As 49er fans we all know about Vernon Davis' athleticism and star ability in football. Most of us are also aware that he participates in curling, to the extend that he's the honorary captain of the US Curling team. Is there a third sport awaiting for him to conquer?

Recently Sports Illustrated asked 121 NBA players which athletes from other sports would be able to play in the NBA. As you'd expect there are quite a few NFL tight ends on the list, but there are some names thatare just a little unexpected as well (Drew Brees?). Vernon Davis came in at 11th on the list. It's kind of an interesting look at what active players from another sport think about other professional athletes, though the list might have been better titled "What NFL players do NBA players think could make the transition?"

Join me after the jump for the full list.

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A few years ago during the off season I had a regular series of posts title "Football University". As the title implies the posts were about football related topics, mostly X's and O's. I thought that I'd resurrect that series for this off season, and since rookies are starting to sign their contracts I figured that there might be more than a few questions about rookie contracts and wage scales and such.

As a side note, if you have twitter you'll want to follow Andrew Brandt of the National Football Post. He's a former scout, who then went to work for the Packers in their front office and has some great stories and insights about the business side of football.

One of the priorities of both the NFLPA and the NFL during the recent labor negotiations was to fix the rookie pay for top picks. To give an idea of the absurdity of the old way of doing business, Matt Stafford's rookie contract was six years, $72 million with $41.75 million guaranteed. $26 million of that was due to signing bonuses, so he was going to get paid that much even if he didn't throw a single pass in the NFL.

By comparison, when Tom Brady signed a new contract a year later it was for 5 years, $78 million, with $48.5 million guaranteed. In other words, a multiple SB winning QB, one of the best in the game, and he's only getting $7 million more guaranteed than an untried rookie did.

Clearly something had to change and it did.

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After a bit of a break it's time to get back to reviewing the 49ers past drafts. This time around it's the 2006 draft, notable for bringing us Vernon Davis and Manny Lawson, among others.

1st round--Vernon Davis TE Maryland
1st round--Manny Lawson LB North Carolina State
3rd round--Brandon Williams WR Wisconsin
4th round--Michael Robinson WR Penn State
5th round--Parys Haralson DE Tennessee
6th round--Delanie Walker WR Central Missouri State
6th round--Marcus Hudson DB North Carolina State
6th round--197 Melvin Oliver DE Louisiana State
7th round--254 Vickiel Vaughn DB Arkansas

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Onwards and upwards.

2005 Draft

1st Round - Alex Smith QB
2nd round - David Baas, G
3rd round - Frank Gore, RB
3rd round - Adam Snyder, T
5th round - Ronald Fields, DT
5th round - Rasheed Marshall, WR
6th round - Derrick Johnson, DB
7th round - Daven Holly, DB
7th round - Marcus Maxwell, WR
7th round - Patrick Estes, TE
7th round - Billy Bajema, TE

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Due to some confusion about the grades in my last two posts, I figured I'd give my grading criteria.

A
1st round picks. Be in the top 1/3rd of the starters at your position (Aldon Smith)
2nd round picks. Perform better than 1/2 of the starters at your position. If you're not starting, then the best you can hope for is a B (e.g. Gronkowski, Rob)
3rd round pick. Be a consistent starter (NaVorro Bowman)
4th round pick. Be a consistent backup or a starter
5th-7th rounds. Be a starter or consistent backup

B
1st round picks. Perform better than 1/2 of the starters at your position (Cam Newton)
2nd round picks. Perform as well as an average starter. (Andy Dalton)
3rd round picks. Mostly backup, but occasionally a starter. Solid contributor to the team (Chris Culliver)
4th-7th round picks. Be a starter, consistent backup, or other contributor to your team.

