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May 26, 2019 at 9:39 pm #101689
znModeratorCardinals may use shotgun formation exclusively or close to it
Cardinals may use shotgun formation exclusively or close to it
The infiltration of the college offense into the pro game continues, and that likely will result in another franchise embracing shotgun formation, most if not all of the time.
As Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic explains it, the Cardinals are expected to rarely put quarterback Kyler Murray under center.
Coach Kliff Kingsbury initially was coy on the topic, but it became clear that he’s got no qualms about a shotgun-heavy approach.
Asked this week whether the team may spend 90 percent or more of its time with the center snapping the ball through the air to the quarterback, Kingsbury said, “I’m not sure.” He then elaborated in a way that suggested he is sure.
“That’s another thing we’re working through, to see what the best balance for us is,” Kingsbury said. “Last year, Kansas City was 80 percent-plus. They were decent on offense. Pretty good. So, we’ll see. Whatever fits our team best is what we’re going to do.”
What fits the team best is shotgun formation. It’s what Kingsbury used at Texas Tech, and it’s what Murray used at Oklahoma.
And it’s what Kingbury believes in. Here’s his answer when asked about the advantages and disadvantages of shotgun: “I’ve never seen disadvantages. Some people say there are. I don’t. . . . Some other people have theories about it, but I think you can do everything just as well from shotgun as you can under center.”
Kingsbury sees plenty of advantages to shotgun formation.
“It just eliminates having to get away from the center,” he said. “Those are big guys pushing back in your face right away. So you’re seeing a clearer picture sooner. Whereas when you’re under center, it takes a while to see the field and see that clear picture. To me, you’re able to see it clearer pre-snap and post-snap.”
To me, it’s becoming clearer that the Cardinals’ ratio of shotgun formation will be much higher than 80 percent.
May 26, 2019 at 10:45 pm #101693
ZooeyModeratorWho are the Cardinals again?
I thought that was college ball. Stanford, maybe. Or Kentucky.
May 26, 2019 at 11:28 pm #101694znModeratorWho are the Cardinals again?
I thought that was college ball. Stanford, maybe. Or Kentucky.
Well it is. A rookie head coach right outta college with his 1st round draft pick college qb, who is (to paint a rough sketch) kind of a combination of Russell Wilson and a young Warren Moon.
May 27, 2019 at 1:58 pm #101698znModeratorCan Kyler Murray continue legendary winning ways with Cardinals?
TEMPE, Ariz. — Kyler Murray’s high school résumé is a thing of football lore in Texas.
Forty-two wins. No losses. Three straight state championships. Three championship game MVPs. Gatorade Player of the Year.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Tom Westerberg, Murray’s coach at Allen High School. “We played at the highest classification in the state of Texas, and to know that we ran the table three times with him, it’s unbelievable.”
Unbelievable? Yes. Incredible? Yes. New? No.
Murray, the quarterback taken No. 1 overall in the NFL draft last month by the Arizona Cardinals, didn’t start winning when he transferred to Allen before his sophomore year. By then, he’d been doing it for years. All he has ever done is win, and he has done it at every level. Now he joins a Cardinals team that finished 3-13 last season and has reached the playoffs just four times this millennium.
Special from the start
Kyle Nelson was on the board of the Lewisville Football Association in 2002 when a friend told him he had to watch one of the flag football players in the 5-6 age group. Nelson, understandably, wasn’t interested.
Then he watched Murray — as a 5-year-old — score five touchdowns in the first half.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this kid is pretty special,'” said Nelson, now the league president. “I just remember watching him just pretty much dominate that game as a 5-year-old.”
Murray dominated the Lewisville Football Association for the next seven years, losing just one game, as Nelson recalls, and winning six league titles out of a possible seven. And Murray did it often by playing against older players. Because of his August birthday, Murray was always among the youngest kids in his age group.
Nelson saw firsthand how tough it was to beat Murray: He coached the team that gave Murray what’s believed to be his lone youth football loss, in 2006, when Murray was 9.
“It was a pretty big deal when that happened,” Nelson said. “I’ve been doing this 19, 20 years now. He’s the best youth football player I’ve seen. Hands down.”
By the time Murray finally took the field at Huffines Middle School, his reputation preceded him. Dick Olin, then the head coach at Lewisville, installed a watered-down version of the varsity’s scheme, which was essentially the Air Raid, for Murray to run.
It didn’t take long for Murray to pick up the offense, said Heath Naragon, his eighth-grade coach at Huffines, so he’d go back to Olin and get another part of the playbook to install. Murray would absorb it and Naragon would go back to Olin. It got to the point where Murray’s eighth-grade team was running an offense more complex than the junior varsity but not quite as complicated as the varsity.
“He was very knowledgeable,” Naragon said. “I’ve been doing this, I don’t know, 11 years now and I’ve never seen anybody like that.”
It translated into sheer dominance on the field. Huffines lost once that season, in the semifinals of the middle school playoffs — because Murray missed the game with a shoulder injury.
What stood out to Naragon beyond Murray’s arm strength, which he believed was better than 99 percent of Texas high school quarterbacks as a seventh-grader, was Murray’s poise.
“He doesn’t get rattled,” Naragon said. “Nothing really affects him.”
The best from Texas?
And as good as Murray was in eighth grade, he was better in ninth. He began showing an advanced understanding of Olin’s pass-happy scheme after having been in it for a year, and as a ninth-grader he started taking ownership of it.
Sonny Dack, the varsity running-backs coach, helped Olin and Naragon coach the freshman team. He saw Murray begin holding his teammates accountable, whether it was the offensive line, the running backs or the wide receivers. He’d let the receivers know if their routes weren’t crisp enough or work to figure out why they dropped a pass. Murray had an encouraging nature when getting on his teammates. He began running parts of the offense at the line of scrimmage. He’d audible in and out of plays.
