2019 Free Agency Thread

[John232]

Just now, DirtyJersey9er said:

Some other food for thought.  There are rumors Houston is shopping Clowney.  If we trade for him what are your thoughts on Williams in round 1 barring a trade down?

nada for me.  i don't want us to pigeon hole an elite prospect like that into a 1 tech and I don't want to pigeon hole our scheme into always playing two 3 techs simultaneously. And not when we have a perfectly fine group of interior lineman anyways. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

5 minutes ago, John232 said:

Can Verrett or Darby play inside? I was under the impression Darby was best suited outside and Verrett could do both. 

Correct, both are outside corners. Think we are fine on the inside with Williams and Reed. 

[Forge]

9 minutes ago, DirtyJersey9er said:

Some other food for thought.  There are rumors Houston is shopping Clowney.  If we trade for him what are your thoughts on Williams in round 1 barring a trade down?

That rumor is from Incarcerated Bob. Doesn't count. 

Edit

Apparently there is some chatter from local sports radio too. So maybe there are some legs to it. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 minute ago, Forge said:

That rumor is from Incarcerated Bob. Doesn't count. 

Trading for Clowney while paying Ford all that money and then paying Buckner all that money next year would be wild as hell. Taking Bosa/Williams/Allen at #2 on rookie salary>>>>paying someone like Clowney 20M per year.

[N4L]

1 hour ago, oldman9er said:

Recent convo reminded me of this related article, so if you missed it...

Young 49ers defense is starting to grasp Saleh’s scheme, and it’s showing

http://www.knbr.com/2018/12/17/young-49ers-defense-is-starting-to-grasp-salehs-scheme-and-its-showing/

 

Now just imagine it in 2019 with a successful LEO. 

“It’s built on, guys up front putting pressure on the quarterback, and guys in the back end limiting explosives,” Sherman said postgame. “The plays come because guys get bored. Guys get tired of taking a five-yard check down or two-yard gain or three-yard gain here. They just force the ball deep down the field. If you don’t force passes against this defense, it’s going to be a real long game. It’s going to be really hard to make a play.”

Goddamn the bolded is giving me Kaepernick 2012 flashbacks. 

[N4L]

1 hour ago, DirtyJersey9er said:

The first pick is going to dictate a lot.  Also next year is really good for WRs and Safeties.

Oh perfect! By that logic we can do what we did with edge last year, and completely ignore both positions! LOL

That had to be our reasoning last year when we didn't sign anyone, and didn't draft anyone for one of the weakest spots on our roster

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 minute ago, N4L said:

“It’s built on, guys up front putting pressure on the quarterback, and guys in the back end limiting explosives,” Sherman said postgame. “The plays come because guys get bored. Guys get tired of taking a five-yard check down or two-yard gain or three-yard gain here. They just force the ball deep down the field. If you don’t force passes against this defense, it’s going to be a real long game. It’s going to be really hard to make a play.”

Goddamn the bolded is giving me Kaepernick 2012 flashbacks. 

You have to be super disciplined and can't have breakdowns. So essentially the opposite of us lol. But yes, any team that plays that much zone defense needs a fearsome pass rush and smart secondary play. We had none of that. It was by no coincidence that the defense started playing better late in the year when Saleh implemented more press man coverage in certain spots. Saleh himself needs to improve, forget just the team lol.

[oldman9er]

3 minutes ago, N4L said:

Goddamn the bolded is giving me Kaepernick 2012 flashbacks. 

17 minutes ago, DirtyJersey9er said:

Some other food for thought.  There are rumors Houston is shopping Clowney.  If we trade for him what are your thoughts on Williams in round 1 barring a trade down?

There's just no understanding such a move. Signing Ford to to that contract after trading for him makes getting Clowney inconceivable, for me.They can't both play LEO, or are we to dump the big 5 tech END altogether and just go standard 43? 

[NinerNation21]

Just now, J-ALL-DAY said:

You have to be super disciplined and can't have breakdowns. So essentially the opposite of us lol. But yes, any team that plays that much zone defense needs a fearsome pass rush and smart secondary play. We had none of that. It was by no coincidence that the defense started playing better late in the year when Saleh implemented more press man coverage in certain spots. Saleh himself needs to improve, forget just the team lol.

 

I think the bolded is absolutely correct. We NEED him to be better at scheming and personnel placement. I've been hyper-critical of Saleh all season last year because I found it extremely difficult to believe that all of the strides made by the defensive players in 2017 just collectively all went out the window in 2018. How can everyone suck all at the same time without the scheme being a big part of that? 

If he can figure out how to scheme more complex defense and just simply use the players he has to the advantage of their abilities, this defense would be a whole lot better. Now, this isn't to say we didn't have talent deficiencies on defense, because we definitely did. But, it can't all be put on the players.

[Forge]

3 minutes ago, NinerNation21 said:

I think the bolded is absolutely correct. We NEED him to be better at scheming and personnel placement. I've been hyper-critical of Saleh all season last year because I found it extremely difficult to believe that all of the strides made by the defensive players in 2017 just collectively all went out the window in 2018. How can everyone suck all at the same time without the scheme being a big part of that? 

