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Clarkfn's Locked and Loaded 49er Weekly Review (as requested by few members on this board so don't @ me)


clarkfn2284

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Browns @ 49ers

 

A terrific all around showing for this team this week. I have been saying it is time to start taking them serious. Some have been slow to jump aboard. Do we all believe now? I have decided to review each position and mention some standouts and then list a letter grade for the players that I feel deserve to be brought up. Let's get to it.

 

QB

Jimmy played well. Nothing glaring that was awful with the exception of the one throw under pressure that he got away with. I notice that when he has a blitzer free he will attempt to put a ball in a safe area where only his receiver has a shot. There was a third down play (I think) where he had pressure and he put a ball into the open field in front of Kittle. It was a rushed throw, but he understood he needed to get it out and get it into a place that only his guy could have an opportunity to make a catch. He should have had three TD passes if not for the Pettis drop. I'm not going to worry a ton about the lack of passing yards as this game had a very strange flow to it. A lot of short fields and just a ton of running lanes. Jimmy is a rhythm QB and a rhythm passer. He has great ability to improvise, but as a game progresses and he gets to throw more he appears to get better. There was 1 drive where he completed 4 or 5 consecutive balls and you could see him getting into a rhythm

Grade: Jimmy G (B)

RB

This group is amazing. Coleman looked special when he got to the edge and the second level. This dude came back in three weeks after a high ankle sprain and was able to carry the ball 16 times for 97 and a TD. Breida continues to show that he is the best runner with elite vision and get away speed. He set the tone on that 83 yard explosive and continued the momentum throughout the night. This may be the best overall group in the league. I can count on 1 hand the amount of TFL's we have had on our run plays. These guys are thriving in the zone blocking scheme and are great once they hit the second and third levels. The thing about having a run game such as this one is that it travels. The offense can be run through it. That being said I expect to see a ton more of 8 and 9 man boxes. The one negative was the injury to Juice. He was absolutely killing folks as a lead blocker. I don't see him missing the full 4-6 weeks. Should be interesting to see is Shanahan decides to bring in a FB or use more two back sets/TE's as lead blocker. Another thought would be to give Jeff Wilson a shot there.

Grade: Coleman (A+), Breida (A+), Juice (B)

WR

This group just continues to baffle me. The talent is there. It's visible. I think we need to see the ball in Deebo's hands more. He makes things happen when he gets his opportunities. I liked seeing what appeared to be a concerted effort to get the ball to Marquise as well. Pettis continues to disappoint. Granted his opportunities are limited, but when called upon he has struggled. I still trust in his talent and want to see a game where there is a focus to get him the ball. I would like to see more of Kendrick Bourne on the field as well. The Niners just do not run a lot of 3 or 4 wide receiver sets which would allow him those chances.

Grade: Goodwin (B), Deebo (C+), Pettis (D)

TE

George Kittle is the best TE in football. I am going to say this every week. Two huge third down conversions where he willed his way to the markers. A beast in the run game as well and one of the most unselfish players on the team. Nothing more to be said about this guy.

Grade: Kittle (A)

OL

Great performance from these guys. Justin Skule deserves a big pat on the back. He has jumped in for the best offensive lineman in 49ers history and was expected to stand out for all the wrong reasons and the guy has been nothing short of solid. I'm not sure how much of it is scheme versus his overall ability, but I have yet to see him look bad. Richburg was brought up in the GD thread, he has been absolutely awesome all year. This is a guy who didn't play all preseason and was questionable headed into week 1. Think about that. His agility is perfect for his role and he does a really nice job with the calls at the LOS. McGlinchey was a lot better this week even with the one hiccup. Person and Tomlinson just continue to show up and be very solid.

Grade: Skule (B+), Tomlinson (B), Richburg (A), Person (B), McGlinchey (B)

DL

The best unit on this team and without a doubt the best unit in all of football. End to end and all the way through the depth chart these guys are terrific. Nick Bosa wrecks games. He is already a better all around player then Myles Garret IMO. Bosa is not as refined, but Bosa doesn't disappear in games. Beyond all the sacks and the high effort plays he made, the most impressed I was with him was on a run play to his side where he fought off the double team and stretched the run out for a loss of a yard. It was the one spot that we really haven't seen him tested at and he passed. Dee Ford didn't have a huge impact, but I kind of think that is what we will see from this line. Different guys every week. Buckner is an absolute stud. I saw someone mention not paying him because he basically has not gotten better. That's laughable. He has been in the thick of it the last 3 games and when the edges are collapsing you don't have to be in on every play. Let us not forget that he is still taking on a ton of doubles.

Grade: Bosa (A+), Ford (C+), Buckner (B)

LB

This may be the first game where the LB's haven't really been noticeable. It isn't really a bad thing either. They are just a very solid and disciplined group. Kwon played vey well again, as did Warner and Dre Greenlaw continues to get better.

Grade: Kwon (B+), Warner (B), Dre (B)

DB

The part I anticipated the most. Sherm is Sherm. He is so damn smart and prepared and the others in this group are so lucky to learn those habits from him. E-MAN!!!!!!! I loved his play in camp, the preseason and in the small sample size we have seen he has stood out. This was his first start and he played better than mostly anyone could have hoped. I say mostly because I just had this feeling that he would thrive. He is a player and he is really good. His pass break up in the end zone was perfect. He allowed 1 catch for 7 yards on three targets. This team will be just fine with him. K'Waun continues to ball out. allowing a QB rating just over 24% and is graded out as the third best corner right now. These guys set themselves apart for me with their willingness to tackle and get in the mix. Love this group.