“He knew what everybody was supposed to be doing and he expected him to do it perfect,” Dack said. “He delivered and then some once he got to the ninth grade.”
No one could figure out a way to stop him, Olin said. And Murray’s height never mattered.
“Everybody told me, you’re too small,” said Murray, who today is listed at 5-foot-10. “You just learn to deal with it.”
Olin, who remains close with Murray — he eventually drove him to a visit at Texas Tech, where Kliff Kingsbury was coaching — was fired after the 2011-12 school year. Murray transferred to Allen High School, where the rest, as they say, is history. Quite literally.
By the end of high school, Murray firmly established himself as the front-runner to be named the best high school quarterback Texas has ever seen.
Murray dominated his competition, throwing for 10,386 yards and 117 touchdowns while running for 4,129 yards and 69 touchdowns. His senior year showing of 4,713 yards and 54 touchdowns earned him the prestigious five-star rating by every major recruiting service.
“I had never seen anybody like him,” Olin said. “Kyler was the best I’d ever been around and I was around some really good ones.”
When he finally got his chance in college, he picked up right where he had left off. Murray went 12-2 in 2018, his only season starting at Oklahoma, and won the Heisman Trophy after passing for 4,361 yards with 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 1,001 yards and 12 more TDs.
The next test
Murray enters the NFL with plenty of accolades but a difficult test ahead. Arizona hasn’t gone to the playoffs since 2015, which was also the last time it had a winning record. Murray will be charged with resurrecting an offense that was one of the worst in the league last season.
Murray’s legend as a high school player is known by some in his new organization. Fellow rookie wide receiver Hakeem Butler, who went to high school in Houston, had heard about the kid who accounted for something like 25 touchdowns in his first four games.
“I was like, ‘Nah, this kid ain’t human,'” Butler said.
Even Kingsbury, who starred at New Braunfels High School outside San Antonio and is a member of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, couldn’t explain what it was like to be a high school star of Murray’s caliber in Texas.
“I can’t. I’ve never seen one — that big of a star,” Kingsbury said. “He was the best player arguably to ever come through the state. When you talk about [42-0] and all the records he broke and things of that nature, I have no idea what it feels like.
June 1, 2019 at 5:21 pm #101834znModeratorState of the Franchise: Don’t sleep on Seahawks in crowded NFC
Members of the Seattle Seahawks organization, Seahawks fans around the world and those who were just intimidated into reading this by looking at photos of D.K. Metcalf flexing:
The Seattle Seahawks are in a period of transition. The Legion of Boom has been disbanded, while Russell Wilson will be working without Doug Baldwin for the first time in his NFL career. And yet, they are also in the midst of a period of great prosperity, having reached the playoffs in seven of the past nine seasons, including back-to-back Super Bowl appearances and one Lombardi Trophy. Well, I’m here to tell you that glory for Seattle lies not just in the past — but also in the near future.
How the Seahawks got here
Let’s take a quick look at the ups and downs of 2018:
The highs:
— Making the playoffs. Seattle fell short of the postseason in 2017 after finishing 9-7. Among the analysts on NFL.com, only Gregg Rosenthal had the Seahawks making the playoffs in 2018. (Rosey possesses all of that football knowledge — and the ability to rock a beard like an in-his-prime Rick Rude?) The way the Seahawks clinched their postseason berth was rather stunning, too: They knocked off the high-flying Kansas City Chiefs on “Sunday Night Football.” And it’s not like the Chiefs were mailing it in, either. The stakes were raised for them, too, as they were still jockeying for favorable playoff positioning.
— WR Tyler Lockett had a breakout year. In a league where passing is king, Seattle kept pounding the rock like your friend who still insists on calling instead of texting; only the Ravens (547) logged more rushing attempts than the Seahawks (534). That said, when Russell Wilson and Co. did cut loose and take to the air, they were quite good at it — and a big reason for this was Lockett, who had a breakout season in Year 4 with 10 receiving touchdowns. Yes, that’s more touchdowns than some big-name receivers managed in 2018, like Michael Thomas, Larry Fitzgerald and Julio Jones. Wilson had a perfect passer rating when targeting Lockett, according to Next Gen Stats. That’s incredible.
The lows:
— Richard Sherman’s departure. The veteran cornerback was the front man of the Legion of Boom, the group that defined the most successful run in Seahawks history. A former fifth-round pick who became a superstar (and “Madden” cover model), Sherman was released during the offseason preceding the 2018 season. The team apparently hoped it could bring back Sherman on a less costly deal, but he signed with the rival San Francisco 49ers instead. Sherman’s defection preceded the exits of Earl Thomas (who missed 12 games after suffering a leg fracture) and Kam Chancellor(who spent all of 2018 on the reserve/physically unable to perform list) this offseason; Thomas was like the one remaining member of the original band. It would be like if Mark Hoppus ever left Blink 182 and was replaced by somebody else.
— Losing a winnable playoff game in Dallas. Seattle’s 24-22 defeat to the Cowboys made this playoff trip the first one-and-done outing since the Pete Carroll era began in 2010. While the season was still a success on a macro level, a win over the Cowboys in the Wild Card Round would’ve led to a rematch with the Rams, with whom Seattle was very competitive in the regular season.
2019 VIPs
Head coach: Pete Carroll. As we were all reminded when Carroll removed his shirt during a combine meeting with famously muscular receiver D.K. Metcalf, who would go on to be drafted by Seattle in Round 2: Never question the enthusiasm of the 67-year-old coach, who has the same energy level as some of his (much) younger counterparts around the division. Seriously, the rest of the NFC West head coaches (33-year-old Sean McVay, 39-year-old Kliff Kingsbury and 39-year-old Kyle Shanahan) look like the cast of “Twilight” — and then here comes Carroll, the silver-fox owner of the only Super Bowl ring between the four of them. So show some respect.
