2009 San Francisco 49ers "Season" thread!!

[Renz]

http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2009/08/jones-expected-to-be-out-8-weeks.html

 

[Mulli]

Why are they keeping track of how many catches and/or "long balls" are caught in practice?

Sounds like camp coverage of the Josh McCown/Jeff Blake days.

 

[IAWarnerFan]

Come on. That group is average at best. There aren't any, with the possible exception of Morgan, game changers on that team.

Isaac BRUUUUUCE!

 

[Ronin]

I'm back! (from phoenix)
The heat wasn't that bad on friday and saturday.

 

[Mulli]

Isaac BRUUUUUCE!

Old.

 

[Renz]

Isaac BRUUUUUCE!

The man was drafted by the L.A. Rams for goodness sake!

 

[IAWarnerFan]

Old.

The man was drafted by the L.A. Rams for goodness sake!

Both true, but he was statisticaly the only real threat they had last year at WR. Not that it's saying much, but he's the only possible "game changer" they have at WR (if they even have one).

 

[Ronin]

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2009/08/08/49ers-camp-day-8-coffee-making-strong-impression/

49ers Camp Day 8: Coffee making strong impression
Here’s some food for thought: Which 49ers rookie will produce more yards from scrimmage this season, first-rounder Michael Crabtree or third-rounder Glen Coffee?
It’s not just because of Crabtree’s contract impasse. Rookie receivers rarely make a big impact. Rookie running backs, in contrast, often come bolting out of the gates.
Coffee excelled in goal-line drills. He broke off some nice gainers during 11-on-11 action. And he put on a show in one-on-one blocking drills against the linebackers, twice punishing Mark Washington and then holding his own against Takeo Spikes.
After practice, offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye said: “He’s a physical, punishing guy with the ability to make you miss, which is a good combination.”
Coffee, listed at 6-0, 209 pounds, is expected to take occasional carries to spell Frank Gore. The percentage of that spit has yet to be determined.
The kid from Alabama is a downhill style runner with a simple approach. He’ll pick up nuances over time, but he won’t need them to contribute this season. As with a lot of rookie running backs, speed and power are enough to get by.
“It’s the most instinct-based position,’’ Coffee said. “Running back is just a mindset: ‘I don’t want you tackling me. I’m going to hit you before you hit me.’”
Unlike Crabtree, who has yet to dip his toe into the 49ers offense, Coffee participated in all the minicamps and OTAs.
Upon arriving for training camp, Coffee said of the offense: “I feel like I have it down pat. It’s a physical, downhill offense. … I feel like it’s a running back’s dream.”

Play of the day
As if to dispel questions about his arm strength, Shaun Hill connected with Arnaz Battle, who made a tumbling catch in the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown. Cornerback Carlos Thomas was in coverage.

 

[Ronin]

The Greatest Receiver Of All Time Jerry Rice is eligible for the hall of fame..next year.

 

[Ronin]

But by all reports, Zeigler has had an impressive camp. He carries a little attitude with him, a pair of tattoos on the backs of his calves, a D and a Z, his initials. "So the DBs can watch it ... when you're going into the end zone," he said.
Morgan has a hidden tattoo, a somber one that reminds him to enjoy every second of life. Reared in Washington, Morgan constantly lost peers to violence. At Virginia Tech, he was attending class in the building next door to the one where most people died during the massacre of 2007.
Last year, on the first day of training camp, Morgan learned that a dear friend, Theodore Miller, had been sitting on his motorcycle, talking to friends, when a car came by, out of control, and killed him.
"I went into the trainer's room and covered my head with a towel and cried for about 20 minutes," Morgan said. In the next two weeks, he got the tattoo on the underside of his left arm - a picture of the Capitol building with Theo's name and the dates of his birth and death.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/09/SP621963K3.DTL

 

[Ronin]

If Crabtree's agent, the usually reasonable Eugene Parker, finds this insufficient, so be it. If, as Wells claims, his talented cousin is willing to sit out the season and re-enter the draft in 2010, so be it times two.
If Crabtree is serious about taking his cleats and going home, let him.
If he is ready to sacrifice one full year — his first — in a league where careers tend to be short, let him. Wish him luck in his search for a job, any job, in the current market, much less a job where he could make $32 million, most of it guaranteed.
And allow us all to become witnesses next April, when Crabtree, having burnished his credentials as an insufferable, me-first, I'm-getting-mine diva, discovers how many NFL teams will pass on someone with such questionable judgment, someone whose attitude undermines his talent.

