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May 11 / 12:09pm

New-Look Randy Moss Impresses 49ers Early

This report suggests that 35-year-old Randy Moss may be ready to make a major contribution to the Niners despite a one-year layoff from the game.

I was -- and remain -- skeptical that picking up Moss was a good move. But on his first day of on-field practice, he apparently impressed coaches and teammates with his physical conditioning, his attitude (he even cut his dreadlocks short) and speed. It would, of course, be really awesome to have a real Moss in the lineup for the Niners this year as they seem intent on making another Super Bowl push.

So I'll keep watching and listening with an open mind that is skeptical but hopeful of Moss' possible use to the Niners.
Filed under  //  49ers   Football  

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May 9 / 2:31pm

AJ Jenkins, Jerry Rice and The Hill: Good Sign!

Rookie wideout AJ Jenkins has accepted a challenge from the greatest WR I ever saw play, Jerry Rice, to take his game to a whole new level. And as much as I hate that term (normally defining a new level is silly and impossible), in this case, the new level is the top of a major hill-climbing run that Rice credits for his late-game stamina and heroics.

Jenkins responded to a Tweet by Rice for a joint run up The Hill, a grueling two-and-a-half mile incline run located in San Carlos, California's Edgewood Park, the final 800 meters of which are virtually straight uphill.

If Jenkins is that serious about his game, he could be the long-awaited WR savior Niners fans have been pining for since Rice last donned the red and gold.
Filed under  //  49ers   Football   Sports  

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May 3 / 11:22am

Great Piece on Death of Junior Seau

There is, sadly, not a lot of good writing being done in the world of journalism these days. Today I found an exception.

Mike Lopresti wrote a softly beautiful, insightful and penetrating piece for USA Today on the apparent suicide yesterday of long-time NFL great Junior Seau. In it, he asks the larger question: was this brilliant athlete's death part of (and by implication masking) a larger problem with the very culture of the NFL? The still-fresh wounds of the Saints' bounty scandal in which players were offered and paid bribes for injuring players from other teams give stark relief to Seau's apparent decision that he couldn't live any longer with the demons of head injury.

Clearly we don't yet have nearly enough information to draw the conclusion that the brain damage was the cause or even a contributing cause of Seau's death. But there are plenty of indications that it is. 

The NFL has been burying this problem for years. Maybe it takes the loss of so bright a light as Seau to bring it into a stark enough focus that something real and deep and serious and lasting can be done about it.

Meanwhile, Junior Seau is gone.
Filed under  //  Football   NFL   Sports  

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Apr 30 / 6:28pm

Bleacher Report Eval of Niners Draft is Weak-Kneed

I read Bleacher Report just about every day. Sometimes I read every article in the newsletter. I read everything they write about the San Francisco 49ers. So I was anxious to hear their assessment of the Niners' just-completed NFL draft. I'll tell you up front, I'm pretty dubious. Trent Baalke, the Niners' GM, has earned a rep as a draft wizard and those who have criticized his past picks have not fared well when the season played out.

But Ted Johnson went through the Niners' eight top picks and rated the first pick an "A" and all the others a "B". Gimme a break. In a couple of cases the only way Johnson could even defend his eval was to fall back on "Trent Baalke knows more than we do."

Yeesh. Maybe Johnson belongs in the front office as a flak for the Niners. He's mastered the art so well.

FWIW, here are my grades of the Niners' picks:

A. J. Jenkins, Illinois, WR. This guy's fast but he's small even by the Niners' diminutive standards at 6-0. I'll agree with Johnson's A here, though. He may have some serious potential even as a rookie.

LaMichael James, Oregon, RB. He's too small (5-8, 194) and clearly not ready for NFL Prime Time. That makes him a B before I throw in the fact that we've got too many freaking running backs already! As a pick, this is a low C this high in the draft.

Joe Looney, Wake Forest, OL. At 6-3 and 315, this guy's a moose and his rep is for having great hands and a mix-it-up attitude. He could get the start or 1st backup at RG. Smallish school but he seems like a decent fit. I'll agree with Johnson and grade this one a B.

Darius Fleming, Notre Dame, OLB?. He has a rep as a decent edge rusher but I can't see him higher than 3 on the depth chart behind Ahmad Brooks and Parys Haralson. Average pick gets a C.

Trenton Robinson,  Michigan State, S. Robinson comes in at 5’9” and 193 pounds, which is a lot of weight on a small frame for an NFL safety. My guess: he won't be a regular for at least two years and probably never make a real mark. My grade: D.

Jason Slowey, Western Oregon, OL. At 6-4/315, Slowey has size, speed and strength. He's from a really small school which makes it hard to assess his NFL potential. He's likely to end up as a center for the Niners. I'm picking him to be the draft surprise and giving his pick an A.

Cam Johnson, Virginia, OLB. Could be another surprise smart pick. At 6-2 and 268, he has the size and build to be an immediate contributor at OLB, which was a weak position for the Niners last year if only in its lack of depth. He could also play DE when called on and that's a big plus. I like this guy. Give him an A. (A- but I don't let myself do + and -).

Overall. USA Today ranked the Niners' 2012 draft quality overall at 23rd out of the 32 teams. I think they got it about right.
Filed under  //  49ers   Football   NFL   Sports  

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Apr 27 / 10:55am

Niners Plan: Go With Three Linemen, 1 RB, 6 Wideouts?

So the San Francisco 49ers use their low first-round draft pick to add another freaking wideout? We have so many of them now that they'll be fighting to get a few snaps in the pre-season.

