Originally posted by AB81Rules:
Originally posted by 49ers81:
Something to file under the heading of more stupid hot takes from "sportswriters" who don't know what they are talking about. This was from an article in the newsfeed.
Here's a bold headline for you: The San Francisco 49ers are among the biggest offseason losers. Mike Jones of The Athletic recently declared that in his offseason assessment of NFL teams. While he named the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles among the biggest offseason winners, the 49ers weren't so fortunate.
San Francisco is coming off a Super Bowl appearance, and much of the core talent from that playoff run remains. Offensively, the starting lineup looks unchanged, with playmakers Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle set to return. However, that wasn't enough to keep them off Jones' list of the biggest offseason losers.
Jones clearly wasn't a big fan of the 49ers using the No. 31 overall pick on wide receiver Ricky Pearsall or their failure to significantly upgrade their offensive line. "After a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, the 49ers had a relatively quiet offseason," Jones wrote. "They gave Christian McCaffrey an extension and drafted Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who might not be ready for prime time until 2025. The offensive line could've used a bolster, but John Lynch made no significant additions."
The defense underwent an overhaul, particularly along the defensive line. Gone are key contributors like Arik Armstead, Clelin Ferrell, and Chase Young, replaced by Leonard Floyd, Yetur Gross-Matos, Maliek Collins, and Jordan Elliott.
We'll start with the last bit first. While Armstead has been a solid contributor, he'd been hurt a lot the last two years and wasn't a nearly as big a factor as he once was. Plus, I'm not sure in what world guys like Ferrell and Young, or Gregory, who goes unnamed could be classified as KEY contributors. I don't think any of them were as good as the guys THEY replaced. Hopefully the team will have better luck with this new group.
Since I don't follow college football, I am mostly indifferent to the draft, one name means about as much to me as another, and so I judge them by who ends up contributing and who doesn't. One of the interesting narratives that came out of the Pearsall pick is that the team picked him BECAUSE of their loss to KC, where they seemingly had issues dealing with the Chief's constant man coverages. There was also the question of Aiyuk's upcoming contract and Deebo's physical playing style and current price tag, which may not make him a long-term answer at the position. Given how important receivers are in the 49er's scheme, it seems there is a good argument to be made for picking Pearsall if he's the guy they think he can be.
The other comment about not picking an offensive lineman with the first pick was addressed by Chris Forrester after the draft. Now you can agree with that philosophy or not, but it seems to be one that is shared by a lot of people in the building. We'll see how that plays out, I guess. In the end, all of these types of articles come down to the same thing, the team made decisions that THE WRITER wouldn't have made, so therefore they're bad decisions. Geez Louise, talk about arrogance. That's why listening to a lot of these "content providers" is such a waste of time. Most of them really are pretty clueless.
I saw something on NinersNation.com about how someone said/wrote that we had one of the worst offseasons, but the person who wrote it mentioned the loss of Arik Armstead, yes that was a big loss, but Maliek Collins was a nice pickup, but the writer said as a key loss was Javon Kinlaw, like WTF? Kinlaw has never been a key contributor, such a laughable reason why the 49ers had one of the worst offseasons.
Naming Kinlaw as a big loss is an automatic fail and discredits the article.