http://www.mercurynews.com/49ersheadlines/49ers/ci_13027816?nclick_check=1

Because the players' union adamantly backs such nonsense, there's no hope for a hard-and-fast "slotting" system or anything that makes sense. Teams will continue to get punished for their malaise, and NFL prospects such as Crabtree will stage their pathetic holdouts before having played one down in the league.
Not that this would ever happen, but I'd put a ceiling on rookie contracts in all professional leagues: $500,000. That's it. Live with a half-million dollars or go flip pancakes somewhere.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/09/SPSB196A2L.DTL

 

[LVG]

Not that this would ever happen, but I'd put a ceiling on rookie contracts in all professional leagues: $500,000. That's it. Live with a half-million dollars or go flip pancakes somewhere.

Don't quite know about the amount being that low, but I'm a huge proponent of the idea.

Personal opinion is that there should be a guaranteed 2 year contract at a set rate based upon the position of the player (let's face it, kickers should earn less than QB's), and the # he was selected at.

After two years, he's an RFA - or the team and the player can renegotiate the contract after one year.

 

[Ronin]

this is pretty cool, the link has the video of players sitting with Alex Smith.
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblog...lex-smith-batt.html?mi_rss=49ers Blog and Q&A
At one point, receiver Brandon Jones, his right shoulder in a sling, sat next to Smith. They were later joined by the starting offensive line - Joe Staley, Tony Wragge, Eric Heitmann, Chilo Rachal and Adam Snyder.

"You can't turn the ball over," Smith said. "That's the bottom line. That's the point coach is trying to make, and it's the right point. You lose ball games like that."
When Smith finally climbed down from the hill he was greeted by a smiling Singletary.
"I don't think he intended for a batted ball, tip around, for that to be the scenario," Smith said. "From a quarterback perspective, what I think he's really talking about it decision making. ... If you're trying to avoid d-linemen hands - good luck. I don't know how successful you're going to be."

 

[Ronin]

Smith kept up with the offense through the receiver in his helmet. He ended up sitting on the hill for the last 20 minutes of practice, but he wasn't alone the entire time.
Injured wide receiver Brandon Jones joined his quarterback for a little how's-it-going. After the first offense was finished with its period of work, the five offensive linemen scaled the hill for a sit-in with Smith.
It was a nice show of solidarity by Joe Staley, Tony Wragge, Eric Heitmann, Chilo Rachal and Adam Snyder to join their quarterback. As he attempts to foster unity among his players, Singletary could not have crafted a better scenario than seeing offensive linemen rallying around their quarterback.
After his penance was over, Smith came down the hill and shook his head coach's hand. Both men were smiling.
"He and I get along well," Smith said. "He's so up front, very honest. I understand it. Bottom line: You can't turn the ball over."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/11/SPGE196S08.DTL#ixzz0Nth4wLQf

 

[Ronin]

Lavar Arrington blaming Crabtree for Maybin not signing his rookie contract.

On the other hand 49ers are waiting for B.J Raji, Monroe to sign....

 

[Ronin]

http://www.49ers.com/media-gallery/audio/jed-york-on-knbr-81109/8fb95347-0791-433e-b86c-a7c9426b33da

Kudos to Jed York for not throwing Crabtree under the bus.:notworthy

 

[Ronin]

49ers Blog: Crabtree becomes scapegoat for everything that goes bad
Michael Crabtree has become the El Niño of the NFL. That is, he's the guy you point to when things go wrong. Crops failed? It's Michael Crabtree. Mudslide? Michael Crabtree.
The latest person to cite the Michael Crabtree effect is Bills first-round draft pick Aaron Maybin, who blames his contract impasse on the fact that Crabtree hasn't signed.
Crabtree was the No. 10 pick; Maybin went No. 11. "This Crabtree kid is putting people in this predicament," Maybin's publicist and friend LaVar Arrington told the Associated Press. "I just think people's hands are tied until this guy gets around to doing what he's going to do."
But using Arrington's logic, couldn't Crabtree blame his stalled contract on No. 9 pick B.J. Raji, who also has yet to sign?

http://www.sacbee.com/sf49ers/story/2102157.html?mi_rss=49ers

 

[Ronin]

http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2009/08/day-12-practice-22-defense-holds.html

 

[Ronin]

I think Jones got injured without there being contact on his fall to the ground.

