Sigh.
The other thing for me is that I think that turnover fatigue is really starting to fit in. For a long time, you could argue that the departures of guys like Ray Thompson, L.J. Shelton, Ronald McKinnon, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Marcel Shipp, etc., were good for the team because whomever replaces them couldn't possibly be worse than the guys who left. Even David Boston probably wore out his welcome here, and Thomas Jones was never going to get used the right way here or been motivated to be the player he became after he left.
I agree to an extent, but I think we've moved on to the model of letting go of the guys you can let go of that will command too much money (Breaston) when you have comparable players on the roster (Roberts/Doucet). Even good teams take that leap of faith on an annual basis. It becomes problematic when you let Boston walk and David Gilmore and Jason McAddley are the replacements, which is clearly not the case here.
Dansby is the loss that hurts. It forced us to HAVE TO draft Washington, and while I like Washington, he's not Karlos Dansby. But I think Dansby wanted to walk and got his wish and that's just the way profootball works sometimes.
I was even willing to give the new coaching staff the benefit of the doubt on Leonard Davis, because Russ Grimm came in with such a great rep. Five years later, it seems pretty clear that Davis was exactly what this team looks for in a LT (big, doesn't have to run much), and we wasted five years trying to get Levi Brown as good as Leonard Davis at either tackle position (and he's still not there).
IMO this is the most maddening personnel non-move that this team has made. Relying on Grimm's ability to shape and mold nothings into a respectable line is getting old. We need to bring in some talent at LT.
As much as I respect Whisenhunt, his stubbornness gets the better of him at times. But based on that comment from Fitzgerald during the draft about Whisenhunt coming to the conclusion that we should've drafted BPA instead of taking Levi Brown, I think he's changing in that regard. IMO this draft was a huge success, because we took good talent at every position and didn't reach. You could argue that Housler was a reach, but early results show that he might be pretty darn good once he learns to block.
IMO we should just go ahead and start Bridges at LT and make finding a LT a priority next offseason.
But in the last two years we've seen good players leave for nothing and they were replaced with players who were inferior. My favorite players on the Super Bowl team were Dansby, Fitz, Dockett, Wilson, and Deuce. I bought a Matt Leinart jersey the day that we drafted him, and a Rolle jersey was my first "new" jersey. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was my wife's favorite player and electrifying to watch his first two seasons.
Not quite true. We turned a Boldin that we weren't going to resign into ammunition to bring in DWash and Rhodes, who obviously replaced Rolle. We've resigned Sendlein and Fitzgerald, and for the most part, our core of players will stick around. I have confidence we'll be able to resign Campbell since he seems to like the team and we will have the franchise tag to work with.
Leinart was a bust, plain and simple. Huge mistake. He doesn't have the mental makeup to be an elite starting QB.
Now two of my favorite players are gone, Wilson is clearly on the downside of his career, and Deuce is riding pine for a guy who was at best non-descript in the preseason and wasn't good enough to start last year.
I know we've debated on this endlessly, but Deuce showed up to camp at nearly 400 lbs! At some point in his career he needs to show that he wants to do what it takes to be a very good player and show some dedication to his craft. When Deuce turns it on, he can be a very good, Pro Bowl caliber player. But that Deuce doesn't always show up, and his dedication is obviously in question if he can't keep the weight off.
Hadnot has had a good preseason, has shown dedication by NOT showing up fat. He has done everything the staff has asked of him. But I think ultimately Deuce will replace him because when push comes to shove, the good Deuce is better than the good Hadnot. And as stubborn as this coaching staff can be, they generally make these moves at some point in the season.
This coaching staff has no credibility with me on the issue of player acquisition and development. I can't get excited for Kevin Kolb until he actually does something against someone good (completing 62% of his passes and moving the offense Sunday would be a good start) and I'm skeptical of Daryl Washington in this system right now (BTW--there would probably no bigger beneficiary of a Tampa-2 conversion than Washington; this coaching staff continues to try and fit square pegs into round holes). Calais Campbell is poised to leave in free agency next year.
As much as you want to paint me as a cheerleader, I'm in the show me category right now. But dude, c'mon, we had Derrick Anderson QBing this team last year. He was directly responsible for about 3-4 losses last year. As much as an unknown as Kevin Kolb is, he's better than Derek Anderson. He's proven that in his starts.
D Wash will be used as the playmaking LB and as long as the line can keep blockers off him, he'll have a very good year. He's not a traditional take on blocks kind of ILB, but neither was Dansby.
Again, we will have the leverage (franchise tag) with Campbell, and every thing I see points to us keeping him around at least one more season. I wouldn't be surprised if we resigned him during the year.
Oh, and Dan Williams is fat and getting pushed for playing time by a 7th round pick from UCLA who wasn't even listed in a ton of draft guides. Every unknown draft pick can't be a steal, and it's frequently a bad sign when all of your draft picks make the roster.
Better than a lot of teams that kept a ton of UDFAs on their roster. This year had the most since 2003. I'd rather all our draft picks make the roster (which isn't true) than to have cut them for UDFAs.
David Carter, from everything we've seen, earned his playing time. No reason to get hung up on his 6th round status, Carter has played like a legitimate NFL lineman this offseason.
I don't think that an 8-8 record wins the division this year, and I think that people are criminally underrating the 49ers. Alex Smith is an average quarterback right now by all statistical measures, and he does have weapons in the passing game in Crabtree, Edwards, and Vernon Davis. They play their toughest AFC North games (Baltimore and Pittsburgh) at home this year.
Crabtree is coming off a broken foot, and is now coming up on borderline bust status, considering he was a top ten pick and has played nowhere close to top ten status. I think you're not looking at the fact that the Niners have let go of Aubrayo Franklin and Takeo Spikes, two of their best defenders last year. They're also running a brand new system this year for like the 10th time this decade.
I see the Niners as a 4-6 win ball club, based on all the turnover of the offseason.
The "All In" Arizona Cardinals could end up in 3rd place in the NFC West, and I'm not looking forward to the litany of excuses that will come mid-season (lockout, Kolb's still becoming familiar with the offense, injuries in the secondary, new Defensive Coordinator, Joey Porter is at least trying hard, etc., etc.).
I think this is the easy answer. Obviously if you predict, nearly every year, that the Cardinals are going to be a 3rd or 4th place finish, you'd be correct. This team has some warts, but if some of the young players step up (I'm looking at your Schohawk and Jefferson), this team could be pretty good. The stars have to align just right, but the Cardinals at least have answers lately unlike the early 2000's where Emmitt Smith and Jeff Blake were going to be saviors and UDFAs were filling starting roles.
Looking at all the changes to teams in the NFC West, the Cardinals are the most improved. The Rams could argue that they are, but they're still missing a big time WR to catapult that offense forward.