C.
1st round picks. Starter but a below average performer at your position (Christian Ponder)
2nd round pick. Started but played mostly awfully (Chilo Rachal)
3rd round pick. Career backup (Brandon Ghee)
4th. Only played in a handful of games.
5th-7th. Made the roster

D.
1st round. Started, but played awfully (e.g. Harris, Kwame)
2nd round. Backup only. Only a handful of starts (Chris Cook)
3rd round. Only played in the league one or two seasons. (Rennie Curran)
4th-7th. Made the roster but barely played or didn't play at all

F
1st & 2nd round. Only started a handful of times (Derek Sherrod)
3rd-7th round. Didn't make the roster or record a stat (Daniel Te'o-Nesheim)

Now that we've got that out of the way (which I'm sure will have loads of debate all on it's own), let's move on to the 2004 draft class shall we?

2004
1st round - Rashaun Woods WR, David Baas G
2nd round - Justin Smiley G, Shawntae Spencer DB
3rd round - Derrick Hamilton WR
4th round - Isaac Sopoaga DT, Richard Seigler LB
6th round - Andy Lee P, Keith Lewis DB
7th round - Cody Pickett QB, Christian Ferrara DT

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Onwards and upwards. Hopefully the 2003 draft isn't as awful as the 2002 draft was. Oh wait, the team drafted Kwame Harris this year. Guess it's every bit as bad as 2002 . . .

Round 1: Kwame Harris, OT Stanford
Round 2: Anthony Adams, DT Penn State
Round 3: Andrew Williams, DE Miami Fl
Round 4: Brandon Lloyd, WR Illinois
Round 5: Aaron Walker, TE Florida
Round 6: Arnaz Battle, WR Notre Dame
Round 7: Ken Dorsey, QB Miami FL

Join me below the jump for a breakdown of the players.

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The draft is soon to be upon us, and rather than talk endlessly about drafting a TE in the first round (why!?!), or picking up a guard (yes!!), I thought it might be interesting to review some of the 49ers previous drafts and give them a grade. 2011 broke the streak of bad and underperforming teams that started after the 2002 season, so I thought I'd go back and start with that draft and work forwards to 2011.

GM: Terry Donahue
Coach: Steve Mariucci
Offensive Coordinator: Greg Knapp
Defensive Coordinator: Jim Mora
Record: 10-6, 1-1 in the playoffs.

2002 Draft
Round 1: Mike Rumph, DB (Miami, Fl.).
Round 2: No pick
Round 3: Saleem Rashad, LB (Alabama)
Round 4: Jeff Chandler, K (Florida)
Round 4: Kevin Curtis, DB (Texas Tech)
Round 5: Brandon Doman, QB (Brigham Young University)
Round 5: Josh Shaw, DT (Michigan State)
Round 6: Mark Anelli, TE (Wisconsin) Pick #201
Round 7: Eric Heitmann, G (Stanford) Pick #239
Round 7: Kyle Koiser, G (Arizona State) Pick #249
Round 7: Teddy Gaines, DB (Tennessee) Pick #56

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Patrick Willis is one of the candidates that fans can vote for to be on the next edition of Madden Football. For those of you who are interested ESPN's Outside the Lines has a fantastic article on the history of Madden NFL, one that's worth the 15 minutes or so it'll take to read. The title of the article is "The Franchise".

Curses and jinxes are ubiquitous in sports, and the Madden curse is one of the most famous. There are famous curses like the curse of King Tut, which aren't real, and then there are curses which are real. The Madden curse is real. This is concerning to those of us who would rather not see Patrick Willis end up the latest victim of the curse. There are those who might scoff and claim that the believers are simply superstitious fools, but I'll go ahead and prove them wrong by going over the history of every athlete to make the cover of Madden, going back to 1999 when the first player made an appearance.

Madden Cover Players

2012: Peyton Hillis
In 2010 Peyton Hillis had a breakout year rushing 270 times for 1177 yards and 11 tds. He makes the cover of Madden and in 2011 he's embroiled in a contract dispute, misses 6 games for one reason or another, and only managed a 1 year contract in free agency.

