2021 Preview: Defense

[Daniel Shirey/Getty Images]

Before we jump into the preview, I wanted to give a shoutout to Johnny Holland, the Niners’ linebacker coach who stepped away from the team a week ago to deal with a relapse of multiple myeloma.

Holland has been with the Niners since Shanahan came onboard, first as a linebackers coach, then an outside linebackers coach and run game specialist, and finally a linebackers coach once more when DeMeco Ryans ascended to the role of defensive coordinator this offseason. While Ryans gets much of the fanfare (and rightfully so), Holland surely played a role in shaping an undersized nickel safety out of BYU into a first-team All-Pro linebacker and a little-known prospect from Arkansas whose 4.73 forty-yard dash plummeted him into the fifth round into one of the surest tacklers in the business.

Just a reminder that @DreGreenlaw secured the NFC West title in the most epic way. 🔥

🎥: @49ers pic.twitter.com/N12lZC6wcm

— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) May 14, 2020

While it can often be difficult to evaluate the impact of a single assistant coach on an NFL football team, Holland’s track record speaks for itself. This guy fucks. Coach Holland, wishing you a speedy recovery so we can see you on the sideline in the red and gold once again.

Now, onto the three (cause I’m running out of time) questions.

What changes under DeMeco Ryans?

[Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images]

A preseason in which many of our starters were held out for most, if not all, of the games doesn’t tell us much about the style and scheme of our new defensive coordinator. But there are a few things we can infer from the off-season as a whole. Let’s start with what won’t change.

Two years ago, the move to a 4-2-5 nickel base and a Wide 9 alignment up front quickly turned Robert Saleh from a DC on the hot seat to one of the most sought-after head coaching candidates in the country. While Saleh is off to the Jets, Kris Kocurek—our fiery DL coach whose hiring brought the Wide 9 in the first place–is back, and there’s no reason to fix what’s not broken. The Niners will continue to use the same base fronts and alignments that they’ve had so much success with over the past two seasons.

The same could be said for the faces. With the exception of Richard Sherman—who only started five games last year and was typically less effective than Emmanuel Moseley during that time—nearly everyone in our starting lineup is a familiar face. In essence, the only new starters are Tavon Wilson at strong safety—assuming Jaquiski Tartt’s prolonged injury through camp means he won’t immediately retake his starting role—and Samson Ebukam, who—despite being a potential breakout player for us this year—may be tasked more with piloting our Bravo and Turbo units than lining up entirely with the ones.

In terms of what might change, I think we’ll be more aggressive. Mostly because that was openly stated by Shanahan at an early off-season presser when talking about Ryans vs Saleh:

"DeMeco's an aggressive guy. I always messed with Saleh because I said I don't think he's ever lost a dollar in his life gambling because Saleh doesn't want to gamble too much. I think DeMeco will do that a little bit more. Sometimes there's a little risk in that but sometimes there's some reward also. We'll see how he finds his way with that. It takes time though. But I don't think it's going to take DeMeco too long."

Like any concept that’s co-signed by your drunk uncle who barks at the TV screen while complaining about how soft people have become about concussions and gender pronouns, aggressiveness on defense is a complicated thing. You obviously want your players to be aggressive. They must have an aggressive mentality and be confident in their film study, read keys, and instincts in order to dictate game flow in what is inherently a reactionary position. But aggressiveness schematically can be hit or miss.

The Baltimore Ravens (and really, nearly all of the AFC North) have long been one of the NFL’s most aggressive defenses, building from back-to-front by investing in tons of secondary talent so that they can dial up lots of man coverage while leading the league in blitzing every year. The Bucs, Steelers, and Patriots (and Patriots off-shoots) are similarly aggressive, which makes it easy for people to attribute “aggressiveness” with defensive success. But you know what other defenses have been near the top of the league in terms of blitz % the past few years? The Jets and the Texans. And obviously, they suck. 

While aggressiveness can work on a schematic level, it’s often just a catch-all term for any newly hired football coach. Whether it’s offense or defense, no one rolls up to the podium of their first press conference and is like “we’re gonna win by being more conservative.” Aggressiveness, as they say, “gets the people goin.” That doesn’t mean more aggressive = better (see: Erickson, Dennis). Often times, it doesn’t mean anything. 

It’s also worth noting that some of the best defenses in recent memory—like Vic Fangio’s squads in Chicago or our defense in 2019—have been some of the least aggressive schematically. The pass rush is still fierce, the players still fly to the ball and arrive with bad intentions, but in terms of X’s and O’s, these teams are regularly near the bottom of the league in blitz percentage and the top of the league in zone coverage. Instead of dialing up man and extra rushers, these teams focus more on keying tendencies, making little tweaks in alignments and stunts, and limiting big plays. 

Robert Saleh’s defenses clearly fit that mold. He was at his best game-planning the shit out of offenses and making assignments and communication crystal clear while relying on his front four to generate the pressure required to burden the offense with a rapidly ticking clock. On early downs, he ran variations of Cover 3 and quarters as heavily as anyone in the league. When everything was humming, this turned big gains into small gains and small gains into nothing. It shut down even elite offenses because a defense like that, in theory, has no real weaknesses. But if that pass rush wasn’t getting home, you’d sometimes get the sense that you could get dink-and-dunked to death. That’s what injuries caused near the end of 2019, and it’s why—when injuries ravaged our d-line early in 2020—Saleh adapted by running more man coverage and blitzing more to generate pressure. Against the majority of offenses, it worked. But against the elite units, we had some ugly moments.

So what does “more aggressive” mean for our new defensive coordinator? Ryans inherits an incredibly deep and talented front seven, a free safety whose position-less first years in the league have made him a scheme versatile chess piece, and one of the best man corners in the league. My guess is that what he’ll do with all this talent is try and split the difference between the past two years. I’d expect a continuation of the trends we saw last season—more man coverage and more blitzing—but as more of a polished second-pitch than as a reactionary response to a lengthy list of injuries. To be clear, I still think we’re primarily a zone defense, alternating single and two-high looks with lots of split field coverages. Again, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But there’s enough smoke around the belief that we’re shifting to more man coverage that I buy the shift in philosophy.

There will likely be times where Ryans will think a four-man front can get home but he’ll send an extra guy just in case or where he’ll hop into man coverage on early downs in hopes of setting up a more difficult third down later on. In essence, he’ll gamble more. He’ll take more risks. At times, that may burn us in a way that we weren’t used to under Saleh. But it should also make us less susceptible to death by a million paper cuts. I don’t know if the product will be better or worse, but I’d expect more variance. 

Is our defensive line better than in 2019?

[Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

Until Kinlaw actualizes much more of his potential, it’s hard to rank a unit without DeFo over a unit with DeFo. The dude is one of the top three people on the planet at doing what he does. So I wouldn’t go so far as to say this year’s line is better. But it could be deeper, especially along the interior.

While there may not be a single superstar on the inside, we have 5-6 dudes with starter-quality talent for two tackle spots (or one in our Turbo packages when Armstead slides inside). Even coming off an injury-riddled 2020, we know the unique blend of size and speed that DJ Jones possesses. Kevin Givens, Zach Kerr, and Mo Hurst (a sneaky breakout candidate if he can return cleanly from his ankle injury) are all first-step mavens who fit our aggressive one-gap scheme perfectly. There’s hype coming from camp that Kentavius Street is finally putting things together into a complete package. And of course, there’s Javon Kinlaw, our sophomore behemoth whose size/power/explosiveness package is near-unmatched in the league. Our interior line is so deep that Darrion Daniels, the second-year UDFA who the Niners feel has a legitimate chance to become their starting nose tackle down the road, had to be stashed on the practice squad.

Outside there are more questions, but (if healthy) loads of talent. Armstead continues to be Armstead, a 6-7 280-pound forklift who routinely puts linemen on skates. Bosa is back on the outside, poised to stake his claim as one of the five best edge rushers on the planet. While people around the team seem cautiously optimistic that Dee Ford—who’ll be on a snap count to start (and possibly throughout) the season—has put his neck issues behind him. I’m high on Samson Ebukam—who will be tasked with doing some Dee Ford things, some Kerry Hyder things, and (depending on how many snaps Bosa gets right away) some Nick Bosa things—and I think Jordan Willis will slot in nicely into the rotation in his first full year in the scheme. Arden Key? I’m not expecting much, but there are crazier things than betting on high upside and the general dysfunction of the Raiders.

But let’s not underestimate the DeFo/Armstead interior rush duo—which was easily one of the best pass-rushing interior tandems that I’ve ever seen. Our 2019 squad featured a Turbo package that had four dudes with legitimate Pro Bowl talent, and—when healthy—the other two rotational pieces were peak DJ Jones and Ronald Blair. Unless Kinlaw takes a big step forward in year two, we can’t make the claim that this defensive line is better than that one. But perhaps it’s deeper. And given the heavy rotations that Kris Kocurek likes to employ and our track record with injuries, perhaps that’s more important?  

How big of a concern is our lack of depth at cornerback?

[Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]

Well, we just signed Josh Norman, so I would say “pretty big.” 

Playing more man coverage is nice in theory, and if we have Verrett on the opposing #1 with Moseley on their #2, I’m thumbs-up emoji all the way. K’Waun Williams is one of the best nickel corners in the league, Jimmie Ward’s experience playing corner makes him more than capable to roll down into the slot, and we have one of the best coverage linebacker corps in the NFL. If we’re talking our starters, we match up well against nine out of ten teams, and that’s certainly good enough to play a bit more man here and there. But after those starters, things could get dicey.

