Happy Birthday Arnold and Julie!!!

Jack

Re: The Sopoaga discussion, I think Win did a much better job of saying what I wanted to say:

"As to Isaac Sopoaga, I like the man, I have rooted for him to succeed, but I'm afraid when I contemplate his career as a 49er I find he falls into a disturbingly large category of player who has promised more than he ultimately delivered. He's not a flash in the pan, certainly, but he's the kind of guy who reminds you that most players in the NFL are in fact flashes in the pan. They deliver one or two strong performances in their rookie year, or maybe they deliver an entire season of above-average play, enough to make you believe they might become one of those forces that dominate for a decade; but then something happens - an injury, a holdout, a stupid off-field mistake, a drift of focus - and next thing you know you've been tolerating the dude for two or three seasons simply because he led you to believe he could eventually be great."


Something else occurred to me last night while I was staring at a group of K-Pop boopsies (with the sound muted, of course) on my TV. Sopoaga doesn't spend a lot of time on the field for us anymore. I recall reading somewhere that he was only in on 30 to 31 percent of the defensive snaps.

We think of the Niners as being a 3-4 base defense. But from mid season on we spent a lot more time in the 4 - 2. Willis and Bowman were the LBs, and Brooks, McDonald, Smith and Smith had their hands in the dirt. That's how we got into the nickle without having to take either Willis or Bowman off the field. And we spent a lot of time in the nickle.

So... Do you give a new, and probably hefty contract to an under-performing 9 year veteran? Or do you try to get by with a younger, less experienced, less expensive kid?

Our options, pre free agency, and pre draft are:

Ian Williams, the NT from ND. He's not a star. He's a phone booth player. A two gaping run stuffer. But he's 6'1", 305lbs. (according to 49ers.com) and only 23 years old. And he's been on our P.S. for 2 seasons. He's gotten a thimble full of playing time.

Lamar Divens. A 27 year old giant with almost no playing time. He's listed at 6'3" 340lbs. I don't know this kid and I don't know his back story... but he's there. And he's huge.

Tony Jerod-Eddie. 6'5" 300lbs. 21 years old, and getting bigger.

And if we sign him, Ricky Jean-Francois.

In the early rounds of the draft I'm hoping the Niners will be looking for guys who are good enough to rotate with, and eventually replace Justin Smith and Ray McDonald. That's why I like Jesse Williams so much. Like Smith and McDonald he can play both DE and DT at a high level.