In 2010 and ’11, Carroll’s first two years on the job, the Seahawks mounted back-to-back 7-9 campaigns (though, of course, they still reached the playoffs in 2010). Since then, they’ve recorded seven consecutive winning seasons and reached the playoffs in six of those years. So they’re doing pretty well in that regard. Ultimately, I’d put Carroll in the top five of current NFL coaches.
Quarterback: Russell Wilson. Wilson is on the cusp of being regarded as the best quarterback in the NFL. Kind of like the way Daniel Bryan was about to be recognized as the best wrestler in the world in the lead-up to “WrestleMania 30.” Wilson threw 35 touchdown passes last year, tied for third in the league with Matt Ryan. His 8.2 % touchdown rate trailed only Patrick Mahomes’ figure of 8.6 %.
And the good news is, after a brief period in which headlines about trading Russell Wilson somehow became a thing, the Seahawks made him the highest-paid player in football, locking him up through 2023. To announce it, Wilson made a sleepy Twitter announcement from bed, with his wife, Ciara, by his side. There was a certain level of cheesiness to it, but I’m going to allow it. You do you, Russell.
Projected 2019 MVP: Russell Wilson, quarterback. Wilson is the obvious answer here. But don’t sleep on linebacker Bobby Wagner, coming off yet another stellar season as a pro. He and Wilson are the only two members of the Seahawks’ 2012 draft class still with the team. Wagner has made three straight Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams. And he should be motivated, whether the Seahawks help him fulfill his goal of becoming the NFL’s highest-paid linebacker or he enters the final year of his contract looking for a payday next offseason.
2019 breakout star: Tre Flowers, cornerback. The 2018 fifth-round pick was really good against short-yardage throws; he allowed a passer rating of 51.4 on short yardage, the second-lowest total in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. He’s going to be the leader of the reformed Legion of Boom.
New faces to know: The Seahawks entered April with just four picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. Through some deft maneuvering, they walked away from the event with 11 dudes. The headliner was aforementioned second-rounder D.K. Metcalf, the receiver who captured the imagination of many when he presented a physique that looked similar to that of Dave Bautista in his prime — and it turns out he’s a pretty good football player, too! But don’t look to him to directly replace Doug Baldwin, as Metcalf projects more to the outside. The guy who could end up filling Baldwin’s shoes in the slot (if they don’t kick Lockett inside, like they did last year when Baldwin missed time) is fourth-rounder Gary Jennings. The talented rookie from West Virginia led draft-eligible Big 12 receivers in slot yards per route run last year, according to Pro Football Focus. The Seahawks are likely hoping DE L.J. Collier, their first-round selection, will replace Frank Clark, who was traded to Kansas City but led Seattle in sacks with 13.0 last season. The club also signed former Lions first-rounder Ziggy Ansahto a one-year deal to help offset some of the deficiencies on the defensive line.
The 2019 roadmap
The competitive urgency index is: HIGH. You would need to be an obtuse hot-take curator to suggest Carroll is on the hot seat. He’ll never have to purchase a cup of coffee in that town again. But when you have a top-five coach and QB, you need to win some games. The expectation of Seahawksfans should be for the team to make another run at the Super Bowl.
Will the Seahawks be able to …
Fix the offensive line? Thanks to their love of running the ball, they posted a league-low 427 pass attempts — but they still managed to rank eighth in sacks allowed, with 51. And this is with Russell Wilson — one of the best at evading pressure — at quarterback. Seeing that he gets sacked as much as he does is like going to Gordon Ramsay’s house for dinner and being served Chef Boyardee from a can. It doesn’t quite translate. (Not that I would say anything, because he’d just end up yelling at me. But it would be weird.) Veteran signee Mike Iupati is now in the mix, and left tackle Duane Brownsees big things ahead for this group.
Replace Doug Baldwin? Even though the Seahawks do run the ball a lot, Baldwin was one of the best route runners in the NFL, a guy on par with some of the best in recent years, like Antonio Brown and Steve Smith. And Wilson went to him far more than he did anyone else in his career thus far; since Wilson entered the NFL in 2012, Baldwin amassed 637 targets, or 361 more than the next closest guy on the Seahawks (Lockett with 276). Finding someone to absorb his workload might seem easy compared to replacing the leadership Baldwin provided.
Make up for the loss of Frank Clark? The Seahawksmade waves when they traded Clark to Kansas City. As the folks at PFF pointed out, the trade helped pick-needy Seattle build draft capital, while the Chiefsended up handing Clark, who had been hit with the franchise tag by the Seahawks, a five-year, $105.5 million deal. Of course, now there’s only one player on the roster who recorded more than 3.0 sacks for Seattle last year (Jarran Reed, who had 10.5). Can Collier, Ansah, Rasheem Green (last year’s third-round pick) or someone else step up and fill the void?
Three key dates:
— Week 2 at the Steelers. The Seahawks tend to run into trouble on the road early in the season; consider that they’ve lost their first road game of the year for the last five years, and they’ve only won their second road game twice (in 2014 and ’16). And don’t forget that after last season’s Week 2 loss in Chicago dropped them to 0-2, the ‘Hawks weren’t able to climb above .500 until Week 8. Coming out of this one with a W would be huge.
— Week 5 vs. the Rams. The Seahawks were swept by the Rams last year — but they only lost by a combined seven points. This is the chance for Seattle to make a statement against the reigning NFC champs.
— Week 12 at Eagles. The Seahawks will be coming off a bye to go on the road against a team they could be matched up against in the playoffs.
One storyline people are overlooking: Chris Carson was pretty great last year. The Seahawksdrafted Rashaad Penny out of San Diego State in the first round of last year’s draft, so you would think the team would have had huge plans for him. But Carroll doesn’t let draft pedigree dictate usage; everyone needs to compete. Carson, a seventh-round pick in 2017, ended up rushing for 1,151 yards and nine touchdowns on 247 carries, while Penny tallied 85 attempts and just 419 yards. What’s most impressive: Carson gained 831 yards after contact, fifth most among running backs last season, according to PFF.
