2021 49ers offseason

[Samurai]

Worth noting they cut two players, possibly in anticipation of signing Walker.

Yes, Daniel Helm was the other cut (besides Johnson), who is a TE; same position as Walker. Perhaps Walker could become our "receiving" TE similar to how we used Jordan Reed last season, with Charlie Woerner developing into our "blocking" TE. I've never been overly impressed with Dwelley in either role.

[Scoots1994]

Dwelley's blocking came along a lot last year but his route running is still sub-par.

[Samurai]

Niners signed TE MyCole Pruitt, 29. Guessing that means that we won't see Delanie Walker back in red and gold this season. Pruitt is best known for his run-blocking; his PFF run-blocking grade of 71.1 tied for seventh best among all tight ends. But his pass-blocking grade was only 52.9 and he's only caught 32 passes in 63 games for his career. He did run an elite 4.58 40 at the 2015 Combine, by far the best time at that Combine for a tight end, so maybe the Niners feel there is some untapped potential as a receiver that he has not displayed yet. But having Pruitt and Kittle in a two tight-end set on running plays should create some running lanes for our guys.

[Scoots1994]

Niners signed TE MyCole Pruitt, 29. Guessing that means that we won't see Delanie Walker back in red and gold this season. Pruitt is best known for his run-blocking; his PFF run-blocking grade of 71.1 tied for seventh best among all tight ends. But his pass-blocking grade was only 52.9 and he's only caught 32 passes in 63 games for his career. He did run an elite 4.58 40 at the 2015 Combine, by far the best time at that Combine for a tight end, so maybe the Niners feel there is some untapped potential as a receiver that he has not displayed yet. But having Pruitt and Kittle in a two tight-end set on running plays should create some running lanes for our guys.

The problem with this is they already had pretty good run blocking TEs, what they are missing is other TE receivers.

[CrimsonCrew]

Assault charges were dropped against Kevin Givens. Very good news for him. He was the first guy Ryans mentioned when asked about a breakout player this year. Our interior DL has some serious depth this year.

[Samurai]

Niners signed TE MyCole Pruitt, 29. Guessing that means that we won't see Delanie Walker back in red and gold this season. Pruitt is best known for his run-blocking; his PFF run-blocking grade of 71.1 tied for seventh best among all tight ends. But his pass-blocking grade was only 52.9 and he's only caught 32 passes in 63 games for his career. He did run an elite 4.58 40 at the 2015 Combine, by far the best time at that Combine for a tight end, so maybe the Niners feel there is some untapped potential as a receiver that he has not displayed yet. But having Pruitt and Kittle in a two tight-end set on running plays should create some running lanes for our guys.

The problem with this is they already had pretty good run blocking TEs, what they are missing is other TE receivers.

I agree. Unless Pruitt shows some decent route running and hands to go along with his great speed, we don't have a replacement for Jordan Reed as the "receiving" TE. Still not sold on Dwelley and Woerner seems more of a blocking TE than a receiving TE.

[CrimsonCrew]

First serious injuries of the offseason, beyond Wilson Jr. Justin Skule tore his ACL, and Tarvarius Moore tore his Achilles.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/06/08/justin-skule-tears-acl-tarvarius-moore-tears-achilles-for-49ers/

Skule was likely in a battle for a roster spot anyway, but Moore had a decent shot at starting at one of the safety spots. The Jefferson signing makes a lot more sense now. Let's hope this isn't a trend.

[arich35]

First serious injuries of the offseason, beyond Wilson Jr. Justin Skule tore his ACL, and Tarvarius Moore tore his Achilles.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/06/08/justin-skule-tears-acl-tarvarius-moore-tears-achilles-for-49ers/

Skule was likely in a battle for a roster spot anyway, but Moore had a decent shot at starting at one of the safety spots. The Jefferson signing makes a lot more sense now. Let's hope this isn't a trend.

It is a trend every damn year. I was looking forward to what Moore could possibly do in a starting role

[CrimsonCrew]

Yeah, I like a lot about Moore - except his tackling. He takes awful angles. But he's fast, relatively instinctive, has good ball skills. I was hoping he would claim one of those safety spots emphatically. Looks like we need to hope Tartt and Ward stay healthy. Always a dicey proposition.

[CrimsonCrew]

Ugh. Insult to injury, they're cancelling the OTA session that's open to the media. Obviously you can't draw too much from these sessions, but they're all we've got for football these days.

[CrimsonCrew]

Entire offseason program now cancelled, including the three-day mandatory minicamp, which media was set to attend for its duration. I can see why the team did it, though there's also a degree of futility to it IMO. These serious injuries are pretty fluky, and it's kind of a china doll approach just to call off practices entirely. As a fan, I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to three days of sustained reports. Again, not that these practices mean much, but I'm just dying to see/hear more on Lance.

[CrimsonCrew]

Niners lose that last week of off-field rookie instruction for illegal contact, likely stemming from the Deommodore Lenoir INT posted on twitter.

https://www.49erswebzone.com/articles/147751-nfl-penalizes-49ers-rookie-minicamp-violation/

This is just dumb. I can see penalizing them, even though as "contact" goes, that's incredibly minor. I don't know how you run WR vs. CB drills with less contact than that. But as I understand it, they're taking away the week when rookies are instructed on professionalism, finances, balancing the pressures of the NFL, avoiding pressure from friends and family, etc. I suppose they can assume the Niners will just do that during other team time, but of all things to take away, that's got to be the dumbest. Fine the team or coaches. Take away on-field practice time. Don't jam up the rookies on stuff like this. What morons.

[GS Warriors 1]

Haven't check in on here since the draft but wanted to note about the season-ending injuries, especially Tarvarius Moore. A damn shame, he was expected to have a solid role on the defense this season.

DE Jordan Willis popped for PEDs, he's suspended for 6 weeks. He'll still be able to participate in training camp and preseason games. Not off to a great start here.

[RIPskaterdude]

Read on Twitter

[CrimsonCrew]

Glad we locked him up longterm. He's a huge player and leader for us, and he's at the forefront of the new NFL LB, an increasingly important position. Obviously the deal itself will come down to the numbers, though I have faith in Marathe.

[CrimsonCrew]

I think it's good they signed him before Darius Leonard. Seems like one of them was going to sign, and then the other would likely use that contract as a starting point. Glad we got out ahead of it. And frankly, I like Warner a lot more as a player.

[Samurai]

Glad we locked him up longterm. He's a huge player and leader for us, and he's at the forefront of the new NFL LB, an increasingly important position. Obviously the deal itself will come down to the numbers, though I have faith in Marathe.

Sounds like 5 years, $95M with $40.5M guaranteed. The $19M average annual makes him the highest paid off-ball LB in history, surpassing Bobby Wagner.

I don't know how much Marathe makes per year, but whatever it is, seems like he is worth it.

[GS Warriors 1]

45% guaranteed is still a solid deal for the 49ers.

As noted in a thread about Warner down the page, extending him was my lock move of the offseason for them. They set a goal to get it done before camp and did just that. This negotiation went a lot quicker than Kittle's last year, I think due to there being a market price that was already set in place (Mosley), unlike TE.

[Jikkle]

Seems like when the 9ers really want a deal done they get it done.

The only one that was sketchy was the Williams deal but that was a somewhat unique situation because most players won't push free agency if their current team makes them a strong extension offer.

[CrimsonCrew]

Lance signed this morning. Four-year, ~$34 million deal. Glad he's in the fold before camp starts up. So ready to get some news on this team.