2011: Drew Brees
2009 was a banner year for Brees and the Saints. A fantastic completion percentage, a td ratio of 34 tds to 11 INTs, and the Saints take home the Lombardi trophy. In 2010 Brees had a year that was miserable (for Drew Brees). Twenty point drop in quarterback rating, twice as many INTs, 1.5 yards per attempt less. Then they have the dubious distinction of losing to the Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs, the same Seahawks that ended the regular season with a 7-9 record.

Join me after the jump for the rest

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Alex Smith recently signed a three year deal with the 49ers. There are some conflicting reports out there as to how the contract is actually broken down. These are valid concerns, because the way the contract is structure can seriously affect the job security of Alex Smith.

Most everybody reporting on the deal are saying that it's a 3 year deal worth $24 million (up to $33 million if Alex Smith hits all of his incentives), with $16.5 million in guaranteed money. Where the conflicting reports come in is how that guaranteed money is split up.

According to Matt Maiocco it's a three year deal, but $7.5 million of the $16.5 million is actually a roster bonus due on April 1, 2013, with an additional $1 million in guaranteed base salary (never mind that the math there doesn't add up).

Jason LaConfora is reporting that it's a three year deal, and that the 2013 number is actually a $1 million roster bonus with a $7.5 million guaranteed base salary.

ESPN is reporting the same details, but doesn't break down the $16.5 million guaranteed

Mike Florio of ProFootball Talk reports almost the same numbers as LaConfora, differing only on the amount of money in incentives (which could come from a difference in likely to be earned incentives vs total incentives).

Based on the different reports, here's what I think the contract numbers actually look like.

2012: $5 million base salary (fully guaranteed), $3 million roster bonus, $1.25 million in likely to be earned incentives, $1.75 million in unlikely to be earned incentives
2013: $7.5 million base salary (fully guaranteed), $1 million roster bonus, $1.25 million in likely to be earned incentives, $1.75 million in unlikely to be earned incentives
2014: $7.5 million base salary (not guaranteed), $1.25 million in likely to be earned incentives, $1.75 million in unlikely to be earned incentives

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Today's post is going to cover the positions of running back and full back. The 49ers have a total of 5 running backs on the roster. The team has Frank Gore locked up through 2014. Kendall Hunter is also under contract until 2014 while Anthony Dixon is under contract through 2013.

On the FB side, Moran Norris is a free agent and Bruce Miller is locked up through 2014.

The combo of Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter proved to be a potent one due to the different running styles of each player and Bruce Miller was a fantastic fullback. I really don't see the team resigning Moran Norris, not when Harbaugh has used everybody and their dog as a blocking FB. Anthony Dixon is on the bubble as a player as far as I'm concerned.

Overall I'd have to say that I'm extremely happy with the running backs that the team has and I feel like there's absolutely no need to look for upgrades through the draft, trades, or via free agency.

Stats for each player are below the jump.

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I'm going to be doing a series of posts covering various aspects of free agency. The first series of posts is going to be a review of each position, with a list of the players that the team has under contract as well as their own free agents. I'll also be giving the position a grade.

There's no denying that the QB position is the most important position in football. With a bad QB it's going to be almost impossible to win games in the regular season, much less the playoffs. The 49ers currently have two QBs under contract: Colin Kaepernick whom they moved up in the draft to get, and Scott Tolzien whom they acquired off waivers from the San Diego Chargers. Tolzien made no appearance for the team during the regular season, while Kaepernick only attempted 5 passes. There's no way to assign a grade for either of those two players.

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The big talk this week has been about how to limit Drew Brees and the Saints and what will happen if the 49ers get into a shooting war with the Saints. Leaving aside the strength of the 49ers defense (which I think matches up well with the Saints), there's the strength of the offense to consider.

In my opinion the 49ers offense is underrated and has been for a long time. I have no concerns about the 49ers hanging with the Saints, because it's shown that it can hang against other so-called "power" offenses like the Eagles, Giants, Cowboys and Lions. Yes the 49ers lost to the Cowboys, but that was in overtime and a game which could have easily gone the other way.