One storyline people are overthinking: You can’t win with a quarterback who makes big money. This is a dumb narrative that needs to be shot into the sky. Five of the eight playoff teams in 2018 (the Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Seahawks and Saints) were led by veteran quarterbacks drawing significant paychecks. Yes, Wilson’s relatively affordable rookie contract allowed Seattle to spend elsewhere in the first phase of his career. Yes, he will now count for $26.3 million against the cap in 2019, according to Over The Cap. But it’s not as much of a problem if you draft well, which the Seahawks have done. Heck, they went 39-24-1 in the years after Wilson signed his second contract, before the 2015 season.
Remembering Paul Allen. I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to consider the legacy of the Seahawks’ owner, who passed away midseason at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Back in 1997, the Seahawks, then owned by Ken Behring, were set to move to Los Angeles — moving trucks were already headed to Rams Park in Anaheim, left vacant by the Rams’ move to St. Louis. Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, stepped in to purchase the team after the public voted to help finance what was to become CenturyLink Field. To put it simply, Allen saved football in Seattle and turned what was once a doormat NFL franchise into one of the most envied teams in the league.
For 2019 to be a successful season, the Seahawks MUST …
— Beat the Rams at least once. Both games were competitive last year, and could have easily swung in Seattle’s favor.
— Reach the playoffs again. Seattle can’t go backwards one year after reaching the postseason as a “rebuilding” team.
— Make a serious run. As I mentioned earlier, last season, Seattle marked the first one-and-done playoff appearance in the Carroll era. Yes, there are three other teams in the NFC that would be in my top-five power rankings of the entire league (Rams, Bears, Saints) — but the Seahawks are certainly in that conversation. They can’t let this opportunity pass them by.
In closing
For a team that has won as much as they have recently, the Seahawks sure do seem to sort of fly under the radar, as teams like the Rams get all of the attention. Let them have their moment. But make no mistake, the Seahawks need to be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender.
June 1, 2019 at 8:22 pm #101841znModeratorFree of expectations, 49ers can grow
Members of the San Francisco 49ers organization, fans of the team worldwide and those who are here just to see George Kittle deliver a Stone-Cold stunner:
The 49ers franchise is one of the most storied of the Super Bowl era, the first in NFL history to win five Lombardi Trophies. But it’s been awhile since they’ve reached those heights. The Niners came tantalizingly close in Super Bowl XLVII (seriously, try Frank Gore at least once), but ultimately, San Francisco hasn’t won a title since the 1994 season. Well, at least in football. The Bay Area could celebrate the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum, and in hoops, there’s the Warriors. But let’s talk Super Bowl.
How the 49ers got here
Let’s take a quick look at the ups and downs of 2018:
The highs:
— Beating the Raiders, 34-3, on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 9. Former practice-squad guy Nick Mullens was dealing, throwing for 262 yards and three touchdowns and compiling a passer rating of 151.9 while filling in for an injured C.J. Beathard, who himself had been filling in for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, and it looked like perhaps Mullens was going to Matt Flynn his way to a huge contract in the offseason. Seriously, Mullens should have walked off after that. Because, like a microcosm of the Niners’ season, the rest of Mullens’ campaign did not live up to the expectations set by his debut. Setting that game aside, his numbers from 2018 looked like this: 63.5% completion rate, 10:10 TD-to-INT ratio and a passer rating of 85.0, with a 2-5 record.
— Beating the Seahawks in overtime in Week 15. Seattle had won four straight and was desperately trying to make the playoffs. San Francisco had won three games all season and had just been rolled by the Seahawks in a 43-16 loss in Week 13. And yet, the Niners hung on to beat Seattle for the first time since December of 2013. As late bright spots go in otherwise lost seasons, this was pretty solid.
— Signing Richard Sherman. In 13 games heading into the 2018 offseason, Sherman had collected 41 tackles, four interceptions and 11 passes defensed in 13 games against San Francisco. So it must have been nice for the Niners to add him to their side and snatch up a veteran leader who had reached four Pro Bowls for the division-rival Seahawks. If nothing else, it ensured more of those revenge games we love to scream about.
The lows:
— Jimmy Garoppolo tearing his ACL. The 49ers had high hopes heading into the season, but they were pretty much squashed when Garoppolo went down in the fourth quarter of a 38-27 loss at Kansas City in Week 3. We’ll delve further into this below, but for now, let’s just say the plan was not to have Mullens and Beathard combine to throw five times as many passes as Jimmy G. It didn’t help that, in addition to losing the quarterback, San Francisco also was without prized free-agent running back Jerick McKinnon, who tore his ACL before the season started.
— Reuben Foster getting released. When Foster was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence battery in November, it marked the third incident that resulted in criminal charges since the linebacker was drafted in the first round in 2017. The team subsequently released him, ending a Niners tenure that never really got off the ground. The second pick of the Shanahan-John Lynch era left the Niners with just 16 appearances, 101 tackles and zero sacks to his name. (The charge was later dropped, and Foster wound up with the Redskins before tearing the ACL in his left knee this month.)
— Getting swept by the Arizona Cardinals. On the season, San Francisco scored 117 more points than Arizona and gained 1,904 more yards. And yet, the Cardinals won both of their games. Add to this indignity the twist that Arizona — and not the team that lost twice to Arizona — ended up with the top overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, because San Francisco won four games to the Cardinals’ three. I mean, come on. Imagine if the Niners had been able to make the Cardinals pay through the roof for the right to draft Kyler Murray.
