Players About Whom to Worry & Not Worry

[NinerSickness]

Here are the players about whom I was never worried and still am not worried:

Eric Reid. I know what the guy can do. He hasn't had an amazing first half, but he's a baller. He'll be fine.

Vernon. Injuries, slow start, drops, whatever. He still gives defensive coordinators fits. Not worried about him at all.

Iupati. He's had some injuries & had a broken leg in the offseason; he & every other OL got $**t on by the Rams. He dominated against New Orleans. He'll be fine. Dude can play. He's an extremely valuable piece of the offense, and people don't realize how valuable.

M. Martin. 20-year-old who went from the PUP to starting almost immediately. He simply wasn't ready; he needed another week to get into a rhythm. He played great against New Orleans. He'll be the starter at C for the next 10 years IMO (and a great one IMO).

Tank. Never freaked and I had no reason to. Can't say the guy's a bust before he even takes a snap.

Lemonier. Just because he didn't beat out Aaron Lynch doesn't mean he's no good. Lynch is a great player already; he was getting doubled & got consistent pressure on limited snaps. Lemonier's still younger than most rookies. He's a great talent, and I'm ecstatic to have him on the depth chart.

Vance McDonald. He'll never be a Jimmy Graham, but he blocks like an OL. He gets open pretty well, but he's had a couple of bad drops that have gotten into his head. I think that'll improve. The dude has the talent to be a great asset in the offense, and I think he'll be fine. More than adequate for a #2 TE.

Players about whom I am worried:

Bowman. ACL & MCL tear is serious.

Ward. He simply doesn't seem like a very good CB to me. Is he a future FS?

Brock. I was never the least bit impressed with him as a player.

Kaepernick.

Ian WIlliams. Just injuries. That's all. Hope he can get healthy & stay that way.

Dial. At least as a NT. Not impressed. He can rush the passer, but he was downright bad against the run. Is it his weird stance?

Craig Dahl. Can't be super deep at every position I guess. He doesn't even seem very good on special teams (of course I've only noticed him a few times there, so I could be wrong).

What say you?

[bmvanthiel]

Solid list. Few changes I would have. Iupati has played better, specifically in the run game he has had some really nice blocks. His pass protections worries me still though. Lemonier and McDonald both worry me. I think they are both busts. I dont see anything very special with these guys.

Ward I agree with. I dont see him as a CB. There's hope that he can still move to the safety position which will be more natural for him

Crabtree is one that worries me. I think he has the talent and we saw glimpses of what he is capable with Kaepernick but something isn't right with him. It might be because he's in a contract year, who knows.

[Jikkle]

The not worried list is pretty good.

Davis does worry me a bit because he's getting older and I'm not sure how much his heart is in the game given all the "brand" talk.

I agree with Lemonier and I'll say it's too soon to judge him yet. Aaron Lynch had top 15 talent and only dropped because he was a head case in college so there is no shame to not beating Lynch out who by all accounts is developing nicely.

In that same vein I'm not worried about Tank because guys ahead of him who have more experience are playing really well and Fangio that will go with experience unless there is a talent gap.

Bowman is too early to worry about. Given he was injured in the NFC championship game it shouldn't be a surprised he's not fully well yet and I think we all got our hopes up because of all the positive reviews.

Too soon to worry about Ward. Given the level of competition he came from and the fact he's going from Safety to slot CB which isn't' an easy job I expected him to take some lumps and he has. It's not uncommon for CBs to struggle their rookie years and have great 2nd seasons.

Brock I'm worried that he can't stay healthy. As far as his skills go I think he makes for a great #2 but is overmatched when it comes to being a #1 which is where he's at now.

Kaepernick still makes you nervous every time he throws the ball but I'm becoming less and less worried about him as he's put together some strong passing games so far and he looks like he's made some noticeable strides in QBing this year.

Ian Williams is too early to tell if he's injury prone or not. The injury he suffered last season came off a pretty nasty chop block which could injure pretty much anyone. And his latest injury he did actually fracture his bone so it's not like he's been out with groin or hamstring issues but actual broken bones.

Dial simply isn't an NT so I wouldn't say I'm worried about him but when he does play NT it is a concern. He played great at DE during the preseason so like Tank I have pretty high hopes for him.

Dahl is definitely a cause for concern when out there and Safety is definitely a weak spot in terms of depth. It's one area Baalke needs to address in the draft this year.

[49er4life1979]

Here are the players about whom I was never worried and still am not worried:

Eric Reid. I know what the guy can do. He hasn't had an amazing first half, but he's a baller. He'll be fine.

Vernon. Injuries, slow start, drops, whatever. He still gives defensive coordinators fits. Not worried about him at all.

Iupati. He's had some injuries & had a broken leg in the offseason; he & every other OL got $**t on by the Rams. He dominated against New Orleans. He'll be fine. Dude can play. He's an extremely valuable piece of the offense, and people don't realize how valuable.

M. Martin. 20-year-old who went from the PUP to starting almost immediately. He simply wasn't ready; he needed another week to get into a rhythm. He played great against New Orleans. He'll be the starter at C for the next 10 years IMO (and a great one IMO).

Tank. Never freaked and I had no reason to. Can't say the guy's a bust before he even takes a snap.

Lemonier. Just because he didn't beat out Aaron Lynch doesn't mean he's no good. Lynch is a great player already; he was getting doubled & got consistent pressure on limited snaps. Lemonier's still younger than most rookies. He's a great talent, and I'm ecstatic to have him on the depth chart.