Yeah, there have been some injuries,” one source said of the carnage that has afflicted the likes of starting “Mike” LB Patrick Willis (foot), starting “Will” LB Parys Haralson (hip flexor) starting OLG David Baas (foot), starting RCB candidate Tarell Brown (toe) and WR Brandon Jones (fractured shoulder), among others. “But the injury to Jones is the only one that is expected to linger beyond training camp.

“There’s a tendency here for anything different than what (former Niners legend) Bill Walsh did to catch some flak, but if you really take a close look around the rest of the league, this camp isn’t any more intense than a lot of camps. The Rams are making the Niners look tame within the division. At the same time, the Seahawks didn’t hit hard at all in Mike Holmgren’s final training camp last season, and they just got killed.”

Singletary has all but curtailed his eyebrow-raising “nutcracker” drills, which essentially called for two players of equal size to run through one another, after one such drill sidelined Baas. But the intensity of the Niners’ practices have remained at a fever pitch.

“I don’t know what’s typical in the NFL,” said Singletary when asked about the hefty number of injuries suffered by his troops. ”All I know is that football is a contact sport. It’s a collision sport. Injuries happen. The most important thing is, when they happen, you’ve done the right things in the offseason to bring them back quicker.”

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2009/08/13/is-niners-camp-getting-unfairly-criticized

 

[Krangodnzr]

Singletary is the Niners version of Dave McGinness. Mark my words, the Niners will never be a consistent winner with him at the helm. He's a motivator, but he lacks the intellectual capabilities (X's and O's) to be a great head coach.

 

[Renz]

http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2009/08/day-12-practice-22-defense-holds.html

SF's pass defense must be pretty bad the way they are getting lit up in practice every day.

They are really going to be in trouble when they have to face the Cardinals passing game.

 

[Ronin]

London calling on Isaac Bruce
Isaac Bruce isn't exactly Benny Hill, but he's destined to get a lot of air time in the United Kingdom this fall. NFL.com's UK division was in town yesterday to film Bruce for a segment designed to help educate Brits about the intricacies of American football. Bruce's lesson was in catching a ball at its highest point. Earlier, running backs coach Tom Rathman explained how to hit a blocking sled. Players on other teams, from Eli Manning to Joey Porter, also have added to the segment.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblog...london-calling.html?mi_rss=49ers Blog and Q&A


Tom Rathman....one of the best blocking Fullbacks that I've seen play.

 

[Ronin]

49ers camp: Hill gets nod as starting QB for Friday

It is undetermined how long Hill is expected to play. Singletary said Smith would get at least some time with the first unit “to keep things fair.”

The announcement by no means closes the door on the 49ers quarterback competition. Singletary has indicated that he might wait as long as three exhibition games before settling on his regular-season starter.

While the quarterbacks take center stage, some other notables will have the night off. Running back Frank Gore, though perfectly healthy, will sit out and leave starting duties to rookie Glen Coffee.
Similarly, leading receiver Isaac Bruce won’t take the field. The 49ers see no need to expose Gore or Bruce to injury, especially since each has looked crisp in camp. Singletary said both would play at least a little bit later in the preseason.
Linebacker Patrick Willis, nursing a sore ankle, won’t play against Denver. The two-time Pro Bowler is feeling better and tried to persuade Singletary to let him take the field. “No, it’s not happening,’’ Singletary said.
Also sitting out will fullback Michael Robinson (groin), guard David Baas (foot), tight end Delanie Walker (concussion).

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2009/08/13/49ers-camp-hill-gets-nod-as-starting-qb-for-friday/

 

[Ronin]

Since Willis will not all pre-season,imo here is a small sample of what's to come in the up coming season.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZiHzZgottA&feature=related

I'll be there first to admit that I wanted Alan Branch or Adam Carriker with the 10th pick that year. thank god the 49ers didn't ask me for my advice.

 

[Ronin]

Hmmm....seems like Ray Ratto is the only media member that is in the "Give Crabtree the $$$".What a Loon!




Tim K. and Matt M. reported yesterday that Crabtree will holdout at least till Sept.