San Francisco 49ers: 9 Players the Super Bowl Teams Would Start
It’s easy to forget sometimes, what with all the turmoil the coaching staff has gone through, but the San Francisco 49ers are a very talented team.
ESPN’s Jeff Saturday called them the best team that didn’t make the Super Bowl, while Pro Football Focus said that even the injury-plagued 2014 49ers were only six above-average players away from making the game.
That doesn’t include NaVorro Bowman or players who missed half the season, like Patrick Willis or Aldon Smith. Just based on talent, the 49ers should be considered contenders going forward.
They are not, of course, as good as either of the two Super Bowl teams. Both the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots boast more talented rosters than the 49ers, and both performed better in 2014 than the 49ers.
There are no underdogs in this year’s Super Bowl—it’s a matchup between the two best teams of the year, and it looks to be a doozy.
However, just because they are better teams doesn’t mean that they are perfect. If they were allowed to raid the 49ers roster for reinforcements leading up to Sunday’s game, each team would come away with several players who would be upgrades to the starting lineups.
I combed through the rosters for all three teams to highlight areas where the 49ers have a leg up on the two Super Bowl squads entering the big game. Consider it a bit of a morale boost after a highly uninspiring coaching search.
A couple ground rules: These had to be players who could realistically play in the Super Bowl. That is, both Bowman and Willis would be upgrades to almost any team in the NFL normally, but due to injuries, neither would precisely be in shape to take the field on Sunday.
I also tried to stick to each team’s specific philosophy. That is to say, while Bruce Miller is one of the best fullbacks in the game, neither of these teams really uses a fullback all that often, instead opting for three-receiver sets in Seattle and two tight end sets in New England as the base offenses.
Thus, Miller wouldn’t be a significant upgrade for either team without a shift in offensive strategy.
With no further ado: the Super Bowl-caliber players on San Francisco’s 2014 roster.
Both Teams: WR Anquan Boldin
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Only three players in football caught more third-down passes than Anquan Boldin this season, and only Antonio Brown had more conversions than Boldin. He’s been a third-down machine for a long, long time.
It turns out, as well, that receiver is one of the weak points of both the Patriots and Seahawks. When ESPN ranked every player in the game, no receiver showed up until No. 24—Julian Edelman.
Both teams might actually be looking for receivers this offseason, so a savvy veteran like Boldin would be a much-desired acquisition for both teams.
For the Patriots, Boldin would replace Brandon LaFell in the base set and Danny Amendola on passing downs. Boldin for LaFell isn’t a huge upgrade; you’re exchanging a deep threat for a more physical short-yardage receiver.
Placing Boldin in the slot over Amendola, however, is a significant upgrade. Amendola’s been missing in action for most of 2014, and Boldin would give the Patriots realistic three-receiver sets to use.
For the Seahawks, Boldin would instantly become the most talented receiver on the roster. It would bump Jermaine Kearse, who’s catching less than 60 percent of the passes thrown his way this season, down to a more manageable third-receiver position.
That would help a lot, considering the Seahawks lost their actual third receiver, Paul Richardson, to a torn ACL earlier this month.
Both Teams: OT Joe Staley
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Joe Staley has made the last four Pro Bowls, and he remains one of the elite tackles in the game, especially when you consider his run-blocking talents.
You can argue whether or not he deserved to be named to the initial Pro Bowl roster this season or if he should have made it in as a replacement player, but there’s no legitimate argument for not calling Staley one of the best in the game.
The Patriots would slide Staley into their left tackle position over Nate Solder, who is having a down year in 2014. According to Pro Football Focus, Solder has allowed Tom Brady to get sacked or hit 15 times this season, while Staley only allowed seven such plays for a much less decisive quarterback in Colin Kaepernick.
Staley can even run plays like the one that allowed Solder to catch a touchdown in the AFC Championship Game—remember Staley's catch last year against Arizona?
The Seahawks already have a solid left tackle in Russell Okung, though I’d still prefer Staley if I had a choice. What they don’t have is a great right tackle, with rookie Justin Britt having some early growing pains.
The Seahawks could shift either Okung or Staley over to the right side and significantly improve their blocking schemes.
Both Teams: OG Mike Iupati
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Mike Iupati frustrated 49ers fans with his poor pass blocking in 2014. The Pro Bowl free agent-to-be allowed Kaepernick to get hit or sacked nine times and allowed 22 more hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. While he remained his usual elite run-blocking self, he was a bit too sieve-like for 49ers fans.
