Where Will the SF 2008 #1 Be ?

[BelichickFan]

This is kind of combined with the Harris poll, as people are voting for the pick over Harris I'm curious where you expect the pick to be.

 

[BelichickFan]

I'm going with 11-15 although I think there'a a better chance of top ten than of 21-32.

 

[JoePats]

I think SF is on the upswing in a lousy lousy conference. The Patriots are however one Frank Gore injury away from the top 10.

 

[BelichickFan]

I think SF is on the upswing in a lousy lousy conference. The Patriots are however one Frank Gore injury away from the top 10.

I like Seattle, St. Louis and maybe even Arizona more than SF. I think SF is heading for a 3rd place finish in their division and possibly last depending how well the new coaches mesh in Arizona. If Russ Grimm gets that OL improved I like the Arizona skill guys a lot better than SF.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

I think the Niners will go 9-7 at best and 7-9 at worst. They are a team on the rise and have some nice additions in free agency and the draft.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I voted 11-15. I think the 49ers will go 7-9 or 8-8 this year. They've added a few pieces but I don't think they're playoff caliber yet.

 

[PatsSteve1]

How they do will likely depend on injuries and if Smith plays better at QB. They should be a better team than last year.

 

[Urgent]

SF finished 7-9.

They added:
WR Ashley Lelie, WR Darrell Jackson, NT Aubrayo Franklin, LB Tully Banta-Cain, CB Nate Clement, S Michael Lewis
Plus:
ILB Patrick Willis, OT Joe Staley, WR Jason Hill, a couple of Florida linemen, etc.

They lost almost nothing of consequence. TE Eric Johnson, but Vernon Davis replaced him. DT Anthony Adams, but Baltimore NT Franklin replaces him. CB Sammy Davis, but Nate Clements replaces him.

Former #1 overall QB Alex Smith had a year of getting used to the NFL, after a year of learning. So he should be somewhat improved. Adding Jackson and Lelie should help him as well.

San Francisco had about as good an offseason as New England, and should be among the most improved teams in the NFL.

San Francisco was better than Arizona last year, had a far far better offseason (Arizona added such household names as OT Qasim Mitchell, DE Rodney Bailey, DT Joe Tafoya, and CB Roderick Hood), yet some folks here are picking Arizona ahead of San Francisco?

 

[BelichickFan]

SF finished 7-9.

They gave up the most points in the league.
They scored the 9th least points in the league.
They had the 5th worst point differential in the league.
Football Outsiders ranked them 29th in the league.
Alex Smith's QB rating dropped in the second half vs. the first. half of the season.
Two of their wins were against the two worst teams in the league, Detroit and Oakland.
Only two of their wins were against a playoff team, Seattle twice.
One of the Seattle wins was with no Hasselbeck.

I think the 7-9 record was bloated, to say the least.

 

[patsox23]

Boy, I hope you top-15-ers are on the mark, but I don't see it. SF is an up and coming team and they've had a GREAT off-season/draft, IMO.

 

[BelichickFan]

Boy, I hope you top-15-ers are on the mark, but I don't see it. SF is an up and coming team and they've had a GREAT off-season/draft, IMO.

I know I'm repeating myself ad nauseum but as of the start of this offseason they were a crappy team (5th worst point differential) that scraped out a 7-9 record. Maybe the young guys improve, maybe the new additions help. But they weren't very good last year and they lost Norv Turner who's a good OC/QB coach so some regression of Smith is possible (from his very mediocre 2006).

 

[Seymour93]

Boy, I hope you top-15-ers are on the mark, but I don't see it. SF is an up and coming team and they've had a GREAT off-season/draft, IMO.

The Redskins usually have GREAT offseasons too. Sorry, I'm not buying into the hype as long as Alex Smith is their QB and the losing culture is still thriving out there. While they had a pretty good draft, I don't think their FA acquisitions are very impressive. Lelie = bust. Jackson = **** attitude. TBC = nothing special. Lewis = can't defend the pass. And they basically gave a more physical Asante Samuel eighty million dollars. Clements got his mega money now we'll see if he keeps playing like how he did for a few seasons in Buffalo. Eight wins at the most and that would be because they have a bush league schedule.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

I don't man, the Niners could be tough this year. They are a lot like the Dolphins of last year. Solid core on defense, good running game, but a question mark at the quarterback spot. Of course it all blew up in our faces in Miami but I don't think that will happen to the Niners. I see them around 9-7 or 10-6 and in the playoffs.

 

[Aqua4Ever04]

The Redskins usually have GREAT offseasons too. Sorry, I'm not buying into the hype as long as Alex Smith is their QB and the losing culture is still thriving out there. .