2019 VIPs
Head coach: Kyle Shanahan. He enters his third season with the 49ers after arriving with high expectations in 2017, as both the son of (soon-to-be Hall of Fame?) coach Mike Shanahan and one of the brightest offensive minds in the game. But Shanahan hasn’t translated that promise into wins. Yet. The 49ers overachieved down the stretch in 2017, which set expectations unrealistically high for 2018. And then all of the unpleasantness happened with the injuries, and we never got a true gauge of where this team is. I still believe in Shanahan, and I feel like if he were a free agent right now, he’d be gobbled up like free pizza in the breakroom.
Quarterback: Jimmy Garoppolo. He has progressed well from his injury, and he’s on track to be ready for training camp. He even took time away from reveling at the Kentucky Derby to speak to Tom Brady, his former Patriots teammate, who returned from a similar injury suffered in 2008. So that’s the good.
But Garoppolo, who signed a five-year, $137.5 million deal in February of 2018 after being traded from New England in October of 2017, is going to need to step up this season. He threw three interceptions in the season-opening loss at Minnesota, and he was fortunate that a potentially crushing pick-six was wiped out by a penalty in the team’s win over the Lions in Week 2. That said, he played really well against the Chiefs before suffering the ACL injury; in fact, he led the 49ers on three consecutive scoring drives before his season ended. Had he not been injured, could the 49ers have won that game, improving to 2-1 instead of embarking on a six-game losing skid? It’s possible.
I’m a huge believer in Garoppolo. But it’s fair to ask if he’s the guy who won his first seven NFL starts, including five to close out 2017, or the guy who stumbled out of the gate in 2018.
Projected 2019 MVP: George Kittle, tight end. The 2017 fifth-round pick was quite the revelation for the 49ers last year. Kittle finished 2018 with 88 receptions and five touchdowns — and, more importantly, he broke the long-standing NFL record for receiving yards by a tight end. You know, one of the most-storied marks in NFL history, a record you thought would never be broken: the record set by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce less than an hour before Kittle snapped it.
It’s worth noting that earlier in the season, Kittle was poised to set the record for most receiving yards in a game by a tight end — but Shanahan failed to make sure Kittle got the ball, and he ended the game a few yards short. It’s safe to say Shanahan wasn’t going to let something like that happen again.
It’s also worth noting that, while Kelce racked up his yardage total with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, Kittle played with a consortium of Mullens and Beathard. That’s kind of like winning the Daytona 500 in a Prius.
2019 breakout star: Nick Bosa, pass rusher. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but yeah — the No. 2 overall pick was considered the top prospect in the draft by some, and he addresses the biggest need for the 49ers, which is the pass rush.
Another rookie to know: Deebo Samuel, receiver. Being a wide receiver for the 49ers carries sky-high expectations, considering the lineage includes Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens. The current regime would be cool with the second-round pick being a more physical/versatile version of Pierre Garcon.
Free-agent addition: Kwon Alexander, LB. Like Garoppolo, Alexander is a key player coming off an ACL tear. San Francisco made him the league’s second-highest paid inside linebacker (average of $13.5 million per year) this offseason, so expectations are high, but he’s going to form a nice tandem with Fred Warner. They’ll be one of the NFL’s most athletic duos at ILB. Alexander relies a lot on his speed and can make players in coverage, hence the six career interceptions.
The 2019 roadmap
The competitive urgency index is: MEDIUM. With the Rams and Seahawks drawing attention at the top of the NFC West, the 49ers will be afforded the opportunity to float by, like one of those quiet house guests on “Big Brother” who just seems to hang around all season, before you realize they are going to end up in the finals. The 49ers were a hip playoff pick last year after winning five straight to close out 2017, even though there seemed to be some huge question marks about the team. This year, they’ll get a chance to actually play some regular-season games before folks begin making declarations about them.
Get to the quarterback? The 49ers tied for 22nd last year with 37 sacks. And that is where Bosa and Dee Ford (who was acquired in a trade with the Chiefs) should be able to help. Maybe the two of them can help inspire former first-round pick Solomon Thomas. Remember when people clowned on the Bears for moving up to get Mitch Trubisky at No. 2 overall by swapping spots with the Niners, who drafted Thomas at No. 3 in 2017? Yeah, well, Thomas has just 72 tackles and 4.0 sacks in two seasons since, so it’s time for him to start making some noise.
Get an interception from a cornerback? Seriously, the 49ers had two picks last year as a team — that was five fewer than the next closest team. And none of those interceptions were recorded by a corner. In addition to signing Sherman last year, the Niners re-upped Jimmie Ward (who suffered a broken collarbone last week but is expected to be ready for camp) and inked Jason Verrett to a one-year deal this year. Ultimately, you’d like to see 2017 third-rounder Ahkello Witherspoon take a step.
Find a role for Jalen Hurd? The selection of Hurd in the third round of this year’s draft was a frisky pick by the 49ers, who lack offensive firepower outside of Kittle, and Hurd could be a lot of fun for this team. He’s the kind of versatile offensive weapon Shanahan could truly take advantage of.
Three key dates
— Week 1 at the Bucs. The 49ers will see a familiar foe when they face new Bucs coach Bruce Arians, who used to face them regularly when he helmed the Cardinals. San Francisco’s first two games are on the road (at the Bengals in Week 2), providing a strong test for this team.
— Week 5 vs. the Browns. The 49ers get their bye in Week 4, then play host to the Browns, who are rolling into this season as this year’s version of the 2018 49ers: a team heavy on hope and hype but light on proven success.
— Week 6 at the Rams. It’s the old Ric Flair adage: If you want to be the man, you have to beat the man.
