2022 Team Information (Needs)

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by NCommand:
So how did we do on filling our needs with front line starters (not depth, but upgrades)?

Here were the needs coming into the off season:

Team Needs: CB, ER (Speed), IOL (C & G), RT, SS, XWR (Speed), QB2, T (Future), TE2, SWR, ST (Returner) & 2i

Addressed CB with Ward signing and some depth draft picks.
ER: fully addressed with our "first round" pick lol
IOL addressed depth but not immediate starting material (still think there could be a vet signing if Mack hangs em up).
T -Not looked at, must feel Glinch is gonna be ok,
SS not looked at, long standing rumors they really like Moore.
XWR- clearly addressed in draft
QB2- lottery pick, which is ok for this year.
TE2- not addressed - cant have everything
SWR- not addressed - Cant have everything
ST- Ray Ray/ Odum

All in all not bad, I do feel like we at the Webzone saw IOL and SS as much higher priorities than the front office, but it is really hard to argue with the individual players taken. They clearly wanted a booked of the future with Bosa and to get some carries off from Deebo more, and I cant really find a glaring flaw in that logic, I just would have made other choices that admittedly could have been worse?

Real nice summary!

Overall, this is easily a top 10 roster and probably #1 in total depth (which, we always lean on d/t our injury epidemic).

9-8 would be a great year. Tough schedule, new coaching staff, new QB, a lot of question marks, injuries, etc.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Overall, this is easily a top 10 roster and probably #1 in total depth (which, we always lean on d/t our injury epidemic).

9-8 would be a great year. Tough schedule, new coaching staff, new QB, a lot of question marks, injuries, etc.

9-8 to me would be a disappointment, even considering our tough schedule. 10-7 to me is the bar. That to me is a PUSH season.

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Overall, this is easily a top 10 roster and probably #1 in total depth (which, we always lean on d/t our injury epidemic).

9-8 would be a great year. Tough schedule, new coaching staff, new QB, a lot of question marks, injuries, etc.

9-8 to me would be a disappointment, even considering our tough schedule. 10-7 to me is the bar. That to me is a PUSH season.

Agreed. Anything below 10 wins and questions will be asked, especially since they used so much draft capital on a QB to replace the one who helped reach the Super bowl and NFCCG two out of the last three years.

Imagine in practice Gray going against Womack or TCF.. fun battles right there..

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Overall, this is easily a top 10 roster and probably #1 in total depth (which, we always lean on d/t our injury epidemic).

9-8 would be a great year. Tough schedule, new coaching staff, new QB, a lot of question marks, injuries, etc.

9-8 to me would be a disappointment, even considering our tough schedule. 10-7 to me is the bar. That to me is a PUSH season.

Aside side from our division the difficult teams we're playing is AFC west. Then there's TB/Saints meh.

Originally posted by 49erFaithful6:
Imagine in practice Gray going against Womack or TCF.. fun battles right there..

It's gonna be exciting to see some of these battles through training camp and practice.

Originally posted by Alfienator:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Overall, this is easily a top 10 roster and probably #1 in total depth (which, we always lean on d/t our injury epidemic).

9-8 would be a great year. Tough schedule, new coaching staff, new QB, a lot of question marks, injuries, etc.

9-8 to me would be a disappointment, even considering our tough schedule. 10-7 to me is the bar. That to me is a PUSH season.

Aside side from our division the difficult teams we're playing is AFC west. Then there's TB/Saints meh.

Exactly. Just trying to be realistic.

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:
Nothing glaring anyway. No position you are going to pick on exclusively. Could have trouble up the gut if Mack retires and Banks doesn't work out. Bad problem to have with a rookie QB, hopefully neither happens or at the very least only one.

i think the OL as of now is a weakness

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:
Nothing glaring anyway. No position you are going to pick on exclusively. Could have trouble up the gut if Mack retires and Banks doesn't work out. Bad problem to have with a rookie QB, hopefully neither happens or at the very least only one.

i think the OL as of now is a weakness

I think that is presumptive. It is a question mark, not yet a weakness. We don't know what we have in Banks, we don't know if Mack retires and we don't know how Glinch returns from injury. We could be better than last year. Do I think that is likely? No but I think there is a chance we're about the same with better depth.

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:
Nothing glaring anyway. No position you are going to pick on exclusively. Could have trouble up the gut if Mack retires and Banks doesn't work out. Bad problem to have with a rookie QB, hopefully neither happens or at the very least only one.

i think the OL as of now is a weakness

I think that is presumptive. It is a question mark, not yet a weakness. We don't know what we have in Banks, we don't know if Mack retires and we don't know how Glinch returns from injury. We could be better than last year. Do I think that is likely? No but I think there is a chance we're about the same with better depth.

This.

