(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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p, ILB, Pittsburgh5-171. Nate Davis, QB, Ball State
6-184. Bear Pascoe, TE, Fresno State
7-219. Curtis Taylor, FS, LSU
7-244. Ricky Jean-Francois, DE/DT, LSU
2009 Outlook:
Mike Singletary will begin his first full season as head coach in San Francisco, and he will oversee a roster that is full of young talent on both sides of the ball.
Singletary's calling is on the defensive side of the ball, and the starting middle linebacker of the 49ers seems like a spitting image of Singletary, and that of course is franchise player Patrick Willis. Willis has been nothing short of sensational in his first two seasons in San Francisco, and may already be the best inside linebacker in the game. Playing alongside Willis is veteran inside linebacker Takeo Spikes. After being released by the Eagles, Spikes panned out to be a tremendous surprise for the Niners and put together a great year for the 49ers.
Since Singletary comes from the old 46 roots and the Baltimore Ravens train of thought, he will run a hybrid 3-4 base defense and the anchor of the defensive line will once again be Justin Smith. Smith finished his first season as a Niner with seven sacks, which was great for a guy primarily assigned to freeing up blockers from the playmakers at linebacker—but he will need more help in getting to the quarterback for Singletary's defense to really flourish in 2009.
If the Niners are able to harness a more consistent pass rush out of Ray McDonald, Manny Lawson, and Parys Haralson, their secondary could become quite formidable with standout corner Nate Clements and hard hitting safety Michael Lewis being the highlights there. The Niners did also add veteran corner Dre Bly to replace Walt Harris, who sustained an ACL injury during an offseason workout program.
Offensively the Niners will have an open competition at quarterback between incumbent starter Shaun Hill and former starter Alex Smith. Whoever winds up winning the job will have quite an array of weapons at his disposal with Frank Gore being the explosive running back behind him and first round pick Michael Crabtree being the highlight of a younger wide receiving corps. Crabtree will be teamed up with longtime St. Louis Ram Issac Bruce, young Josh Morgan, and free agent acquisition Brandon Jones, formerly of the Tennessee Titans.
On the offensive line, the Niners will need Joe Staley to rise to the occasion and be their answer at left tackle. They added veteran blocker Marvel Smith to play right tackle and will hope he is able to avoid the injuries that have plagued him much of his career.
2009 Schedule:
| Sun 9/13 | at Arizona |
| Sun 9/20 | Seattle |
| Sun 9/27 | at Minnesota |
| Sun 10/4 | St. Louis |
| Sun 10/11 | Atlanta |
| bye | |
| Sun 10/25 | at Houston |
| Sun 11/1 | at Indianapolis |
| Sun 11/8 | Tennessee |
| Thu 11/12 | Chicago |
| Sun 11/22 | at Green Bay |
| Sun 11/29 | Jacksonville |
| Sun 12/6 | at Seattle |
| Mon 12/14 | Arizona |
| Sun 12/20 | at Philadelphia |
| Sun 12/27 | Detroit |
| Sun 1/3 | at St. Louis |
2009 Prediction:
The 49ers appear to be a team that is extremely close to being a bonafide playoff contender out of the NFC West. The only thing that really seems to be an issue right now for the Niners is at quarterback—and if Shaun Hill can fill that void this could be a team that can make a lot of noise in 2009.
This is not a team without several questions however. The quarterback issue is the obvious question, but questions about Frank Gore's health, cornerback depth behind Nate Clements and a very skittish pass rush will also come to the forefront as the season progresses.
I think Hill can be a good enough game manager to keep the Niners in games, and I think the Niners defense is good enough to keep its team in games and from time to time steal a victory it really didn't have any business stealing—I just don't know if I can buy into this team being consistent enough over the course of a 16 game season to get into the playoffs.
2009 should be the bridge to a run at a division crown in 2010. The Niners will be good, just not good enough to sneak into the final 12.
Predicted Finish: 8-8, T-2nd NFC West
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Hassellbeck - VSN Writer
www.virtualsportsnetwork.com
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