I want to take a look at the actual strengths of the 49ers offense and compare the to the Saints and see where we end up. To be clear I'm not going to argue that the 49ers offense is as good as the Saints offense. What I am going to try and show is that it's not as bad as has been claimed, nor is it a hopeless match up in a game vs a high powered offense.

Points per game

The whole point of an offense is to score points. This is where the 49ers show the biggest deficiency in comparison to the Saints. The Saints averaged just over 34 points per game, the 49ers just over 23, an 11 point differential. Looking at the rankings though and it's rather surprising. The Saints ranked are ranked 2nd the 49ers a surprising 11th. Far from being a terrible offense they're better than half the teams in the league at scoring points.

How do they compare to other playoff teams? The Houston Texans also scored an average of 24.8 points per game, but nobody talks about them like they can't hang with the big boys. The New York Giants scored an average of 24.6 points per game, essentially the same as the 49ers. The Detroit Lions averaged 29.6 points per game and squeaked into the playoffs.

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Edit: And he ends up with Kansas City. I'm actually surprised that the Colts didn't make a claim on him but I guess they're definitely deciding to blow off the rest of the season to get the QB they want in the draft. 

Yesterday the Denver Broncos announced that they were releasing Kyle Orton. This is a rather shocking turn of events in my opinion. 

"I spoke with Kyle earlier today and thanked him for everything he did for the Broncos," coach John Fox said in a statement. "He was a true professional throughout this season. I've got a great deal of respect for him as both a player and as a person.

"This was the right decision for our football team. We feel good about our quarterback group, and this gives Kyle an opportunity to help another team and showcase his talents."

The team was 1-4 under him this year, but I don't think you can blame him entirely for that. Bench him, yes, but cut bait and run? I guess the Broncos really do have faith in Tim Tebow as their guy going forward, or else they're planning on making moves in the draft to get a QB to compete for a job. 

Just last year Orton threw for 3,653 yards. The year before that it was 3,802 yards. Both years he averaged 7 yards an attempt or more and both years he threw for 20 tds or more. Both years that yardage total.

With a whole host of quarterback injuries throughout the league Orton won't be out of a job long. He'll definitely be claimed off waiver wires by a team, the only question is which team?

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Here's something that's not related to a certain game this week. Today the NFL Network announced the semi-finalists for the 2012 Hall of Fame. There are some familiar names on the list, as well as a few who have made several appearances. 

Three former 49ers make the list:

Roger Craig, RB

Craig is so synonymous with the 49ers and Joe Montana that it's sometimes difficult to remember that he also played for the Los Angeles Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings.

During his career he rushed for a total of 8,189 yards on 1,991 carries for an average of 4.1 yards per carry which is pretty good in any era. He had 56 rushing TDs and 17 receiving TDs.

Will he finally make it? I don't know. It's hard to say that he's more deserving of a spot than Terrell Davis, Jerome Bettis, or Curtis Martin.

Charles Haley, DE

Haley played 13 seasons in the NFL and totaled over 100 sacks during that time. He's the only player to have 5 Super Bowl rings. Does he deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. Despite his difficult (an understatement if there ever was one) that shouldn't detract from his performance on the field. Hopefully the voters finally move past his unpleasant personality and give him the recognition he deserves.

Chris Doleman, DE

Doleman only played for the 49ers for 3 years (1996, 1997, 1998). He's a great defensive lineman who in his 15 seasons notched 150.5 sacks. That's 10 sacks a year, including one season in Minnesota where he had 21 sacks! He definitely deserves a spot, but I don't really think of him as a 49er.

Eddie Debartolo Jr, Owner

We all know about Eddie D. After a rough start in San Francisco (he hired the worst manager professional football has ever seen) he turned the 49ers around and turned the team into a legendary team. Thanks to his ownership the 49ers had a decade and a half of dominance. I doubt any owner has had more former players request that he introduce them than has Eddie DeBartolo Jr.

I'm sure that his exclusion from the Hall of Fame is exclusively due to the gambling and bribery scandal that cost him control of the 49ers. It's time the voters look past that and honor him by voting him into the Hall.