Vance McDonald. He'll never be a Jimmy Graham, but he blocks like an OL. He gets open pretty well, but he's had a couple of bad drops that have gotten into his head. I think that'll improve. The dude has the talent to be a great asset in the offense, and I think he'll be fine. More than adequate for a #2 TE.

Players about whom I am worried:

Bowman. ACL & MCL tear is serious.

Ward. He simply doesn't seem like a very good CB to me. Is he a future FS?

Brock. I was never the least bit impressed with him as a player.

Kaepernick.

Ian WIlliams. Just injuries. That's all. Hope he can get healthy & stay that way.

Dial. At least as a NT. Not impressed. He can rush the passer, but he was downright bad against the run. Is it his weird stance?

Craig Dahl. Can't be super deep at every position I guess. He doesn't even seem very good on special teams (of course I've only noticed him a few times there, so I could be wrong).

What say you?

Not bad Ninersickness. However I will disagree with Vance McDonald. The potential is obvious and he was a good pass catching TE in college. The scheme, multitude of WRS + VD calls for him to be a blocker for now, but he will be ok longterm. As for Lemonier, still early but not encouraged so far. As for Kap, he's made strides this year in terms of going through his progressions. He still needs to learn to just get rid of the ball and not hold it and take sacks. Dial, will be a very good DE in the 3-4 and DT in the 4-3.

[zman1]

Not worried about Kap at all: he is a fine young QB who continues to improve.

Worried about:

Vernon - is father time getting to him via injury bug?

Crabtree - not really worried, dissappointed, seems like we know what he is going to be and it is not a number one receiver.

Lemonier, McDonald - should be producing by now. Will they ever?

[49er4life1979]

Not worried about Kap at all: he is a fine young QB who continues to improve.

Worried about:

Vernon - is father time getting to him via injury bug?

Crabtree - not really worried, dissappointed, seems like we know what he is going to be and it is not a number one receiver.

Lemonier, McDonald - should be producing by now. Will they ever?

I am more confident in McDonald for now than Lemonier. The scheme Niners run requires blocking from TEs. Also, the presence of VD has certainly taken opportunities away from McDonald. I think he will be ok.

[NinerSickness]

I left Crabtree off my "worried" list because I've always had much lower expectations of him than most people. Boldin, Stevie & Crabtree are all pretty similar players. The Niners have 3 good receivers, and so I'm not worried about the receiving corps.

As far as Lemonier goes, he's in the same boat as Tank IMO. I want to actually see him consistently play poorly before I'm worried about him. He played great last season, and he's had extremely limited playing time this season. I think that's a much bigger indicator that Aaron Lynch is great than it is Lemonier is bad. Not to mention Skuta has been playing very well.

If Lemonier started an entire game and did nothing I'd be worried, but how many snaps has he even played on defense this year?

As far as Dial goes, I think the jury isn't just out; the jury hasn't even been picked on him as a DE. How many snaps as Dial gotten at DE? I don't think it's been very many. I really don't know what to expect from him there.

[CalamityX12]

Lemonade has done nothing while Lynch has impressed.

Lynch rightfully gets the pt.

[NinerSickness]

Lemonade has done nothing while Lynch has impressed.

Lynch rightfully gets the pt.

You hit the nail on the head on both points. Lynch rightfully gets the playing time because he's a better player than Lemonier.



Also, Lemonier has done "nothing." Doing nothing is not the same thing as playing poorly. It wouldn't surprise me if Lemonier didn't have more than about 15-30 defensive snaps all season if that. He's in the same boat as Tank right now. Except Lemonier played really well last season, so we know the guy can play.

[49er4life1979]

I left Crabtree off my "worried" list because I've always had much lower expectations of him than most people. Boldin, Stevie & Crabtree are all pretty similar players. The Niners have 3 good receivers, and so I'm not worried about the receiving corps.

As far as Lemonier goes, he's in the same boat as Tank IMO. I want to actually see him consistently play poorly before I'm worried about him. He played great last season, and he's had extremely limited playing time this season. I think that's a much bigger indicator that Aaron Lynch is great than it is Lemonier is bad. Not to mention Skuta has been playing very well.

If Lemonier started an entire game and did nothing I'd be worried, but how many snaps has he even played on defense this year?

As far as Dial goes, I think the jury isn't just out; the jury hasn't even been picked on him as a DE. How many snaps as Dial gotten at DE? I don't think it's been very many. I really don't know what to expect from him there.

As for Dial, he had a sack last week which is nice. He's had a good preseason and shown the capability rush the passer. He's is a 3-4 DE and DT in the 4-3.

[ChrisPozz]

Lemonade has done nothing while Lynch has impressed.

Lynch rightfully gets the pt.

You hit the nail on the head on both points. Lynch rightfully gets the playing time because he's a better player than Lemonier.



Also, Lemonier has done "nothing." Doing nothing is not the same thing as playing poorly. It wouldn't surprise me if [b]Lemonier didn't have more than about 15-30 defensive snaps all season if that. [/b] He's in the same boat as Tank right now. Except Lemonier played really well last season, so we know the guy can play.

He's played the run 29 times.
He's rushed the passer 71 times.
He dropped into coverage 2 times.

Total - 102 snaps. 68 of those 102 snaps came in the first two weeks of the season (

@ Dallas - 39 out of 73 plays.
vs. CHI - 29 out of 61 plays.
@ AZ - 22 out of 69 plays.
@ DEN - 10 out of 61 plays.
@ NO - 2 out of 83 plays.

[NinerSickness]

Thanks as always CP.

[ChrisPozz]

I should've said it then but I'll say it now before I go finish the Miami game. Those are PFF's numbers and, as always, they may differ from other website's snap counts a little bit. They're usually all fairly close to each other though.