Grade: Sherm (A-), E-Man (A), K'Waun (A)

S

Tartt and Ward both looked really good. Tartt was awesome in the box and as was mentioned before Ward took a fantastic angle on the Chubb run that broke. No complaints here from these guys. Tartt hasn't flashed a whole lot this year, but that is ok because it usually means that the S and defense as a whole is playing pretty sound.

Grade: Ward (A), Tartt (A)

ST

We all know the issues they had. Now everyone take a breath. It is fixable and should no longer be an issue. Nothing that happened was that bad. The snaps were not that bad, the holds were not that bad and the kicks were not that bad. The block was a good play by a guy who got off the ball well. RELAX.

 

4-0 headed into a division tilt with the Rams. The Rams are vulnerable. The do not have the same defense nor the same offense. I thought this would be the statement game for the 49ers, but I believe that Sunday in LA will. They go on the road and beat last years NFC representative and it will be time for everyone to start talking about how far this team can go.

 

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12 minutes ago, clarkfn2284 said:

ST

We all know the issues they had. Now everyone take a breath. It is fixable and should no longer be an issue. Nothing that happened was that bad. The snaps were not that bad, the holds were not that bad and the kicks were not that bad. The block was a good play by a guy who got off the ball well. RELAX.

 

4-0 headed into a division tilt with the Rams. The Rams are vulnerable. The do not have the same defense nor the same offense. I thought this would be the statement game for the 49ers, but I believe that Sunday in LA will. They go on the road and beat last years NFC representative and it will be time for everyone to start talking about how far this team can go.

But from a grade standpoint for that game, definitely a Q lol. 

Nelson will be back shortly, which should solve any long snapper issues that we feel we may have. Holder issues? I don't know...if it's really that big of an issue, than I think Gould needs to just speak up to the staff and request a change over. I think that's on him. If he feels that Wish is getting everything down, rotated and cleanly handling the football, then there's no concern. So I'm going to just assume that Gould is in charge of that. I have no problem with him requesting a change if that's something he feels is needed. 

As for the actual kicking part,  I said on the podcast that I wouldn't be surprised if he just had a bad season out of the blue for no reason. he's a kicker. It happens. They can be like relief pitchers in baseball. All of them do at some point or another (typically), and there is sometimes no rhyme or reason for it. David Akers went from reliable, had a great first year with us, then dreadful in one off season. Mason Crosby had a dreadful 2012, and a mediocre 2014. Robbie Gould himself has had some mediocre seasons. It just happens. 

Not sure what James was doing in this game as a punt returner. I wonder if he just didn't have a lot of problems tracking the football. 

Really good write up as always. 

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Good stuff, but I'm not giving Sherman a higher than B performance for all the soft coverage he had leading to three or four decent sized gains plus avoiding another one because OBJ dropped the pass.

STs was HORRENDOUS all around aside from our coverage unit. Richie James cost us so many yards in field position by making terrible decision. He once took a kickoff where he barely stayed in bounds when the ball was going out and it would have been a penalty on the Browns. Then he let two punts bounce about 20 yards when it should have been an easy fair catch. James did have one nice kickoff return though, I'll give him that. 

I don't really need to comment on the kicking situation as it was bad all around. Whatever the issue is, you just can't miss three FGs. Gould has now missed four FGs and one extra point after missing just one FG all of last season. Don't want this to be another David Akers 2012 situation all over again.

 

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16 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Good stuff, but I'm not giving Sherman a higher than B performance for all the soft coverage he had leading to three or four decent sized gains plus avoiding another one because OBJ dropped the pass.

I think I read that this was more gameplan oriented rather than Sherman being off. The idea was that we didn't think Baker would remain disciplined enough to go through long drives without mistakes, so play it extra safe and just don't allow huge plays, and eventually the drive would work in the defense's favor. 

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1 hour ago, y2lamanaki said:

I think I read that this was more gameplan oriented rather than Sherman being off. The idea was that we didn't think Baker would remain disciplined enough to go through long drives without mistakes, so play it extra safe and just don't allow huge plays, and eventually the drive would work in the defense's favor. 

Sherman himself said that they were is soft coverage and that there was one play that they should have had a pick on, but the coverage called was soft. Sherman consistently has to worry about being beaten deep so there will be times where he gives up chunks on those easy outs. Overall his play was very good.

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1 hour ago, y2lamanaki said:

I think I read that this was more gameplan oriented rather than Sherman being off. The idea was that we didn't think Baker would remain disciplined enough to go through long drives without mistakes, so play it extra safe and just don't allow huge plays, and eventually the drive would work in the defense's favor. 

I mentioned this point yesterday and during the game, but even Sherman pointed out a few times he could have been tighter in coverage and gave too much space. 

Then OBJ dropped a easy 15+ yard reception. He wasn't bad but he's also not getting an A from me either. 

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53 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

I mentioned this point yesterday and during the game, but even Sherman pointed out a few times he could have been tighter in coverage and gave too much space. 

Then OBJ dropped a easy 15+ yard reception. He wasn't bad but he's also not getting an A from me either. 

Oh definitely not. 

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12 hours ago, Melbourne 9er said:

We have 4 guys on the DL. How did you think that AA played?

To be honest, I didn't get a real good chance to see him on the field. He never really jumped off the TV for me. I could have missed him. He has in fact, been tremendous all year long. He wont get the credit he deserves on a national level because of Bosa and Buckner getting the attention. Armstead is unique because of his length and athletic ability. Guy has a real chance to be dominant.

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