Grading the San Francisco 49ers' Most Improved Positional Units This Offseason
The San Francisco 49ers finished the 2014 season with a record of 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the first time in the Jim Harbaugh era. In a few short months, the 49ers have suffered tremendous upheaval and the most tumultuous offseason in recent history.
Harbaugh and the bulk of his coaching staff are gone, having been pushed out by general manager Trent Baalke and owner Jed York.
The new coaching staff, led by Jim Tomsula, appears to consist of a bunch of guys brought in rather haphazardly to fill open jobs. There was little regard for continuity or forming a staff that had ties with each other.
Time will tell if this group of coaches can work together in a synergistic manner and bring success back to San Francisco. Baalke and York are banking on it, but with so many new faces on the staff, all from disparate locations, you certainly should not count on it.
On the field, the 49ers have also lost some key players, and many of the position groups look a lot weaker than they were at the end of last season.
On offense, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree and Mike Iupati are gone. Gore was the heart and soul of the San Francisco offense and his contributions on the field and in the locker room will most certainly be missed.
Defensively, the losses have been even more severe, with the departures of Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Chris Borland, Dan Skuta, Chris Culliver, Perrish Cox and Ray McDonald. Also notable is the fact that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and defensive backs coach Ed Donatell are no longer with the team.
The players the 49ers brought in via trade, the free-agent market or the draft did not fully cover the losses the roster sustained.
The 49ers still have a major question mark at cornerback and inside linebacker. In addition, Baalke did not do enough to upgrade the offensive line or wide receiver positions.
However, even with all the negativity, there have been a few bright spots. Let's take a closer look at five of the positional groups that have seen some improvement.
All NFL player stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.
No. 5: Wide Receiver
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The San Francisco 49ers have seen a slight improvement at the wide receiver position. Anquan Boldin leads the group, as he did last year. He had 83 catches for 1,062 yards and five touchdowns.
The addition of Torrey Smith gives the 49ers some speed and a deep threat they lacked in 2014.
Last year, Smith caught 49 passes for 767 yards and 11 touchdowns. His 15.7 yards per catch were higher than the 49ers' top three receivers, Boldin, Crabtree and Stevie Johnson.
Last year, Crabtree caught 68 passes for 698 yards and Johnson had 35 receptions for 435 yards. The two combined for seven touchdowns.
All numbers aside, Smith's big-play capabilities will force defenses to respect him, which should open up more underneath routes. It will also provide more running lanes, especially for Colin Kaepernick.
The wide receiver corps in 2015 must see the emergence of Quinton Patton, Bruce Ellington or Jerome Simpson as contributing players. They will need to stay healthy and contribute as the third or fourth wide receiver.
Simpson is an intriguing case. He has talent and could play an important role for the 49ers. However, he has also had off-field problems and sat out the entire 2014 season. In 2013, his most recent year of playing football, Simpson caught 48 passes for 726 yards and one touchdown.
David Fucillo of NinersNation.com reports on the signing of Simpson and the troubles he has faced, which have derailed his career.
The 49ers also selected DeAndre Smelter in the fourth round, the 132nd overall selection. Smelter is a big receiver out of Georgia Tech. However, he tore his ACL late in the 2014 season and it is very uncertain if he will play in the upcoming year.
Smelter is another of those picks for which Baalke has become known: an injured player who saw his stock drop, but who has good upside potential if he can make a successful return from the injury. However, do not expect Smelter to contribute in 2015.
The key to the overall improvement at the wide receiver position is twofold. First, whether Kaepernick can get the ball to Smith accurately. In addition, the 49ers must see a third productive receiver emerge from the likes of Patton, Ellington and Simpson.
Pre-offseason Grade: C
Updated Grade: C+
No. 4: Defensive Line
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The San Francisco 49ers selected Oregon defensive tackle Arik Armstead with the 17th overall pick in the recent draft.
Armstead will be a work in progress, as he learns the NFL and refines his techniques. He is unlikely to be a star in 2015 but has the upside to be a force on the San Francisco defensive line for the next decade.
In addition to Armstead, the 49ers also signed Darnell Dockett as a free agent. Armstead and Dockett, who spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals, will provide much needed rotational depth along the defensive line for the 49ers.
The biggest loss on the line is the retirement of Justin Smith. The 49ers will miss his leadership and the effort he always brought. However, Smith will be 36 years of age in September and, although still good, his play had declined just a bit.
The 49ers released Ray McDonald in December, after another sexual assault allegation came to the forefront. McDonald was a solid, though unspectacular lineman.
The 49ers can replace Smith and McDonald with Dockett, Cornellius Carradine, Armstead and Tony Jerod-Eddie.
Carradine, whom the 49ers selected 40th overall in the 2013 draft, should be poised to make a big jump this year. After sitting out his rookie season while undergoing rehab on his knee, Carradine played in nine games in 2014. He was credited for three sacks and 16 tackles.