The more you want to play man coverage the more you’re shifting both the skillset that you’re looking for in a corner and the amount that you’re prioritizing the position. Up until this year’s draft, the amount that the Niners prioritized corner could be considered next to none. We drafted Ahkello Witherspoon in the third round of the first ShanaLynch draft then didn’t address the position with a big-name addition or a draft pick in the first two days until now. It was a conscious decision, as Lynch and Shanahan openly prioritized a front-to-back approach to building defense. Spend more capital to load up the defensive line—which we’ve done—while saving money on cornerbacks due to our DB-friendly scheme. But if we go too much more towards man coverage, the math—and the type of player we’re targeting—may change.

Richard Sherman is gone, and—even if he wasn’t dealing with his own issues off the field—he’s a zone corner through and through. Witherspoon is off to the Steelers—via the Seahawks, who (of course) picked him up before shipping him out of town when they planned to start someone else. And the Tim Harris experiment finally ended with a whimper. He got some good play at the beginning of camp after a strong showing in OTAs, but after getting beat a few times then suffering a groin injury, that ship has finally sailed. RIP my hype train of blind hope.

So backing up our starters we have two rookies and two veteran zone corners. Josh Norman, who peaked in 2015 and had a three-year run in Washington that ended disastrously in 2019. To his credit, he rebounded well in Buffalo and played a meaningful role for them in 2020, but even so, he’s 33 and I’ve always considered him primarily a zone cornerback. The same could be said for the guy who got waived to sign him. Dontae Johnson has bounced on and off the roster twice in the past week. I’m sure we’ll see him at some point again this season. While his physical profile also leans more towards a Cover 3 corner, he played unquestionably his best ball last season when we were in more hybrid coverages. Perhaps this is a sign that we won’t be employing more man coverage after all? But then you look at our rookies.

Deommodore Lenoir and Ambry Thomas are both handsy, aggressive cornerbacks whose college experience was mostly in press-man coverage. Despite a lesser draft position, Lenoir seems to have surpassed Thomas on the depth chart and is likely the team’s top backup outside. Since Emmanuel Moseley hasn’t practiced all week due to a hamstring injury, maybe that means Lenoir is our week one starter? 

Wondering when the Niners will address the future (and present?) of the cornerback position has been a recurring theme of every off-season. In the past, we’ve been bailed out by the emergence of Emmanuel Moseley (2019) or the healthy return to form of Jason Verrett (2020). Is this the year it finally bites us in the ass? 

The hope is that our incredibly talented front seven can pick up the slack if one of our starters misses time. And as long as we’re healthy up front, we can always lean more heavily on zone coverage if someone like Johnson or Norman are pushed into major snaps. All this to say, there are ways to hide someone if we need to, especially against lesser offenses. But it’s not the best spot to be in, and if there ends up being a crack in our defense, it’s likely our cornerback depth.

Go Niners 🏈👍

2021 Preview: Offense

Would be REAL CHILL if we have red zone trips ending like this [Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group]

Four questions (and four attempts at answers) that could shape our offense this year.

Should Trey Lance be starting?

[Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group]

No.

To be fair, I understand the appeal. After all, there are only two instances in my life where I can remember cackling with glee during a preseason game and both involved our rookie signal-caller. His first career pass completion:

TREY LANCE. 80 YARDS.#KCvsSF #NFLPreseason pic.twitter.com/ixGwWzCcgj

— NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2021

And when Shanahan finally showed him in an inside-out option look with Mostert going wide:

🚀 pic.twitter.com/FM23IpyNfG

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) September 8, 2021

I’ll put out an in-depth write-up about our option game once we get into the thick of the regular season, but the CliffsNotes version is this: LOL

I’m too removed from coaching to know what the terminology for this play is called, so I’ll just call it QB Counter Read. In the simplest of terms, our offensive line runs counter left—a blocking scheme that we already know from past years—while Lance has the option to keep the ball running inside to the offensive left or hand it off to Mostert, who has an unblocked (or “naked”) sweep to the right. The first defender this puts into a bind is the end man on the line of scrimmage (orange triangle), who is our read key.

On the snap, Lance sees that the defensive end is flat-footed and trying to play both him and the running back. If the end were to crash down the line it would be an easy give. If he were to immediately widen, it would be a keep. But since he’s flat-footed, and a defensive end, and Mostert still has a jet pack strapped to his back, it doesn’t matter how much the end tries to read and react off the option mesh. He’s getting beat outside.

Also highlighted above is the inside linebacker. Yes, he could theoretically scream outside to try and cut off Mostert before he can get the edge. If combined with the defensive end crashing down the line, the two defenders would basically be switching gap responsibilities, effectively replicating the squeeze-scrape technique used commonly to combat option plays. However, everything about our blocking says that this play is counter left. So unless told specifically not to, the linebacker needs to stay true to his reads. Because if he was to guess wrong and immediately chase Mostert towards the sideline, a Lance keeper would feature a convoy of Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey lead blocking onto air. The linebacker has to stay put through the handoff, which means—by the time he makes contact with Mostert—the ball carrier is already ten yards down the field.

TLDR: no flat-footed defensive end is gonna be setting the edge against the fastest man in football on a fly sweep.

But I digress. And despite all the tantalizing potential of Lance’s arm talent and running ability, he is still a work in progress. A work that is far closer to completion than we likely thought when we drafted him, but a work in progress nonetheless. While the Niner staff—as well as Lance himself and his private coaches—have done a tremendous job of cleaning up his throwing mechanics, those improvements still waver when he’s hurried or pressing. He’ll clean it up with time, but at the moment, it leads to bouts of inaccuracy. 

While Shanahan’s offense may make things easier on quarterbacks, that’s only after they get comfortable in his notoriously complex scheme. This is the same core offense that took a thirty-year-old Matt Ryan a year to get accustomed to in Atlanta. Expecting a rookie who has played one game in two years to immediately pilot it without issue is simply unrealistic.

After seeing clusters of inaccurate throws and short passes rocketed a bit behind receivers on routes across the middle, it’s hard to make the claim that right now, for the 2021 season, Lance is a more efficient passer than a healthy Garoppolo. This is especially true given how much we like to rely on in-breaking routes and chunk plays to guys like Kittle, Deebo, and Aiyuk.

But the best argument IN FAVOR of starting Lance right away isn’t really thinking about 2021. Instead, this argument posits Lance’s development as an extension of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours concept. In short, give the kid as many reps as possible so that he can master the craft as quickly as possible. Under this thinking, a second-string Lance would be losing both valuable game AND practice snaps, so—by not starting him—we’d be stunting his growth. Like many Gladwellian concepts, there’s legitimacy to parts of this concept but issues as well.

First off, this assumes that Lance won’t be getting any practice snaps or seeing the field if Garoppolo is the starter. More on that later, but it’s safe to say that won’t be the case. Second, it simplifies the idea of growth to the point where time spent is mutually exclusive: you’re either getting reps and growing or you’re not. This fails to look at how growth can occur outside of game reps through film study, meeting rooms, side work with coaches, etc. Next, it neglects the inherent downside of immediate playtime. Whereas practicing the violin to become first-chair in the LA Philharmonic only has the potential pitfalls of growth inefficiency (if you’re practicing the wrong way or with the wrong teacher) or burnout (a potential downside of literally anything), we only need to look at the recently jettisoned Josh Rosen to see how the idea of playtime = progress is more complicated in team sports. Throwing someone “into the fire” is a nice expression to use by suits in pre-game shows, but it’s not especially productive if all they do is burn. While Lance seems to have the team support and mental makeup to avoid the crippling fate of a high draft pick thrown to the wolves, putting someone into play before they’re ready always comes with the risk of developing bad habits or debilitating mental blocks. And finally, the 10,000 hours approach doesn’t take into account team success. This is a group with championship aspirations, and Shanahan is trying to tow a line where we can win now and later, rather than one or the other.

Are we really running a two-quarterback system?

[Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group]

Not in week 1 at least, as Lance is still recovering from a minor bone chip in his finger. But given the way Shanahan rotated quarterbacks in our final preseason game (and the fact that he’s openly stated that both QBs will have a role moving forward), there’s a natural curiosity as to how much we’ll really see Lance and how effective a true committee approach can be at the position.

In general, football heads and media members alike are equally skeptical of a two-quarterback approach—especially on the NFL level. And as the importance of the position has grown (and the mythology of its importance has grown exponentially), so too has that skepticism. You’ve undoubtedly heard the oft-repeated idiom that “if you have two starting quarterbacks, you have no starting quarterbacks.” If you haven’t, expect to hear it plenty this season. Any Garoppolo or Lance miscue will likely be followed by a meathead color guy saying something along the lines of “you gotta wonder if they can’t get in a rhythm because they’re coming in and out of the game like this.” If there’s a miscommunication with a wideout, questions will undoubtedly follow about whether “either quarterback has gotten enough reps in practice to get on the same page with his guys.” 

To be fair, these are all legitimate concerns. No coach wants less reps for his players, especially when that player touches the ball on every snap. And miscommunications and mistakes can arise from lack of familiarity. But if you’re doing a two-quarterback system right, the practice reps that you’re losing should be offset by the practice reps your opponent loses while preparing for two separate offenses.

