Manny Lawson and Frank Gore Keys to Success

Eric Melendez — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:14:43 +0000

Lawson and Gore Keys to Success

The MCT Holdout watch, receiver Michael Crabtree, has entered into its seventh day. It has been reported both sides are far apart on agreeing to a contract. After two weeks if MCT is still not signed GM Scot McCloughan needs to make an offer to his agent Erik Parker and say this is our final offer, take it or leave it. Everyone says this is the business side of the NFL and even Mike Singletary, a holdout twice during his career, has said MCT is just handling his business. McCloughan selected MCT for a reason which was to bolster the receiving corps which was a laughing stock last year. If Crabtree wants to play in San Francisco he needs to sign and get his a$$ into training camp. Handling your “business” is one thing, being selfish on team with 53 men on the roster is another and does not help with the chemistry or the potential triumphs of the 49ers in 2009.

Manny Lawson and Frank Gore hold the keys to success this year for the Red and Gold. Lawson is set to have a big year as the strong-side linebacker in defensive coordinator Greg Manusky’s 3-4 scheme. Lawson tore his ACL in the third week of the season in 2007. He was out the rest of the year and when he came back in 2008 former head coach Mike Nolan slowly gave him playing time while taking him out on passing downs when the D would switch to a 4-3 scheme. Manusky has now installed a 3-4 scheme only which means Lawson will be playing on all downs pressuring the QB as the fourth rusher coming from the outside. Lawson has the speed and agility to take down running backs in the backfield and with opponents defenses focusing on Patrick Willis, Lawson will make plenty of game changing plays this season. Lawson has 5.5 sacks in his career and I expect him to double that this season and make his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

In a previous post, Frank Gore’s Career Year, I said that Gore was going to have his best year in 2009. Yes, Gore’s numbers have been in decline since 2006 when he rushed for a Niner record 1,695 yards. Everything seemed to be running on all cylinders for the offense that year with Norv Turner at the offensive coordinator helm and Alex Smith starting all 16 games, although not too effective, but progress was being made. Turner bolted to San Diego in the off-season which set in motion Gore’s decline the last two seasons. Nolan promoted QB coach Jim Hostler to be offensive coordinator in 2007 which he had no previous experience. The Niner’s where in a bind as the pool for potential offensive coordinators was limited because Turner left so late in the off-season. Needless to say, Hostler was fired after the 2007 and Mike Martz was hired as the offensive coordinator for the 2008 season.

Having Martz as an offensive coordinator is always bad for the QB, never enough protection, the tight end, Martz has no use for them, and the running backs who get lost in the game plan as far as running as Martz thinks pass, pass, pass and only thinks about running the ball until after the game is over. With the release of fullback Moran Norris in the off-season in 2008, another position Martz has no use for, Gore’s numbers fell again as he had Zak Keasey who had never played the position before joining the 49ers but won the job from Norris. Keasey was a linebacker and special teams player before Martz converted him into a fullback. After seven games last year Keasey tore a biceps tendon and was placed on IR the rest of the year. RB Michael Robinson and all 220 pounds of him took over in leading Gore through holes. My point here is Gore has been doing everything ask of him in an offense that changes every year in not only coordinators but QB’s and fullbacks. Could you imagine what Gore’s numbers would have been like not only on a team better than the 49ers but with consistency in offensive coordinators? With Norris poised to win the starting job again and with the 49ers departing from Martz and hired run, run, run minded offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, Gore has the potential to top 1,800 rushing yards in 2009 and make the reins of best running back in the NFL.

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The Case Against Alex Smith

Eric Melendez — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:39:56 +0000

Alex Smith vs. Shaun Hill

When the 49ers made Alex Smith the number one pick in the 2005 draft I was ecstatic. I thought we had our franchise quarterback the one we had been searching for since Steve Young. He was a cerebral quarterback along the lines of Peyton Manning and at the time the best QB available in the draft. Since then we have realized he might be cerebral like Manning but the comparisons end there and the other best QB available in the draft, Aaron Rogers, has proven so far to be a QB the Packers can rely on as a starter. Four years later we are still in search of that franchise quarterback and Smith is still on the team competing for the starting job vs. incumbent starter Shaun Hill. The reason why Smith is still being considered is he restructured his contract (the 49ers would have released him otherwise) and the 49ers are not quite ready to give up on him and officially label him a bust even though the rest of the NFL world has already done so. The 49ers need to move on from Smith or at least designate Hill the starter with Smith as the number two man. If Smith shows he is the better QB in training camp than make him the starter. But by not making Hill the starter outright leaves too many questions on a team that is trying to find its identity. The only reason why Hill is not being called the starter outright (he has a 7-3 record as a starter, Smith is 9-14) is because he is horrible at practice and sometimes does not show he has a grasp of the offense or the game plan for the week. Yet time and time again we have seen he is a gamer and he can lead the 49ers to victories even from behind and on the road. Remember last year when Hill had his helmet ripped off and he still ran for ten yards for the first down? I wonder if Smith would have done the same thing. Smith is considered soft or as I like to him fragile. I am not saying Hill is our franchise QB of the future or that he is one of the elite QB’s in the NFL. However he knows how to win games and with what we have available as far as QB market (get Michael Vick out of your mind that will never happen) he can lead this team to a winning record. Number ten draft pick WR Michael Crabtree will fit in well with Hill because Crabtree is best at running the short routes and making moves around a defender than flying by a defender for the long ball. Hill may not have the prettiest footwork but he is at his best when he takes three steps back and releases the football for the short route. Hill and Crabtree will connect many of time this year.

As much as I would love Smith to come out of nowhere and prove everyone wrong that he is not a bust and show he can be a successful QB in the NFL I doubt that will happen. Smith did gain new life and confidence with the firing of Mike Nolan because Nolan basically killed all of his confidence when he could him out about not being hurt in 2007. Hill is our man, Hill is a proven man who can compete. The 49ers cannot afford to make the same mistake Nolan and former offensive coordinator Mike Martz made when naming an unproven QB in J.T. Duh! Sullivan the starter because he looked better in practice. Unless Norv Turner is our offensive coordinator (Smith’s best year was the one year Turner was on the coaching staff) Smith is a back-up. Mike Singletary please name Hill the starter!

Niner Noise » Norv Turner

Manny Lawson and Frank Gore Keys to Success

The Case Against Alex Smith