We wont miss a step, and here's why...

Looks to be CB or RB at 15 now

Originally posted by THEB:
Baalke has been preparing for this day to come. We already have or are set to acquire all the replacements for the guys we lost, and some of them are better than who we lost.

Frank Gore - He will be replaced with a tandem of Hyde and Hunter (if hunter can recover from the injury) I firmly believe that even if we just had Hyde, it will be a slight improvement in speed and stamina. We will lose a team leader, but whos to say Carlos cant step into that role until he has the chance to?

Justin Smith - He wasnt great by any means last year, and we have Dockett coming in to help solidify the d line.

Patrick Willis - I can confidently say that Borland is better than Pat right now. Pat was obviously better in his prime, but right now is what counts, and what Borland did last year was spectacular.

Michael Crabtree - Bringing in Torrey Smith will be a HUGE upgrade over Crabtree, who most of us are ready to let go of.

Jim Harbaugh and Staff - Jim & staff are seriously the only loss that im not confident we have replaced with equal or better talent, but i have to hold judgement until i see Tomsulas staff perform.

Losing Gore will be a bigger loss than people anticipated. Too bad Lattimore could not recover from his injury. I still have confidence in Hyde. But....still worth a mid round pick on a few of these sleeper RBs in the draft.

Justin Smith ALWAYS brings it. Sometimes the stats don't show, but he clogged the middle. He was double teams frequently, opening it up on the ends. I hope Dockett can bring what he has had in his prime.

Patrick Willis is the biggest loss. We don't know when/if Bowman returns. I like Borland. He is a tackling machine. But....he does not had the lateral speed that Willis or Bowman had.

Torrey Smith is an upgrade over Crabtree. Good signing!

Losing Harbaugh is really going to show over the course of the season. If the 49ers fail, Balke should be fired. And Jed....is in way over his head.


Too add...I think the defensive regresses this season. This is when we see what we have in Tank and Dial. Hopefully Reaser or Ackers can step up and fill in the holes at CB.

On offensive....losing Iupati is not that big of a deal if Brandon Thomas can step in. Both of the Martins need to step up this year.

Originally posted by BadgerHawk:
It actually seemed like the arrival of Bowman brought on the decline of Pat. Like he wasn't "the guy" anymore and didn't care to be. There was "fire" missing from his play. Those toe injuries suck. I dealt with a more minor turf toe and it took almost a year to get over it. Pat has always been brittle (broken bones) so the fact that he has had trouble recovering doesn't surprise me. I wish him the best. He's a good man and he's walking away while he can for the right reasons. Can't blame him one bit. He doesn't need to answer to anyone but his teammates and if they are cool with it, so am I.

Watching Frank go is like watching Ronnie and Roger walk. Joe too. It broke my heart but we needed to move on.

How true, seeing Gore sign elsewhere just doesn't seem right he should retire a 49er! But Montana, Lott and Rice all did the same so it can't be that surprising. As for Willis, I hate to see him retire but he had a great career and walks away on his terms and you can't fault him for that, I wish him the best in the future. You look at Seattle and it seems like they're going for it all now because Lynch will be gone in 2 years, and Wilson gets his big payday after next season so if it doesn't work out then Seattle is screwed for awhile. It will be an interesting year in 49ers land.

Originally posted by crake49:

Originally posted by TheRickestRick:

Originally posted by braap49er:

Originally posted by Cisco0623:
OK so Seattle got Jimmy Graham and no more Willis to cover him. I mark that an improvement for Hawks over Niners lol

"Sooo Willis is retiring? Let's go get Graham."

You guys know Willis hasn't primarily covered TE's since Bowman's emergence right?

I think it's pretty clear that Cisco doesn't know that. Maybe he hasn't actually been watching games.

Now we know why, because of Willis feet. Last I checked Bowman is a ? mark to, so yeah, Seattle has improved. Has our defense improved? You cannot tell me losing Willis will have no impact. Again, lets see how FA and the draft go. Really its all about preseason to see whats up. In the end im worried more about coaching than players.