LT: Trent Williams
LG: Aaron Banks; Nick Zakelj
C: Alex Mack; Jake Brendel & Dohnovan West
RG: Spencer Burford; Jaylon Moore
RT: Mike McGlinchey; Daniel Brunskill

In an ideal world, it works out where we only have two new G's who come in and get better and better and play close to Tomlinson's level by the end of the year, Brunskill becomes the full time swing T, McGlinchey not only regains form but plays better because he's no longer playing injured and Mack plays at a similar level with insurance in Brendel and West or Poe learn from Mack all year and next year, this line may only have one hole (RT) and a ton of interior youth with upside.

Like you said, is that likely? Not really but it's certainly possible!

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:
General team construction commentary:

Observations:

• Conscious decision to allow Tomlinson and Jones walk in FA, while not cutting Jimmy G.
• Restructured contracts allow for some FA buying power, but obviously a lot more would be available by jettisoning Jimmy.
• Big money expenditure for good corner with good coverage ability but not great ball skills.
• Dedicated money to ST contributor.

Insinuated Rationale:

• Aaron Banks and Javon Kinlaw will be the assumed replacements for the two big-time FA losses. I would expect both positions to be addressed in the draft, G/C early.
• The 49ers view Jimmy as an asset and are loathed to cut him outright. They'd rather lose FA buying power in order to maximize trade value. This line of thinking is boom/bust. They may end up getting a team to panic and send them a haul. They also could be stuck holding the bag and not using the money on a top line DE to pair with Bosa. The next deadline is obviously the draft. A top line FA signing would have more impact than a draft pick. This also insinuates that the 49ers are not going "all in" on this season, like the Chargers or Broncos or Rams etc. are doing. Keeping Jimmy into the offseason program (OTAs, TC, preseason) will create a toxic QB environment with heavy media scrutiny. Ultimately, that's an incredibly high price to pay for "competition in the QB room".
• I like the signing of Ward the more I learn about it, but there's no denying he's not a ball hawk (4 INTs in 4 years). We now have good outside CB depth with Ward, Moseley, and Thomas. But we don't have a turnover machine. We sort of had that with John Norman (FFs), but he was so awful at everything else it didn't matter. We still need something alongside Lenoir at slot. I think Moseley may rotate there, and in that case, we need another versatile CB to be both backups... paging Dontae Johnson, your annual 49er contract is waiting... I expect either/both a high draft pick SS or CB/slot.
• I don't know much of anything about Burks (LB), but it's telling that the organization prioritized signing him during the legal tampering time. They could have easily pushed ST signings into FA. I like that approach and the signal it sends that our ST was not acceptable last year.

NinerBuff's Thoughts on "What's Missing?":

• Our #1 need is a pass rusher who can consistently beat one-on-ones, and ideally a speed rusher (what we wanted Dee Ford to be). This is the only position remaining that could justify top dollar expenditure. A legit 10-sack guy on the other side of Bosa is the single most impactful move we can make in the offseason. Ebukam and Key are both good, Ebukam is making very good money and Key is a FA. Neither of them in my mind are good enough to strike fear into opposing offenses about WTF are we going to do in protection?!
• If Banks is penciled in as LG, then we need a RG, backup C (eventual Mack replacement), and swing T / utility O-linemen. I expect a cheap FA here, one of their high draft picks, and one of their later picks to be used.
• SS - unless we get Tartt back for a cheap deal (which remains a possibility), then we'll use a high draft pick for an envisioned starter here. May be the first pick me make.
• 4/5/6 WR. Specific needs: speed, good return ability. I expect one cheap FA, multiple draft picks (could be high pick if player is available, it fits Shanahan's style).
• Better competition at QB (assuming Jimmy is off the team going into offseason program), Sudfeld may be a future Shanahan coaching tree guy, but he's not good enough to win a random game in November if/when Trey gets banged up.

Post-draft reflection:

• C/G was addressed, albeit not early. I expect an open competition for all but LT (assuming Mack retires).
• Jimmy remains on the team. The question is whether he'll ever step foot in the building or is it just a waiting game until he passes a physical and gets cut. My previous comment about a toxic QB room remains if the Niners choose to keep Jimmy for any amount of practice.
• lol we did sign Dontae Johnson and added some depth at slot and outside. Ward and Moseley are presumed starters with Thomas as outside CB during nickel and dime and Moseley bumping inside.
• Love the Drake Jackson pick! Great value and heir to Dee Ford, as I mentioned above.
• They didn't spend high draft capital on CB/S/OL, but some solid developmental players. I expect the team to look at signing a SS before camp.
• Danny Gray provides great speed, something we were missing.
• QB Purdy will probably not make the 53, but could be a long-term backup.

