Who will win the NFC West this year?

[johnson]

It's more about if it's performance-enhancing. Steroids are obviously worse than adderall, but we'd all agree they both fall into that category.

Weed...yeah, not so much.

 

[cdumler7]

It's more about if it's performance-enhancing. Steroids are obviously worse than adderall, but we'd all agree they both fall into that category.

Weed...yeah, not so much.

Johnson question for you...What are you expecting from the ILB position this year with both starters from last year gone? Are you hopeful or very nervous of what will come of that?

 

[gowazzu02]

I had given up on this thread, but looky here its back.

I will throw a few points out there. I think the primary competition for Seattle this year is whichever team STL or ARZ that gets 16 healthy games from their QB. You can't have your backup out there and win in this division.

I think SF takes a step back. VD contract issue, Boone now not happy with deal. Aldon suspension coming, Iupati coming off nasty injury in nfccg (anyword on how he's doing?) Gore hitting the 30 wall? , Bowman coming off Nastier injury in nfccg, Still don't have any corners

Yes they added a nice WR, but Kap (until proves me different) refuses or just plane can't read a progression, if the first read aint open, he's running.



Also one last note, with Seattle transforming the WR crew this offseason, you can see the front office getting ready for RW to get paid, when you have to pay your qb you have to play the game differently, so loading up on weapons for him.

 

[seafandoghawk]

Strong safety TJ McDonald missed most of the season due to injury, but when he played, he played well. The only thing that concerns me about the secondary is the strong safety position, where there's a good chance we'll be starting another rookie.

Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson, however, are both good, instinctive CBs. The vast majority of their struggles came from scheme and simply being placed at a disadvantage from the jump. I'd say, conservatively, they started 75% of their snaps lining up 8 yards off the line of scrimmage, regardless of the situation. Tim Walton was an awful coordinator who didn't seem to have a clue. Gregg Williams' proven style of defense caters to the Rams' CBs strengths of physical, press coverage. There should be a marked improvement in the play of the secondary from scheme alone.

Didn't realize that the Rams had such a bad defensive coordinator last year. Man, this division is going to be brutal this year. To me the team that has the most question marks right now is the 49ers, with a secondary that hasn't really played together, multiple missed games for Bowman and Aldon Smith, questions about the availability of Vernon Davis & Boone, and a weird strain of apparent discord in the front office through the off-season. But, they have promising depth in the wings, and probably a much better stable of receivers for Kap to look for.

However much a homer prediction, I'm going with the Seahawks to win the thing. But I think that all four of the teams have the personnel to take the division.

 

[WizardHawk]

I'm just going on what's happened to me in the past. But, you're right... it's a generalization (similar to calling it "purely fictitious") said tongue-in-cheek, hence the "Lol". I never said that every Seahawks fan feels/reacts this way.

Sheesh! Relax, man... don't take things so personal.

I was just setting the record straight.

Seattle fans are understandably high on their team right now, but there has never been a lack of people criticizing the team or some of their players. It's just that those voices are largely silent since the SB.

Hell I've been complaining about their Oline for years and still do.

As for Browner, the only people who were upset by his injury and subsequent ban from the game were those who worried that we didn't have a big CB to play against specific large WR's. Everyone was happy he wasn't out there every down. He got burned way too many times.

 

[Rvnight18]

I had given up on this thread, but looky here its back.

I will throw a few points out there. I think the primary competition for Seattle this year is whichever team STL or ARZ that gets 16 healthy games from their QB. You can't have your backup out there and win in this division.

I think SF takes a step back. VD contract issue, Boone now not happy with deal. Aldon suspension coming, Iupati coming off nasty injury in nfccg (anyword on how he's doing?) Gore hitting the 30 wall? , Bowman coming off Nastier injury in nfccg, Still don't have any corners

Yes they added a nice WR, but Kap (until proves me different) refuses or just plane can't read a progression, if the first read aint open, he's running.



Also one last note, with Seattle transforming the WR crew this offseason, you can see the front office getting ready for RW to get paid, when you have to pay your qb you have to play the game differently, so loading up on weapons for him.

First Vernon wants a new contract but that doesn't affect his talent. He is still one of the best TEs in the league. Big deal he wants a new deal. Is lynch going to go down this year because he is unhappy?

Kap had Boldin at WR until crabs came back extremely early from a major injury. He had no WR to throw besides Boldin. Kap was much better on e crabs came back. So he will have crabs, Boldin and Stevie Johnson ( who has schooled shermy bad) to throw to. Much better than just Boldin. I would say.

Gore is pushing the end. Great career. But let's not act like the 49ers don't have guys waiting. Hyde is a rookie but the talk so far is he is beasting. Marcus Lattimore isn't wearing any braces on his knee and feels no discomfort, and the best writers say it sure looks like his burst is back. So I'm not worried about the RB position. We also get Bruce Miller back at FB.

Brock was one of the highest rated CBs last year. Eric Reid had a great rookie season. Bethea isn't the greatest SS in the world but he is just as good as Whitner IMO. The starting corner spot next to Brock is the one I'm worried about.

Iupati will be back. Boone wants a new contract and he deserves one. Want him back. Iupati is gone after this year more than likely, so we can't lose them both.

Bowman's injury hurts because it's bowman. But we have plenty of guys who will fill and and be productive. We managed when Willis was out last year. We will do the same here.

Justin Smith isnt the same... He is still a top 3 at his position. He's good. But we do have tank waiting in the wings.

You see everyone forgets that the 49ers have had the most draft picks the last two years. They have players waiting in the wings. It's hard to crack a roster with a lot of talented guys on it.

