3 PLAYERS I AM CLOSELY WATCHING IN 2015

49er4life1979 · Post #1 » by **49er4life1979** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 5:26 pm

The 3 players who I believe need to significantly perform better imo in 2015 are:

1. Vance McDonald - 2nd round pick, drafted primarily for his pass catching has done very little in that department. He's got all the physical tools and the speed to be a stud, so time to start showing it. It really bugs me that his former college teammate Luke Willson, a 5th rounder is doing better than him. Vance has been a solid blocker thus far, but I am sure all of you agree we need much more than that at this point from him.

2. Corey Lemonier - a solid rookie season but he hit a wall last year. He obviously needs more pass rush moves in his arsenal. With Brooks all but guaranteed to be gone and Skuta a free agent, Niners definitely need him to start playing in the rotation.

3. Quinton Patton - a solid rookie preseason, unfortunately missed most of his rookie season due to injury, but came on late in the season with some clutch catches. Was WIDE open underneath in the NFC Title Game with no one in sight but we wont go there...He also caught a nice 35 yard pass against Arizona in the finale this season. He has the speed and elusiveness to be an underneath weapon, and if Stevie is released for his high cap #, I would love to see Patton step in.

-AC- · Post #2 » by **-AC-** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:41 pm

I want to see if Sparano can get anything out of McDonald before moving on...

Lemonier doesn't have much to offer... He's decent on ST's but he isn't a pass rushing specialist or an overall skill set guy that you can rely on... They might find somebody better in the late rounds to take his spot...

I've damn near written Patton off at this point... The kid has enthusiasm but can't put it together on the field... There was plenty of opportunity for him to steal some playing time last season, but the guy was nonexistent...

Bingo_AlphaMan · Post #3 » by **Bingo_AlphaMan** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:40 pm

Lemonier was a wasted pick. Set it from the onset. Not sure why we drafted Vance that high, but I also want to give him one final shot to prove his worth.

49er4life1979 · Post #4 » by **49er4life1979** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 7:58 pm

-AC- wrote:I want to see if Sparano can get anything out of McDonald before moving on...

Lemonier doesn't have much to offer... He's decent on ST's but he isn't a pass rushing specialist or an overall skill set guy that you can rely on... They might find somebody better in the late rounds to take his spot...

I've damn near written Patton off at this point... The kid has enthusiasm but can't put it together on the field... There was plenty of opportunity for him to steal some playing time last season, but the guy was nonexistent...

I thought Patton has shown some flashes when given the opportunity. I am not ready to give up on him just yet.

-AC- · Post #5 » by **-AC-** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 9:38 pm

49er4life1979 wrote:
-AC- wrote:I want to see if Sparano can get anything out of McDonald before moving on...

Lemonier doesn't have much to offer... He's decent on ST's but he isn't a pass rushing specialist or an overall skill set guy that you can rely on... They might find somebody better in the late rounds to take his spot...

I've damn near written Patton off at this point... The kid has enthusiasm but can't put it together on the field... There was plenty of opportunity for him to steal some playing time last season, but the guy was nonexistent...

I thought Patton has shown some flashes when given the opportunity. I am not ready to give up on him just yet.

I don't know... His 6 catches for 78 yards in two seasons is extremely underwhelming... With that said, John Morton was his WR coach during that time... So maybe there is hope for him yet...

49er4life1979 · Post #6 » by **49er4life1979** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:36 am

-AC- wrote:
49er4life1979 wrote:
-AC- wrote:I want to see if Sparano can get anything out of McDonald before moving on...

Lemonier doesn't have much to offer... He's decent on ST's but he isn't a pass rushing specialist or an overall skill set guy that you can rely on... They might find somebody better in the late rounds to take his spot...

I've damn near written Patton off at this point... The kid has enthusiasm but can't put it together on the field... There was plenty of opportunity for him to steal some playing time last season, but the guy was nonexistent...

I thought Patton has shown some flashes when given the opportunity. I am not ready to give up on him just yet.

I don't know... His 6 catches for 78 yards in two seasons is extremely underwhelming... With that said, John Morton was his WR coach during that time... So maybe there is hope for him yet...

When given the opportunity to contribute...And yes Morton was part of it....H was inactive for for what 13 games in 2014? And missed a huge chunk of time in 2013 with injuries....This has to be the year for him.