Now, in his third season with the 49ers, it is time for Carradine to justify Baalke's investment in him.
The 49ers should also return Glenn Dorsey and Ian Williams back into the fold. Dorsey missed the entire 2014 season with a torn biceps and Williams played in just nine games.
Jerod-Eddie and Quinton Dial provide solid depth for this unit.
Pre-offseason Grade: C+
Updated Grade: B-
No. 3: Tight End
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The production the 49ers received from their tight ends was atrocious last year.
Vernon Davis had the worst season of his nine-year NFL career. He caught only 26 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. He and quarterback Colin Kaepernick seemed out of sync and never got on the same page.
Davis' backup Vance McDonald was also a disappointment. In his second season in the league, McDonald caught only two passes for 30 yards. He has done nothing to justify Baalke's selection of him with the 55th overall pick in 2013.
In two years, McDonald has battled injuries, as well as dropped passes. It seemed like Kaepernick lost confidence in him. It will be up to McDonald to show that he can play.
The 49ers also have Garrett Celek, Derek Carrier, Asante Cleveland, Kyle Nelson and Xavier Grimble on the current roster.
Baalke drafted two tight ends in the recent NFL draft, which seems to indicate two things. They will likely not retain Vernon Davis after his contract expires, following this season. It also seems apparent that the 49ers have their doubts about McDonald, as well.
The two tight ends that Baalke selected are Blake Bell and Busta Anderson, giving them nine tight ends on the current roster. Although a position of need, the 49ers had other more pressing concerns, so it was a bit curious why Baalke would add two players to an already crowded position.
Bell was selected in the fourth round, the 117th overall pick. In college at Oklahoma, Bell played his first three years at quarterback. He moved to tight end prior to his senior season, and in 2014 caught 16 passes for 214 yards and four touchdowns.
Bell still has a lot to learn and improve on at his new position. This is another very speculative pick by Baalke, an approach he seems to gravitate to, with mixed results.
Anderson was the 254th pick in the draft, and it will be a surprise if he makes the team.
Pre-offseason grade: D-
Current grade: C-
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No. 2: Safety
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Baalke is obviously playing the "drafting the best player available" card with a lot of his picks. He seems to eschew the notion of filling holes, which is something the 49ers will likely come to regret.
This strategy is fine when the holes in the roster are minor but does not work when there are glaring weaknesses. Even after the draft, the 49ers still have issues at inside linebacker, cornerback and wide receiver.
This is what made the pick of Jaquiski Tartt, with the 46th overall selection, so curious. He is a safety out of Samford, a small FCS school. Joe Fann filed a report on 49ers.com about Tartt, after the 49ers took him.
Tartt did not play against top-notch competition at Samford and will have a big learning curve. He could very well turn out to be a fine player, but the 49ers were already well-stocked at the safety position and should have gone in another direction.
With Eric Reid and Antoine Bethea, the 49ers had a very good tandem already in place for 2015. Reid was a Pro Bowl selection in 2013 and Bethea in 2014.
The 49ers also have last season's top draft pick Jimmie Ward, another safety. Ward was being converted to a slot cornerback, but missed the last portion of the season due to injury. His return further bolsters an already strong position.
In addition to Reid, Bethea and Ward, the 49ers also have Craig Dahl, who is a serviceable safety. There was no need to select Tartt when the 49ers had so many more glaring needs.
However, his addition certainly improves the position group given the talent and potential he possesses, albeit in a small way.
Pre-offseason grade: A-
Current grade: A
No. 1: Quarterback
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On paper, the 49ers’ current roster is not nearly as strong as the roster heading into the 2014 season was. There is one wild-card factor that could make or break the 49ers’ 2015 season.
The biggest key to the 49ers’ success in 2015 will be the play of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He regressed and was very inconsistent last year. The end result was that the 49ers offense struggled.
In 2014, Kaepernick completed 289 of his 478 pass attempts, a rate of 60.5 percent. He also threw for only 19 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. Kaepernick had an overall passer rating of 86.4, which is decent, but not something you can bank on.
This offseason, Kaepernick worked closely with former NFL MVP Kurt Warner, something Warner spoke about with USA Today Sports' Jim Corbett (via AZCentral.com). The focus was to improve his throwing mechanics to help his accuracy. In addition, Warner worked with Kaepernick on his ability to read defenses and make better decisions more quickly.
The 49ers ranked 25th in scoring last year, averaging 19.1 points per game. Kaepernick also failed to throw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of any game.
If the 49ers have any hope of competing in the tough NFC West, Kaepernick must show substantial improvement. Anything less will make it a long year for new head coach Jim Tomsula.
Pre-offseason grade: D
Current grade: C
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