Winners and Losers of San Francisco 49ers' Offseason so Far
With former head coach Jim Harbaugh coaching football at the University of Michigan, general manager Trent Baalke has become the face of the San Francisco 49ers. It’s his team now, and it will sink or swim based on the strength of his personnel moves.
The 49ers used to be Harbaugh’s team, and the practice field was his domain. If Baalke came out to watch, he would stand quietly on the sideline. Harbaugh was the star and the loudest voice on the field.
Now, Baalke stands in the middle of the field and shouts pointers to the players as they do their individual drills. You’d think Baalke was a coach if you didn’t know better.
Baalke is an honorable mention for the 49ers’ biggest winner of the offseason. Here are the finalists for San Francisco's biggest winners and losers of 2015.
WINNER: Colin Kaepernick, Quarterback
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Everything is in place for fifth-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick to have the best season of his career.
First of all, he finally has a deep threat receiver in the prime of his career—26-year-old Torrey Smith, whom the 49ers signed this offseason. He has the speed to take advantage of Kaepernick’s rocket arm.
The personnel complements the quarterback
The scheme does too. “(Offensive coordinator Geep) Chryst is bent on molding the offense around Colin,” quarterbacks coach Steve Logan told me Thursday afternoon in the 501 Club inside Levi’s Stadium. “Let’s make everything we do with him quarterback-friendly.”
From what I could tell during OTAs and minicamp, the Niners are giving Kaepernick more time at the line of scrimmage to assess the defense and more designed opportunities to use his legs in both the running and passing game.
LOSER: Carlos Hyde, Running Back
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The Niners were one of the worst rushing teams in the NFL last season during the nine games starting right tackle Anthony Davis missed because of injury. Without Davis, the Niners averaged 3.9 yards per carry. Only seven teams averaged fewer than 3.9 yards per carry last season.
With Davis, the Niners running game is fantastic. It averaged 5.4 yards per carry with him in the lineup last season.
The Niners were counting on having a healthy Davis next season. But Davis retired during OTAs, and Pro Bowl guard Mike Iupati signed with the Arizona Cardinals, making the offensive line one of the biggest weaknesses.
Carlos Hyde, 23, is a talented young running back, but you won’t be able to see that next season if opponents are constantly hitting him in the backfield.
WINNER: Erik Pears, Offensive Tackle
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Someone had to benefit from Anthony Davis’ retirement.
And that someone seems to be 32-year-old Erik Pears. He was the first-team right tackle during minicamp.
Pears’ main competition for the right tackle job is Alex Boone, the 49ers’ starting right guard from 2012 to 2014. Boone played right tackle at Ohio State and has played tackle sporadically for the Niners.
But he mostly played left guard during minicamp. He is the 49ers' best pulling offensive lineman in the running game, so it makes sense they’d keep him at guard.
That opens the door for Pears at right tackle. He isn’t as good of a run-blocker as Davis, but Pears is a superior pass protector. He hasn’t given up more than four sacks in a season, according to Pro Football Focus. Davis gave up three sacks in seven games last season, six sacks in 2013 and nine sacks in 2012.
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LOSER: Arik Armstead, Defensive End
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Blame the quarter system.
Rookie first-round pick Arik Armstead could have participated in OTAs and minicamp if he had gone to Cal, which uses the semester system. But he went to Oregon, which uses the quarter system.
Unless a player graduates early (like former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota), that player must wait until his class finishes finals before he can join the team that drafted him.
When Armstead shows up for training camp, he’ll have to learn the playbook, get into football shape and catch up to the veterans who already are in football shape and know the playbook.
Call it a case of arrested development.
WINNER: Quinton Dial, Defensive End
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The 49ers probably didn’t expect Quinton Dial to become a starter when they drafted him in the fifth round in 2013. After all, Dial was a bench player in college.
But with Armstead out of the picture for the first part of the offseason and Justin Smith out of the picture for good (he retired), Dial consistently played with the first-team defense during OTAs and minicamp.
The starting defensive line was Dial at right defensive end, Ian Williams at nose tackle and Glenn Dorsey at left defensive end. All three are experienced, proven run-stuffers.
As long as Dial keeps doing what he’s been doing, he should remain a starter. He’s got a tremendous head start over Arik Armstead. Armstead probably won’t take Dial’s place until 2016—after he has had a full regular season and offseason to develop.
LOSER: Jimmie Ward, Nickelback
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Niners 2014 first-round pick Jimmie Ward missed OTAs and minicamp last season with a broken foot.
He returned for training camp, got torched the first half of the regular season—gave up a passer rating of 134.4, per Pro Football Focus—then spent the final seven games on injured reserve after he rebroke his foot.
It’s still broken. He missed OTAs and minicamp again this year.
Ward is a college safety who made his name as a roving playmaker in a zone defense at Northern Illinois. Now he’s a nickelback in the NFL who has to cover some of the quickest receivers man to man.
Man coverage still is new to Ward. He needs all the practice he can get, and he isn’t getting it.
WINNER: Keith Reaser, Nickelback
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Second-year cornerback Keith Reaser missed his rookie season with a torn ACL, an injury he suffered before the draft.
Even with the torn ACL, he was a fifth-round pick. So you know he has talent. If he had been healthy, he might have been a third- or fourth-round pick. He’s healthy now.
He started OTAs playing with the second-team defense but quickly moved up to the first team to play nickelback and cover the slot.
As a member of the first-team defense, Reaser intercepted Colin Kaepernick twice during the six practices in front of the media. One of the passes was intended for future Hall of Famer Anquan Boldin. Reaser wrestled the ball away from Boldin midair.
Reaser is a natural in man coverage. Don’t be surprised if he outplays Jimmie Ward during training camp and becomes a starter.
LOSER: Jim Tomsula, Head Coach
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Four of the Niners’ best players retired this offseason.
Two of them are future Hall of Famers—Justin Smith and Patrick Willis.
The other two were fringe Pro Bowlers still in their mid-20s—Anthony Davis and Chris Borland.
Justin Smith was getting old (35), so his retirement wasn’t a shock. But the other three players were relatively young. The Niners were counting on having them the next few seasons.
Replacing them will be hard enough for new head coach Jim Tomsula. But he also must replace former head coach Jim Harbaugh, who posted a winning percentage of .695 in four seasons as the Niners’ head coach.
Good luck with that.
All quotations and practice observations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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