Still, doing one thing well is more than can be said about either of the left guards trotting out for the Super Bowl teams.
The Patriots will be working with Dan Connolly, who would be a great fit as a top reserve lineman but less so as someone you’re counting on to start. His pass blocking was worse than Iupati’s, allowing 14 hits and sacks for Brady, and he’s nowhere near the same league when it comes to paving a path in the running game.
The Seahawks are a bit better off with James Carpenter, but it says a lot that Seattle opted not to use its fifth-year option to keep him around next season, like the 49ers did with Aldon Smith.
I wouldn’t be stunned to see Carpenter re-signed, but he’s a free agent this upcoming season by choice, while Iupati’s a free agent because the 49ers might not be able to afford him.
Both Super Bowl teams would love to have the left side of San Francisco’s offensive line.
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Both Teams: OG Alex Boone
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Are you sensing a pattern here? The 49ers have a great offensive line, when healthy—the problems they had in pass protection in 2014 were mostly due to injuries at right tackle and center, as opposed to the play of the three healthy linemen.
Alex Boone started off slowly in 2014, likely due in part to his protracted holdout this past offseason. He was one of the few 49ers to end the season playing better than he did at the start.
On about half the teams in the league, he’d be their top guard. He has just had the unfortunate situation of playing across from Mike Iupati for his entire career.
Assuming center Bryan Stork is healthy, the Patriots will slide Ryan Wendell back to right guard. He’s solid enough and is probably actually a better run-blocker than Boone. It’s pass protection where Boone significantly outplays his New England counterpart.
Boone was ranked as Pro Football Focus’s 18th-best guard in terms of pass-blocking efficiency, while Wendell was down in 30th. It’s a slight upgrade, but an upgrade notwithstanding.
It’s a similar story with Seattle’s right guard, J.R. Sweezy—another solid player whom the Seahawks are fine with but would be better served replaced by Boone, all things considered.
It’s not nearly as big of an upgrade as Iupati or Staley, but every little bit helps when you’re going for a Lombardi Trophy.
Both Teams: OLB Aldon Smith
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After missing the first nine games of the season due to suspension, Aldon Smith had a bit of a down year in 2014. He didn’t quite show the same pass-rushing gusto that he did in previous seasons, when he averaged a sack per game.
Still, he did pick up a couple of sacks and found his way into the backfield on multiple occasions. No one would doubt his talent, either.
For the Patriots, it’s an easy decision to swap him in. Rob Ninkovich is one of those overachieving types of players whom Bill Belichick loves so much; a career journeyman who can do a bunch of different things and gives all of his effort on every snap.
His physical tools don’t hold a candle to what Smith can do, however, and the raw talent gap is just too much for Ninkovich to overcome. With Smith and Chandler Jones coming off the edges, New England would have a devastating pass rush.
It’s a bit tougher to fit any defender onto Seattle’s roster. Considering that the Seahawks might have the best defense in NFL history, I could only come up with an argument to squeeze one of San Francisco’s active players into their starting lineup.
Smith doesn’t have a one-to-one replacement on Seattle, thanks to the different formations both teams use. He’s a more dominant pass-rusher than Bruce Irvin, so that’s perhaps the best place for Smith to fit, even if the 4-3 outside linebacker spot isn’t a great look for him.
Still, I imagine the likes of Pete Carroll and Dan Quinn could figure out somewhere to use a beast like Smith in their defense.
Patriots: RB Frank Gore
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Now we’re getting into the players who would start for one team, but not the other. A rung down from the more elite players in the previous list, this has as much to do with the holes on the Super Bowl teams as it does with the 49ers’ strengths.
The Patriots have rotated between a flotilla of running backs this season, with no one earning more than 500 yards in the regular season.
They’re all highly specialized, too—Shane Vereen is the receiving threat; LeGarrette Blount is the physical, between-the-tackles rusher; Jonas Gray and Brandon Bolden come out when Belichick apparently wants to destroy fantasy football owners.
Frank Gore is better than any in that crew, at least as an overall running back—Vereen still tops him when it comes to the receiving game.
Gore may not have many seasons left in him, but he’s coming off of two straight games of 140-plus rushing yards to close out the regular season. He’d become New England’s top rusher immediately, and maybe he’d finally get that Super Bowl ring he deserves.