By no means am I underminding the Pats off-season, but they were the big winners in FA this year. Does that worry you guys at all?

 

[Handel]

They will be somewhere between 15 and 25.

 

[sebman2112]

I think their in the 16-20 range.

 

[g-fresh]

By no means am I underminding the Pats off-season, but they were the big winners in FA this year. Does that worry you guys at all?

They were a much poorer team to start out with though, so the fact that they acquired a few more players doesn't mean they were the winners in FA. The Pat's signed better players for less money, that makes them the winners of FA to me.

That being said, the 49ers will do as well as Frank Gore can carry them. They have improved in some areas, their young players will have another year of experience, and they seemed to do well in the draft but they will do as well or as poorly as Frank Gore. If he gets hurt they are in big trouble because I don't think Alex Smith can carry that team.

Their schedule doesn't have a lot of easy games and their divisional rivals improved to some extent in the offseason, so if nothing else it should be interesting.

 

[Seymour93]

By no means am I underminding the Pats off-season, but they were the big winners in FA this year. Does that worry you guys at all?

TBH, yes it worries me. But the difference between our situation and SF's or Washington's is that we BB, Brady, and crew. The 49ers have Mike Nolan and Alex Smith. The Redskins have Joe Gibbs and Jason Campbell. I'm confident that our guys can handle the pressure, but it's going to be tough.

 

[TealSox]

They gave up the most points in the league.
They scored the 9th least points in the league.
They had the 5th worst point differential in the league.
Football Outsiders ranked them 29th in the league.
Alex Smith's QB rating dropped in the second half vs. the first. half of the season.
Two of their wins were against the two worst teams in the league, Detroit and Oakland.
Only two of their wins were against a playoff team, Seattle twice.
One of the Seattle wins was with no Hasselbeck.

I think the 7-9 record was bloated, to say the least.

Add to that, they have a new offensive coordinator (Jeff Hostetler?). Norv Turner was going places with Alex Smith and now they lose him for some inexperience former QB.

Also, Gore fumbles far too much (especially near the goalline).

 

[The 12th Man]

SF finished 7-9.

They added:
WR Ashley Lelie, WR Darrell Jackson, NT Aubrayo Franklin, LB Tully Banta-Cain, CB Nate Clement, S Michael Lewis
Plus:
ILB Patrick Willis, OT Joe Staley, WR Jason Hill, a couple of Florida linemen, etc.

They lost almost nothing of consequence. TE Eric Johnson, but Vernon Davis replaced him. DT Anthony Adams, but Baltimore NT Franklin replaces him. CB Sammy Davis, but Nate Clements replaces him.

Former #1 overall QB Alex Smith had a year of getting used to the NFL, after a year of learning. So he should be somewhat improved. Adding Jackson and Lelie should help him as well.

San Francisco had about as good an offseason as New England, and should be among the most improved teams in the NFL.

San Francisco was better than Arizona last year, had a far far better offseason (Arizona added such household names as OT Qasim Mitchell, DE Rodney Bailey, DT Joe Tafoya, and CB Roderick Hood), yet some folks here are picking Arizona ahead of San Francisco?

I agree with you on this one. I remember the Arizona hype last year and it didn't go anywhere. Until their O-line dramatically improves, Arizona will not be in the mix.

They gave up the most points in the league.
They scored the 9th least points in the league.
They had the 5th worst point differential in the league.
Football Outsiders ranked them 29th in the league.
Alex Smith's QB rating dropped in the second half vs. the first. half of the season.
Two of their wins were against the two worst teams in the league, Detroit and Oakland.
Only two of their wins were against a playoff team, Seattle twice.
One of the Seattle wins was with no Hasselbeck.

I think the 7-9 record was bloated, to say the least.

Yes, they still managed to win 7 games with a terrible defense, now they have improved two key positions at S and CB, (not including LB, Willis yet, but TBC is worth a mention just because he has 3-4 exp). Their offense is going to be better with Jackson (minus from Seattle too) and Lelie (plus Hill is a good young WR too). As for football outsiders and their rankings? Patriots fans out to know by now that what these "experts" think means absolutely nothing. They had an impressive win against Denver that you forgot to mention. Also, Seattle win without Hasselbeck, who cares. All these Seahawk fans were screaming excited about Wallace doing much better than Hasselbeck anyway. A lot of people here in WA state were rooting for Wallace since he had both pass and run ability and was a dual threat.

Bottom line is, as much as we Patriots fans want San Fran to have a bad record, it doesn't look like it will happen. IMO they will win AT LEAST 7 games, but they will not runaway in the division either. My prediction, 15-24 range for our pick.