2011 NFL Offseason Thread

[Cujo]

Buffalo has dealt WR Lee Evans to the Ravens.

[NEW.ERA]

"If the president doesn't want to come see us, we're gonna go see him"

Charles Woodson and the Packers get to finally meet the president today.

[Still MIGHTY]

Yeah the kickoff rule is extremely lame.

Yeah I know, player safety, blah blah blah. I understand that and I think we all want to players to be safe. Nobody's livelihood needs to be ruined by a football game. But with the rule now, you might see two kicks that are actually returnable each game. Most of these kicks were through the goalposts or 7 yards deep.

Not only is this rule going to lead to the exponential rise of touchbacks, but I think we're going to see a lot of kick returners getting frustrated and trying to take some of these kicks out and get stuck inside the 10 or 15.

[ninersdd]

Alex Smith tonight: 2/7 10 yards

I know it's the first preseason game, but ouch.

[dfwabel]

Alex Smith tonight: 2/7 10 yards

I know it's the first preseason game, but ouch.

It isn't the offense, it is the defense. Last year, outside of Willis, they did not have much young talent to start with and they Spikes left and Taylor Mays is where?

[thespleenenator]

Looks like Andy Dalton didn't do so well either. 11/15, 69 yds, 1 int

It's not the end of the world, but I don't think that's what Cincy was expecting from him.

[ninersdd]

Alex Smith tonight: 2/7 10 yards

I know it's the first preseason game, but ouch.

It isn't the offense, it is the defense. Last year, outside of

Willis, they did not have much young talent to start with and they Spikes left and Taylor Mays is where?

Both units were overall disappointments last year. You couldn't get a good read on the defense tonight since Brees only played one series. In addition to Spikes leaving, NT Aubrayo Franklin went to the Saints, who was a linchpin of a run defense that didn't surrender a 100 yards to a rusher last year. Gore is gonna have to put the team on his back if the Niners are to have a chance.

[FiddySicks]

Alex Smith tonight: 2/7 10 yards

I know it's the first preseason game, but ouch.

It isn't the offense, it is the defense. Last year, outside of

Willis, they did not have much young talent to start with and they Spikes left and Taylor Mays is where?

Both units were overall disappointments last year. You couldn't get a good read on the defense tonight since Brees only played one series. In addition to Spikes leaving, NT Aubrayo Franklin went to the Saints, who was a linchpin of a run defense that didn't surrender a 100 yards to a rusher last year. Gore is gonna have to put the team on his back if the Niners are to have a chance.

You could put the team on Jesus' back, they still won't have a chance.

[ninersdd]

Alex Smith tonight: 2/7 10 yards

I know it's the first preseason game, but ouch.

It isn't the offense, it is the defense. Last year, outside of

Willis, they did not have much young talent to start with and they Spikes left and Taylor Mays is where?

Both units were overall disappointments last year. You couldn't get a good read on the defense tonight since Brees only played one series. In addition to Spikes leaving, NT Aubrayo Franklin went to the Saints, who was a

linchpin of a run defense that didn't surrender 100 yards to a rusher last year. Gore is gonna have to put the team on his back if the Niners are to have a chance.

You could put the team on Jesus' back, they still won't have a chance.

There are some good players that don't get to go to a Super Bowl. It's a crime that Gore won't even come close to the playoffs the way the 49ers are going.

[BlueSky]

Alex Smith tonight: 2/7 10 yards

I know it's the first preseason game, but ouch.

It isn't the offense, it is the defense. Last year, outside of Willis, they did not have much young talent to start with and they Spikes left and Taylor Mays is where?

The defense weren't the ones allowing Saints defenders to crush 49er QBs seemingly at will. The Saints had 6 sacks and several more knockdowns. It was a miserable night in the SF pocket.

[crashcarson15]

Looks like Andy Dalton didn't do so well either. 11/15, 69 yds, 1 int

It's not the end of the world, but I don't think that's what Cincy was expecting from him.

Yeah, because 11/15 is so terrible...

[rams80]

Looks like Andy Dalton didn't do so well either. 11/15, 69 yds, 1 int

It's not the end of the world, but I don't think that's what Cincy was expecting from him.

What the hell? Did he get sacked for 40 yards or does Cincy believe in only throwing 3 yard patterns or what?

[floydnimrod]

Looks like Andy Dalton didn't do so well either. 11/15, 69 yds, 1 int

It's not the end of the world, but I don't think that's what Cincy was expecting from him.

Yeah, because 11/15 is so terrible...

This is exactly what I was expecting from Andy Dalton. I thought the 11/15 sounded promising though.

[DaRadniz29]

Maybe the SF Oline is sending Jed York a message - We don't want Alex as the starter and/or LET HARBAUGH run the team. I've seen increasing reports that Jed York ONLY hired Harbaugh because Jim was comfortable in bringing Smith back as the Starter. Jed apparently stated in an interview "If Jim is comfortable with Alex, then I'm comfortable with Jim" - Seriouly? If I was Harbaugh I'd be like "WTF, an ultimatum before I even get to run training camp?"

Now, if anyone can help Alex it's Jim Harbaugh, but here in Northern California that's a big IF. I'd like to see Alex succeed, but I've been saying that for a while now. Sure it's not all Alex's fault, but as a QB - It's your fault, even if it isn't.

