Preseason week 2 GDT: 49ers vs Texans

[mw2noobbuster]

2 hours ago, 757-NINER said:

In two years, both Foster and Warner will be lauded at two of the best LBs in the entire league. That's how highly I think of both players....

As Niners fans, we are truly blessed with some great linebackers on this team in recent history. From Willis / Bowman / A. Smith to Foster and hopefully Warner, it's an awesome feeling to see continued promise in that position. 

[y2lamanaki]

1 hour ago, rudyZ said:

I hope at some point we get some hidden gem a la Colbert/Taylor/Taylor/James (maybe) at the LB spot to complete our future trio. None of the guys we currently have is exciting.

I have complete faith that this will happen. Remember, our cupboard was completely bare at the beginning of 2017, so it is inevitable that some lesser guys would still be getting a lot of meaningful reps in year 2 of Shanalynch. Looking forward to 2019, SAM is almost certainly one of the top 3 positions in need of an upgrade (along with likely LEO and RG), so I feel very confident we will see that upgrade soon.

[757-NINER]

Me and a  Niner friend of mine were having this debate about Warner vs Foster at MIKE so I'd thought I'd bring it here...

My friend loves Foster at MIKE and says there's no chance we would or should move him. Now while I agree that Foster's insticts and nose for the ball you just can't teach and would probably be better served in the center of the defense, I really think with his penchant for nagging injuries and the fact that he's not the biggest guy physically, but tends to play alot more physical style, taking him out if the middle and moving him to WILL might preserve his body and keep him on the field in the long-run. 

Now I'm not saying Warner is ready this year to man the MIKE. But I think by his second year, with a firmer grasp of the scheme, he could hit the ground running. Warner is no Foster in terms of instincts but he's a very heady player who is better at shedding blocks and weeding through traffic in the box than I gave him credit for as a prospect. Even though it was just one preseason game, against mainly 2's and 3's, I thought he looked phenomenal when I re-watched the game. With how quickly he diagnosed things in front of him to his fluidity in coverage and how natural he is in space, to how assertive he was in taking on blocks and attacking the play instead of waiting for it to come to him like most young ILBs...I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. And with Warner being a bigger guy, I think he could stand up to the pounding of being in the middle more so than Foster, who seemed to get injured in every quarter of every game he played last year. Not mention Foster's tendecy to be over-agressive and overrun plays would be less of a detriment from the outside. I know it's a little early to annoit Warner after one preseason game but if he continues to show and prove like this all year, is what I'm suggesting.

So is it blasphemous to suggest moving Foster to WILL in favor of Warner? Have I lost my mind as my friend suggested? Or could a argument be made that if Warner plays and progresses into another young stud LB in the fold, that moving Foster to WILL isn't such a bad idea?

[Forge]

6 minutes ago, 757-NINER said:

Me and a  Niner friend of mine were having this debate about Warner vs Foster at MIKE so I'd thought I'd bring it here...

My friend loves Foster at MIKE and says there's no chance we would or should move him. Now while I agree that Foster's insticts and nose for the ball you just can't teach and would probably be better served in the center of the defense, I really think with his penchant for nagging injuries and the fact that he's not the biggest guy physically, but tends to play alot more physical style, taking him out if the middle and moving him to WILL might preserve his body and keep him on the field in the long-run. 

Now I'm not saying Warner is ready this year to man the MIKE. But I think by his second year, with a firmer grasp of the scheme, he could hit the ground running. Warner is no Foster in terms of instincts but he's a very heady player who is better at shedding blocks and weeding through traffic in the box than I gave him credit for as a prospect. Even though it was just one preseason game, against mainly 2's and 3's, I thought he looked phenomenal when I re-watched the game. With how quickly he diagnosed things in front of him to his fluidity in coverage and how natural he is in space, to how assertive he was in taking on blocks and attacking the play instead of waiting for it to come to him like most young ILBs...I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. And with Warner being a bigger guy, I think he could stand up to the pounding of being in the middle more so than Foster, who seemed to get injured in every quarter of every game he played last year. Not mention Foster's tendecy to be over-agressive and overrun plays would be less of a detriment from the outside. I know it's a little early to annoit Warner after one preseason game but if he continues to show and prove like this all year, is what I'm suggesting.

So is it blasphemous to suggest moving Foster to WILL in favor of Warner? Have I lost my mind as my friend suggested? Or could a argument be made that if Warner plays and progresses into another young stud LB in the fold, that moving Foster to WILL isn't such a bad idea?

I actually thought having Foster at WILL was the plan all along tbh. I would just like to see it's take advantage of him as a Blitzer a little more often. He was pretty good at in college

[y2lamanaki]

It's my understanding that Foster is already playing WILL with Malcolm Smith at MIKE in camp. I haven't gotten to see too much of the preseason yet to really see if that has been the case in the preseason. But as Warner is the more cerebral player, it definitely makes sense to have him at MIKE and let Foster use his expert-level instincts without having to worry about running the defense. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kExN1f0lIxM

Sherman is a go for Saturday. Loved his responses to the question of getting beat by Goodwin.