While rare, quarterback rotation is something we’ve seen before. Our fan base has actually seen it multiple times. Colin Kaepernick had a few run plays each game as he got brought along slowly as a rookie, but that could hardly be considered a rotation. Joe Montana would get pulled for Steve Young at times, but that was more along the lines of Bill Walsh trying to get the best out of two Hall of Farmers at once. Even Montana, when he was a rookie, would come in for Steve Deberg during red zone trips. But probably the most successful instance of full-on quarterback rotation was the 2006 Florida Gators, who rode a senior Chris Leak and a battering ram freshman Tim Tebow to the BCS Championship. More recently—and perhaps more importantly, on the NFL level—the gold standard has been the twilight Drew Brees and Taysom Hill combo. 

Shanahan has openly referenced the Saints duo as a framework for what the Niners may do with Lance—especially in how the threat of a QB run game opens things up offensively. But in this case, our change-up is considerably more dangerous than theirs, as Lance is not only a tremendous athlete, but he—unlike Hill in his rotational role—can actually throw the ball. Perhaps we see Lance as a match-up-based change-up, sprinkled in like a wildcat formation that actually works. Perhaps he sees the field as regularly as he did in our preseason finale. At the very least, I think he gets good play on short-yardage situations and in the red zone, where his running ability can help the offensive arithmetic and his play-action potential will force defenses to make some tough decisions.

While most teams likely cannot (or should not) run a two-quarterback system, there are reasons to believe that the Niners can be the exception. We have one of the top offensive minds in all of football, two players with distinctly different styles and strengths, a strong locker room run by veteran leaders, and a young quarterback who we’re trying to groom to be our 2022 starter. There will be hiccups, and you have to imagine that the first time Lance puts the ball on the ground off an option mesh, Tim Ryan or whoever his regional away-game-equivalent is will remind you of this fact. But if the Niners can weather the early storm and get into a groove playing both Jimmy G and Lance, this could be our most exciting offense in decades. 

And that is exactly how Shanahan plans to bridge the present and the future.

What does our extra beefy wideout corps mean for our offensive identity?

[Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images]

After roster cutdowns, the six wideouts on our opening day squad average 214 pounds, making us one of the thicccer receiving corps in the NFL (and that’s including Deebo at a dubious listed weight of 215). A filled-out Brandon Aiyuk is the lightest of the bunch at 200 pounds, with former running back Jalen Hurd topping them off at 230, but what’s really keeping the average weight up is the fact that this is the first roster of Shanahan’s tenure that has simply declined to keep a traditional slot receiver.

During the ShanaLynch era, the Niners have always rostered at least one player to fill the role of a smaller, quicker slot receiver. Whether it was Trent Taylor (5-8, 178 pounds) or Richie James (5-9, 185 pounds), their job was to create separation underneath on short-to-intermediate routes and act as the quarterbacks’ security blanket. So why the change of heart now? 

Granted, James was put on IR just before cutdown day, so it’s not like the Niners are just done with him (although since he was put on IR before the roster cutdown he is NOT eligible to return later this year). But the decision to keep all bigger bodies in the receiving corps despite keeping one more wideout (6) than they have in the past, strikes me as a calculated one.

If I had to guess, there could be a few reasons behind this decision. First off, the slot receiver as a security blanket was cool in practice but largely nonexistent in reality. With the exception of Taylor’s rookie year back in 2017, none of our slot-type bodies have come close to replicating the kind of play that [insert undersized white receiver from New England] made a living off of. When we needed a short completion underneath, it usually went to Kittle—who often split out into the slot and replaced a “slot-type body” anyways—and our second man up was typically Kendrick Bourne—who did the majority of his damage on slants and square ins from out wide. The last time our slot receiver felt like a slot receiver was Shanahan’s first year, before Taylor’s explosiveness was sapped by injury, and as part of an offense that was more of a hybrid between what Shanahan wanted to run and what Jimmy G—who was obtained mid-season—was used to with the Patriots. That meant more shotgun sets and more of a reliance on option and pivot routes from slot receivers like Taylor. Four years later and with a roster shaped to his liking, perhaps Shanahan figured the drawbacks of an undersized slot outweighed the benefits.

The second more obvious reason for the change is that Shanahan wants to run the ball, and a bigger roster of wideouts will allow him to do that. When Taylor finally came back from injury last year, it was his superior blocking that kept him ahead of James in the pecking order until the latter’s breakout game against Green Bay. When Dante Pettis was deep in Shanahan’s dog house, it was often a lack of urgency and physicality that sent him there (and kept him there) for long periods of time. Ultimately, I think Shanahan got fed up with the outside runs that we sprung so easily in 2019 getting shut down last year because of a single missed block on the edge. So he sought out a receiving corps filled with willing and capable blockers. By focusing more on size and physicality out wide, Shanahan is likely hoping to eliminate the sporadic edge blocking of last year that often turned a fifteen-yard gain into a five-yard one and a would-be house call into a third-and-short.

I’d also guess that this change—like our constant attempts to bolster the interior line—has something to do with the Super Bowl loss. As stated before, that game included an inordinate amount of uncalled holding calls. And while the lack of offensive holding was more obvious and showed up more readily during the Chiefs’ big plays, the lack of defensive holding—in conjunction with Chris Jones—stymied our passing attack. Shanahan has always prioritized separation ability from his wideouts, but perhaps his opinion on what that means—like his opinion on the benefits of a quarterback who can create off-script—has shifted in step with the NFL’s changing enforcement of their rules. Since defensive holding has plummeted in lieu of pass interference, bigger wideouts are more likely to be able to fight through grabby defensive backs at the line and create defensive PI calls down the field. Sure, we’re poking at theoretical margins here, but Shanahan’s attention to detail and his ability to be one step ahead of the curve when it comes to offensive trends is one of the things that makes him such a great offensive mind. 

Finally, our focus on XXL wideouts certainly points to an interest in finding a way to lighten the offensive burden on Kittle. We kept one more wideout and one fewer tight end than we normally do, which likely means that (A) the staff is happy with Charlie Woerner’s progression, and (B) our wideouts will be tasked with doing some of the things Kittle does when he’s lined up in the slot or in the wing. Kittle’s style of play and tremendous blocking ability mean that he’ll always be an injury risk, and the best way to minimize that risk is to get him a breather every once in a while. Since his emergence as one of the NFL’s premier tight ends, we’ve been trying (and failing) to do just that. But with a stable of wideouts who can all block down into the box and two would-be “jumbo slots” in Jalen Hurd and Jauan Jennings, perhaps this is the year where we can finally give Kittle a break.

Have we finally fixed our interior OL issues?

[Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Alex Mack will be a massive upgrade at center over the rotating door we had at the position last year, and the presence of Jake Brendel on the practice squad means that Daniel Brunskill can focus solely on right guard—a starting position that he all but secured after the struggles and ensuing injury of Aaron Banks. Mike McGlinchey has put on 25 pounds of solid weight in the off-season to help him deal with bull rushers on the edge, and—entering a quasi-contract year—seems focused and motivated to clean up the sporadic pass protection whiffs that routinely infuriate our fan base. Barring injury, our offensive line will definitely be better than last year’s unit. But how much better? And what happens if someone misses time?

Our track record at offensive guard hasn’t been stellar. Banks—who we wanted to start right away—struggled mightily in his only preseason action and then missed the rest of training camp with an injury. While he’s now healthy, it would be difficult to expect much—if anything—from him in his rookie year. After regressing in 2020, Justin Skule slid inside from tackle to guard before going down for the season prior to training camp. Colton McKivitz, last year’s fifth-rounder, didn’t even make the active roster. He now resides on the practice squad. While he had a rough start to the preseason, he settled down and looked better than he did last year. But again, he’s on the practice squad for a reason. If we get anything from him it’ll be a bonus. If there’s a bright spot it’s been the play of Tom Compton, who was greatly hindered by last year’s nonexistent off-season and an injury he sustained mid-season. Word out of camp is that he returned a much better player, and the staff seems confident that he can step in on the interior if called upon. But what does that look like?

Outside, there are just as many questions. Fifth-rounder Jaylon Moore has acquitted himself better than anyone could have expected given his draft position, but he had some struggles in the first preseason game and may not be ready for heavy snaps. While his future looks bright (be it inside or out), you never feel great about a Day 3 rookie being your swing tackle. Shon Coleman finally wrapped up a three-year stint on the team in which he played in 0 games despite theoretically being our swing tackle. And Skule—as noted above—is both hurt and potentially destined for the interior. While Moore likely gets the nod if either Williams or McGlinchey misses time, we may be looking at… all-purpose swing Tom Compton?

Ultimately, you’d be hard-pressed to find many squads who are THAT deep at offensive line, and I am cautiously optimistic that Compton can fill-in for spot duty if needed. There’s also the classic “throw Brunskill at the problem and move someone into his place” approach, but after a full calendar year of that, I think we can safely say that isn’t the best outcome for anyone (including Brunskill). A world where Banks took the starting job and Brunskill could learn behind Mack while being a true swingman across all five positions would have naturally alleviated many of our concerns. But alas, that isn’t the world we live in.

Go Niners 🏈👍

2021 Team Preview: The Rookies

Trey 2 Trey, hot new 90’s RnB group or dynamic backfield? [USA Today]

Training camp is a few days in. Our first pre-season game is just over a week away. It’s about that time to dust off the old hype train and get back to it.

We’ll start with the rookies. But first, a few thoughts on the draft class as a whole.

DRAFT TRENDS

1. Fit over perceived value: Fit over perceived value: More than a few experts have said we reached on our second-day picks while getting great value on our third-round picks. Ultimately, everything after the first few tiers of players becomes very much up for debate, but what’s clear is that the Niners really narrowed in on their dudes and got them—some higher than many would expect they’d go. We’ve talked before about the Niners potentially being too aggressive when it comes to moving up and “getting their dudes”—as opposed to accumulating more picks and thus more swings at the plate—but those moves have also led to guys like Brandon Aiyuk and Dre Greenlaw. Time will tell if we reached on some of these guys or not, but the Niners clearly prioritized fit in this class, both schematically and within the locker room.