One storyline people are overlooking: The 49ers have a sneaky-good running back situation. Free-agent signee Tevin Coleman was a nice pickup from Atlanta. After all, Shanahan was part of the Falcons staff that drafted Coleman, so this is an obvious fit (and Coleman thinks Shanahan is even more creative than he used to be, which is cool). Because of Coleman’s arrival, the 49ers can ease McKinnon back into the rotation after his recovery from the ACL tear that cost him 2018. And then you also have Matt Breida and one of my favorite fullbacks, Kyle Juszczyk. It’ll be one of those situations where fantasy enthusiasts get really heated about not knowing which running back to start, but it’ll work out well in real-football terms.
One storyline people are overthinking: The potential of a rift developing between general manager John Lynch and Shanahan. Reports of such a rift were quickly dismissed by Shanahan. And there is no reason to doubt him. After all, Lynch played for Kyle’s father, and Kyle presumably had a say in Lynch’s hiring in the first place. But you can’t blame 49ers fans for being a little edgy when you consider the way the Jim Harbaugh era ended.
For 2019 to be a successful season, the 49ers MUST …
— Get to at least .500. After the team fell so far short of expectations in 2018, let’s try to hit this more attainable benchmark.
— Not lose to the Cardinals this year. Or at least, they can’t get swept again.
— Split with the Rams and Seahawks. I’m not saying the 49ers need to win the NFC West or make the playoffs. (Not that you would turn down any of those things.) What I believe 49ers fans would love to see is some progress, something tangible to point to and say, “Hey look, we’re almost there.” The 49ers’ roster isn’t as complete as those of the Rams and Seahawks. But there is the talent to compete. All the fans are asking for is to that have that one moment where they can laud a hard-fought victory over their friends. I mean, when the Bears were bad (so, so long ago) I wouldn’t let my Steelers friends hear the end of it when Chicago beat them. And sometimes that’s all you need. Those small victories.
In closing
The 49ers are in a great spot. People were too excited last year, and there was no way to deliver on those expectations. Now they’re back to being the quiet underdog, in position to under-promise and over-deliver. I know some of you will look back to 2017 and say this team should be a top-10 squad when everyone’s healthy. But there are a lot of areas of concern. I could easily see San Francisco winning 12 games or scuffling to seven wins. The most important thing, to me, is demonstrating that the Niners are moving in the right direction.
June 3, 2019 at 11:56 am #101865znModeratorAfter a narrow playoff defeat in 2012, @DangeRussWilson & @PeteCarroll foresaw a Super season. They're getting the same vibe 6 years later, and they aren't afraid to say it out loud. My story from @Seahawks HQhttps://t.co/BGxHpbeqwo
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) June 3, 2019
June 5, 2019 at 10:16 pm #101924znModeratorKyle Shanahan's success is rooted in his ability to play to the strengths of his players
PFF Analyst Anthony Treash (@atreash23) takes an in-depth look at the San Francisco offense:https://t.co/wI62wzby0c pic.twitter.com/bVpbeOFMbV
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) June 6, 2019
June 29, 2019 at 11:47 am #102458znModeratorNFL MMQB 2019 OFFSEASON REPORTS
NFC West Offseason Reports: Can the Rams Hold Off the Re-Stocked 49ers, Russell Wilson, and the Kyler/Kliff Cardinals?
The defending NFC champs will face stiffer competition in an improved division, especially at the bottom.The MMQB is evaluating each team’s offseason, division by division. Find all the progress reports here.
ARIZONA CARDINALS
2018 record: 3-13New players: OLB Terrell Suggs, LB Jordan Hicks, OT Marcus Gilbert, CB Robert Alford, QB Kyler Murray, WR Andy Isabella, DE Zach Allen, CB Byron Murphy, WR Hakeem Butler
Players lost: QB Josh Rosen, QB Mike Glennon, S Antoine Bethea, TE Jermaine Gresham, G Mike Iupati
In what areas did the team improve? Last year only the Bills (271) and the Seahawks (280) had fewer completions than Arizona (283), and the Cardinals were worst in the league in gross (2,884) and net (2,523) passing yards. After Larry Fitzgerald and rookie Christian Kirk, the receiving corps was not impressive. So after picking Murray, the Cardinals spent three of their next six draft picks on receivers: Andy Isabella, Hakeem Butler and KeeSean Johnson (all taken within the first 175 picks), and added free agent Damiere Byrd. Now, they enter the summer with a healthy position battle at what was one of the team’s weakest positions last season.
What areas still need help? Per Pro Football Focus, Arizona had the league’s worst offensive line in 2018. Health was an issue, as 11 different offensive linemen played at least 100 snaps for Arizona. Protecting the quarterback becomes even more important this season. As the thinking goes, because Murray is 5′ 10″ and of a smaller build, he’ll be less able to hold up to heavy hits. Arizona upgraded at right tackle by adding Marcus Gilbert from the Steelers, and if he stays healthy (he missed 11 games in 2018 for a knee injury) he’ll improve a line that saw a rotation of players at right tackle. Arizona also added guard J.R. Sweezy in free agency as part of its revamped offensive line.
Another concern for shutdown cornerback and team captain Patrick Peterson’s six-game suspension (who was suspended for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy). His absence on the field will leave a hole in a Cardinals defense that was supposed to be the reliable unit, capable of carrying a revamped offense that might need time to meld. The Cardinals replenished their defense with veterans like Suggs, Hicks, and Alford, but this unit will have to adjust without the reliability and leadership Peterson.
Biggest question heading into the regular season? Oh boy. The Cardinals are one of the biggest storylines this season. How will the Kliff Kingsbury/Kyler Murray experiment pan out? The combo must work for general manager Steve Keim, otherwise there’s going to be a regime change in Arizona.