The rest of the semi-finalists are below the jump with my thoughts on whether they'll make it this year

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I constantly see misconceptions in the national media about what the 49ers offense is and isn't. I also hear this from fans and even the beat writers for the team. For example, on Friday, Eric Branch wrote an article where his lead off question was a reference to the 49ers being the 25th ranked offense, yet somehow managing to be 8-1 (and almost 9-0). He would go on to attribute the success of the team to the special teams play, and I agree the special teams play has been fantastic.

However the 49ers offense being ranked 25th is telling only part of the story and only using part of the statistics. I'd like to lay to rest some common misconceptions about the offense. 

Misconception #1: The offense isn't a high scoring offense

Eric Branch referred to the 49ers as being the 25th ranked offense. When looking at total yardage, he's correct. However I've yet to see the winner of a football game decided based on the total number of yards gained. It's all about the points on the board, and the 49ers offense is actually very good. It's ranked 7th in the NFL in points per game. The teams ahead of the 49ers?

1.) Green Bay Packers at 35.6 PPG
2.) New Orleans Saints at 31.3 PPG
3.) Houston Texans at 27.3 PPG
4.) New England Patriots at 28.8 PPG
5.) Detroit Lions at 28 PPG
6.) Chicago Bears at 26.3 PPG

That's pretty good company I think. 

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I'm not generally one to throw around words like "clutch" or "winner" or any of the other terms that are often used to describe quarterbacks. However, I'm going to make an exception in this article because one of the many criticisms leveled at Alex Smith over the years is that he's not a "clutch" QB, and that when it comes down to leading a game winning drive he's more likely to throw an interception than to throw a touchdown.

As such, here are a few interesting tidbits from the season this year. 

4th Quarter QB rating
Prior to Sunday's game Eli Manning was the NFL leader for 4th quarter qb rating. Sunday's game saw Alex Smith improve his 4th quarter QB rating from 106.7 to 118.8, which is fantastic no matter how you look at it.

4th Quarter Wins
Sunday's game saw Alex Smith lead the 49ers to the team's 4th come from behind win this season. 

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There's been a great deal of discussion over the perceived weakness of the 49ers pass defense. The argument says that the 49ers won't be able to keep up with gunslinging teams like the Patriots and the Packers. I don't think  that this will be an issue at all. I think the 49ers pass defense is up to the task of defeating these types of teams. 

Let's look at some defensive statistics to show my point:

Points per game

I'd argue that this is the single most important statistic when it comes to evaluating a defense. I don't care if the defense allows 500 yards per game on offense if they can keep that offense from scoring it has done it's job. 

The 49ers defense is ranked first in the league with only 15.3 points per game given up. They're followed by the Ravens (15.5 ppg), Steelers (17.4), Bengals (17.6), and Texans (18.1).

Before arguing that the reason the 49ers have such a good ppg average is due to them playing in the NFC West, consider this:

The 49ers have only played one team from the NFC West. They're the only team in the top 5 who's opponents have a winning record (the record of 49ers opponents is 26-24). For example the Ravens have faced teams with a total record of 23-29 and the Steelers opponents record is 24-30. 

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Last spring as the 49er faithful gathered around their tvs to watch the draft I can imagine a giant "huh?" go up when Aldon Smith was selected 7th overall. He wasn't a highly touted draft pick when the 49ers made him their first round selection. Then the 49ers passed on a CB in the second round to select Chris Culliver in the third. Culliver was another no-name draft pick. 

Both of them have turned out far better than anyone could have expected and both are possible Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates. 

Aldon Smith

Smith is fifth in the league in sacks at 5.5. You might recognize the names ahead of him. Jared Allen, Demarcus Ware, Jason Babin, Jason Pierre-Paul. What's truly amazing is that the's done this despite not being a starter. He's taken all of 201 snaps this season. The next lowest amount of snaps is Jason Babin at 282. It's not unreasonable to assume that with adequate playing time Aldon could end up with double digit sacks. In fact he's on pace for 14.5 sacks on the season which would tie the all-time rookie sack record which was set by Jevon "The Freak" Kearse in 1999. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that Aldon Smith could beat that record.