You got me on one part - I don't watch all the games since I live in NYC and am forced to watch the Jets or Giants (yuk). I do have Redzone, but i only see the good plays lol

Losses: Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Mike Iupati, Perrish Cox, Dan Skuta

Probable Losses: Justin Smith, Stevie Johnson, Chris Culliver, Michael Crabtree

Potential Losses: Bruce Miller (exempt list, pending resolution of criminal charges is my guess), Navarro Bowman (rumors about his knee persist), Ahmad Brooks (post-June 1 cut)


Adds: Darnell Dockett, Torrey Smith, rugby guy

Probable Adds: Brandon Thomas, Kenneth Acker, Keith Reaser, Trey Millard - all of these dudes were drafted last year and didn't play due to serious injuries. Hopefully a couple of these guys are healthy enough to compete for a job, but to me they are rookies especially given that the new coaching staff brings with it a new playbook and, potentially, a new routine.

Potential Adds: Reggie Bush(?), Greg Hardy(?)


The only surprises here are Patrick Willis and Bruce Miller. It would have been nice to retain Gore, but it can't come as a shock that we let a 32 year old RB walk. Iupati and Crabtree were always foregone conclusions, IMO. Losing depth players like Skuta always happens to good teams - other teams will overpay. Losing Cox and Culliver is not devastating, although it would be nice to keep one of them or to at least add a solid veteran in FA (in addition to the draft) given that Acker and Reaser are unknowns.

Bottom line, it isn't the end of the world ... yet. To me, the key to this season defensively is Bowman's health. If he comes back healthy, then the loss of Patrick Willis can be absorbed from both a leadership and play maker perspective. The key to this season offensively is Kaep - if he develops into a legit franchise QB we will be fine on that side of the ball. If he doesn't, I doubt Gore (at 32) and Stevie Johnson would have compensated for it.

Originally posted by javabsolute:

Originally posted by TWOooohSIX:
Not that a Hawks fan input matters but jeez some of you need to chill. My team made over 200 player changes in one year. Then two years later was playing in a playoff game with a winning record in Atlanta. Next year we were in the Super Bowl. I remember when we lost what I thought was our best players for NO NAMES like Kam and Richard Who? We picked up Bennett and Avril and our D got better. I'm just saying wait till August because Free Agents can be signed and let go within a week or so. Wait till after the draft and FA and some mini camps before you get bummed on your team. Your team was only in the dark years to bad choices on contracts and sh***y coaching and personal till TB fixed it. He hired a lot of people that this fan base loved so I would give him the benefit of the doubt that he can still find players and draft well enough to be competing this year or the following years.

How do we get a Russell Wilson?

Tell Kap to run the damn rock and only throw on roll outs.

Originally posted by Young2005:

Originally posted by BadgerHawk:
It actually seemed like the arrival of Bowman brought on the decline of Pat. Like he wasn't "the guy" anymore and didn't care to be. There was "fire" missing from his play. Those toe injuries suck. I dealt with a more minor turf toe and it took almost a year to get over it. Pat has always been brittle (broken bones) so the fact that he has had trouble recovering doesn't surprise me. I wish him the best. He's a good man and he's walking away while he can for the right reasons. Can't blame him one bit. He doesn't need to answer to anyone but his teammates and if they are cool with it, so am I.

Watching Frank go is like watching Ronnie and Roger walk. Joe too. It broke my heart but we needed to move on.

How true, seeing Gore sign elsewhere just doesn't seem right he should retire a 49er! But Montana, Lott and Rice all did the same so it can't be that surprising. As for Willis, I hate to see him retire but he had a great career and walks away on his terms and you can't fault him for that, I wish him the best in the future. You look at Seattle and it seems like they're going for it all now because Lynch will be gone in 2 years, and Wilson gets his big payday after next season so if it doesn't work out then Seattle is screwed for awhile. It will be an interesting year in 49ers land.