2. Guys they could scout the most: While Lance’s lack of film is well-known, the Niners had weeks of in-depth scouting courtesy of their connection with John Beck and Lance’s second pro day. He was thoroughly scouted. And in a year when prospect interaction was down across the league due to COVID restrictions, the Niners really leaned into picking guys who they could scout the most. Out of the eight draftees, five played in the Senior Bowl. One who didn’t—Deommodore Lenoir—has a mentor and former high school coach who is close with Richard Sherman. Aaron Banks was vouched for by Mike McGlinchey and Notre Dame’s OL coach—who Chris Foerster has a good relationship with. In a year when they couldn’t meet most prospects in person, the Niners relied heavily on trusted confidants within coaching and scouting circles to ensure that the guys they were looking at were culture fits.

3. A weird year for roster building: While the bevy of picks that we sent away to draft Lance would make one assume that our goal was to trade back and accumulate as many picks as possible, that would have been hard to do given our roster make-up. With so many returning veterans on one-year contracts, we don’t actually have many viable roster openings for the 2021 season. So while accumulating picks for the 2022 draft and beyond makes total sense (when we’ll have plenty of openings), simply adding more guys who would then get cut after training camp would have been a waste of capital. It’s an odd position to be in and likely not one that we’ll see again next off-season.

Round 1, Pick 3: QB, Trey Lance, North Dakota State

[Dai Sugano / Bay Area News Group]

Despite putting Fields ahead of Lance in my final QB rankings, this was a case where my head said Fields while my heart said Lance. So, as a fan, I am absolutely thrilled with this pick. While that may sound like I’m changing my mind after the fact, Fields’ ranking was always based on the idea that his larger sample size and superior accuracy made me—as someone who had never sat down with either player and who did not have access to All-22 film of Trey Lance—want to hedge risk. It was a final ranking made knowing that I had considerably less information on one of the prospects than the other, and it always came with the stated caveat that if the Niners were blown away by Lance in the interview process and if they thought he had already taken big steps towards improving his accuracy, that they ought to take the swing and lean towards the superior upside. Clearly, that wound up being the case.

Remember, the team’s goal is to draft players not for what they are or what they can be, but what they are most likely to become. In that regard, Lance’s intangibles, intelligence, processing speed, and physical traits were always going to help his cause, but—if early training camp reports have any merit (and training camp reports must always be taken with a giant grain of salt)—we may have struck gold on the trait that is so often hard to predict and regularly undervalued: growth trajectory. When we talk ad nauseam about how Lance accomplished this and that at only 19 or 20 years-old, it’s not simply to commend a prodigious talent but to use his past accomplishments as a means for gauging how high and how fast he may grow to hit future ones. And from beat reporters to players to the head man himself, everyone agrees that Lance has improved dramatically from the beginning of OTAs to now—just a few days into training camp. Which could mean we’ll be seeing him sooner than anticipated. 

That said, I am perfectly fine with taking our time and letting Lance really grow into the starting quarterback role before handing him the keys. The benefits he’d get from a few extra games of starting experience are dwarfed by the potential drawbacks of throwing him into the fire a few games too early. And while we’re far too talented and well-run of a team to see a repeat of an Alex Smith/Josh Rosen scenario (knock on wood), tossing Lance into the deep-end right away could still hinder his growth, and—unlike Smith or Rosen or countless of other highly drafted quarterbacks heading to bad teams—Lance would be facing the expectations and pressures of being a point-man for a team with championship aspirations. Whereas someone like Burrow or Herbert can toss the ball around and learn through costly mistakes as a rookie because their teams are a ways away from contention, those same mistakes will be more disheartening and impactful for a team two years removed from a Super Bowl and in the toughest division in the NFL. Per usual, any argument that “the Niners didn’t trade away x number of picks to sit Lance” is the equivalent of saying “you didn’t buy those green bananas to not eat them all before they ripen” or “you didn’t open that retirement account to not withdraw half of it to purchase a PS5.” There are reasons to play Lance early, but the people giving that particular reason are likely the same ones who KNEW that Mac Jones was the pick at No. 3. Believe me, I am as excited to see Trey Lance as you are, but we need to be patient.

But regardless of when Lance gets his first NFL start, expect to see him in sub-packages right away. For a team that has struggled in the red zone during Shanahan’s tenure, adding a 6-4 225-pound battering ram at the quarterback position will certainly make for some interesting option and run-pass looks when the field gets tight. And those same looks could be shown between the 20’s as well. While a tightened field means that a running quarterback can even the blocking up front, a 3rd-and-inches from midfield puts defenses in an entirely different predicament. Do you shift down and commit to the run—which we’ll likely be showing both in personnel and formation—or do you play it safe to not get burned over the top, which in turn makes the short-yardage conversion easier? 

We’ll get more into the specifics of what the Niners could do with Lance when he actually starts getting in-game snaps. But know this. The first time he lines up in the gun with Deebo and Kittle in the backfield, it’s gonna be six-to-midnight in a hurry.

Round 2, Pick 48: OG, Aaron Banks, Notre Dame

[Ninerswire]

First with the addition of Alex Mack, then the drafting of Aaron Banks, the Niners have spent a lot of resources cleaning up the interior line issues that have plagued us for the greater part of a year and change. In Banks, the Niners have a massive (6-5 338-pound) mauling-type guard with great strength, a bay area kid coming home (El Cerrito), and a dude who—as mentioned above—McGlinchey and ND’s former OL coach vouched highly for. But many have questioned both the value of the pick—he was largely considered a third-rounder—and his fit within the Niners’ stretch-heavy scheme. Here’s what I’d say about that. 

The Niners traded down five spots before taking Banks. I don’t think it’s beyond the realm of possibility that they—knowing Banks’ perceived value—were trying to move down again before taking him and—unable to find any suitors—pulled the trigger on the guy they had highest on their board. Much of the criticism about Banks is that he doesn’t move that well in space and lunges a bit in his blocking, leading to questions of whether or not he’s an immediate starter on the interior. Adam Peters has gone on record vouching for Banks’ quickness, saying that Banks—at a svelte 325 pounds—moved incredibly well for his size at his Pro Day. That weight loss and athletic potential, combined with the fact that the All-American guard allowed just two sacks and nineteen career pressures despite starting two-and-a-half years straight, made the Niners confident in picking Banks both for his polish—even if he does need hand work—and his upside.

As for fit, if his greater quickness at a still-humongous 325 pounds is any indicator, the transition to the Niners’ scheme won’t be as dramatic as some would believe. It’s also worth noting that it’s our tackles—who are regularly out of the box making difficult reach blocks—that truly NEED to be plus athletes in order to succeed in this scheme. While our guards have to be able to move and to get up to the second level, I think the Niners actually prefer a bit more heft on the interior. Teams have been overcommitting like crazy to stop our stretch running game, which opens the door for the gap runs that can punish them inside, and we—as stated above—are still looking for better short-yardage and red zone performance. Some extra pounds may help both those causes. Ultimately, Banks’ scouting report—a big, super strong dude with great durability and some questions about his ability in space—greatly mirrors that of Laken Tomlinson. And the Niners would be more than happy to shore up our interior with another Tomlinson-type.

I like Daniel Brunskill, but I feel like the Niners see him as either the all-important sixth man swing along the offensive line or a future center who can learn under Mack. Brunskill after all is a converted tight end, who—up until about a year ago—was listed as 252 pounds(!) on the NFL’s official site. While he’s played quality snaps at both center and guard, he may physically be better suited for the point position. If Banks wins the starting right guard position outright in training camp, that’s a good sign both for him and the overall composition of our offensive line.

Round 3, Pick 88: RB, Trey Sermon, Ohio State/Oklahoma

[NFL.com]

Consider me surprised that the Niners traded up into the third round to take a running back when we already have Mostert, Wilson, and Gallman under contract with JaMycal Hasty waiting in the wings. But that’s a testament to how highly the team thinks of Sermon. And since the selection comes with the blessing of Bobby Turner, that’s good enough for me.

Turner is probably the least appreciated contributor to the Niners staff. As the running backs coach under Kyle and Mike Shanahan since 1995(!), he’s unearthed gems like Breida, Mostert, Wilson, Alfred Morris (6th), Olandis Gary (4th round), Mike Anderson (6th round), and Hall-of-Famer Terrell Davis (6th round). He is the best running back coach on the planet. So we should probably trust his judgment.

Sermon also fits our scheme like a glove. While his deep speed isn’t incredible, he’s got great burst through the hole (with an impressive 10-yard split time on his 40), excellent cutback vision, and tremendous balance. He runs hard but has the ability to make guys miss in space, and catches the ball well out of the backfield.

Sermon DESTROYED this post-season, running for a Big Ten Championship Game-record 331 yards against Northwestern in a game where the Buckeyes passing attack needed much bailing out, then put up another 193 against Clemson. 

But a dislocation of his SC shoulder joint on the first play of the national champ game caused him to miss that contest, and unfortunately, injuries are a red flag. He had a cracked L5 vertebrae in high school—causing him to miss his junior year— and tore the LCL in his left knee—causing him to miss the end of his collegiate junior year. With only five games missed in college (plus the majority of the NC) and 45 games played in, perhaps he’s not actually that injury-prone. But given our luck in recent years… it’s always worth mentioning.

