San Francisco 49ers Week 12 Stock Report

Stock down: San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York.

York used to have such high standards. Remember when he tweeted that apology to fans after the Niners lost at home on Thanksgiving to the Seattle Seahawks last season? San Francisco’s record was 7-5 after that game.

Remember when York parted ways with Jim Harbaugh after an 8-8 season? “It’s up to us we compete for and win Super Bowls—that’s our only goal,” York said at the time. “We don’t raise division championship banners. We don’t raise NFC Championship Banners. We raise Super Bowl banners.”

Harbaugh, one of the most successful head coaches in the NFL from 2011 to 2014, never won the Super Bowl. So he had to go.

Harbaugh’s replacement, Jim Tomsula, has won only three games this season and has gotten blown out twice by the Seahawks. For some reason, he gets to keep his job. No more angry tweets from York.

Maybe York doesn’t have such high standards after all.

This is the Week 12 stock report.

Stock Down: The Run Defense

John Froschauer/Associated Press

Jim Tomsula was the 49ers' defensive line coach for eight seasons, although he coached more than just their defensive line. He helped coach their entire front seven and helped install their base 3-4 defense.

From 2007 to 2014, the strength of the 49ers was their front seven and their run defense. Tomsula received the bulk of the credit for those two things—more credit than former 49ers defensive coordinators Greg Manusky or Vic Fangio.

When the Niners promoted Tomsula to head coach this offseason, they probably thought they were preserving the best aspects of their team—their front seven and their run defense.

Wrong. Under Tomsula, the 49ers run defense currently ranks 27th in the NFL, and in Week 11, it allowed a franchise-record 209 rushing yards to Seahawks backup running back Thomas Rawls.

Isn’t run defense supposed to be one of Tomsula’s specialties? Maybe he doesn’t have a specialty.

Stock Down: Ahmad Brooks

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The 49ers should have benched outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks Sunday.

Brooks was awful. Not just awful—he was lazy. Sometimes he let blockers push him around. Other times, he simply quit on plays. He was one of the main reasons the Niners gave up 255 rushing yards. He didn’t tackle well or set the edge in the running game.

“I can name off the top of my head right now two or three plays that I messed up,” Brooks said in the locker room after the game. “If I was in the right position, one of my teammates could have came off and made a play.”

Hey, at least he’s honest.

Stock Down: Quinton Dial

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Quinton Dial is a run-stuffing specialist who’s not good at stuffing the run.

He’s a former nose tackle who mainly plays defensive end in the 49ers’ base defense this season. Dial rarely plays in the sub-packages, meaning he rarely plays on third down. He’s a two-down player, a non-factor as a pass-rusher.

In 416 snaps this season, Pro Football Focus has given Dial a run-defense grade of minus-3.4—by far the worst on the Niners defensive line and second-worst on the entire defense. Only inside linebacker Michael Wilhoite has a worse grade against the run.

If Dial can’t stop the run, he brings nothing to the team.

Stock Down: NaVorro Bowman

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Inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman played his best game of the season Week 9 at home against the Atlanta Falcons. People began to wonder if he was back to pre-injury form.

If Week 11 is any indication, the answer is “no.”

Bowman is a two-down linebacker who used to be a three-down linebacker. Against the Seahawks, he was a zero-down linebacker—he couldn’t defend the run or the pass. Pro Football Focus gave him a minus-1.3 run-defense grade, his worst run-defense grade of the season.

Rawls was just too fast for Bowman, especially on Seattle’s ultra-fast FieldTurf. Bowman seems to play better on grass—a slower surface.

Stock Up: Vance McDonald

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When Colin Kaepernick was the 49ers’ starting quarterback, tight end Vance McDonald seemed like a bust.

He couldn’t catch the ball. Every other time Kaepernick threw to McDonald, he seemed to drop the pass. So Kaepernick didn’t throw to McDonald much. Kaepernick couldn’t trust him.

In hindsight, maybe the problem was Kaepernick, not McDonald. The 49ers benched Kaepernick before Week 9, and McDonald hasn’t dropped a pass thrown by Kaepernick’s replacement, Blaine Gabbert.

In fact, McDonald seems to be turning into an impact player with Gabbert at quarterback. Against the Seahawks Week 11, those two connected four times for 65 yards and a touchdown—the first of McDonald’s career.

Maybe McDonald just needed a quarterback who throws with touch.

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow @grantcohn.