Grade The Niners' Offseason

[gswhoops]

Now that the draft has ended, I think we can officially judge all the moves the Niners have made this offseason.

FREE AGENCY:

-Signed CB Nate Clements to 8 year $80 million deal
-Signed SS Michael Lewis to 6 year, $30 million deal
-Signed OLB Tully Banta-Cain to 3 year, $12 million deal
-Signed DT Aubrayo Franklin to 3 year, $9 million deal
-Signed WR Ashley Lelie to 2 year, $4 million deal
-Resigned DE Bryant Young
-Extended RB Frank Gore

DRAFT/TRADES:

-Picked LB Patrick Willis from Ole Miss #11 overall
-Traded the #127 overall and a 1st round pick in 2008 to New England for the #29 overall
-Picked OT Joe Staley from Central Michigan #29 overall
-Traded the #42 overall to Indianapolis for the #126 overall and a 1st round pick in 2008
-Picked WR Jason Hill from Washington State #76 overall
-Picked DE/DT Ray McDonald from Florida #97 overall
-Picked DE Jay Moore from Nebraska #104 overall
-Traded the #124 overall to Seattle for WR Darrell Jackson
-Picked S Dashon Goldson from Washington #126 overall
-Picked DE Joe Cohen from Florida #135 overall
-Picked CB Tarell Brown from Texas #147 overall
-Picked RB Thomas Clayton from Kansas State #186 overall

I give this offseason an A-

[Harry Palmer]

I'd say more like a B.

We never really addressed the pass rush hole, which we knew going into this offseason was a serious need. Banta-Cain might be nice, but we are still left hoping Lawson becomes a big-time threat.

[UKF]

I like what they did a lot. I like the Nate Clements signing and us drafting ILB Patrick Willis. We did a lot of other things such as sighning Banta-Cain and drafting OT Joe Staley and getting guys to fill needed spots. The reason I dont give us an A is because we couldnt hold on to Norv. I think our d will be good next year but hopefully our offense can keep on trucking after the loss of our offensive cord.

Overall Grade:B+

[opzoneworld]

Even though the draft is over, there will still be some chances for the 49ers to make moves. The following week or two after the draft lots of teams cut vets that they were able to replace via the draft. That fact along with them possibly trying to trade Smiley could mean this team is not done yet.

That being said, I give them an A. Best offseason NE, very close second SF.

Loosing Norv really sucks but I like how they replaced from within so the change for Smith, Gore and Davis shouldn't be "that" great. What will also help is that for the first time they have an above average core of recievers for Alex to throw to. Jack should have a big year, hope AL can go back to his Denver days of production and I believe Hill will come on towards the second half. Count Davis and Gore and Alex has weapons all over the field. This O should be awesome to watch. Third year for Alex so this is the year for him to make a name for himself and he has the weapons to do so. It will be on him.

The D is vastly improved as well. Over half the D could be new starters this year. That can only be an improvement from last year. I know people think we didn't get that pass rusher that we needed but I think we did. We are now -Stacked- on the DL and with LB's. This means we will be shuffling linemen and linebackers in and out all game. Come the second half, our pash rush should then be fairly fresh while the opposing o-line will start to tire and we can make a move. This can be huge.

Mock me if you will, but I strongly believe that SF had the second best offseason in the NFL.

My two cents.

[ticknyler]

A-.........not an A only because we couldnt keep Norv and i wanted that DT Paul Soliai with our 1st pick in the 4th round instead of Moore. All in all, we at least added a ton of depth along the D-LIne and Secondary with all those picks.

People are compalining about the lack of a pass rush? Understand that hardly any D-lineman in the league in the 3-4 get more than 5 sacks a year and there responsibility is taking on blocker to free up the linebackers to make plays. Not to mention that we cant fill all our holes in 1 offseason. Next year we should only have about 1 need, D-Line and thats what our 1st and 2nd round picks will be.

Offseason Checklist
Secondary-check
Recievers-check
Oline-Check
D-line, partial check.....will be fine this year, but no long term solution
Playmakers-Check.....Jackson, Willis, Hill, Clements, Banta-Cain..wow

[eight the Great]

A- ... we got some nice players but lost Norv, I hope Alex still improves

[thanew_]

A-/B+

Norv was a big loss, but we got weapons for Alex, and we we really addressed our big needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Outside of the Patriots I really think we did have the best offseason.

[SactownHrtBrks8]

I like our additions. Especially Jackson and the two secondary pickups.

I think our draft was awesome too.

Lossing Norv does hurt a lot though so I give our offseason a B for now.

If we make the playoffs this year though, our offseason was defiantly an A+

[Swift21]

The Loss of Norv will not hurt us at all. People give him way too much credit.

As long as we continue to run the football well, we'll be fine.

[Sacramento_King]

I think the loss of Norv hurts Alex Smith. You want continuity with a young quarterback and Norv being around for an additional season would have helped. I think he will be okay since we will run the ball but keeping Norv would've benefited him greatly. The offseason is an A- thanks to the loss of Norv.

[FNQ]

As a Raider fan and classic 9er hater....


I dont see anyone that bumped their status higher than the 49ers.

Getting Staley was a steal - I dont think he's far off of Joe Thomas at all. Pat Willis is a beast, Darrell Jackson is an experienced #1.... pair him with Gore, Vernon Davis, and longball threat Lelie, and the 9ers offense leaps off the page.

Landing Clements and Lewis (overpaid a bit, but thats what you gotta do) was a great boost to the secondary... there is still a pass-rush hole, but if thats the worst thing that happened...

A+. Way better than the Pats offseason, as they will find out that not giving Moss 10 downfield looks a game apparently disinterests him...

[ebott]

I am super duper psyched. I give them an A.

The defense should be much better with the additions they made. I really think the offense is going to be more efficient just with Alex Smith and Vernon Davis having another year under their belts.

I think they've got as good of a chance to win the division as anybody.