Shanahan wants AT LEAST three healthy running backs at all times so that he can rotate bodies and keep people fresh. Many people critiqued that strategy when Mostert exploded at the end of 2019, then immediately walked back said criticism when all of our running backs were continually injured a year later. With Jeff Wilson already down and likely to miss some time, stockpiling running backs looks smarter by the day. 

Mostert should continue to start, but Sermon will be among the three backs in that rotation, and—based on where he was selected—the Niners likely expect him to have a more featured role in years to follow. After all, he’ll be the only running back on roster locked up into 2022.

It’s also worth noting that Peters gushed about Sermon’s character, in particular his ability to deal with adversity while not letting it effect his outlook on life. This is likely due in large part to Sermon’s impressive mother, who lost two brothers—one shot to death—both her parents—within two weeks of each other—and her first two children—the youngest murdered by a former boyfriend who is now serving a life sentence in prison before Trey and his sister were born. Needless to say, no one expects Sermon to complain about sharing the load in the backfield.

Round 3, Pick 102: CB, Ambry Thomas, Michigan

No, that is not Emmanuel Moseley. E-Man switched to #4 with the new jersey rules… and then Jimmie Ward switched to #1… and then Thomas switched to #20 [NBC Sports]

I’ll admit I was worried when three straight cornerbacks—two of which I was highly interested in—went directly before the Niners picked at the bottom of the third, but I think they got a good one in Ambry Thomas. There are a number of draft experts who graded Thomas lower than a third rounder, but—as someone who (often sadly) watches every Michigan game—I can confidently say that I felt Thomas was undervalued on most draft boards.

He’s long, athletic, and tenacious with experience both in Don Brown’s man-press scheme and a handful of zones that the Wolverines had to throw into the mix to offset some personnel issues in 2019. But since Ambry was only a full-time starter for one year and sat out the 2020 season—for medical reasons that we’ll get to in a second—people kind of forgot about him. If anyone watched a Michigan game last year, rest assured that fans of Michigan missed him dearly. So did the coaches, as they gushed about Thomas’ competitive spirit and tenacity in their talks with the Niners leading up to the draft.

As a testament to his work ethic, Thomas—who was diagnosed with colitis in the summer before the 2019 season—lost 35 pounds while hospitalized for a month, missed all of fall camp, and was told he should medically redshirt… then wound up not missing a single start en route to a highly successful junior year.

It’s interesting because Syracuse’s Ifeatu Melifonwu—who went a single pick before Thomas and combines elite movement skills alongside a 6-2 205-pound frame—is basically the physical prototype of an NFL corner. Yet he dropped to the third round based on some questions about instincts, anticipation, and consistency. In many ways, he was a more polished Ahkello Witherspoon. While it’s impossible to know if the Niners had him higher on their board than Thomas, it’s easy to wonder if their focus on toughness and physicality over raw physical tools is in part because things never fully materialized with Spoon.

To be clear, Thomas is no slouch athletically. He returned kicks at Michigan and even played a little offense when he was further down the depth chart at cornerback. He’s got good top speed, quick feet, and very good hands, but tends to get a bit grabby at times. And while physical and willing, it’s unclear if he can really add any more mass onto his rather slender frame. He’s definitely a guy who needs more in-game experience, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get some snaps as a rookie. In terms of long-term projection, this is definitely a guy who can become a fixture outside. Perhaps as soon as 2022.

Round 5, Pick 155: OL, Jaylon Moore, Western Michigan

[49ers.com]

A three-year starter at left tackle, Moore’s lack of ideal length and power initially had him sliding inside to guard with the Niners. But after Justin Skule went down with a torn ACL in OTAs, Moore has been running with the second team at tackle. While it’s a bummer for Skule, I don’t mind Moore getting a shot outside first. A popular prospect in scouting circles, the experts are near-unanimous that the Niners got both a steal in the fifth round and a dude whose quickness, movement skills, and second-level climbing ability make for an outstanding schematic fit. To me, he seems like the perfect swing tackle and hopefully getting early snaps outside will help him transition to such a role.

However, considering Moore was drafted initially to play inside, his selection brings up a lot of questions about our two-deep on the offensive line. Was Skule, before his injury, on his way out anyway after taking a big step back from his mostly-solid substitute cameos in 2019? Is it getting late early for Colton McKivitz, who looked totally overwhelmed during his rookie year? Or will a more normal off-season help him in year two? Will Shon Coleman ever play a snap for us?  Still plenty of questions along our offensive line. Hopefully, they’ll be answered by the time the regular season rolls around.

Round 5, Pick 172: CB, Deommodore Lenoir, Oregon

[R. Ross Cameron / USA Today]

A scrappy corner out of Oregon who started three straight seasons in what was—before COVID opt-outs—perhaps the most talented secondary in the country, Lenoir is a tad undersized and lacks the twitch to really make up for it, but he’s a physical and intelligent DB who plays under control. As evidenced by a rookie camp clip that quickly made the rounds…

Somebody call the police because that was AGGRAVATED ASSAULT https://t.co/aFr1KSCP4o

— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) May 15, 2021

…and possibly got the Niners in trouble for their OTAs having “contact.”

Lenoir’s basically the Niners’ answer for the void in the slot vacated by DJ Reed—a player who he greatly resembles—but the Niners see Lenoir with a bit more inside/outside potential (although Reed currently starts outside for the Seahawks so…). Similar to Reed, expect him to get shots at subpackage work on the inside and for him to work his way up from there.

Round 5, Pick 180: S, Talanoa Hufanga, USC

[Sports Illustrated]

The reigning Pac-12 defensive player of the year and AP first-team All-American, Hufanga seems like an absolute steal where we got him. Super instinctual and physical with great intelligence (he was one of two Niners’ draftees—the other Trey Lance—who got the coveted Golden Helmet designation during the draft process), Hufanga slipped because he ran an atrocious forty time (4.63) and has serious medical questions about his shoulders. With TWO season-ending right collarbone surgeries—the second of which led to a metal plate—and a dislocated shoulder that wound up requiring surgery after his sophomore year, the medicals could have taken him off the boards of some teams.

That said, this is the fifth round. You take risks somewhere, and Hufanga could well exceed his draft slot if he can stay healthy. People question his coverage ability due to his lack of elite speed and ask if he can play deep middle or even deep half. Totally fair. But his tape is faster than his timed speed and he doesn’t HAVE to play deep coverage in order to see the field with the Niners. In fact, I’d guess Hufanga’s first snaps (other than special teams, where he should immediately be a difference-maker) will be in a similar role as what Marcell Harris was doing for us by the end of last year. A matchup-specific subpackage outside linebacker who can cover better than most while being physical enough not to get overwhelmed in the box. If Hufanga tops out as Marcell Harris, we’ll easily take that for the next four years on a fifth-rounder deal. But he at least has the potential to carve out a bigger role, and that’s great value in the fifth.

Round 6, Pick 194: Elijah Mitchell, Louisiana-Lafayette

[Stan Szeto / USA Today]

Despite eyeing linebackers in this round, the Niners ended up pulling the trigger on Mitchell for the same reason they did on Moore and Banks and Sermon—he just fit their value chart. Mitchell is a speedy guy (4.38 forty) with a one cut running style who ran plenty of outside zone in college. You don’t see a lot of dynamic moves or creativity in his running style, but he’s fast, usually hits the right hole, and runs harder than his size would indicate. That’s certainly enough to have some success in our scheme. 

While the injury to Wilson will likely push some difficult roster decisions to a later date, the battle for the fourth running back spot between Wayne Ellington, JaMychal Hasty, and Mitchell will be one to keep an eye on in training camp.

Next Up? Guys with pictures that were NOT taken from the rookie minicamp.

Go Niners 🏈👍

Shit’s About To Go Down

AAAAAAAAH [Getty Images]

By approximately 5:30 tonight, booze will be had. The only question is what type, in what fashion, and in what state of mind. We’re just hours away from learning who will be the Niners’ quarterback for (hopefully) the next 10+ years. Here are some final thoughts and my final QB rankings.

Smoke Season in Full Swing

Once the dust settles, it’ll be interesting to see which reporters were “right” and what was simply conjecture and smokescreens. Every other day there have been new “reports” from “sources” about the direction the Niners are going. Personally, I think a lot of those reports are based on people guessing. But I’d also be willing to accept some level of gamesmanship.

The current Niners regime hasn’t had ANY leaks through their first four years. Not when they traded for Garoppolo, or when they traded away DeFo, or when they moved up to take Foster or Aiyuk in the draft, or even when they made this massive blockbuster trade that seemingly came out of nowhere. It would be foolish to think that after all that, they are now the most loose-lipped team in the country. 

While it’s easy to ask “what do we have to gain?” from all this drama when the top two picks in the draft seem set in stone, it’s even easier to ask “what do we have to lose?” People do crazy, stupid shit on draft day, Trent Baalke and Joe Douglas are still picking 1 and 2, and—in the incredibly unlikely scenario that the Niners feel confident enough in the picks below them and the talent at quarterback that we try to trade down and still get their guy—the cloud of smoke at least gives us the competitive advantage of knowing who we want when no one else does. At the very least it means that the teams after us will be scrambling once our pick comes in. Even that is a minor win.

That said, it’s not hard to envision this being a YOLO. The Niners know that the first two picks have been solidified for a month now so perhaps they’re allowing information to seep out about their process and their preferences because they frankly don’t care what anyone knows at this point. No one is going to move ahead of them. No one is going to prevent them from getting their guy at No.3. And the entire point in moving all the way up to three was to assure themselves that kind of freedom in their scouting process. But while moving up to three allows us to do things like host second pro days for two quarterbacks—one of whom we convinced to work with a coach who we know very well—the endless contradictory sources assures that at least some of what’s been reported is totally made up.