If he can figure out how to scheme more complex defense and just simply use the players he has to the advantage of their abilities, this defense would be a whole lot better. Now, this isn't to say we didn't have talent deficiencies on defense, because we definitely did. But, it can't all be put on the players.

The thing is, you don't need to be super complex in the scheme. It's simple, and basic, and can be super effective. That's why so many teams utilize it, and have success with it to boot. We haven't had the personnel to make that work at all. The most disconcerting thing about Colbert last year was that quite frankly, he was stupid and undisciplined on the field. You simply can't do that kind of stuff on the field, and that's not something that Saleh can "fix". Our personnel just didn't match up with the scheme. So the question now becomes, do we switch scheme, or do we fill in the gaps personnel wise to make this scheme work. Ford is a big step in that direction. Not sure about Kwon (I just don't have any idea because this isn't a defense that Tampa runs). But our secondary is still ill equipped for this defense if you are keeping it the same. They break down, are undisciplined, etc etc etc. I'm not opposed to changing the scheme - if we aren't going to have that big centerfielder at FS, we probably need to go to more of a press man with a dash of cover 2 to be honest. 

Player development isn't a Saleh issue, and he really shouldn't be criticized for it, that's a positional coach thing (one of the reasons we have a new defensive line coach lol). 

[JIllg]

6 minutes ago, NinerNation21 said:

I think the bolded is absolutely correct. We NEED him to be better at scheming and personnel placement. I've been hyper-critical of Saleh all season last year because I found it extremely difficult to believe that all of the strides made by the defensive players in 2017 just collectively all went out the window in 2018. How can everyone suck all at the same time without the scheme being a big part of that? 

If he can figure out how to scheme more complex defense and just simply use the players he has to the advantage of their abilities, this defense would be a whole lot better. Now, this isn't to say we didn't have talent deficiencies on defense, because we definitely did. But, it can't all be put on the players.

The scheme possibly not. The positional coaching, yes. Man, we did not understand how to run zone coverage. Especially for the first ten games. And while I'm concerned about FS, it was Witherspoon+Ward+CandidateX at corner that were mind-achingly awful. The safeties didn't get to plays in the seams occasionally that they should. But the corners would do inexcusable things like jump short routes while giving up deep over routes from the opposite side twenty yards in any direction. And not just once in a game, but several times. These aren't athletic problems (except in Sherm's case).

[NinerNation21]

2 minutes ago, JIllg said:

The scheme possibly not. The positional coaching, yes. Man, we did not understand how to run zone coverage. Especially for the first ten games. And while I'm concerned about FS, it was Witherspoon+Ward+CandidateX at corner that were mind-achingly awful. The safeties didn't get to plays in the seams occasionally that they should. But the corners would do inexcusable things like jump short routes while giving up deep over routes from the opposite side twenty yards in any direction. And not just once in a game, but several times. These aren't athletic problems (except in Sherm's case).

I agree, there were too many times where the DB's looked around in frustration at one another after big plays because of busted coverage. But why did it take Saleh so long to adjust? This is what I don't get about him. Why did it take so long to change our coverage type? Why did it take so long to play Solly at his natural position? Why was Earl Mitchell getting more playing time than DJ Jones when we all can see Jones was better and it was lost season where younger guys needed to play? It just seems like Saleh was just really slow to adjust.

[NcFinest9erFan]

 

[JIllg]

27 minutes ago, NinerNation21 said:

I agree, there were too many times where the DB's looked around in frustration at one another after big plays because of busted coverage. But why did it take Saleh so long to adjust? This is what I don't get about him. Why did it take so long to change our coverage type? Why did it take so long to play Solly at his natural position? Why was Earl Mitchell getting more playing time than DJ Jones when we all can see Jones was better and it was lost season where younger guys needed to play? It just seems like Saleh was just really slow to adjust.

So, as far as adjusting to throwing different coverages, there could be an argument to be made that we continued playing coverages that were suboptimal for winning in the present in order to prepare the roster for a scheme that the administration sees as optimal going forward. Like a soccer team learning to pass the ball out of the back and hold a high defensive line and looking awkward and uncomfortable, but getting better and ultimately in order to be a great team, you have to be able to possess the the ball comfortably. Even considering the scheme they intend to run long term, though, it probably wasn't ideal. A little too obvious how they'd make checks. A little too regular cover 3 zone. But all these can be chalked up to getting the roster to grips with the basics. As for Solly and Earl Mitchell, I haven't the foggiest. But the positional coach associated with those choices is gone. That indicates at least the organization's awareness of the issue. If the defense doesn't look more in tune with each other this year, Saleh will follow his subordinate out the door. 

[y2lamanaki]

1 hour ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

You spelled AJ Green wrong .

But really, may not even be someone on that level. Could be a lesser player. Do they double up with Griffen with a super late pick or at this point just ride it out until the draft for edge help?

The only guy I imagine we would have an interest in trading for is Ryan Shazier. He's the guy that most exemplifies what we are looking for in a player. Basically someone to give our new hockey training staff some baseline data.