I'm just more surprised he didn't go to the Raider, Browns, Bills, Bucs, etc. j/k

Originally posted by midrdan:
Losses: Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Mike Iupati, Perrish Cox, Dan Skuta

Probable Losses: Justin Smith, Stevie Johnson, Chris Culliver, Michael Crabtree

Potential Losses: Bruce Miller (exempt list, pending resolution of criminal charges is my guess), Navarro Bowman (rumors about his knee persist), Ahmad Brooks (post-June 1 cut)


Adds: Darnell Dockett, Torrey Smith, rugby guy

Probable Adds: Brandon Thomas, Kenneth Acker, Keith Reaser, Trey Millard - all of these dudes were drafted last year and didn't play due to serious injuries. Hopefully a couple of these guys are healthy enough to compete for a job, but to me they are rookies especially given that the new coaching staff brings with it a new playbook and, potentially, a new routine.

Potential Adds: Reggie Bush(?), Greg Hardy(?)


The only surprises here are Patrick Willis and Bruce Miller. It would have been nice to retain Gore, but it can't come as a shock that we let a 32 year old RB walk. Iupati and Crabtree were always foregone conclusions, IMO. Losing depth players like Skuta always happens to good teams - other teams will overpay. Losing Cox and Culliver is not devastating, although it would be nice to keep one of them or to at least add a solid veteran in FA (in addition to the draft) given that Acker and Reaser are unknowns.

Bottom line, it isn't the end of the world ... yet. To me, the key to this season defensively is Bowman's health. If he comes back healthy, then the loss of Patrick Willis can be absorbed from both a leadership and play maker perspective. The key to this season offensively is Kaep - if he develops into a legit franchise QB we will be fine on that side of the ball. If he doesn't, I doubt Gore (at 32) and Stevie Johnson would have compensated for it.

Agreed! I think our defense will be okay. We were top 5 without most of our starters for a good portion of the year. Kap needs to develop into a franchise QB and we are set.

Originally posted by midrdan:
Losses: Patrick Willis, Frank Gore, Mike Iupati, Perrish Cox, Dan Skuta

Probable Losses: Justin Smith, Stevie Johnson, Chris Culliver, Michael Crabtree

Potential Losses: Bruce Miller (exempt list, pending resolution of criminal charges is my guess), Navarro Bowman (rumors about his knee persist), Ahmad Brooks (post-June 1 cut)


Adds: Darnell Dockett, Torrey Smith, rugby guy

Probable Adds: Brandon Thomas, Kenneth Acker, Keith Reaser, Trey Millard - all of these dudes were drafted last year and didn't play due to serious injuries. Hopefully a couple of these guys are healthy enough to compete for a job, but to me they are rookies especially given that the new coaching staff brings with it a new playbook and, potentially, a new routine.

Potential Adds: Reggie Bush(?), Greg Hardy(?)


The only surprises here are Patrick Willis and Bruce Miller. It would have been nice to retain Gore, but it can't come as a shock that we let a 32 year old RB walk. Iupati and Crabtree were always foregone conclusions, IMO. Losing depth players like Skuta always happens to good teams - other teams will overpay. Losing Cox and Culliver is not devastating, although it would be nice to keep one of them or to at least add a solid veteran in FA (in addition to the draft) given that Acker and Reaser are unknowns.

Bottom line, it isn't the end of the world ... yet. To me, the key to this season defensively is Bowman's health. If he comes back healthy, then the loss of Patrick Willis can be absorbed from both a leadership and play maker perspective. The key to this season offensively is Kaep - if he develops into a legit franchise QB we will be fine on that side of the ball. If he doesn't, I doubt Gore (at 32) and Stevie Johnson would have compensated for it.

Originally posted by SJniner7:
Agreed! I think our defense will be okay. We were top 5 without most of our starters for a good portion of the year. Kap needs to develop into a franchise QB and we are set.

Totally. We ended the year with Smith only playing 60% of the snaps and hurt back (Carradine taking the PT, same tackle-average but 3 sacks in 3 games vs. 5 for Justin all year) and these guys on I.R.: NT: Glenn Dorsey, NT: Ian Williams, ILB: Patrick Willis, ILB: NaVorro Bowman, ILB: Chris Borland, CB: Kenneth Acker, CB: Chris Cook, DB: Jimmie Ward, CB: Keith Reaser, CB: Tramaine Brock and DE: Kaleb Ramsey.

