Players of interest breakdown thread

[smuggler]

I'd be happy to be pleasantly surprised by him, but expecting more than a bench player from him given his performance last year is a mistake.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Ole Bobble, he dislikes Mellow Yellow (too sweat), Coldplay’s smash hit, “Yellow” (why would a person bleed herself dry for another person, asks Bobble) and yellow futbol players like Rhyan, Taylor Rapp and Younghoe Koo (too soft to be futbol players, reasons Bobble).

[run pMc]

I'd be happy to be pleasantly surprised by him, but expecting more than a bench player from him given his performance last year is a mistake.

I'm not bullish on his chances, but you never know. He's not a bust just yet -- as mentioned he's young and a good athlete. Plenty of players have bad rookie seasons and turn out ok. TJ Lang took a while to figure it out. They don't need Rhyan to play meaningful snaps, which buys time to sort out whatever his issues are. Not much point in giving up on him so soon.

[bobblehead]

Ole Bobble, he dislikes Mellow Yellow (too sweat), Coldplay’s smash hit, “Yellow” (why would a person bleed herself dry for another person, asks Bobble) and yellow futbol players like Rhyan, Taylor Rapp and Younghoe Koo (too soft to be futbol players, reasons Bobble).

But I like asian women so it balances out!

[bobblehead]

So lets talk TE. In the Kraft thread I just pointed out we drafted a guy in the Kelce mold and a guy in the Kittles mold. Musgrave (kelce mold) will probably be more effective early as his NFL DNA has allowed him ample opportunity to be exposed to NFL concepts his whole life. He will still be more WR than multi faceted this year though.

This is going to be my favorite group to watch. Loved both picks and I'm interested to see if DeGuara puts it together in a more traditional LaFleur offense. I don't see big numbers, but impacting the game in many ways is an option. As a FB, as a blocker, as a guy who can misdirect the defense. If he can just make sure a good coverage LB is required to be on he field its a win. Or even better if a safety is needed to cover him. If he is just that good as a pass catcher it will help the run game a lot.

Musgrave I hope to be a matchup nightmare. Too fast for LB/S and too big for a corner. I don't expect big things from Kraft this year because, well TEs. But honestly in most drafts he's a mid to early 2nd round pick. The TE depth in this draft allowed us to grab 2 guys a round later than their talent would dictate. If we have a winning future I expect a lot of it will run through the TE room.

[bobblehead]

I glanced back to see how my thoughts were playing out and realized I never covered WR/RB. RB is about as straightforward as can be with Dillon and Jones, but the WR group had some intrigue. I'll be honest, Reed has surprised me. I stated on draft day that he has a skill set that I don't feel translates well. It sounds like he has been lightning in short areas though. I still kind of think Torre plays a lot of slot before the season ends. But Reed seems to have done his job thus far. Watson is going to terrify defenses. Romeo has a lot of James Jones in him. He is such a dangerous route runner that when he shifts gears he gets behind the defense.

With Musgrave pulling safeties into the middle of the field I think regular shots downfield to Watson or Doubs will be a staple of this offense. We might run so much that we need to keep 3 active RBs on gameday just for the wear and tear. Ground and pound with dump passes, 10 yard crossers to WR and middle seam routes to musgrave. Then when the defense tightens up, boom, down the sideline. Our skill positions are set up for success.

[run pMc]

Based on camp reports Musgrave has had plenty of rough moments but as a receiver has been a revelation. LBs and safeties are going to have trouble staying with him, and teams will have to decide how to cover him and Watson. It's going to leave swaths of the field open for savvy guys like Reed (and Doubs) to operate.

I liked Reed as a prospect, but didn't think he fit GB's thresholds so never seriously considered him as a pick. Pretty sure I posted as much in draft threads. He's basically what the team hoped Amari would have been. Reed's production in the slot at MSU was not great - he was better outside -- but it seems like he's adjusted to playing in the slot nicely in camp and that's where he's going to mostly be. He's going to be the new Cobb.

I think they'll play Toure everywhere - wherever they need him to be, although I suspect he might be better in the slot. Wicks is the presumptive WR5 and seems like someone who will push for more time outside, although he's shown some nice blocking chops so I could see him getting time as a big slot for run blocking. Heath, too.

It's a nice group of young receiving talent; I'm excited to see what they can do. I'm expecting a lot of bumps along the way -- camp reports have been a mix of wow plays, bad drops, and miscommunications. I think that's part of learning to be an NFL WR and they'll improve.