He also has a safety and a forced fumble.

Chris Culliver

Culliver is another 49er defensive player who is not a full-time starter though I expect that to change. In fact he didn't get any significant playing time until the Tampa Bay game where he played 29 snaps, then the Detroit game he played 69. In that time he's managed to get 8 tackles, an INT and 4 PD. If he plays this well the remainder of the year he could end up with over 20 passes defended and 6 INTs. The odds against him are slim--a DB hasn't won Defensive Rookie of the Year since Dale Carter did it in 1992. 

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Continuing on with the series of awards that 49er players might be eligible for I come to the Comeback Player of the Year.  According to Wikipedia: "The player named Comeback Player of the Year shows perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, a severe injury, or simply poor performance."

The award has an interesting history. The first award was given in 1962 to Frank Gifford who game back from a devastating hit delivered by Chuck Bednarik. I'm sure most of us have seen highlight reels of that hit which was truly incredible. In 1963 the AP gave the award. In 1972 the Professional Football Writers of America gave out the award every season. 

Previous 49er winners have been Joe Montana in 1986 (he shared the award with Tommy Kramer of the Vikings), Bryant Young in 199, and Garrison Hearst in 2001. The last three winners have all been quarterbacks. Michael Vick, Tom Brady, and Chad Pennington (who has actually won the award twice). 

There has been much talk over the past week or so about the possibility of Alex Smith winning the award. I'd argue that a better candidate might just be Frank Gore. Join me after the jump as I discuss both men as well as other possible candidates.

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Vernon Davis was a guest on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption today. It was a pretty good interview and I recommend downloading the podcast if you missed the show. Very little was said about the handshake of doom, instead the focus was on the changes brought by Harbaugh to the San Francisco 49ers.

As best as I can here's a transcript (very rough) of what went on during the show.

Q. What was your reaction when Jim Harbaugh was announced as the new head coach of the 49ers?
A. (raises hands in the air like it's a touchdown) Yes!!!!

Q. Were you at all nervous about a rah, rah coach coming to the pros?
A. A little. We're men in the NFL and it's different, but all you have to do is look at the record and see that he's been effective.

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Fooch's Note: Consider this sort of the start of some midseason review type material - Fits in with the 49ers bye coming close to the midway point.

It's far too early in the season to start talking awards for the season yet I'm going to do it anyway because it's fun. I'll be focusing on awards that San Francisco 49er players and coaches might be in the running for. First up is Coach of the Year.

Obviously any discussion of the award has to include Jim Harbaugh. What he's done is absolutely remarkable. Here's a rookie head coach coming into an off-season that was only two weeks along. With him he brought along a new offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator. The results? A 5-1 record for the 49ers, a defense that's second in the league in points allowed per game (only the Ravens are better). Alex Smith is playing the best football of his career (though arguably this transformation started last year with the Eagles game when he would not let Singletary pull him out of the game), and a resurgent Frank Gore on offense (on pace now for 1442 yards which would be the second most of his career). 

Harbaugh isn't the only candidate on the list for Coach of the Year. Join me below the jump as I look at some other possible contenders.

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Yesterday on the NFL Network's Total Access program Kurt Warner listed off his top 5 QBs. To the surprise of many people who haven't been following the 49ers closely, Alex Smith made the list at #4. (You can view the video here.) Keep in mind this isn't a list of the 5 best QBs in the league overall. This is a list of the 5 QBs who have played the best so far into the season.

This is what he had to say about Alex Smith:

"My big surprise, Alex Smith comes in at number four. A guy I probably didn't expect to make this list all year long, but he's got his team at 4-1 right now. He's playing as consistent as anybody, and what I've seen the last couple of weeks is him making "the big play", something that he hasn't done up until this point in the season."

