Justin Smith, one of the all-time best 49er defensive linemen appreciation thread.

Originally posted by cciowa:
the word realistic is all in the eyes of the beholder, i think it is realistic to think we have a a fresh start with fresh ideas and new energy around here, not to mention guys who had a off year last year playing with a chip on their shoulder and the whole damn team wanting to prove the negative nancys like you wrong . we will know in 6 months or so who was more "realistic"... just like those who say it is "obvious" we are going to be 4-12.sad

i NEVER said 49ers will be 4-12. You are just the type of person that chooses to not let others have their opinions. Its actually borderline bullying.

Originally posted by cciowa:
the team is lucky they had the same core group of people they had around here for as long as they did, free agency, our under the radar guys we signed over achieved and deserved a big paycheck elsewhere, age and injury happens and they caught up with willis and cowboy,, boreland was a freak thing no one can plan for or predict, gore was given a fair offer by us, a 32 year old running back whose tires may turn bald over night is not worth a multi year deal,, in regards to the coach,, he was evident to some of us, his coaching style had hit the wall in the nfl and he was better off running back to college, plus he lost the locker room and vets as the year went. s**t happens, if you want to keep thinking otherwise knock yourself out

It seems like there's a disconnect here. None of us are saying anything bad about the guys who left or whining about it. Some of us think the team got significantly worse in the past couple years and needs to retool or rebuild or whatever you want to call it. My definition of rebuild is certainly not limited to different starters at every single position other than QB. S**t happens on other teams too and most of the time, they end up rebuilding. This wasn't necessarily the result of bad planning as some of these were freak/unlucky events, but the result is the same - our team lost a lot of talent and I'm not sure our recent drafts and activity in free agency will be enough to replace it.

None of us know whether Justin Smith would have stayed if the team was in better shape, but it would've been a sign of confidence in an off-season without many of those. The most damning thing about the off-season in my opinion was the lack of interest around the league in coaching the 49ers. A couple years ago, we would have had to fight off coaches given the talent we had.

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:

Originally posted by smithgdwg:

If we had a chance at the postseason this year, Justin would have stayed. He knew that the big overhaul this offseason pretty much killed our chances at being competitive.

I agree with this POST. I am hopeful but realistic.

If I were him i would feel the same way.

Originally posted by ElephantHaley:

Originally posted by cciowa:
the word realistic is all in the eyes of the beholder, i think it is realistic to think we have a a fresh start with fresh ideas and new energy around here, not to mention guys who had a off year last year playing with a chip on their shoulder and the whole damn team wanting to prove the negative nancys like you wrong . we will know in 6 months or so who was more "realistic"... just like those who say it is "obvious" we are going to be 4-12.sad

i NEVER said 49ers will be 4-12. You are just the type of person that chooses to not let others have their opinions. Its actually borderline bullying.

LOL bullying? You need to sack up!!!!!!!!!

A little vid I made. Hope you guys like it.

I just wanna say that whatever criticism Justin Smith is receiving for retiring and I don't know that he is. But I just wanna say thank you for showing the NFL what a true Pro is on top of being one of my most favorite 49ers. A true warrior that did what was asked to do and dominated at the same time.

Another sad day in 9er Nation, but we will prevail with a Tank!!!

Ride off into the sunset Cowboy... You have earned it. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication. Good Luck always.

It's been a pleasure watching him for 7 years or so. Great addition to the team, great leader for the team, great role model for the younger guys to try to emulate. Good luck, Cowboy!

It seems like the helicopter ride was just yesterday.

Originally posted by AmpLee:
Gore is getting old. It's a loss, but mitigated by a solid stable of young and veteran backs (Hyde, Bush, Hunter, Davis). I don't see a down arrow here. Bush is only one season removed from having 1,500 all purpose yards with great averages. Hyde is a young stud who could really make us forget about Gore in a hurry. Hunter, by all accounts is looking explosive this offseason. And Davis is a talented young back with loads of potential.

Willis wasn't himself the last couple years. The leadership we lose is mitigated by Bowman coming back. If Bowman is back to his former self and remains healthy, ILB will not be a worry. He's one of the best ILB in the league, a spot Willis once had a few years back. I see the arrow of Willis and Borland gone as down, but not by a significant amount given Bowman coming back. Certainly not a situation to panic or waive a white flag. We have a lot of options to compete alongside Bowman. I remember when Takeo took over next to Willis. Old man looked good when paired with one of the game's best. I expect a similar type of play to whoever lines up alongside Bow.