Still...top 5 defense, most INT's in the NFL.

Seriously, think about that for a second.

Originally posted by trevorontario:
Thank god Baalke nailed it with Borland!!! Don't have to worry how we are going to get him on the field now. Hopefully Bowman is going to return starting to worry about that with all the rumors

This. Many BLASTED this pick...and the Hyde pick...and the Ward pick. How critical are these guys now? Even guys like Johnson, McFadden, Wilhoite, Dial (from LDE to NT on the fly), TJE, Carradine, Culliver playing while getting healthy, Cox (previously cut), etc. all played HUGE roles for us.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by SJniner7:
Agreed! I think our defense will be okay. We were top 5 without most of our starters for a good portion of the year. Kap needs to develop into a franchise QB and we are set.

Totally. We ended the year with Smith only playing 60% of the snaps and hurt back (Carradine taking the PT, same tackle but 3 sacks in 3 games) and these guys on I.R.: NT: Glenn Dorsey, NT: Ian Williams, ILB: Patrick Willis, ILB: NaVorro Bowman, ILB: Chris Borland, CB: Kenneth Acker, CB: Chris Cook, DB: Jimmie Ward, CB: Keith Reaser, CB: Tramaine Brock and DE: Kaleb Ramsey.

Still...top 5 defense, most INT's in the NFL.

Seriously, think about that for a second.

You have Hyde and also this draft is loaded with big fast running backs.

Originally posted by TWOooohSIX:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by SJniner7:
Agreed! I think our defense will be okay. We were top 5 without most of our starters for a good portion of the year. Kap needs to develop into a franchise QB and we are set.

Totally. We ended the year with Smith only playing 60% of the snaps and hurt back (Carradine taking the PT, same tackle but 3 sacks in 3 games) and these guys on I.R.: NT: Glenn Dorsey, NT: Ian Williams, ILB: Patrick Willis, ILB: NaVorro Bowman, ILB: Chris Borland, CB: Kenneth Acker, CB: Chris Cook, DB: Jimmie Ward, CB: Keith Reaser, CB: Tramaine Brock and DE: Kaleb Ramsey.

Still...top 5 defense, most INT's in the NFL.

Seriously, think about that for a second.

You have Hyde and also this draft is loaded with big fast running backs.

And Hunter returning and the best RB's not expected to go until late 1st and into the 2nd and 3rd rounds again, like Hyde last year.

Originally posted by TWOooohSIX:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by SJniner7:
Agreed! I think our defense will be okay. We were top 5 without most of our starters for a good portion of the year. Kap needs to develop into a franchise QB and we are set.

Totally. We ended the year with Smith only playing 60% of the snaps and hurt back (Carradine taking the PT, same tackle but 3 sacks in 3 games) and these guys on I.R.: NT: Glenn Dorsey, NT: Ian Williams, ILB: Patrick Willis, ILB: NaVorro Bowman, ILB: Chris Borland, CB: Kenneth Acker, CB: Chris Cook, DB: Jimmie Ward, CB: Keith Reaser, CB: Tramaine Brock and DE: Kaleb Ramsey.

Still...top 5 defense, most INT's in the NFL.

Seriously, think about that for a second.

You have Hyde and also this draft is loaded with big fast running backs.

Beckam, then gordon

Originally posted by crabman82:
you dont gut the core of your team and not face a set back. even if talent level doesnt dip much or any, you have to take into account leadership and chemistry. look at the rag tag D we ended last year with, you're only an injury or two from seeing these guys as starters. its incredibly naive to think we wont miss a beat. i wont begrudge the overly homer angle on this, i wish i could feel the same way. i hope it works out, but you have to highly skeptical to expect them back next year in the mix again.

Agree. There are a lot of dynamics at play for us to "not miss a beat". Other teams are getting some pretty good updates too. Baltimore, Indianapolis, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Philly, Arizona, all of them are going to be stronger than before.

After these many changes, I get a feeling we have traded a working model to replace it with a random one. I just hope what'll come to pass won't make me bitter.