The List

1. Aaron Rodgers 
2. Tom Brady 
3. Drew Brees 
4. Alex Smith
5. Matthew Stafford

It's hard to argue with the top 3 names on that list. Matthew Stafford is also having a great season, but does Alex Smith belong in such exalted company? Let's take a look and see.

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In recent years it's become almost cliche to mock Al Davis. Jokes about his appearance and some of his questionable draft choices abound. The man became almost a caricature of himself. His passing this past weekend is an opportunity to take a look at what he has done for the game of football and the legacy he's left behind. 

Davis started his professional football career as the offensive end coach for the Raiders in 1960. In 1962 he was hired as the general manager and head coach of the Raiders. At the time he was 33 and the youngest ever head coach in professional football. This was the first major milestone that he set for football. The idea that young coaches could come in and be successful in the league.

He immediately moved on to his next innovation which would be the vertical air game. Basically it was a modfied version of the offense run by Sid Gillman. He kept the ideas of the spread, but instead of short passes he attacked down field. This was his second innovation. Before this time most teams concentrated solely on the run game, with passing coming only in desperate situations. Al Davis believed in being agressive and attacking his opponents. 

This strategy earned him the AFL's Coach of the Year award for 1963.

In 1965 he was named to be the AFL Commissioner and this is where he really impacted the game of football. The AFL had previously been looked down as a sort of minor league or sideshow. Pete Rozell did all he could to foster this image, and Al Davis was determined to change this.

Davis encouraged the AFL teams to agressively pursue college recruits. This led to inflated contracts and some interesting stories about players being kept from view until they had signed contracts (usually by taking them out and showing them on the town with minders in tow). One result of this was Joe Namath being offered a contract of $400,000, at that time the highest amount ever paid to a player coming out of college. 

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There was lots of good discussion between my post and Tre's post. I'm going to take the time to rebut the arguments made in defense of Gore and then present visual proof as to why I feel Gore has lost his spring. 

The most common arguments I heard about not blaming Gore for the poor performance are these:

1.) He's got a new center and coordinator and a new terminology

Frank Gore has played with a new offensive coordinator each of his years in the league just like Alex Smith has. The offensive line has been dramatically different from year to year in each of his previous seasons as well. In fact the transition from last year to this year is the most stable this offensive line has been in years, with only one change on the line. 

2011--New center, new coach, new coordinator. 
2010--new center, new left guard, new right tackle, new coordinator
2009--two different players at LT, a new RT (who would be the worst in the league) new coach, new coordinator
2008--five different guards, (Baas, Snyder at LG, Snyder, Rachal, Wragge at RG), 2 different head coaches, new OC
2007--new LT, new RG, new LT, worst RT in the league (Kwame Harris),new offensive coordinator
2006--new LT, new LG, new RG, worst RT in the league (Kwame Harris)

In other words this team has been incredibly dysfunctional his entire career yet he's managed to produce. What makes this year different? His hip injury from last year and his ankle injury from the year before. It adds up. 

2.) The line isn't getting any push. I'll demonstrate that this is wrong after the jump. 

Even if it wasn't getting any push it's almost exactly the same offensive line as last year when he averaged a full yard per carry more through the first two games. If it was the line to blame he should have had the same performance last year as this year. 

3.) You can't use YPC as a measurement for how well a running back is doing. 

Sure you can, as long as you remain consistent in year to year examination. If I use ypc one year and then switch to some other advanced stat the next year that doesn't work. If you compare ypc year to year it works because you're comparing the same thing. It might not work as a measurement to compare league wide (e.g. ranking the top 5 running backs in the league), but as a year-to-year performance metric it's as good as any other. 

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Going into this season there was some major concern about Frank Gore's recovery from the hip injury that caused him to miss the last five games of 2010. He reported to camp saying he felt like he was 21 again, but his running hasn't backed that up. There has been criticism directed at the 49er offensive line, but I believe that Frank Gore has actually not fully recovered from his hip injury and may never recover.

I give you five reasons why I think Frank Gore is done as a starting running back. I'll examine each of them in more detail after the jump.