I'm/was still on the fence about Jed being able to run the team However, recently he's kind of irked me with just the way he presents himself - that "sense of privilege" (you know the "I can get what I want because I'm Jed York" type of attitude) seems to ooze out of him. Now, I've never met the guy so I have idea if that's true, but that's perception he seems to have. Most 49ers fans want him run out of town.

My thinking on why Alex is still wit the 49ers if my perception is true is that Jed's only a few years older than Alex and it's probably like friends working at the same company - the only issue here is than one person is the owner/president and the other is a employee. Not to mention I don't know that Jed has the same passion as his Uncle did.

Anyone know anymore about the Jed/Harbaugh deal I posted above?

Oh and if you didn't know already: The 49ers worked out Daunte Culpepper today and it looks like he's going to be signed as either a 2nd or 3rd string, depending on how Smith and Kaepernick do.

http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story/09000d5d8217b003/article/ninersculpepper-deal-could-be-close-after-qbs-crisp-workout

[FiddySicks]

Jed York tried to charge his players for Gatorade in the locker room. He's one of the absolute worst owners in pro sports.

[NJTank]

Why wont they let Eddie DeBartolo get his team back.

[dfwabel]

Why wont they let Eddie DeBartolo get his team back.

A few reasons:

When Eddie was spending without the salary cap, he was not spending his personal fortune, rather he was using cash from the family's then real estate (mall properties).

At one point, he offered to buy out his sister/Jed's mother, Denise DeBartolo York from her share of the team through his share of the real estate group.

He did not personally have the capital to operate the team without his involvement in horsetracks, which became the cause for his charge of bribery to then Louisiana Gov. Edwards. Tagliabue suspended him in and he also essentially ran out of money in 1999, and his sister was able to buy him out.

[ninersdd]

As a Niner fan, I'm flat out am sick of this sheer incompetence the whole way around. Culpepper? Seriously? Here's an idea: Protect the QBs that you got so they don't get killed. The management seems more then content with sheer mediocrity. Last year the team massively disappointed. Against Seattle in week 1, the team couldn't even crack 7 points, only showed fight against KC when their player was grabbing the balls of players. They gift wrapped games to the Saints and Falcons with bad turnovers, let rookie receivers I hadn't heard of torch us in Carolina. The offense got blanked against Tampa, who surprised last year, but was very beatable. Of course their was the debacle in San Diego when the line couldn't get inches to tie the game, and on every play seemingly the SD defense was on top of Smith.

Even though the division is again very winnable, I can't see them doing anything again. Hopefully Harbaugh is ultimately an upgrade, but I can't see anything good for us until the owners pull their heads out of their a$$es.

[pmoehrin]

Maybe the SF Oline is sending Jed York a message - We don't want Alex as the starter and/or LET HARBAUGH run the team. I've seen increasing reports that Jed York ONLY hired Harbaugh because Jim was comfortable in bringing Smith back as the Starter. Jed apparently stated in an interview "If Jim is comfortable with Alex, then I'm comfortable with Jim" - Seriouly? If I was Harbaugh I'd be like "WTF, an ultimatum before I even get to run training camp?"

Now, if anyone can help Alex it's Jim Harbaugh, but here in Northern California that's a big IF. I'd like to see Alex succeed, but I've been saying that for a while now. Sure it's not all Alex's fault, but as a QB - It's your fault, even if it isn't.

I'm/was still on the fence about Jed being able to run the team However, recently he's kind of irked me with just the way he presents himself - that "sense of privilege" (you know the "I can get what I want because I'm Jed York" type of attitude) seems to ooze out of him. Now, I've never met the guy so I have idea if that's true, but that's perception he seems to have. Most 49ers fans want him run out of town.

My thinking on why Alex is still wit the 49ers if my perception is true is that Jed's only a few years older than Alex and it's probably like friends working at the same company - the only issue here is than one person is the owner/president and the other is a employee. Not to mention I don't know that Jed has the same passion as his Uncle did.

Anyone know anymore about the Jed/Harbaugh deal I posted above?

Oh and if you didn't know already: The 49ers worked out Daunte Culpepper today and it looks like he's going to be signed as either a 2nd or 3rd string, depending on how Smith and Kaepernick do.

http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story/09000d5d8217b003/article/ninersculpepper-deal-could-be-close-after-qbs-crisp-workout

Haven't heard anything about York being an Alex Smith fanboy, but it definately makes alot of sense.

Any other team in the NFL would have cut ties with Alex Smith years ago. He's 27 years old now and has never had a 3,000 yard passing season which you can't have in today's game. The guy just doesen't have it. The 49ers seem to be the only franchise in the NFL that hasn't figured that out yet, and I know coaches aren't that dumb. They keep trying to pull the guy and somehow he always winds up back as the starter. If it had been up to them the Niners would have probably have made a move in the draft in either '08 or '09 to take a guy like Joe Flacco or Josh Freeman. That probably wasn't going to ever happen though if York thinks that highly of Smith because whoever made that call would have lost their job. Just the Texans GM lost his job for taking Mario Williams over Reggie Bush. Turned out to be the right call, but fans and the owner wanted Bush.