pick six of these teams from last year that made the playoffs who will not make the postseason in 2013.
AFC
Broncos
Patriots
Texans
Ravens
Colts
Bengals
NFC
Falcons
49ers
Packers
Redskins
Seahawks
Vikings
Patriots, Colts, Redskins, Vikings…. maybe Packers and Bengals.
The future president of the United States and his Pats won’t make the playoffs? I’m guessing you’re thinking Brady will leave early for the campaign trail and Tebow will start 15 games this year after Mallet gets injured in the opener. Because that’s the only way the Patriots don’t make the playoffs.
Ravens, Colts, Redskins, Vikings, Falcons and either the Seahawks or the 49ers. One of the “Big Two” will take a number two and find themselves in the shitter.
Seneca Wallace is quitting the team.
Wow. We’ve hit pay dirt with Patton.
Craig Dahl makes Mark Roman look like Ronnie Lott.
Was that an Andy Lee “knuckle ball punt?”
***Stop The Presses***
A.J. Jenkins has two catches for 14 yds thru 3 quarters for the Chiefs. What time’s the parade?
Patton is legit. Love watching his enthusiasm for the game. Going to be a great 49er. Jon Baldwin had a ball bounce right off his hands in the end zone on a play where Colt improvised. Fouts said the ball was contended. I didn’t see it that way. Baldwin needs to catch that ball. We need to target Baldwin more in this game.
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Cory Lemonier is a beast. Did you see that jump? Destroyed my former ABAS boy, Charlie Whitehurst.
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Colt looks good. He’s a backup. Can’t wait for BJ Daniels. Hope BJ targets Baldwin on some deep balls.
I like the way Colt steps up in the pocket. He just needs to learn to throw while stepping up alla, gulp, Tony Romo.
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Baldwin dropped another. We need to target Baldwin five or six more times in this game to help get his confidence up.
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Nick Moody is my new favorite backup player on the 49ers. Kid’s hurtin’ people out there.
Colt looks good? He’s got Jeff Garcia feet. He can’t hit on anything over 15 yards.
The backup line is for shit. Daniels has no time.
Cam’s looking pretty good vs the Walmart beigade.
Put Daniels behind the 1st string line and he passes Colt in 2 weeks.
BJ Daniels will beat out Colt McCoy in a year. Right now he’s still learning the NFL game, but Daniels is awesome. Much better arm strength than Russell Wilson, and surprising. BJ is our future backup, and Harbaugh will turn him into trade bait in a while. Next year I won’t worry if Kaep goes down for a month or so.
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Cam Johnson is also surprising. I didn’t think he’d even make the team. Thought he was too small, but he’s displayed a nice bull rush on a few different occasions.
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A Daryll Morris sighting? He comes in, makes a play, Dan Fouts talks about him, Harbaugh takes him out. He won’t make the practice squad. Someone will grab him.
I’d say BJ just passed the Colt that can’t shoot straight.
The 49ers have got to be showcasing Perish Cox for trade like they did Haralson. Perish has gotten a ton of playing time this preseason. He’s the designated dime corner, but maybe with Nnamdi at nickle, Brock slides back one and Cox gets the John Wayne Bobbit axe. Ouch. My bad. Maybe not. Maybe they just want to get him a ton of work.
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Interesting decision/ competition between Craig Dahl, Trenton Robinson and Micheal Thomas. Craig Dahl can come up and support the run with the best of ’em, but a cover safety he ain’t. Trenton Robinson is unimpressive in every way, but he might have better cover skills than Dahl. If two of them make the team I hope it’s Thomas and Dahl. Del needs the material.
Dahl does what Whitner does for 1/3 the money. This is Whitner’s last year.
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This team has enough questions at all the DB positions to be even considering trading anyone. Least of all, Cox. HE actually looked good on the punt returns. With LMJ going down, we need a PR. Don;t think we’ll risk KW at this point.
New post is up.