5.) He's 28. 
4.) This is not his first serious injury.
3.) He just got paid on a new contract (albeit a small one). 
2.) We drafted a running back in the 4th round
1.) The contract he got from the front office shows a lack of trust in his ability

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Last year when the NFL announced it's new policy regarding kick offs and moving the ball forward, there were many people issuing cries of dismay over how this would remove one of the most exciting parts of the game and how it would make return specialists and special teamers practically irrelevant. 

During the pre-season we had touchback after touchback, nearly every one accompanied by some variation of "If the NFL wants to make kickoffs safer this is what they'll end up with."

I actually think the new rule will make kickoffs more exciting, not less exciting, and I think the evidence (after a whole week's worth of play) backs me up. 

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Sunday morning I posted this article talking about some things from the pre-season to look at going into the 2011 season. I wanted to look at Sunday's game and see how the 49ers did with those items. 

The Bad

5.) Offensive line. Other than the last pre-season game the starters on the offensive line looked awful. This was true of everybody, from long time veteran to second-year Anthony Davis

Definitely mixed reviews. Surprisingly enough the pass protection was ok, but the run blocking was generally pretty poor. That is an upgrade over the pre-season, where it seemed to be bad on both pass blocking and run blocking. 

4.) Michael Crabtree's foot injury. I don't blame him for missing the pre-season. There's a reason he got put on the Physically Unable to Perform list and it wasn't because he was a whiner or a slacker. However, a foot injury could impact his ability to make cuts, thus impacting his ability to get open. 

Given that he complained about it again after the game I have to say that this is still very much in the bad category. He had one catch for a grand total of 4 yards. He was open on one play, but Alex Smith did not see him. I have to think that's partially a result of the missed pre-season and the opportunity to work together. 

3.) Secondary. Wholesale changes in the secondary happened, with very mixed results. Will they be able to gel into a cohesive and functional unit?

Jackson threw for less than 200 yards, with 2 TDs and 1 INT. However, I'm not sure that we can say that it was the pass defense that was good or if this was due to facing an inferior QB. The defense did get burned often on a long drive by the Seahawks coming out of the half, so I think I'd have to grade the secondary as an incomplete still.

2.) Colin Kaepernick. He very much looked like a second round draft pick. Can he make the adjustments he needs to should worst come to worst?

CK didn't play so this will remain an incomplete for most of the season. To be honest I hope we can go the entire season without him doing more than mop up duty. 

1.) Hat tip to James for this one. Dominique Zeigler being cut. I knew he was doomed when he reported to camp on the PUP list, but I always wanted him to make it. 

Zeigler is a good stand in for all the 49ers wide receivers. The offense looked sluggish, with Alex Smith throwing for only 124 yards. Josh Morgan had 28 yards receiving, Braylon Edwards had 27. Not exactly inspiring numbers if the team wants to be able to compete.

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It seems like every year the 49ers have a mixed bag of success heading into the new season. There are reasons to hope, and reasons to despair, and the off-season does nothing to ease the mind. With that here are 5 things to look forward to going into this season, and 5 things to worry about and none of them have anything at all to do with Alex Smith.

Since I prefer to be an optimist I'll start with the 5 things to despair about and end with the 5 things to look forward too.

The Bad

5.) Offensive line. Other than the last pre-season game the starters on the offensive line looked awful. This was true of everybody, from long time veteran to second-year Anthony Davis

4.) Michael Crabtree's foot injury. I don't blame him for missing the pre-season. There's a reason he got put on the Physically Unable to Perform list and it wasn't because he was a whiner or a slacker. However, a foot injury could impact his ability to make cuts, thus impacting his ability to get open. 

3.) Secondary. Wholesale changes in the secondary happened, with very mixed results. Will they be able to gel into a cohesive and functional unit?

2.) Colin Kaepernick. He very much looked like a second round draft pick. Can he make the adjustments he needs to should worst come to worst?

1.) Hat tip to James for this one. Dominique Zeigler being cut. I knew he was doomed when he reported to camp on the PUP list, but I always wanted him to make it. 

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