Mr. Scot

There are honestly some parallels between our new quarterback and the defensive changes. Previously, the guy most would call our best quarterback was primarily a guy with great athletic skills and good brains. Now we have a guy with decent athletic skills and great brains. Each guy uses their superior skills in one area if they miss something in the other. Either way though, it's a very different approach. Likewise, Wilks defense is best built with athletes. That doesn't mean Evero doesn't need that as well mind you, but it's more important for his guys to be smart and make good decisions. So again, it's an adjustment.

Speaking of moving forward... Corbett being back on the field could very well be our best news, more so than changes in playcalling or anything else.

Yeah, I have a hard time characterizing practice squad signings as looking "desperate" or "embarrassing".

I honestly don't remember that but no, he's not the same style player DJ Moore was at all. Moore was a great "run after catch" guy. Mingo isn't that.

Oh I definitely remember him being better than just above average. He might also be a better style fit for what we're running. I'd add that the word "healthy" is kind of important in our backfield right now. I don't think Sanders has been healthy all season.

I never jumped on the Purdy hype train.

Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily make him a personnel guy either, though I do give him credit for seeing through Josh Rosen when the Cardinals didn't. To me, the more interesting comparison is between Wilks and Ejiro Evero as DCs. Wilks is a motivator, but Evero is more of a technician. He runs a complex scheme that requires smart players. That's one reason why I think the defense has been a little down over the last several games. The personnel are at least decently suited to a 3-4 scheme, but picking up all the nuances of what Evero does might take some time.

That kind of profile usually screams "possession receiver". That's not a knock on him by the way. You need those. Can also be valuable in the red zone.

As far as on the field, Martinez was always a good player. I remember him standing out in the games where I saw him. Character wise though, yeah I'd have questions. His side of the whole fraud story would definitely be important for me to hear.

Numerous people have questioned whether they even teach good route running at the college level anymore. A lot of offenses of simplified down to the point where the receivers only need to know a few basic routes. It's made the transition from college to pro more difficult than it used to be at that spot.

Because there was a time when he was pretty good, and there's a chance he could be again. Especially considering that it was just to the practice squad, why not?

Arguably one of the biggest shocks of this season...

Who are you, again? (nice work, Verge) What I'm saying now doesn't really deviate much from what I said at the start of the season. It's about showing improvement by the end of the year, especially when it comes to Young. This was never going to be a playoff year. It may have started worse than expected, but what's most important is how it finishes.

It's not just that they aren't "top rated". They aren't anywhere close to as good as they have been for the last few years. When we saw where he got hired, most of us felt like Wilks had looked into a dream scenario. The 49ers have an star studded defense with great players at every level add an offense that allows them to be aggressive. Their DC job looked like a fast track to another head coaching gig. But it's gone off the rails. And that's kinda surprising because truth be told, Wilks was always much more motivator than technician. With the talent he has in San Fran, you'd think it'd work pretty well. Why it doesn't? Don't know, but it's definitely concerning.

You recently quoted this thread?

I'd agree. Wilks greatest strengths are as a motivator and a leader. Those are good qualities for a head coach to have. And if those were his only duties, that'd be great, but they're not. One of the most important things a head coach does is staffing, i.e. hiring his assistants. Wilks, like Rivera, wasn't very good at that part of the job, with Holcomb being the chief example. And yeah, some of the coaching decisions he made in the biggest games last season didn't exactly register high up on the "courage" scale.

I'd agree, but the line we were going with was already assembled when Reich got here. The only tweaks to be made were for depth. And realistically, after how they performed last year, would you have suggested changes?

Asking price on some (or all) of these will likely be higher than teams would be willing to pay, but it's out there. Mentioned previously for those who think Ekwonu should go to guard, Bolles could be a thought.

Yes we are. Whether the team admits it or not is irrelevant.

Kinda hard to say. For one, Injuries at critical spots hurt (no team in the league has depth everywhere, so that's not unique) but as mentioned before my biggest roster on that front is that even if you assemble a really good crew (like the O-Line) it's not the GM's fault if they're asked to do something that doesn't suit their skill set. Mentioned previously that this is where I see the biggest issue hurting us this year.

Also amusing...

That's be the question that needs answering for anyone interested...

On topic, for whatever it's worth...

Six games into their first season together, even with all being losses, is still too small a sample to judge a coach / GM combo, epecially with a rookie quarterback. (one who's shown improvement each game, by the way)