With no glaring need, I suppose GM Trent Baalke is looking for some trade opportunities with some of his existing receiving corps members. I won't be too direct questioning his moves; the guy's been a draftmaster in the recent past. But still, this one's puzzling.
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Mar 16 / 4:51pm

Note to Niners: DO. NOT. DO. THIS. TO. ALEX

ESPN reports that the San Francisco 49ers are one of three teams in the finals of what they call the Peyton Manning Sweepstakes. Appropriate name for this fiasco. Manning is too big a risk. Period.

But  beyond that there is a sort of gestalt at work here. The Niners have been messing with Alex Smith's head from the day they drafted him out of college. They started him too soon, gave him too much offense to learn, swapped offensive coordinators on him every stinking season, and generally treated him as if he were just another player. Despite all that horrible mistreatment, Alex hung in. When the Niners hired Jim Harbaugh as their head coach, he went to Smith and asked him if he wanted to be the starter at SF or be traded. The two hit it off. Result: a stunningly good season for the Niners.

Now with the proper additional elements -- notably a new wide-out whose name is NOT Randy Moss -- the Niners could ride Smith to a Super Bowl win. They should be dancing in the aisles. So what do they do?

They entertain, wine, dine and test Peyton Manning, whose severe neck injury kept him out of last season and who was released by the Colts where he was a cult hero. Shouldn't that alone tell us something?

Guys, guys, guys. By even considering signing Manning you've given Smith another shot to the helmet of self-confidence. Now it may not even matter if you sign Manning or not because Alex may be so shell-shocked that he won't be able to perform even if you don't sign him. What are you thinking? Manning is the QB of the past. Smith is the QB of the present and near future. And you have a solid backup for him in Colin Kaepernick. 

It would be insane, dishonest, insensitive and uncaring for the Niners to essentially dump Smith now for the shiny old object rolling in from the Midwest. Let it go. Give Smith some love. If not, you may not just lose a great QB and a strong human being, you may also start bleeding fan support as well.

I'm just sayin'.

Filed under  //  49ers   Alex Smith   Football   NFL  

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Mar 9 / 2:25pm

Hey, Niners. Forget Manning. Sign Alex. You Morons.

Publicly, the San Francisco 49ers insist that: (a) they really, really, REALLY want to re-sign QB Alex Smith; and (b) they have zero interest in the recently released super QB from the Indianapolis Colts, Peyton Manning.

So why is it taking so long to do a deal with Smith? The team's offer is reportedly for 3 years and little or no guaranteed money while Smith and his agent Tom Condon (who, coincidentally?, represents Manning, too) have said they want 5 years and about $20 million guaranteed.

After the way the Niners have shafted Smith over the years and after the great breakout season he just had, you'd think they'd feel somewhat obligated to offer him a decent deal. I know, that's not how things work in the No Fun League, but still... But the fact is, Smith deserves to be rewarded now for the accomplishments of the past, particularly last season. The Niners would be morons to sign Manning, assuming they could get him in the high-stakes bidding war that's already unfolding. Manning's physical condition is dubious, and his remaining years as a top-flight QB are definitely three or fewer. Smith, OTOH, is still young (27) and among the top 5-7 QBs in the NFL despite the Niners' mismanagement of his career.

Let's get this thing done, guys. Focus, focus, focus.
Filed under  //  49ers   NFL   football  

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Mar 3 / 12:06am

Niners Lock Down Ahmad Brooks. Good for Them!

I was delighted to read that the San Francisco 49ers had locked in linebacker Ahmad Brooks to a six-year contract extension. This guy has blossomed over the past three seasons into a solid mainstay of an increasingly powerful defensive unit. 

For a guy who started his NFL career as a supplemental draftee by the Bengals, who released him two years later after virtually no playing time, Brooks has really come into his own. He'd be hard to replace. Now the Niners don't have to worry about that.

Good move.
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Feb 29 / 1:22pm

Niners Have One of Five Best Future QBs, But It's Not Alex?

Interesting post on the Bleacher Report today by SF Bay Area correspondent Grant Cohn. In picking the top five prospects to be a top-rank NFL quarterback in five years, Cohn gives the No. 5 spot to Niners' backup Colin Kaepernick.

Gotta admit I didn't see that one coming.

Cohn has some interesting arguments in favor of Kaepernick despite the guy's abysmal showing in the past pre-season. But what it seems to come down to for him is that Kapernick will be way better than he seems to look almost entirely because of the influence of Coach Jim Harbaugh.

Could be. Harbaugh certainly did wonders for Alex Smith this year (though going way conservative in game plans had something to do what that as well). But I'm pretty skeptical. Also, I'm doubtful that if Kaepernick is half as good as Cohn says he is, he'll still be a Niner in five years. I don't see Alex retiring or being let go in that time frame unless he explodes or gets hurt badly and I don't expect a guy with the skills Cohn sees in Colin will stick around as a backup that long.
Filed under  //  49ers   Alex Smith   Colin Kaepernick   Football   NFL  

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Jan 13 / 6:15pm

Niners - Saints Tomorrow: My Prognosis

Here, FWIW, is my take on tomorrow's playoff game between my San Francisco 49ers and the smokin' hot New Orleans Saints.

The present line has the Saints favored by an astonishingly small 3.5 point margin. The over-under is also low at 47.5.

I'm predicting the Niners will lose, but by between 6 and 10 points, making the game closer than expected.

If -- big If -- the Niners are ahead by 10+ at the half, they could pull out a win. Otherwise, I don't see how the Niners stop the potent Saints' offense and Drew Brees in a second half they've dominated all year.
Filed under  //  NFL   Niners   football  

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