49ers Offensive Line

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:

I would have thought Looney would be in the starting lineup by now. Disappointing for a 4th rounder's development.

I'm a little disappointed in Looney but he's had some steep competition. Not sure if that's a sign he's not all that, or just unlucky to be slightly behind other players, some drafted higher. Boone would have been a higher pick had he not had character issues. He went from a potential second rounder to UDFA.

This is really the 1st season Looney has even a remote shot at starting. He was never beating out Iupati or Boone.

Still, he's been a bit of a dissapointment. Might even be on the roster bubble. He's a better fit for a zone scheme, so he might play better this year.

If Boone shifts to RT, Looney might jump in the mix at RG. I expect Thomas to grab the LG job quickly.

I like Staley and Boone as our tackles. Boone can run block and would be a better pass blocker than Davis at the T position. It's his more natural position anyway and would make us more athletic on the line. Maybe we should make another run at extending Boone as a T he would be worth the money. Then Thomas and or Looney/Martin at the other G spot. Kilgore/Martin at C. That would be the most athletic line we've had in a while. Better pass pro on the edges. More suited to run screen passes. Brown develops he could add depth to the T position. Not as deep as we would like but we could still have a very quality O Line. Just get Boone to camp so we can get used to playing together. Farrell also adds another year of development and he could be something. Baalke could also work out a trade. Davis loss hurts no doubt but could open the door to better pass pro and more athleticism than we've seen in a while. No longer just a group of maulers.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by 49erphan:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by 49erphan:
Yes, Davis should have figured out that he was going to bow out before the draft, but with his injury situation, Baalke should have assumed there was a pretty fair chance that Davis would not be available for at least a big chunk of the season. I certainly hope Pears turns out to be better with a different scheme and coaches but I think it's fair to say he is at least a big question mark. And Silberman and/or Brown may turn out to be good OTs, but, again, they are least big question marks for this year. I think Baalke would have improved the likelihood of getting a good spare tackle if he had chosen one in the first or second rounds (or at least 3rd) of the draft. If not that, he should have aimed for an experienced vet with more proven recent play than Pears.

Well the thing is, reports indicate the 49ers did know it was a strong possibility Davis wouldn't play this season. Based on that, they must've felt pretty comfortable with their plan going forward.

Right, there was good reason to think that Davis may not be available for much or all of the season. I'm sure he did feel at least mostly "comfortable" with their plan going forward and Baalke certainly knows the players way, way better than me. But everyone makes goofs. I think this has the potential to be a pretty big goof. I hope I'm wrong because I want the O-line to play much better than last year. It's just going to take some decent play from the RT position most of the year to convince me that my hunch is wrong.

I did not know there was a hint Davis wouldn't play. Why? He came back from a concussion and finished out the season and started to play well. Then the off season and OTA's started months and months later. Why would the FO suspect Davis was even considering this? Anyone know?

I assumed OnTheClock was referring to this:

http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/tomsula-49ers-prepared-anthony-davis-departure

Tomsula said the 49ers prepared for Davis' departure by attempting to build depth at the tackle positions -- even while they might not have spoken specifically about the possibility.

"I wouldn't say it was a topic of conversation, but yeah, absolutely," Tomsula answered when asked if the 49ers approached free agency and the draft as if Davis' retirement was a possibility.

It is vague, but as I said in my original post, when I made that posting back in May I was thinking more of how Davis seemed to getting somewhat injury prone which led me to be concerned about the OT backup situation, so what I said wasn't based on speculation about management having an idea he wouldn't return. Even though the quote is vague, it does seem to imply that coaches and management put into their personnel calculations that there was more than a small chance that Davis would not return so I decided to not make an issue of it when responding to OnTheClock (though I'm not sure I would agree with the "strong" characterization in his "strong possibility Davis wouldn't play this season" comment.)

Originally posted by NinerGM:

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
Good DLs are going to give us trouble.

Good DLs were giving us trouble last year when Harbaugh's project was starting for an injured Davis and we were still in every game - even against the Seahawks.

We lost most of our line to injury last year. We were in every game despite the injuries.

We lost some two more starters this year and are installing a new offense, so it will be even tougher this year.

Not sure what harbaugh has to do with any of that.

Originally posted by 49erphan:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by 49erphan:

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Originally posted by 49erphan:
Yes, Davis should have figured out that he was going to bow out before the draft, but with his injury situation, Baalke should have assumed there was a pretty fair chance that Davis would not be available for at least a big chunk of the season. I certainly hope Pears turns out to be better with a different scheme and coaches but I think it's fair to say he is at least a big question mark. And Silberman and/or Brown may turn out to be good OTs, but, again, they are least big question marks for this year. I think Baalke would have improved the likelihood of getting a good spare tackle if he had chosen one in the first or second rounds (or at least 3rd) of the draft. If not that, he should have aimed for an experienced vet with more proven recent play than Pears.