DreDinis21 · Post #7 » by **DreDinis21** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:55 am

Brandon Thomas OG: Assuming Iupati is let go without an extension, our offensive identity is held together only by how strong a replacement Thomas can be coming out the gates, in what is his true rookie season after recovering last season from an ACL tear in a pre-draft camp. We NEED him to be a bad ass.

Bruce Ellington WR/ST Return Game: Assuming Crabtree and Lloyd aren't coming back, the roster would otherwise be Stevie Johnson, Boldin, Ellington, Patton, and whoever the Niners draft in this draft. Ellington is a raw but explosive specimen that seems to be open often and is as gritty as he is quick. I hope he can solidify our return game and be someone who can light a fire into the offense.

Carlos Hyde HB: Gore or no Gore, this is an important year for Hyde because he's only got two different options that lead to things falling into favor for him:
1. Gore comes back and takes the alpha RB, Hyde needs to show to be explosive and disruptive on every carry he gets while at the same time staying durable. If Hyde can show good short yardage conversion %, if he can show a good 5.+ YPC, if he can find his way to the end zone, if he can show solid blitz pickup ability in his time on the field, he can prove he's ready for his chance.
2. Gore is not re-signed and Hyde is now the alpha RB and by definition of how our offense works, by all means the Niner bell-cow. That is A LOT of pressure as he is in essence replacing a Niner legend. He would have to bring it and be the Niners everything in the ground game AND pass protection.

CrimsonCrew · Post #8 » by **CrimsonCrew** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 5:16 am

49er4life1979 wrote:
-AC- wrote:
49er4life1979 wrote:
I thought Patton has shown some flashes when given the opportunity. I am not ready to give up on him just yet.

I don't know... His 6 catches for 78 yards in two seasons is extremely underwhelming... With that said, John Morton was his WR coach during that time... So maybe there is hope for him yet...

When given the opportunity to contribute...And yes Morton was part of it....H was inactive for for what 13 games in 2014? And missed a huge chunk of time in 2013 with injuries....This has to be the year for him.

That's largely because he doesn't play on STs. I'm not sure any rookie WR would have been playing over Boldin, Crabtree, and Johnson last year under that staff. Osgood had an active roster spot for coverage, and Ellington for returning. I wouldn't rule out Patton just yet.

CrimsonCrew · Post #9 » by **CrimsonCrew** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 5:18 am

Vance McDonald is the big one for me. His measurables are as good or better than basically any TE this year. He was a good receiver in college. We need him to get his head in the game. Hopefully Sparano can help him out. The guy needs to have more of a role. ANd we need to use him more.

Hangman_52 · Post #10 » by **Hangman_52** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:08 am

CrimsonCrew wrote:Vance McDonald is the big one for me. His measurables are as good or better than basically any TE this year. He was a good receiver in college. We need him to get his head in the game. Hopefully Sparano can help him out. The guy needs to have more of a role. And we need to use him more.

How is he supposed to get his head in the game when he doesn't get the ball even when he is open? He will get a pass thrown his way and he drops it. Then won't get another chance for weeks. He was open a lot, but Kaepernick would not throw him the ball. Of course he threw the ball to others who dropped the ball a lot last season. If I was coaching I would give McDonald a few easy catches to give him confidence. Make him the first option on a few plays to get him going. TE is a position that does take a few years to really get going so it is way too early for people to give up on him. Fleener who is a better pass catcher and played with his QB in college as his #1 receiver sucked for 2 years. He was just starting to get it together in the middle of last season and he plays more and gets a lot more passes his way.

I am not blaming Kaepernick for this, it just seemed that McDonald was getting a raw deal by fans and by lack of trust issues by the QB.

CrimsonCrew · Post #11 » by **CrimsonCrew** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:14 am

Hangman_52 wrote:
CrimsonCrew wrote:Vance McDonald is the big one for me. His measurables are as good or better than basically any TE this year. He was a good receiver in college. We need him to get his head in the game. Hopefully Sparano can help him out. The guy needs to have more of a role. And we need to use him more.

How is he supposed to get his head in the game when he doesn't get the ball even when he is open? He will get a pass thrown his way and he drops it. Then won't get another chance for weeks. He was open a lot, but Kaepernick would not throw him the ball. Of course he threw the ball to others who dropped the ball a lot last season. If I was coaching I would give McDonald a few easy catches to give him confidence. Make him the first option on a few plays to get him going. TE is a position that does take a few years to really get going so it is way too early for people to give up on him. Fleener who is a better pass catcher and played with his QB in college as his #1 receiver sucked for 2 years. He was just starting to get it together in the middle of last season and he plays more and gets a lot more passes his way.