LOS ANGELES RAMS
2018 record: 13-3New players: LB Clay Matthews, S Eric Weddle, QB Blake Bortles, S Taylor Rapp, CB David Long
Players lost: DT Ndamukong Suh, LB Mark Barron, RB CJ Anderson
In what areas did the team improve? One of the Rams’ biggest weaknesses last year was stopping the run—the defense finished third-to-last in rushing yards allowed and last in yards per carry. The team did not re-sign expensive defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and cut linebacker Mark Barron. Suh played in a 3-4 for the first time in his career last season, and he didn’t seem to fully find his groove. Instead, L.A. drafted nose tackle Greg Gaines in the fourth round. He’s strong against the run, and is expected to play a significant role early. L.A. also signed Dante Fowler Jr. to a one-year prove-it deal. The Rams traded for Fowler to boost their pass rush just before the trade deadline last season, and Fowler came on strong late in the year. He’s a player with something to prove and I think he’ll continue to improve this season.
What areas still need help? Todd Gurley’s knee injury (neither Gurley or the Rams has confirmed arthritis or another degenerative condition) is concerning, considering Gurley’s ineffectiveness in the NFC title game and Super Bowl. When Sean McVay arrived in L.A. in 2017, he built the offense around the multifaceted Gurley, and the Rams made Gurley the highest-paid back in NFL history last offseason. The next running backs on the roster are Malcolm Brown and rookie Darrell Henderson, a third-round pick.
Biggest question heading into the regular season? Can they get back to the Super Bowl? The Rams aren’t happy with the way played in the Super Bowl—even McVay admitted he was out-coached—so the desire to get back to the big game will be there. But the NFC is competitive, and the journey back will not be easy.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Team record: 4-12New players: DE Nick Bosa, DE Dee Ford, ILB Kwon Alexander, RB Tevin Coleman, CB Jason Verrett, WR Jordan Matthews, WR Deebo Samuel, P Mitch Wishnowsky
Players lost: P Bradley Pinion, DE Cassius Marsh, WR Pierre Garcon
In what areas did the team improve? The 49ers had a big need for an edge rusher, and they boosted their pass rush by drafting Nick Bosa with the second overall pick and trading for Dee Ford. Ford forced a league-high 10 turnovers due to pressure last season—the 49ers forced a record-low seven turnovers as a team in 2018. Ford is the closer that the 49ers defense needed, and adding Bosa on the opposite end of the line, with defensive tackle DeForest Buckner inside, should create a powerful defensive front.
San Francisco also improved their backfield. Running back Matt Breida returns, Jerick McKinnon should be healthy again, and the team signed former Falcons running back Tevin Coleman, who head coach Kyle Shanahan worked with and held in high regard during his time coaching in Atlanta.
What areas still need help? The 49ers addressed many holes in their roster through the draft and free agency, but free safety wasn’t one of them. San Francisco saw several players rotate into the position last season because of injuries, and they opted not to pay for a free agent option (Landon Collins and Earl Thomas were available) to improve the position. Instead, it will be a competition between the oft-injured Jimmie Ward (he hasn’t played 10 games in a season since 2016), and third-year pro Adrian Colbert, who started six games last season before landing on injured reserve. 2018 second-rounder DJ Reed is also capable of playing free safety, as well as starting strong safety Jaquiski Tartt, and Antoine Exum, who is a backup option at both safety spots. The 49ers have a lot of options here, but this is an area that could have used an upgrade. Cornerback Richard Sherman can only do so much in carrying a secondary that PFF ranked worst in the league last season.
Biggest question heading into the regular season? How will Jimmy Garopollo play coming off his ACL injury? His rehab seems to be going well and he even took one rep in full team 11-on-11 drills during the 49ers’ last mini-camp practice. He faced a real pass rush, which is a big milestone in his recovery process. Garopollo’s goal is to be 100 percent by the start of training camp.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
2018 record: 10-6New players: WR DK Metcalf, G Mike Iupati, DE LJ Collier, DE Ziggy Ansah, K Jason Myers
Players lost: DE Frank Clark, WR Doug Baldwin, S Earl Thomas, CB Justin Coleman
In what areas did the team improve? First, Seattle did the right thing and locked up Russell Wilson for the next four years. Second, reports out of Seattle’s offseason program have raved about second-round pick DK Metcalf. He went viral before the draft because of a shirtless photo, and despite a drop in the draft he has so far lived up to that pre-draft hype. Without Doug Baldwin, whose contract was terminated due to a failed physical and is likely to retire, Seattle needs another receiver they can count on. Tyler Lockett stepped up last season while Baldwin was injured, and Metcalf fits in well with the Seahawks. With his size and speed, he’ll be able to run past defenders, and Wilson is one of the best deep-ball throwers in the league.
What areas still need help? Cornerback depth is an area of concern. The Seahawks lost slot corner Justin Coleman in free agency. Coleman was so good for Seattle that Detroit made him the highest-paid nickel corner in league history. Now the Seahawks are without a known quantity at nickel. Last season, Akeem King got a little bit of experience playing in the slot, but not much. Seattle also added journeyman corner Jamar Taylor, who is no Pro Bowler but has seven years of experience and could fill the role as well.
Biggest question heading into the regular season? This team is coming off an offseason during which they parted with several franchise-defining players. Safety Earl Thomas is now a Raven, Doug Baldwin is gone, and Kam Chancellor is officialy retired (he did not play in 2018). Thomas’s departure felt like official end of the Legion of Boom era. The team has been creating a new identity and culture in the last couple seasons, and outperformed expectations last season. Can they continue to create a new identity and make the playoffs?
June 29, 2019 at 11:51 am #102461znModeratorWhat we know about Kliff Kingsbury’s mysterious offense in Arizona
TEMPE, Ariz. — There are state secrets, and then there is first-year coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offense with the Arizona Cardinals.
Yes, they’ll have an offense — that much has been confirmed. Beyond that we’ve heard only whispers. What will it look like? Will it be a true Air Raid or an adapted one? Could he roll out a traditional, pro-style offense?
Unclear. One thing we know is that it doesn’t have a name yet.
“It’s an offense,” rookie quarterback Kyler Murray said when asked for a name. “An explosive offense.”