Well the thing is, reports indicate the 49ers did know it was a strong possibility Davis wouldn't play this season. Based on that, they must've felt pretty comfortable with their plan going forward.

Right, there was good reason to think that Davis may not be available for much or all of the season. I'm sure he did feel at least mostly "comfortable" with their plan going forward and Baalke certainly knows the players way, way better than me. But everyone makes goofs. I think this has the potential to be a pretty big goof. I hope I'm wrong because I want the O-line to play much better than last year. It's just going to take some decent play from the RT position most of the year to convince me that my hunch is wrong.

I did not know there was a hint Davis wouldn't play. Why? He came back from a concussion and finished out the season and started to play well. Then the off season and OTA's started months and months later. Why would the FO suspect Davis was even considering this? Anyone know?

I assumed OnTheClock was referring to this:

http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/tomsula-49ers-prepared-anthony-davis-departure

Tomsula said the 49ers prepared for Davis' departure by attempting to build depth at the tackle positions -- even while they might not have spoken specifically about the possibility.

"I wouldn't say it was a topic of conversation, but yeah, absolutely," Tomsula answered when asked if the 49ers approached free agency and the draft as if Davis' retirement was a possibility.

It is vague, but as I said in my original post, when I made that posting back in May I was thinking more of how Davis seemed to getting somewhat injury prone which led me to be concerned about the OT backup situation, so what I said wasn't based on speculation about management having an idea he wouldn't return. Even though the quote is vague, it does seem to imply that coaches and management put into their personnel calculations that there was more than a small chance that Davis would not return so I decided to not make an issue of it when responding to OnTheClock (though I'm not sure I would agree with the "strong" characterization in his "strong possibility Davis wouldn't play this season" comment.)

Thank you so much for that...appreciate it. Hard to tell if it's coach-speak to save face now for the players/fans (of course we knew that it was a possibility...but yeah...never really planned for it let alone formally talked about ). If JT 'did' have an inclining, Baalke is probably saying, "Hey! Really, JT? You don't think that may have been pertinent information around FA and draft-time?" LOL. I'm with you on that one...but to your point, no question, in hindsight...even back then, T probably could have been a position we reviewed more closely although, sometimes the cards don't always fall that way for you...BPA? Need? It's tough, no doubt, to address everything you want/need in one draft. For a FO that has taken care of Davis, he sure eff'd them (and us) on this one. I have no respect for him. Enjoy Twitter/Madden.

Originally posted by IHATELOWELLCOHN:
I like Staley and Boone as our tackles. Boone can run block and would be a better pass blocker than Davis at the T position. It's his more natural position anyway and would make us more athletic on the line. Maybe we should make another run at extending Boone as a T he would be worth the money. Then Thomas and or Looney/Martin at the other G spot. Kilgore/Martin at C. That would be the most athletic line we've had in a while. Better pass pro on the edges. More suited to run screen passes. Brown develops he could add depth to the T position. Not as deep as we would like but we could still have a very quality O Line. Just get Boone to camp so we can get used to playing together. Farrell also adds another year of development and he could be something. Baalke could also work out a trade. Davis loss hurts no doubt but could open the door to better pass pro and more athleticism than we've seen in a while. No longer just a group of maulers.

I'm pretty pissed at Davis right now, but there's no way Boone is more athletic than him. More fit? Probably, but that's a different issue.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by IHATELOWELLCOHN:
I like Staley and Boone as our tackles. Boone can run block and would be a better pass blocker than Davis at the T position. It's his more natural position anyway and would make us more athletic on the line. Maybe we should make another run at extending Boone as a T he would be worth the money. Then Thomas and or Looney/Martin at the other G spot. Kilgore/Martin at C. That would be the most athletic line we've had in a while. Better pass pro on the edges. More suited to run screen passes. Brown develops he could add depth to the T position. Not as deep as we would like but we could still have a very quality O Line. Just get Boone to camp so we can get used to playing together. Farrell also adds another year of development and he could be something. Baalke could also work out a trade. Davis loss hurts no doubt but could open the door to better pass pro and more athleticism than we've seen in a while. No longer just a group of maulers.

I'm pretty pissed at Davis right now, but there's no way Boone is more athletic than him. More fit? Probably, but that's a different issue.

Beat me to it. Davis has much better feet and when he is fit he can move laterally. Boone looks like a statue at times. Boone seems to be better moving in pull outs than he is sidestepping. When he pulls though, he often whiffs. Backs can still use him as a shield. If you go back and watch Davis in 2011 he moved very nimbly.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:
We lost most of our line to injury last year. We were in every game despite the injuries.

We lost some two more starters this year and are installing a new offense, so it will be even tougher this year.

Not sure what harbaugh has to do with any of that.