[757-NINER]

1 hour ago, y2lamanaki said:

It's my understanding that Foster is already playing WILL with Malcolm Smith at MIKE in camp. I haven't gotten to see too much of the preseason yet to really see if that has been the case in the preseason. But as Warner is the more cerebral player, it definitely makes sense to have him at MIKE and let Foster use his expert-level instincts without having to worry about running the defense. 

I think that was more experimenting with different line-ups and personnel. I don't think Smith@Mike is really feasible.

[49erurtaza]

I'm getting a bit worried with Richburg he's been awful so far run blocking. 

[Forge]

11 minutes ago, 49erurtaza said:

I'm getting a bit worried with Richburg he's been awful so far run blocking. 

He's an undersized center with good movement. He's always going to have problems squaring a man and holding him back. A lot of his strength will be based on being able to get out there and chip and get in a defenders way. That's why ZBS isn't typically ideal for short yardage either. 

It's going to take time for the line to gel particularly in this scheme.  Yes, he's been pretty bad at times, but I wouldn't sweat it too much yet. 

[mw2noobbuster]

 

30 minutes ago, Forge said:

He's an undersized center with good movement. He's always going to have problems squaring a man and holding him back. A lot of his strength will be based on being able to get out there and chip and get in a defenders way. That's why ZBS isn't typically ideal for short yardage either. 

It's going to take time for the line to gel particularly in this scheme.  Yes, he's been pretty bad at times, but I wouldn't sweat it too much yet. 

He'll be fine, probably still adjusting to the new scheme as well. Can't be much worse than Kilgore. 

[N4L]

3 hours ago, mw2noobbuster said:

 

He'll be fine, probably still adjusting to the new scheme as well. Can't be much worse than Kilgore. 

Terrible standard considering the massive contract we gave richburg. Overpaidburg might be more accurate. I'm worried he's going to get outmuscled by those two boulders the rams have up front. 

Looking at that particular play, garnet blocking down on the nose with richburg getting upfield and then hooking the linebacker and/or clearing him out would have been more effective. 

I've never been a huge fan of the zbs in the NFL. I like the outside zone with boot action but I like traps and inside counters that are quick hitters up the middle as well. I see so many running backs lined up 7+ yards behind the los, never makes any sense to me unless you are going to run outside, but then you're tipping you're hand if that's the only reason you have them back so far. Joe williams is 8/9 yards back, that's too far imo. The timing of the hole is completely out of whack. 

I am a big fan of the trap play. We used to trap suh to death when he was in Detroit and he never made the adjustment. It can be very effective when the timing is right. I would love to see juice used for traps the same way that delanie walker used to be. It's a good way to get hats onto the second level, which seems like a main strategy of the zbs as well. 

I can't recall Kyle ever running a trap play, it would be a nice wrinkle to add.

The problem is that the majority of the running backs we have on the roster aren't built for that type of play. Breida is the only running back we have on the roster with any sort of instincts, it's a problem. 

[oldman9er]

7 hours ago, 49erurtaza said:

I'm getting a bit worried with Richburg he's been awful so far run blocking. 

That was definitely a fine example of awful run blocking. Might have to watch that last game to focus in on just him. 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

Richburg hasn't really stood out, but I'm not worried yet. At the very least, the offensive line so far with the starters has looked noticeably better at pass protection compared to what we were dealing with towards the end of the season. Jimmy couldn't even breathe on a lot of his snaps. Of course, the end of the season does bring more injuries. Hopefully our depth doesn't get that atrocious in December again. 

[Chrissooner49er]

18 hours ago, rudyZ said:

It's not really based on a whole lot, I'll grant you that, but I've noticed Pita at least 3 times in 2 games, while I've noticed Eli zero time. To me, Pita has shown some strength and some bend, and he's been in the backfield on those plays I noticed him, once putting pressure on the QB against Dallas, and one time helping to blow up a running play. That's not much, and it's against 3s, but it's already more than I've seen from Eli. My point is, we know what we have in Eli. He could sit the next two games, and it wouldn't change anyone's evaluation of him. But playing Pita might change our evaluation of Pita. But yeah, I'd rather we finalize the evaluation of Marsh and Watson too. It's just that I'm too disappointed with what we have at that position to really care about these guys. But is it evaluating that we're doing with them at SAM, or are we still just hoping one of them will be better than they've already shown to be? No one is stepping up. It's probably the most boring position battle we have. Pita wouldn't necessarily make it a better competition. I hope at some point we get some hidden gem a la Colbert/Taylor/Taylor/James (maybe) at the LB spot to complete our future trio. None of the guys we currently have is exciting.

Perhaps this is why we just traded Eli? I hope so.

[big9erfan]

On 8/21/2018 at 5:15 PM, Justone2 said:

Especially on bull rushes he can get put on skates too quickly. Needs to learn to anchor himself better but the main hope for him is to just stay healthy and prove he is worth the pick we used for him.

Yeah. Lost a lot of bulk but might have lost some power too. The thing is that even at the higher weight he didn't look overly powerful anyway. So better he be quicker and more mobile. Did like to see how easily he got onto LBs.