I am not blaming Kaepernick for this, it just seemed that McDonald was getting a raw deal by fans and by lack of trust issues by the QB.

No argument here. I have major issues with how the coaching staff developed and used offensive players. Hell, Delanie Walker went from being a complete afterthought in the passing game to being one of the leading receivers in the league at TE. We need to give Vance more of an opportunity, but it's also on him not to blow the chances he gets.

Hangman_52 · Post #12 » by **Hangman_52** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:28 am

The 3 players I am closely watching this season are:

1) Boldin. Will he show his age and drop balls like last season (The most on the team with 10 tied with Crabtree but less passes thrown his way.) If so take away his playing time and use him as a mentor. I'd rather go with Ellington, Patton, Johnson, and a rookie. They caught the ball well last season. FYI, Vance only had 1 drop all last season on 7 passes thrown his way.

2) Andy Lee. His punts are not nearly as well as they had been in the past and he has been inconsistent. For a long time he was reliable, but this season there were a lot of mistakes. He can be replaced for cheaper and have someone do as well or better.

3) Staley. He is on the last year of his contract and is getting older. He has shown a dip in his performance over the past two seasons. He might be cheaper to replace in the draft the next year or move him to RT and Davis to LT.

arich35 · Post #13 » by **arich35** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:47 am

Bingo_AlphaMan wrote:Lemonier was a wasted pick. Set it from the onset. Not sure why we drafted Vance that high, but I also want to give him one final shot to prove his worth.

Who are the other board was really high on him??

DreDinis21 · Post #14 » by **DreDinis21** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:44 am

Lemonier was an exciting pick for Sick and I...too early to eat my helping of crow, but lets just say I'm mentally preparing myself for the inevitable.

Post #15 » by **TNBT** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:54 pm

Surprised not to see Kap mentioned in here. I have a lot of faith in him and he has amazing tools and talent, but for me, whether he steps up or not this season will play a big role in how well this offense performs and how far we go as a team.

-AC- · Post #16 » by **-AC-** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 1:36 pm

TNBT wrote:Surprised not to see Kap mentioned in here. I have a lot of faith in him and he has amazing tools and talent, but for me, whether he steps up or not this season will play a big role in how well this offense performs and how far we go as a team.

I think Kaep goes without saying...

Post #17 » by **TNBT** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 1:41 pm

-AC- wrote:
TNBT wrote:Surprised not to see Kap mentioned in here. I have a lot of faith in him and he has amazing tools and talent, but for me, whether he steps up or not this season will play a big role in how well this offense performs and how far we go as a team.

I think Kaep goes without saying...

Yeah, you're probably right.

Post #18 » by **CalamityX12** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:35 pm

1. Hyde - want to see this guy really come out like Murray strong or something close to it. With or without Gore, I'd expect Hyde to get the majority of the touches and with the push for more running, we need the running game to be effective. This is where Hyde gets to shine and hopefully shows us all how good he can be.

2. OL - Brandon Thomas & Marcus Martin - I believe these two will be great additions to the OL. Most likely Iupati leaves thus opening for a solid and successful start for Thomas(hopeful). Martin he's going to be a good C for us, not sure why many fans were down on him. I think he had one clear bad gm(first?) n that's it, the rest were pretty good and solid considering he was thrown into the fire.

3. Aldon Smith - Needs to be reborn soon and now is the time!

49er4life1979 · Post #19 » by **49er4life1979** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:13 pm

Hangman_52 wrote:The 3 players I am closely watching this season are:

1) Boldin. Will he show his age and drop balls like last season (The most on the team with 10 tied with Crabtree but less passes thrown his way.) If so take away his playing time and use him as a mentor. I'd rather go with Ellington, Patton, Johnson, and a rookie. They caught the ball well last season. FYI, Vance only had 1 drop all last season on 7 passes thrown his way.

2) Andy Lee. His punts are not nearly as well as they had been in the past and he has been inconsistent. For a long time he was reliable, but this season there were a lot of mistakes. He can be replaced for cheaper and have someone do as well or better.

3) Staley. He is on the last year of his contract and is getting older. He has shown a dip in his performance over the past two seasons. He might be cheaper to replace in the draft the next year or move him to RT and Davis to LT.

Staley is actually signed through 2020.

jackwindham · Post #20 » by **jackwindham** » Thu Feb 26, 2015 12:44 am

Going to be keeping a close eye on Ward. He showed some flashes in his rookie season. Hopefully, he's healthy next season.