So there’s that.
After a voluntary veteran minicamp, three weeks of organized team activities and a mandatory minicamp, little is officially known about Kingsbury’s offense. In fact, Kingsbury said he has been tight-lipped about it because even he doesn’t know exactly what it’ll look like, and he might not until after the team gets through parts of training camp.
“I have a feeling how it’s going to go, but we’re going to do what we’re good at,” Kingsbury said.
Still, over the past two months, enough hints have been dropped that we can piece together an idea of the offense Kingsbury is developing. With a little bit of decoding and a few rounds of interviews through the locker room, here’s what we know about the Cardinals’ offense as we approach July:
It will utilize the shotgun. Earlier this offseason, center A.Q. Shipleysaid on The Pat McAfee Show that Arizona will be in shotgun “99%” of the time. While that is yet to be seen, what’s almost certain is that the Cardinals will likely play out of the shotgun a lot.
“Probably more shotgun’s our home, which is good because I did that in college, and we had a running quarterback,” running back David Johnson said.
The Cardinals also have a running quarterback in Murray. Also, Kingsbury said he likes what he has seen from the Kansas City Chiefs, who lost in the AFC Championship Game with second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who, coincidentally, is a Kingsbury disciple. They went shotgun “80%-plus,” Kingsbury said.
It will be fast-paced. Johnson said the plan is go up-tempo — so much so that he said the offense will have to “get used to no-huddle.”
“We’re going to get the ball down the field as fast as we can,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to get a lot of plays in the game.”
Just how many plays is Johnson talking? About 90 to 95 per game, he said. That has never been done before, according to ESPN Stats & Information. No team has averaged 80 offensive plays per game. In fact, it’s rare for a team to run 90 plays in a game at all. There have been only 66 instances in which a team has reached that mark in a game, including overtime games, in the Super Bowl Era.
Even if it’s fewer than 90 on average, it’s sure to be a lot of plays, and thinking critically in an offense that fast will be the hardest part about playing in Kingsbury’s offense.
“You want to have that fine line of not thinking too much, but we want to have enough in that we can still be attacking,” Kingsbury said. “Kind of given the illusion of complexity out there. And so, I think when we start going fast, sometimes it freezes guys up, but once they get accustomed to it, they can pick it up.”
Kingsbury said the Cardinals aren’t going to play as fast as they can every play. The intention, he said, is to find a pace that’ll be comfortable for Murray, one that gives him a chance to see and evaluate the defense.
“I want him to be able to work in a good rhythm,” Kingsbury said.
It will spread the field. The Cardinals probably won’t spread the field the way Kingsbury did at Texas Tech. Kingsbury said some of his concepts from college won’t work in the NFL, but “you’re still spreading the field.”
The biggest adjustment for Kingsbury in developing his offense will be the hashmarks. In the NFL, they’re 18 feet, 6 inches apart. In college, they’re 40 feet apart, allowing for an entirely different type of spread offense to be employed. Kingsbury said he has used OTAs and minicamp — and plans to use training camp — to try new concepts with the shorter hashmarks.
However, Kingsbury said “a lot” of his spread concepts carry over. His is a plan that has his players excited.
Said Murray: “That’s what this offense does: puts people in space, makes defenders make decisions. I think it’ll be very dangerous.”
Said Johnson: “I think it’s going to be really helpful because only having to worry about one guy tackling you compared to three, four guys loading the box.”
It will be balanced. Even though Kingsbury is trying to keep his scheme a secret, there’s one misnomer floating around, he said.
People think “it’s going to be wide-open every single snap, throw it every play,” Kingsbury said. “That’s not what it’s going to be.”
That’s not what it has ever been, actually. In his six seasons at Texas Tech, Kingsbury’s running backs averaged more than 20 carries per game four times. The other two seasons, they averaged 19.2 and 19.6 carries per game. In Kingsbury’s last two seasons in Lubbock, his running backs peaked, averaging 26.7 carries per game in 2017 and 24.3 carries in 2018.
Kingsbury has been adamant that his offense will be fluid on a game-by-game, play-by-play basis.
“We just try to do things that we think the defense will struggle with,” Kingsbury said. “If it’s run it every play, we’ll run it every play. If we got to throw it a bunch, we’ll do that as well. Basically, take what they give you.”
Guard J.R. Sweezy broke it down in simpler terms: “It is the NFL. Everybody knows you got to be balanced.”
David Johnson will be a focal point. Johnson believes he’ll be used “similar” to how he was under former coach Bruce Arians in 2016, when Johnson had 2,118 all-purpose yards.
“I think I’ll be utilized as a running back and a receiver,” Johnson said.
The ratio of Johnson’s snaps at running back and receiver is yet clear, but he believes it’ll come down to the defenses more than anything else.
Kingsbury said Johnson “could have a pretty extensive role in this offense.” That could mean asking him to carry the ball 35 times or catch 10 passes, Kingsbury said. But balance will be necessary to keep Johnson fresh.
Final analysis? Cardinals outside linebacker Chandler Jones is among the players most qualified to opine on the team’s new offense. After all, he has already experienced the stresses that this still-developing offense can present.
“You just have to be sound in order to defend this offense,” Jones said. “Everyone has to do their job, and if you don’t, they’ll definitely catch you.”
We’ll know more in training camp, but it’s unlikely that Arizona will run any of its scheme during the preseason. We might not know what this offense will look like until the season opener against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 8.
No matter what it looks like, though, there’s one thing we know for certain.
“It’s going to be fun to watch,” Sweezy said. “It’s going to be real fun to watch.”
July 12, 2019 at 12:12 pm #102853znModeratorWhat can we expect this season from a healthy @49ers team?
DE @SollyThomas90 stopped by the breakfast table to tell us ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/e62A1OAs6N
— GMFB (@gmfb) July 12, 2019
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