Switching to a ZBS and calling plays that set up the defenses rather than trying to bull our way through will help the OL tremendously! Singletary and Harbaugh both wanted to play power ball, but in that scheme if you can't beat the other team physically your offense struggles. They did insert some very fine blocking notions--like the wham block--but teams caught on and the 9ers couldn't adjust.

If they call better more varied plays the defense will have to play more honestly. That requires smarter, not bigger, OLmen. I expect fewer stacked boxes this year.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:
Staley-Thomas-Kilgore-Martin-Boone

Hoping it ends up like this

I'm all in!

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Most good GMs have crystal balls...unfortunately we are saddled with a guy who just uses logic and great football sense. No other team in football has ever had a player retire...so sad...

NEWS FLASH!...back in the real world...the niners will probably be fine and they will still field a team for the upcoming season!

b******t! The sand in their lady parts crowd says that is impossible.

we were supposed to be the only team in the nfl not to have a coaching staff in place by the time the draft rolled around
i must have missed the niners playing games already as many have formed an opinion already that we will suck, when did we play, who did we play, did we look good, did we get any delay of game penalties.. i am not sure how i missed the games that so many have already watched

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Most good GMs have crystal balls...unfortunately we are saddled with a guy who just uses logic and great football sense. No other team in football has ever had a player retire...so sad...

NEWS FLASH!...back in the real world...the niners will probably be fine and they will still field a team for the upcoming season!

b******t! The sand in their lady parts crowd says that is impossible.

we were supposed to be the only team in the nfl not to have a coaching staff in place by the time the draft rolled around
i must have missed the niners playing games already as many have formed an opinion already that we will suck, when did we play, who did we play, did we look good, did we get any delay of game penalties.. i am not sure how i missed the games that so many have already watched

Wait. I thought all 90 retired and we already forfeited the season. No?

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by cciowa:

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
Most good GMs have crystal balls...unfortunately we are saddled with a guy who just uses logic and great football sense. No other team in football has ever had a player retire...so sad...

NEWS FLASH!...back in the real world...the niners will probably be fine and they will still field a team for the upcoming season!

b******t! The sand in their lady parts crowd says that is impossible.

we were supposed to be the only team in the nfl not to have a coaching staff in place by the time the draft rolled around
i must have missed the niners playing games already as many have formed an opinion already that we will suck, when did we play, who did we play, did we look good, did we get any delay of game penalties.. i am not sure how i missed the games that so many have already watched

Wait. I thought all 90 retired and we already forfeited the season. No?

i guess the only thing left to do is to set the time and date for the funeral

I think the 49ers need to abandon the power run game. The problem is, it's so hard to get a collection of OL that are physically dominant. And when you do get them, teams are going to raid them in free agency and they'll demand big contracts. Then what do you do when you lose them as the 49ers have? Another problem is that those power run blockers tend to not be as good in pass protection (see Davis/Iupati).

And despite having 3 probowl offensive lineman and a pro-bowl RB, our offense still struggled mightly.

Originally posted by Trath44:
I think the 49ers need to abandon the power run game. The problem is, it's so hard to get a collection of OL that are physically dominant. And when you do get them, teams are going to raid them in free agency and they'll demand big contracts. Then what do you do when you lose them as the 49ers have? Another problem is that those power run blockers tend to not be as good in pass protection (see Davis/Iupati).

And despite having 3 probowl offensive lineman and a pro-bowl RB, our offense still struggled mightly.

Yup. It would be much smarter for them to switch to the ZBS. Hopefully we will hear some news about a scheme switch in the next few weeks...

Originally posted by 49erphan:
I assumed OnTheClock was referring to this:

http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/tomsula-49ers-prepared-anthony-davis-departure

Tomsula said the 49ers prepared for Davis' departure by attempting to build depth at the tackle positions -- even while they might not have spoken specifically about the possibility.

"I wouldn't say it was a topic of conversation, but yeah, absolutely," Tomsula answered when asked if the 49ers approached free agency and the draft as if Davis' retirement was a possibility.

It is vague, but as I said in my original post, when I made that posting back in May I was thinking more of how Davis seemed to getting somewhat injury prone which led me to be concerned about the OT backup situation, so what I said wasn't based on speculation about management having an idea he wouldn't return. Even though the quote is vague, it does seem to imply that coaches and management put into their personnel calculations that there was more than a small chance that Davis would not return so I decided to not make an issue of it when responding to OnTheClock (though I'm not sure I would agree with the "strong" characterization in his "strong possibility Davis wouldn't play this season" comment.)

I've gotta believe that they didn't think there was a very big chance that he would retire. Honestly, if I was the GM, and the team just had a pretty disappointing season from the online, and one of their best players from said online is even remotely contemplating retirement, I'm going to make that a pretty high priority heading into the draft, and free agency.

I think we needed to draft o-line help, in the 2nd round, way more than Safety help. And I say that with the thought that they said that They knew Davis might retire.

I wish that we would've drafted that Tackle from LSU. 31 other teams probably do too.