Either way, we’ll find out tonight.

Don’t Make a One-Year Decision on a Ten-Year Investment

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: “Mac Jones is the most pro-ready of the prospects and the Niners don’t want to keep Jimmy G around, so naturally, the Niners should draft Mac Jones.” 

I don’t remember which fallacy of reasoning this falls under, but I’m sure it checks about half of them. And I’ll bring up later the question of Mac Jones’ pro-readiness. But the Niners are making this pick for one reason and one reason only: to get the best guy to lead them for the next 10+ years. NOT the guy who makes Jimmy G the most expendable in 2021. NOT the guy who is gonna look the best right out of the gate. We just traded three first-round picks to hand-select our franchise quarterback. There is quite literally no time like right this second when we should be making a long-term decision.

Yes, in an ideal world the rookie is so good and we’re so confident that giving him immediate snaps is the best path to helping him reach his potential that we can trade Jimmy before the season, save $25M in cap space, and start the [whoever we draft] era immediately. But the single most important part of that equation is—without question—getting the right guy and doing whatever we can to make sure he reaches his potential. 

Everything else is—at best—a distant second.

The Scheme is More Flexible Than You Think

We talked about what qualities Shanahan and Lynch were likely to prioritize when evaluating the quarterbacks in this draft, but while traits like accuracy and intelligence will always be important within our scheme, we need to stop acting like Shanahan’s current playbook is exactly what he wants to run.

Shanahan’s a smart dude. When he got a new starting quarterback midway through his first year in San Francisco, he adapted the offense to better fit what that quarterback could do. Quick hitters inside, more shotgun, less outside-the-hash and down-the-field work; these were not decisions made in a vacuum but ones made to best accent Garoppolo’s strengths and minimize his weaknesses. A year before that, Shanahan led Matt Ryan to an MVP season while leading the league in yards/attempt, adjusted yards/attempt, and touchdown percentage. Four years before that, Shanahan led RG3 to rookie of the year honors as he rushed for 800+ yards on a league-leading 6.8 yards/carry. There’s flexibility to what this offense can become.

Shanahan’s offense will always feature a handful of staples, but looking at the Niners’ scheme now and saying “this is exactly what Shanahan wants” is a bold claim. If anything, we should be expecting changes. Because this was a hell of an aggressive move up the draft to stand pat offensively.

The “Mahomes Plan” is Still Viable

There’s been a lot of talk about how no one gets drafted as high as No.3 to sit for a year behind another quarterback. While the idea of Jimmy being moved before or during the draft has certainly picked up some steam of late—and could ultimately be the right decision—the thought process that many are using to justify it is greatly flawed.

These are the most common arguments I’ve heard:

1 - Sitting your QB means you lose a year of savings off their rookie contract: In absolute terms, this is obviously false. The rookie’s salary number is going to be the same regardless of if they start in 2021 or not. But the argument that’s trying to be made—that you want to get as many starting years out of a rookie contract as possible—is also false, but for different reasons.

I sort of talked about this already, but the combination of savings you get from cutting a veteran starter and milking every year out of a depressed rookie contract is never more important than ACTUALLY WINNING GAMES. None of that other stuff matters if it hinders the selection and development of your future quarterback.

If you asked the Chiefs if they’d have rather played Mahomes as a rookie as opposed to letting him learn under Smith but with the caveat that it could hinder his development, the answer would be a resounding hell no. Penny pinching is great when you have your core players at important positions locked up and are trying to save money to build up the rest of the roster. But saving money just to save money in a hard salary cap league run by billionaires where approximately 90% of their salary caps are paid by revenue sharing should never be mistaken for doing the thing you set out to do as a franchise in the first place: win games. 

Once again, your decisions need to be made based on the best player and the best way to help him develop into the franchise quarterback that you just traded all those picks for.

2 - The best way to get better is to get meaningful snaps as quickly as possible: For some people, sure. In the right system, with the right coaches and supporting cast. But there are decades of evidence refuting this claim as an absolute. Just ask Josh Rosen.

3 - The Mahomes situation was “a different time”: No it wasn’t. When Mahomes was drafted in 2017, the NFL was still under the same collective bargaining agreement that we’re under now, the rookie pay scale was already in effect, and teams were already slinging the ball all over the place due to changes in rules and the growing popularity of RPOs. While rule changes are perpetual and the way the NFL has shifted things in the past calendar year has moved the goal posts a bit in terms of optimizing your offense, player acquisition and development has largely stayed unchanged.

It’s also worth noting, that—even for it’s time—Mahome’s patient developmental schedule was rare—just as Aaron Rodgers’ was before him. That’s probably because—for the most part—a team’s not drafting a quarterback in the first round when they’ve already got an above average-or-better performer at the position. Most teams taking first-round quarterbacks are subpar squads attempting to add a crucial piece who will help them ascend to relevancy, not perennial playoff contenders. But in the case of both Mahomes and Rodgers, they entered into teams with capable multi-year starters at quarterback and playoff-worthy supporting casts. They were not needed to save the franchise. Thus, they were given time to develop. As a team one year removed from a #1 seed and a Super Bowl appearance with the quarterback who got us there still on the roster, we’re in a similarly unique position as the Chiefs and the Packers once were. Where most teams picking this high would not have the luxury of sitting a rookie, we do. And because of that, it should at least be considered.

If we believe our rookie will develop best by sitting on the bench all year, then so be it. If we think getting thrown into the fire will be the best way for them to improve, then that’s the route we should take. But just because the situational dynamics of most teams picking a first round quarterback dictate that said quarterback should see meaningful snaps as a rookie, doesn’t mean that we need to/nor should follow in their footsteps.

Final QB Rankings

Not including Trevor Lawrence, for obvious reasons

1. Justin Fields: Despite Shanahan seemingly going out of his way at the post-trade presser to debunk this very claim, everyone still seems to think that his ideal quarterback is Kirk Cousins. This is a guy who grew up watching his dad win three chips with Steve Young and John Elway—mobile Hall of Fame quarterbacks with rocket arms. You can’t tell me that after all that, Cousins is his ideal quarterback.

Yes, Fields’ ugliest film can get pretty ugly, but his mobility, accuracy, and intelligence all fit our scheme like a glove—while his skill set would allow us to open up the offense beyond what we’ve seen thus far in the Shanahan era. His incredible ball placement raises his floor and makes him less risky than someone like Lance, he’s already shown the ability to improve considerably between seasons—which is great for his long-term trajectory—and he’s started two straight years at a high level against top tier competition, which again hedges some of the inherent risk in taking a quarterback this high.

To me, Fields has the best chance to be that guy who had the tape, had the tools, and had the production, but somehow managed to slip on draft day regardless. The dude who people spend the next decade saying “how did this happen?” That is, unless the Niners pick him at No.3

T-2. Trey Lance: Lance had more inaccuracy issues on tape than I’d originally thought, and those are genuine concerns, but that doesn’t mean I’ve soured on him. I just can’t get over what he accomplished at his age and how everyone else that we’ve been evaluating is not only multiple years older but is being scouted based on newer tape and a better supporting cast. There’s a real chance that Lance has already fixed some of the issues that he had in 2019 because he was a 19 year-old redshirt freshman at the time and he’s had plenty of time since then to work one-on-one with QB coaches to improve his mechanics. Projected growth is a major part of the scouting process that many tend to ignore—especially when it comes to this position, and to me, Lance’s trajectory is a rocket heading into space. Think back to how you were at 19 versus 22, audibly cringe, and then look at what Lance has already accomplished before he can legally drink.

Maybe he’s not a guy who starts in 2021, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if he’s closer to pro-ready than many people are saying. Remember, this is a guy who was a much more efficient passer in his first year as a starter than Carson Wentz—a four-year player in the exact same system—was throughout his career. While Wentz has had his ups and downs in the league, he was still a rookie starter and nearly won the MVP in his second year en route to a Super Bowl. Everyone has said that Lance needs to sit a year enough that people seem to take it as fact. Maybe he does. But there’s at least a chance he doesn’t.

As far as the scouting process goes, I cannot stress enough how brilliant the move was by the Niners to reach out to Lance and get him hooked up with John Beck. Not only has that connection given Lance some high-level coaching—he’s already working on improving his lower body mechanics to help his accuracy issues—but it gives the Niners an in-depth look from a trusted eye on a player with a lot of question marks during a COVID-altered scouting process. For a player with so little on tape and so much projection, that extra look is a massive deal that makes me much more comfortable if Lance is the pick at No.3.

To be certain, Lance is still a MAJOR risk. I don’t want to minimize the question marks that come along with inconsistent accuracy and lack of tape. I get that, and that’s probably the main reason I have Fields ahead of him in these rankings. But I’d be more than happy to get either of those two at No.3.

T-2. Zach Wilson: As much as I love Wilson’s improvisational ability and off-platform arm, after watching more film, Fields and Lance certainly have more physical talent. Combine that with BYU’s soft schedule (although they did play two top 20 defenses in SDSU and Coastal Carolina) and the fact that their offensive line was absolutely amazing last year, and that’s led to a slight slip from Wilson in my rankings. Overall, some of his production may not have matched his process last year and that will be harder to get over in the NFL.