Iupati. Addition by subtraction. We planned for this loss by drafting Thomas and Martin last year. Whoever wins the job will likely be better than Iupati has been the last couple years. His pass blocking was atrocious. Dude can pancake fools in the run game, for sure. But he was such a liability pass-blocking he negated anything positive he brought to the table in run blocking. So completely overrated by the media. It's like they didn't even watch him play. Just nothing but glowing superlatives for a guy that was missing blocks completely (and consistently). Glad we're not stuck paying him what AZ is. Arrow up for me now assuming that Thomas or Martin are going to be average or better.

Cully and Cox. Meh. We bring in new CBs almost every year, and guess what? They ball. Cully had the talent. But he also had a two cent brain. Cox had some inspired play early, but came up short later in the season. They are losses, but I can't imagine that some of the youngsters and a healthy Brock won't improve upon their play last year. Arrow neutral/up for me since I have a lot of faith in Baalke's ability to grab DBs.

Crabs. Wasn't the same guy last year. I would have liked to have him back for the prove-it deal he gave the Raiders, but unfortunately he and his agent were busy burning bridges. Not a team guy. He still has potential to overcome his injuries and be a good WR, but this is not a big loss. Plus he was redundant with Boldin, whose old and slow ass severely outplayed Crabs. Torrey Smith is a huge upgrade because he is one of the best deep threats in the game, and he's in his prime. This team needed a field stretching WR like NT needs reasonable posters. WR is a big arrow up for me based on having talent in the right areas (eliminating redundancies). I'm excited to see some of the younger guys too. I think at least one of our UDFA makes the 53 and some kind of positive contribution as well.

Justin Smith is a man's man. No doubt. I love the leader by example he is. I hope he hangs out often around the team facilities and helps the youngsters get a work-out routine. That said, his play on the field the last three years was on the decline. That probably had something to do with his body falling apart after a grueling career. Again, we've drafted for this day. I'm going to put a neutral arrow at this position. I think we have a lot of solid depth at the position to mitigate the loss of both Justin and RayMac. If this were three years ago, it would be a big arrow down, but it's not. We've been grooming Tank and Dial. We signed Dockett, a more than solid Vet. If Dorsey and Williams remain healthy, we're going to have quite the rotation. And now we have a rookie who has loads of potential to take over at some point. I don't expect Arik Armstead to get there this year, but who knows. This staff can handle the Dline, that much I'm sure of.

As for Harbaugh, hahahahaha. I liked Harbs, but his window with this team was up. He's too abrasive to last anywhere for any length of time. I think he was starting to lose some of the guys in the locker room who didn't need a rah rah 100 mph guy week in week out. I don't know if Tomsula is the answer. I sure hope he is and will give this team and it's leadership the benefit of the doubt considering the success the last few years, until they prove themselves incompetent. This is Baalke's prove-it year. He's got a coach he believes in, a ton of guys from the last three drafts ready to contribute, veterans coming back healthy and not in danger of suspensions, etc. I doubt he thinks this team is in a rebuild, so I'm not sure why you would. Unless you feel like you know more than our GM.

Great post !...

A lot of important starter snaps are now up for grabs. That's one very good (RayMac), and one elite run stopping lineman removed from the roster. Any defense worthy of being good must stop the run first. Justin's loss puts immense pressure on the youngsters (Tank, Dial).

Glad Cowboy got to walk off on his terms and with a clear head. I thought the delay in the decision meant he was coming back. My thinking now is he gave it a full offseason to see how his body would heal, but a 36 year old body doesn't heal like it used to. What a badass of a player. Playing with a bone stabbed into himself.

Originally posted by DaveWilcox:

Originally posted by DaveWilcox:

One of the top free agent signings for the 49ers..... ever!!!

Ranks right up there with:

Kevin Greene
Garrison Hearst
Richard Dent
Ricky Jackson
Deion Sanders
Fill in the ________.

Changed my mind .. Cowboy was the best free agent signing ever!

Deion Sanders is still number 1. He won DPOY and got us over the top against Dallas to a 5th title. Smith is a close 2nd.

Originally posted by thl408:

Not only was that game the start of our turnaround as a team, but it was pretty much when Justin started getting recognition as one of the best in the game. Great gif.

Originally posted by thl408:

I was in Maine making a delivery while I was listening to this game, I picked up a different load and was headed back west but stopped at a truck stop in Philadelphia to fuel up I walked in wearing my P Willis jersey and that place went silent lol, I didn't dare stay to eat.