Mr. Scot

I see this a lot, but reality is we didn't trade away two first round picks. We traded away next year's and swapped picks this year.

You're covering a couple of different things here that low expectations don't really have much to do with, but I'll try to answer. Anytime you switch coaches, there's going to be some roster flux since you're going from one system to another. Sometimes that's only on one side of the ball. In our case, it's both. You could also argue that it's probably a little more than usual because we're not going so much from an established pro-system to another. We're going from whatever the hell it was Matt Rhule had in place to actual pro schemes. What did they think it was? Realistically, we don't know. We know what they said, but it's not reasonable given the situation we were in. As far as Burns, that's no different than any other contract extension / franchise guy discussion that's had every year. Hell, we've had that before with Julius Peppers.

On topic...

Ben Albright says the mention of Sustain is a pure "bait and switch" tactic...

Remember he also was setting low expectations for this year. I hardly ever pay attention to stuff like that either way though because it's what they're expected to say. Nobody's gonna go into a season downplaying how good it's gonna be. The reality of a new coaching staff, new schemes on both sides of the ball and a rookie quarterback was always evident.

My guess would be they believed their guys could handle either scheme. And maybe with Corbett and Christensen both playing, it would have been a more reasonable possibility. Corbett likely has at least some experience in that area given his time in McVay's offense, and Christensen certainly isn't a "road grader" type. Hell, If he were healthy, It might have even been worth discussing a flip-flop between Christensen and Ekwonu at this point given their respective skill sets. The guys seemingly least suited to this scheme would be Ekwonu, Zavala, maybe even Bozeman. Moton seems to be doing at least a reasonable job of it. But ultimately yeah, there was a breakdown somewhere and here we are.

Not getting an offer they like seems like the most reasonable scenario. I do remember there being some chatter that maybe that decision was coming from "above" but I never knew how seriously to take that. In light of discussions about what role Tepper played in a quarterback selection though, It might make you wonder.

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?