Patriots: CB Chris Culliver
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The Patriots have one all-world cornerback in Darrelle Revis. He allows them to do so many things because he can go one-on-one with any receiver in the league.
I’m not arguing Culliver should start over him, nor do I think Culliver would be an upgrade over the physical Brandon Browner. But I think there’s an argument to be made there.
No, I’m putting Culliver in New England’s nickel packages over Kyle Arrington. Culliver was good enough to make Pro Football Focus’ All-NFC West squad, despite the presence of the Legion of Boom. While I wouldn’t be bold enough to stick him over Byron Maxwell, that’s a heck of an achievement right there.
Culliver only allowed 37 receptions all season on 73 targets. Arrington only allowed 25, but that was on 45 targets. Culliver also found his way to three interceptions, while Arrington was shut out.
Putting Revis on Doug Baldwin, Browner on Luke Willson and Culliver on Jermaine Kearse would completely shut down Seattle’s passing attack.
Patriots: SS Antoine Bethea
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Antoine Bethea would be an upgrade for most teams in the league, but Seattle boasts Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor at the safety position, so it'd probably decline Bethea’s services.
The Patriots, on the other hand, have Patrick Chung at strong safety. Chung is not a bad player at all—he’s the 12th-best safety in football according to Pro Football Focus, actually ranking ahead of Chancellor.
Bethea, however, is the sixth-best safety according to those rankings, and I’d argue that the gap is wider than that.
The primary difference in how the Patriots use Chung and how the 49ers used Bethea is where they line up. Chung’s a traditional strong safety, lining up within eight yards of the line of scrimmage about two-thirds of the time.
Bethea, on the other hand, is an interchangeable safety, and more often than not, he was deep in pass coverage.
Therefore, you’d expect Bethea to be better in pass coverage than Chung, and you’d be right. Bethea came away with four interceptions this season, and he allowed a completion roughly once every 25 times he was in coverage, according to PFF.
Chung had just one interception, and he allowed a completion once every 14.1 times he was in coverage.
Advantage: Bethea.
You’d expect Chung to be better in the run game, but you’d be wrong. When used as a traditional strong safety—that is, lined up within eight yards of the line of scrimmage—Chung had a very good run-stop percentage of 8.6.
Bethea’s numbers, albeit on 40 less snaps, was higher—9.4 percent. Bethea racked up fewer run stops than Chung did because he wasn’t asked to do it as often in San Francisco’s scheme. He’d excel in Chung’s role in New England.
Seahawks: WR Michael Crabtree
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The Patriots would have little use for Michael Crabtree, who had an off season in what looks to be his final year in San Francisco.
Even ignoring the fact that they’ve already taken Anquan Boldin in this scenario, I’d have both Edelman and LaFell ranked higher than Crabtree at this point, and you could talk me into Amendola in certain conditions as well. Crabtree wouldn’t see the field for the Patriots.
The Seahawks, however, are in desperate need of receivers. Paul Richardson’s torn ACL has put them behind the eight ball to a certain extent, and it has forced them to go down to Ricardo Lockette as their actual third receiver.
They also don’t have a second tight end or fullback they could really go to if they wanted to change formations. Zach Miller went on injured reserve back in November.
So, even with Boldin on the roster from the first slide, the Seahawks would still benefit from bringing Crabtree over as well, just for use as a third receiver.
They’d still start Doug Baldwin over Crabtree, but a veteran who has shown the ability to come up big in the postseason is a better option than a special teams player like Lockette.
Whenever a team has to take two receivers from a team that was as bad at passing as the 49ers, you know they have depth issues.
That’s not the reason I’m picking the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. No, the reason I eventually decided to take the Patriots was the nagging feeling at the back of my brain that somehow, someway, Bill Belichick would not have lost the NFC Championship Game.
Mike McCarthy, coach of the Green Bay Packers, made bizarre decisions, both on the goal line and with clock management late in the game. These coaching mistakes let the Seahawks stay alive to the point where they could pull off a miracle comeback.
Belichick doesn’t make those kinds of mistakes. If he’s on the 1-yard line, he’ll go for it, even on fourth down. If he finds himself with a lead and the ball late in the fourth quarter, he’s going to keep that clock moving. He won’t pass it; he’ll take the air out of the ball.
New England Patriots 22, Seattle Seahawks 21
Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him @BryKno on twitter.
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