Draft answered many, but not all the concerns. Major concerns at multiple OL positions, SS, and slot CB, unless they plan to run Moseley there. Also, backup QB (assuming Jimmy isn't on the roster week 1) is the weakest in the league.

Jimmy as trade bait can solve a lot of the remaining holes in the team, I suspect. As for Mack retiring, I'm sure his bride will have some say in that. I suspect she'll want just a bit more cash in the bank before too long and I think will persuade Mack to stick around at least one more year. I think the 49ers look good with him staying or leaving though with all the promising OLinemen they have on hand. If you look at rounds 1-4 being places where you get starters - Edge, RB, WR, and OLine were great picks (assuming they all contribute to this season as a starter or valuable backup). Personally, I think the first three picks were picked in part because of NC's injury thread. I really think they were looking at this season thinking, ok where are probably going to lose some players to injury this year that will hurt our run for Lombardi #6 and picked accordingly.

Two of our linemen picks Burford and West are ironmen, both missing very few games during their careers. I like that.

That's great news. I also hear that they are great athletes and a lot here were surprised that West wasn't drafted. This was a very unusual draft in that a lot of backlogged players from the covid year were available to be drafted, most had returned to school after Covid vs going to the NFL a year ago.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:
Nothing glaring anyway. No position you are going to pick on exclusively. Could have trouble up the gut if Mack retires and Banks doesn't work out. Bad problem to have with a rookie QB, hopefully neither happens or at the very least only one.

i think the OL as of now is a weakness

I think that is presumptive. It is a question mark, not yet a weakness. We don't know what we have in Banks, we don't know if Mack retires and we don't know how Glinch returns from injury. We could be better than last year. Do I think that is likely? No but I think there is a chance we're about the same with better depth.

This.

LT: Trent Williams
LG: Aaron Banks; Nick Zakelj
C: Alex Mack; Jake Brendel & Dohnovan West
RG: Spencer Burford; Jaylon Moore
RT: Mike McGlinchey; Daniel Brunskill

In an ideal world, it works out where we only have two new G's who come in and get better and better and play close to Tomlinson's level by the end of the year, Brunskill becomes the full time swing T, McGlinchey not only regains form but plays better because he's no longer playing injured and Mack plays at a similar level with insurance in Brendel and West or Poe learn from Mack all year and next year, this line may only have one hole (RT) and a ton of interior youth with upside.

Like you said, is that likely? Not really but it's certainly possible!

Don't discount Colton McKivitz, he provides so much versatility.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by PhillyNiner:
Nothing glaring anyway. No position you are going to pick on exclusively. Could have trouble up the gut if Mack retires and Banks doesn't work out. Bad problem to have with a rookie QB, hopefully neither happens or at the very least only one.

i think the OL as of now is a weakness

I think that is presumptive. It is a question mark, not yet a weakness. We don't know what we have in Banks, we don't know if Mack retires and we don't know how Glinch returns from injury. We could be better than last year. Do I think that is likely? No but I think there is a chance we're about the same with better depth.

This.

LT: Trent Williams
LG: Aaron Banks; Nick Zakelj
C: Alex Mack; Jake Brendel & Dohnovan West
RG: Spencer Burford; Jaylon Moore
RT: Mike McGlinchey; Daniel Brunskill

In an ideal world, it works out where we only have two new G's who come in and get better and better and play close to Tomlinson's level by the end of the year, Brunskill becomes the full time swing T, McGlinchey not only regains form but plays better because he's no longer playing injured and Mack plays at a similar level with insurance in Brendel and West or Poe learn from Mack all year and next year, this line may only have one hole (RT) and a ton of interior youth with upside.

Like you said, is that likely? Not really but it's certainly possible!

I think the OLine (with or without Mack) will get stronger as the season progresses. Sort of like how Huff, Thomas, and Lenoir got better as the season wore on. One reason I say this is that I've been trying to catch up on our OLIne picks and most (if not all of them - so the scouting reports say) are very athletic, smart, and have superb mobility and above average strength. I'm also assuming one or more of our Starting OLInemen will get dinged during the season and the rookies and 2nd year players who will sub in for them for an extensive period, will be able to show off their athleticism. When that happens - like the Elijah Mitchell situation - we will hopefully find some diamonds in the rough.

Two guys I'm anticipating being out extensively this upcoming season is Mack and Trent. Why? Both are way up there in age, and already Trent had injury issues towards the latter part of the season last year. Mack was solid, but I remember Richburg and how losing him, was a big factor in losing that Championship game. Both Mack and Trent, if they are out extensively, I can see them being a player coach and mentor to the young OLinemen on our squad, hopefully imparting wisdom and experience to them to make our young guys develop faster and become even better.

Liking our problem at corner, last year we where short now we got a big room and open competition.