At RB I think Jones/Dillon are the locks and Taylor is the most dependable. With this team the RB3 is more about pass protection and ST than anything, and he's shown he can do both. The other guys are certainly pushing him. I'm not sure if they roster 2 and try to sign as many of the rest to the PS for gameday elevations/further development or keep 3 on the 53. Roster construction/Cutdowns are going to be fascinating. I really like Goodson, but he's on the smaller side (for a RB) and he needs to learn from Jones how to stay healthy.

The future at RB (2024 and beyond) is interesting - Dillon is a FA and Jones is in the last year of a contract with lots of cap hit kicked down the road into it.

[texaspackerbacker]

The future at RB (2024 and beyond): Unless he gets injured, I'm pretty sure they retain Aaron Jones and beat the cap by restructuring him. I'd be just fine, make that very pleased, if they let Dillon go - get something for him if possible, if not, just let him go/don't pay a lot to keep him, and ABSOLUTELY don't keep him at the cost of losing Jones. I like Patrick Taylor better than Dillon, and probably Emanuel Wilson and maybe Goodson too.

Reed looked pretty good. I like Toure better, though. And Heath? You hear the word "twitch" used. Have we seen anybody in recent history that has more "twitch"/lateral quickness than him? 6 WRs is not too many. Let's keep all of those 6 mentioned.

[Fritz]

Getting back to safety talk, I woud hope the Pack would not dick around - with the advent of Carrington Valentine, why wouldn't you move Rasul Douglas to safety now? You need another slot cover guy, so just move Savage now, too. Nixon needs to be available for all the other shit he can do. Then start Owens/Moore/Somebody opposite Douglas. Then you have your slot guys, and one good safety. Stokes will be back after mid-season, so you just need to have an outside corner opposite Alexander for seven or eight weeks or however long. And the way Valentine is playing, Stokes might never get his starting gig back.
s

[smuggler]

Unfortunately, it seems that Rasul was not near as good in the slot as he was on the outside. If you're expecting your safety to spend a lot of time at the line, potentially matching up against slot receivers, maybe that's not the best place for Rasul.

If you want your safety deep, over the top, I think you want a rangey guy and fast decision-maker back there. I have the feeling Rasul is the latter, but not so much the former.

So what does that mean for him?

[run pMc]

Keep Rasul at outside corner. That's it. He's good there, why put him somewhere where he's not as good?

He's not a slot corner, and he might have taken snaps at safety I don't think he's a great fit there. If he was the coaches would be looking at him more seriously there. The players they have at S now have warts but should be passable. I think they're all better than MD Jennings.

[texaspackerbacker]

Not "rangy"? He's a 6'2" DB. I'd like to see him as the deep Safety, and choose from among Savage, Owen, Taveras, Ford, Nixon, or whoever at Slot. Maybe do it by committee depending on who lines up there on offense.

Or if you want to keep Douglas at outside Corner, maybe use Jaire in the Slot. I bet he'd be outstanding there.

[Fritz]

Unfortunately, it seems that Rasul was not near as good in the slot as he was on the outside. If you're expecting your safety to spend a lot of time at the line, potentially matching up against slot receivers, maybe that's not the best place for Rasul.

If you want your safety deep, over the top, I think you want a rangey guy and fast decision-maker back there. I have the feeling Rasul is the latter, but not so much the former.

So what does that mean for him?

I'd agree that Douglas would be better as a deep safety. So play him there, and put Savage in the slot, and let one of the Moore/Owens/Ford group take the other safety spot. Or something.

It's like the offensive line - you want your five best out there, and if that means one of your five best has to learn a new position, then so be it.

[smuggler]

Not sure if it constitutes "Players of Interest", but the 49ers are moving on from Trey Lance.

He lost his job to Brock Purdy, who has almost three times as many passing TDs in the same amount of game action. Lance lost the backup competition to SAM DARNOLD...

Relevant because Christian Watson was part of the reason Lance looked like a good QB at South Dakota State.

[run pMc]

Not sure if it constitutes "Players of Interest", but the 49ers are moving on from Trey Lance.

He lost his job to Brock Purdy, who has almost three times as many passing TDs in the same amount of game action. Lance lost the backup competition to SAM DARNOLD...

Relevant because Christian Watson was part of the reason Lance looked like a good QB at South Dakota State.

I think injuries and being very very raw hurt him. You'd assume he has command of the playbook but maybe it's going through progressions or something else. No idea.

NYJ WR Corey Davis is retiring. He came up in trade talks or as a FA target for GB in the past. Maybe Rodgers rolled his eyes and scowled too much his way.

Cowboys' Sam Williams, who GB had in for a predaft 30 visit last year, was arrested on possession and weapons charges.