To be clear, I’m still really high on Wilson, and he and Lance are kneck-and-kneck for me at two. There’s also certainly some inherent Niners optimism bias in this ranking—as Wilson is nearly a lock to be off the board by the time that we’re picking. But I’m hoping that counteracts the inherent bias the other way that came from Wilson being someone who I diagnosed as both a first-round talent and a nice schematic fit before most experts did. With this ranking, I’m basically trying to balance out my two favorite things: the Niners winning games and me being right. Ultimately, it’s unlikely to matter, as the Jets are picking Wilson at two. But if he does somehow fall to us, I would have zero qualms swooping him up.

4. Mac Jones: Distant fourth. The other guys are quite simply in another tier, and while I think Jones—and any of the above quarterbacks—would succeed in Shanahan’s system, the more I’ve watched of other players in the running the more I realize how big the gap is between them and Jones. I just don’t see the ceiling to warrant the pick. Not this high. Not with what we gave up. And after watching film of everyone else, I think some of the strengths of Jones’ game are overrated as well.

As an example, with all the (inaccurate) talk of Fields or Lance being “one read and run” quarterbacks, I was curious to see if anyone actually charted out data to back up those claims. It turns out, someone has. And while I can’t speak to the methods nor the accuracy of this data, The Draft Network’s findings on rate of success for throws thrown beyond the quarterback’s first read were very interesting:

I have no idea how they measured “placement” or “accuracy” for this study so let’s just ignore those categories. It’s also worth noting that Mac Jones had DeVonta Smith—the best receiver in the country—as his No.1, so he definitely should have thrown to him more often than average, and—when you think about the other weapons that were at his disposal—it was likely harder for opposing defenses to double or commit extra help Smith’s way. So he definitely definitely should have thrown to his No.1 more often than average. Basically, there is a ton of noise in the stats above, and you don’t want to punish someone for having a good play caller and receivers who get open. But while I would NOT hold these figures as gospel, they do point to two things for me: (1) Alabama’s current offense (not their offense four years ago) is more RPO-heavy and less pro-style than most would have you believe, while Ohio State’s current offense (not their offense with Haskins or under Urban Meyer before that) runs more multi-progression passes than you’d think; and (2) neither Fields nor Lance are anything close to “one read and run” quarterbacks.

So how does this relate directly back to Jones? Much of his appeal is polish. It’s that he’s the “safest” of the high picks because the other guys are much less developed. But as we chip away at some of the myths about Fields’ and Lance’s ability to process the field and their pro-readiness, Jones’ supposed advantage begins to lessen. And ultimately, I don’t think Mac Jones is as “safe” a pick as we’ve been led to believe. A lack of physical tools means you have no margin for error, and it’s easier for me to bank on Fields improving his processing speed under Shanahan’s tutelage or Lance improving his accuracy with continued throwing mechanics work than Jones becoming one of the smartest quarterbacks in the entire NFL. Oftentimes when quarterbacks are deemed more “pro-ready” that’s really just subconscious code for “they’re closer to tapping out their ceiling.” And oftentimes when scouts gush endlessly about someone’s smarts it’s because there’s nothing else traits-wise to talk about in their game. While Jones may indeed wind up the most pro-ready, he’s clearly the closest to his ceiling, and I’m not comfortable with his projected growth. As stated above, this pick is about long-term return, not short-term return, and in the case of Jones vs. Fields/Lance, you could argue the latter two have Jones beat in both categories.

Given this particular situation, it would also be malpractice not to point out how the narrative is different for white and black quarterbacks, with Jones—due to no fault of his own—being the beneficiary in this three-man race. The whole “seems like a good kid from a good family” and “I could see myself cracking a beer and hitting the links with him” line of thought has basically been unavoidable this draft season and that could easily be inflating Jones’ perceived value. For example:

Lance led his team to an undefeated championship at nineteen, Fields was recruited by Harvard and Yale, and yet Jones is the one who is lauded for his prodigious smarts. Jones had the fewest starts of any of these top quarterback prospects—tied with Lance only because of COVID—and ran the same offense that was just criticized last year in Tua’s evaluation for being too-RPO-heavy, but is immediately the most “pro-ready?” Jones was arrested for a DUI at the same age Lance was winning a chip and the Walter Payton Player of the Year Award, but Fields is the one who is getting called out by “anonymous sources” over “character concerns?” Lance was a two-star recruit whose only quarterback offer was to North Dakota State, yet Jones is the “scrappy underdog?”

Seeing the comparisons between Jones and the other prospects reminds me of every time Michael Bluth met his son’s girlfriend in Arrested Development:

I just don’t see it.

This isn’t meant to rip Jones. He’s got talent. He’s accurate. He processes quickly. He’ll get the ball out of his hands in a hurry, which I know Shanahan would appreciate, and if he ends up being the pick I will be rooting as hard as possible for him to succeed. Which I think he would. Because Shanahan is our coach. But any time I think of picking Jones ahead of Fields and Lance, my mind immediately turns to opportunity cost. What draft capital did we give up to get him? If we’re getting just an average starting quarterback, where else could those picks have gone? What are we giving up schematically in terms of improving and evolving our offense by passing on the superior physical tools of Fields and Lance? And just as importantly, what does Mac Jones give us that Lance or Fields doesn’t? And for that last question, I don’t have an answer.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it (thankfully) for the last time here. Whether I’m right or wrong (and it’s happened before), please for the love of our collective sanities, make the right pick. Whoever that may be. Because the right pick could launch us into Super Bowl contention for the next decade. And I really don’t want to spend another April looking at quarterbacks in another three or four years.

Go Niners 👍🏈

Draftables: Justin Fields

Whereas a lack of All-22 footage made for a frustrating evaluation of Trey Lance, coaches film was massively beneficial in scouting Justin Fields—who certainly has his faults but looks much better when those faults are viewed in context.

In short, we’re looking at another dude with tremendous physical tools and college production who’ll need to iron out a few things that won’t fly on the NFL level, but if he can show those improvements, Fields has all the makings of an ideal triggerman for Shanahan’s offense.

(Some lazy pun) Fields Forever [G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins]

Ht: 6-2.5”
Wt: 227 lbs.
Age: 22
School: Ohio State

Stats

Build: Justin Fields measured in at 6-2.5” and 227 pounds at his pro day. Like Lance, he basically has the prototypical build for a modern NFL quarterback. 

Experience: A two-year starter at Ohio State who also played in all 12 games at Georgia in a sub-package role as a freshman, Fields has more starts (22) and legitimate game experience than either Jones—who didn’t see meaningful snaps until Tua went down late in the 2019 season—or Lance—who redshirted after a few games as a freshman then saw his sophomore year postponed due to COVID.

As Lance and Wilson get knocked for playing against subpar competition, it’s also worth noting that—while Ohio State only played in eight games this season due to COVID outbreaks in the midwest—three of them were against defenses ranked in Football Outsiders’ top five. He absolutely torched one of them (#3 Clemson) while showing warts against the other two (#1 Northwestern; #5 Indiana). If not for those latter two games, I think there’s little chance he’s slipping past the Jets at #2.

As for Fields’ schedule comparison versus Mac Jones? Despite Bama being the national champs and playing a full schedule in the SEC, the SEC had a very down year in terms of defensive performance in 2020. Of the 13 schools, only two made it into FO’s top 44 defenses (#12 Georgia and Bama themselves at #20). Combine that with their playoff opponents (#24 Notre Dame and #47 Ohio State), and Jones played against a considerably easier slate of defenses while being surrounded by better offensive talent.

Injuries: Despite—and in part, because of—his mobility, Fields has taken some big hits in college (too many, which we’ll touch on later), but he’s shown excellent toughness throughout. He had some kind of knee injury on the back end of his first year in Columbus, but he played through it into the playoffs, and he suffered a rib injury in the semifinals last year, which—after taking what I have to assume was the biggest cortisone shot in the history of mankind—he returned from and promptly had the best game of his career. Knock on wood, as long as he learns to protect his body in the NFL, he doesn’t seem like a major injury risk.

Scouting Breakdown

Like Bullseye-ing Womprats: When I first popped on Fields’ tape, my immediate reaction was “whoa, this guy is way more accurate than Mac Jones.” And then I got to the Northwestern game. Ultimately, I still think Fields is the most accurate quarterback in this draft, and here’s why.

Accuracy is really a two-pronged evaluation. It’s about throwing consistently catchable balls and high-end placement. If you are consistently throwing within the catch radius (or “good enough”) that’s one form of accuracy. If you are breadbasket or bust that’s another type of accuracy (although you can’t miss THAT much and ever truly be considered accurate). And if you’re regularly blowing up the Death Star with your eyes closed (peak Brady, Brees, Montana), that’s the ideal blend of both.

Jones, with his excellent and repeatable mechanics, had fewer misses than Fields, but his placement—due in part to his lack of arm strength leading to some issues on crossing routes across his body and deep balls—is closer to a B+ than an A. Jones’ record-setting completion percentages are due in part to an incredible cast of pass catchers around him and an offense that prioritizes quick releases and RPOs. While Fields has more misses— which are largely clustered around that two-game stretch—his placement is absolutely incredible on all three levels.

Fields excels at throwing over underneath defenders with both accuracy and anticipation when attacking the intermediate zones of a defense:

🎯 pic.twitter.com/qlA1gVEEdU

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

He shows great placement when flushed and throwing on the move:

🏃‍♂️🎯 pic.twitter.com/Udpf2fry0J

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

And he has impressive touch while dropping money balls down the field:

💣 pic.twitter.com/DDxCFKRyNq

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

Advanced stats seem to back this up as well. According to PFF, Justin Fields was tops in the nation in ball placement over the past two years, while—according to ESPN—Fields led this quarterback class in the lowest percentage of off-target throws between 11-20 yards (6.9% to Jones’ 7.7%) and was considerably better than anyone else hitting those depths on passes thrown outside the hashes (4.4% to Trevor Lawrence’s 11.9%). That second stat seems a testament to Fields’ arm strength as well.

💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/lmLNyrVOlR

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

Those are field-side deep outs on a college field, where the hashes are wider than in the NFL. While Fields doesn’t have the absolute howitzer that Lance possesses, his arm is very strong, even by NFL standards.

Granted, when Fields misses he typically misses worse than someone like Jones, and he’ll need to clean some things up mechanically to iron that out, but considering he still threw well enough to lead the nation in so many accuracy metrics, he’s not as hot-and-cold as some would have you believe.

Bigger, Faster, Stronger (than you probably think): Despite his size, Fields ran a 4.44 at his pro day. And he slipped in the middle of it.

Justin Fields. 4.43u SPEED. (via @movethesticks) @justnfields

📺: @OhioStateFB Pro Day on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/Wu1B2XACNg

— NFL (@NFL) March 30, 2021

Needless to say, the kid is athletic. Ohio State ran a lot of play action boot looks (although typically from the gun) to take advantage of the wider hashes and to allow Fields run-pass options if routes weren’t open. Fields has also shown the ability to use his athleticism to create dynamic plays on the ground when plays break down.

🏃‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/sht1v9FPSn

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

Not Dwayne Haskins: Just as it’s impossible not to mention the slew of Bama quarterbacks who have won championships and put up gaudy stats in college only to flame out in the NFL, there will always be some hesitation about drafting an Ohio State quarterback until a single one of them pans out. If that sounds like hyperbole, the Ohio State alum who’s had the most success as an NFL quarterback was Mike Tomczak, who went undrafted in 1985 (despite the draft being 12 rounds) and was mostly a backup. He was, however, the only former Buckeye I saw (in a five-minute search) who started more than 10 games in a single season. In the history of the NFL.

Some of that can be attributed to the Buckeyes’ formerly conservative nature and their time as an option team, but the fact that the last OSU quarterback to enter the league was cut less than two seasons after being a first-round pick means Fields is fighting history. Luckily for Fields, he seems like the exact opposite of Haskins.

Ohio State has been much better and more consistent with Fields under center than they were in the years leading up to his arrival. While some of that can be attributed to Ryan Day and his coaching staff, Fields has been lauded for his leadership, for his approach to the game, and for his intelligence—with Mark Sanchez dropping this tidbit about Fields’ coachability and mental acumen on the Pat McAfee Show:

"The guy who supposedly can't go through his reads.. Doesn't have great work ethic, all this bogus stuff..

He scored the highest.. Ever"@Mark_Sanchez tells us about Justin Fields & his performance on an aptitude test out of 6,500 professional athletes #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/gNynRbmNCE

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 6, 2021

While cognitive analytics are far from a certain science, one of the impressive qualities about Fields—and one that often goes unmentioned—has been how much he’s improved over his two years in college. That points to a certain level of effort and ability to soak in coaching. And with the exception of some random takes from a few anonymous sources, Fields has been highly lauded for his leadership ability. He was the face of the Big Ten’s player/parent movement to restart football after the season was canceled during the summer—a campaign that obviously worked when the Big 10 returned to play months later—he returned for the Clemson game after missing only one or two plays despite (potentially) suffering broken ribs, and there are plays like this on his tape.

👍 pic.twitter.com/g7EhcSdFdL

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

While it’s impossible to say what kind of person and leader someone is from the outside looking in, Fields seems to check all the boxes.

So About Those Two Games…: The Indiana and Northwestern games were ugly enough that they warrant an entire section to themselves. I’ll start with the latter.

In the Big 10 Champ game against Northwestern, Fields looked like a totally different player than we’d seen all season. He was inaccurate, out of rhythm, forced some bad throws that led to turnovers, and at times looked lost on the field. Some of that was Northwestern’s defense (ranked #1 in the nation based on Football Outsiders), which may have had—as weird as it is to say it—the best secondary in the country last year. Some of that was indeed issues that we saw against Indiana once again emerging in Fields’ game. But there were also some very extreme circumstances in that Northwestern game that imply it could have been more of an outlier than a massive red flag.

Ohio State had to cancel two of their past three games leading up to the champ game due to COVID issues in either their program or their opponent’s and entered the Northwestern game with 22(!) players out due to COVID tests and contact tracing. Among those missing were stud wideout Chris Olave, three other receivers, and a tight end. Chemistry is especially important in the Buckeyes’ offense due to its aggressive structure and how many downfield option routes they run. On more than one occasion in this game, you see Fields holding on his No.1 option—waiting for him to get out of his break—only for the two to wind up on the wrong page and the play go south. Granted, Fields isn’t always going to have a No.1 wideout who can get open all the time—and his performance in this game didn’t help the critique that he doesn’t process the field quick enough. Nor was a lack of chemistry and missing players the only reason Fields was off this game; he was also just off. But to me, the extenuating circumstances of the NU game make me want to write it off more as a potential outlier and focus more on the issues he had across both games.

Such as…

Processing Speed Concerns: One of Fields’ biggest knocks is that he’s either a “one-read” quarterback or that he takes too long going through his progressions. He definitely is NOT a one-read quarterback, but the second critique is valid… to an extent. When the Buckeyes run horizontal concepts like mesh—my least favorite concept to scout—you can see Fields quickly get through his progressions and hit the right man. It’s when they run their single-side vertical reads where he seems to lock on too long to his primary receiver.

When I talk about single-side vertical reads I’m basically talking about your standard high-low concepts. Two- or sometimes three-man route combos like “smash” (hitch/quick out and corner) or “levels” (square-in and dig or vice versa), which use routes layered vertically to read the underneath defender and throw the ball where he’s not. However, Ohio State often runs these route combinations like less of a “high-low” and more of a “high-higher.” In essence, they bank on their superior athleticism outside to push the entire progression further down the field—causing the defenders to cover more ground for longer and encouraging the big play down the field. This is great when they can protect it, but when you can’t you get a few instances like this.

A free-rusher with zero check downs available because the receivers aren’t even out of their downfield breaks yet. The running back here may look open from this angle, but he popped and released the rusher, so there’s zero lane to throw that pass, and the backside out is good in theory but potentially disastrous in practice; you’re asking for trouble if you want your quarterback to regularly open play-side then hit an out to the field-side blind if he feels pressure. The result of this play and a handful like it throughout Fields’ tape is him staring at his No.1 receiver for seemingly too long then bailing or looking frantic when the pass rush gets to him. On broadcast, that looks like he’s lost, lacks poise, or can’t get through his progressions. But in the All-22, you can see that sometimes it’s just the inherent downside of an aggressive offense.

That said, I still think processing speed an area where Fields can improve. But in Fields’ case, I think the problem stems less from an inability to process quickly (which is a major red flag) and more from a mindset that is at times too aggressive (which can be fixed). Finding and throwing to an open receiver is always a cost-benefit analysis, and Fields is someone who needs to learn when to cut his losses and take the higher percentage safer throw, rather than wait out a deeper route that may or may not open up. It’s when these deep routes are being called but not opening up and Fields is forcing things that you get the lowlights of his tape. These are the times where you find yourself screaming at the screen to “throw it away!”

😬 pic.twitter.com/gaIagGyfOf

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

Overall, Fields does need to process quicker. And he needs to get better at knowing when to bail off the deep route for a safer throw or when to throw the ball away and live to fight another down. A lot of guys can just beast through broken plays in college because of their overwhelming talent, but learning to recognize the plays where you can’t make a play is crucial towards succeeding in the NFL.

Blitz Misses: This goes hand-in-hand with the above questions on Fields’ processing speed. Indiana and Northwestern had tremendous success against the Buckeyes by utilizing complex blitzes, which—in part—led to Fields throwing five of his six interceptions on the season over that two-game span. Sometimes the blitzes hit home due to Ohio State’s pass protection breaking down or the offense getting too aggressive in its playcalling. Sometimes it was Fields missing the extra rushers and thus failing to speed up his clock to get the ball out faster.

In each of the clips below, you can see checkdown options called underneath in the middle of the field. But in each of the plays, Fields either misses the blitz or holds onto the ball too long in hopes of hitting a deeper route.

👀 pic.twitter.com/TCU8XoYpI2

— DefinitelyNotEric (@TotallyNotEric) April 27, 2021

That first clip is a perfect example. Fields needs to recognize that he’s in empty—thus any sixth rusher is fully his responsibility—see that the play-side man on the LOS is dropping into coverage, and know immediately that he should be looking for his hot route inside. Instead, he takes a massive hit which could have easily led to a turnover.

Summary

NFL Comp: Russell Wilson

I think the majority of Fields’ comps are selling short both his accuracy and his intelligence, and while Fields lacks the level of polish that a four-year starter like Wilson had coming out of Wisconsin, you can see the resemblance in their athleticism, sideline accuracy, and affinity for the deep ball.

Despite being listed as 1B to Trevor Lawrence for most of the college football season, Fields seems to have been a victim of overanalyzing this draft season. Yes, he’s got some stuff to clean up and his lowlights are ugly, but the tools, production, leadership, and growth potential are all sky-high. With his accuracy, mobility, and intelligence, a fully-weaponized Fields would basically be the prototype for running our offense and would open up our vertical passing game and off-script offense in ways we’ve yet to see in Shanahan’s tenure.

Go Niners 👍🏈