 

[cdumler7]

I was just setting the record straight.

Seattle fans are understandably high on their team right now, but there has never been a lack of people criticizing the team or some of their players. It's just that those voices are largely silent since the SB.

Hell I've been complaining about their Oline for years and still do.

As for Browner, the only people who were upset by his injury and subsequent ban from the game were those who worried that we didn't have a big CB to play against specific large WR's. Everyone was happy he wasn't out there every down. He got burned way too many times.

So question WizardHawk are you worried at all about the depth at Corner now that 2 guys who contributed last year are gone? They have a lot of unproven potential behind the starters but again that potential word can be dangerous?

 

[cdumler7]

I do think people forget about the 49ers drafts the last two years pretty much being redshirted because the talent in the starting line up has been so good and they haven't had a ton of injury opportunities to really show what they have yet. Most of those guys were very highly regarded coming out of the draft and with them learning from Pro-Bowl/All-Pro type players plus a pretty darn good coaching staff in San Fran I like the chances of some of them showing what they can do on the field. Tank Carradine was a guy I was really wanting the Broncos to go after and even many of the others. They have had the luxury of not needing these guys to start day 1 to be a competitive team. Now with some injuries we will finally see how good or bad some of those drafts have been. My guess is at least a few of them will show quality play on the field.

 

[Uhsplit]

First Vernon wants a new contract but that doesn't affect his talent. He is still one of the best TEs in the league. Big deal he wants a new deal. Is lynch going to go down this year because he is unhappy?

Kap had Boldin at WR until crabs came back extremely early from a major injury. He had no WR to throw besides Boldin. Kap was much better on e crabs came back. So he will have crabs, Boldin and Stevie Johnson ( who has schooled shermy bad) to throw to. Much better than just Boldin. I would say.

Gore is pushing the end. Great career. But let's not act like the 49ers don't have guys waiting. Hyde is a rookie but the talk so far is he is beasting. Marcus Lattimore isn't wearing any braces on his knee and feels no discomfort, and the best writers say it sure looks like his burst is back. So I'm not worried about the RB position. We also get Bruce Miller back at FB.

Brock was one of the highest rated CBs last year. Eric Reid had a great rookie season. Bethea isn't the greatest SS in the world but he is just as good as Whitner IMO. The starting corner spot next to Brock is the one I'm worried about.

Iupati will be back. Boone wants a new contract and he deserves one. Want him back. Iupati is gone after this year more than likely, so we can't lose them both.

Bowman's injury hurts because it's bowman. But we have plenty of guys who will fill and and be productive. We managed when Willis was out last year. We will do the same here.

Justin Smith isnt the same... He is still a top 3 at his position. He's good. But we do have tank waiting in the wings.

You see everyone forgets that the 49ers have had the most draft picks the last two years. They have players waiting in the wings. It's hard to crack a roster with a lot of talented guys on it.

So are you saying SF wins the West this year?

 

[cdumler7]

So are you saying SF wins the West this year?

I think he is saying that many of the concerns for San Fran have been overblown.

 

[Logicallylethal]

So question WizardHawk are you worried at all about the depth at Corner now that 2 guys who contributed last year are gone? They have a lot of unproven potential behind the starters but again that potential word can be dangerous?

Personally I'm not worried. On paper we are losing 2 cbs, but essentially the only one we are losing that contributed at all last year is Thurmond. I like Thurmond especially how effective he is as the nickel cb, but Jeremy Lane who also got a lot of playing time last year filled in just as well.

And as mentioned earlier, Maxwell is an upgrade over Browner.

I will say this about the depth at cb. I'm not concerned about the starting lineup as it stands (Sherman, Maxwell, Earl, Kam, and then Lane as nickel), but we definitely do not have any luxury to absorb injuries like we had the past couple of years.

Last year one cb goes down and we had 2 replacements waiting at the wings ready to play. This year if one cb goes down we have some unproven commodity on the bench.

I think 2013 will be the deepest the Seahawks will ever be. But 2014 with Percy returning, added talent to the wr core, a healthier o-line, and Maxwell starting from week 1...the Seahawks have the potential to be just as good if not better.

 

[seattlefan75]

I think he is saying that many of the concerns for San Fran have been overblown.

I think the reasons why everyone chooses the rams and 49ers to win the NFC West is overblown you have the rams relying on their rookies to beat us and you have 49ers who just because they traded for stevie johnson now all of a sudden they are unstoppable, now that they have jimmie ward whom has never played a snap in the NFL can all of a sudden match with doug baldwin and percy harvin when they go deep. If anything if your a rookie safety teams will be targeting you to see what your made of i dont care who you are if your a rookie your going to make rookie mistakes they dont know what its like to play in the link, this isnt northern illinois your not facing Toledo university your facing the defending champs

 

[cdumler7]

Depth is a hard thing to maintain. I do think from top to bottom the starting line up in Seattle is hard to beat. Last year they also showed some great depth (other than the OL) when a few of the starters went down. The next couple of years for the Seahawks though really could test that depth. As you said injuries especially in the NFC West division could be a major decider of how the teams fare. There really isn't a huge gap from 1st to 4th in that division like some of the others which speaks volumes considering Seattle is considered the top team in the league.

 

[cdumler7]

I think the reasons why everyone chooses the rams and 49ers to win the NFC West is overblown you have the rams relying on their rookies to beat us and you have 49ers who just because they traded for stevie johnson now all of a sudden they are unstoppable, now that they have jimmie ward whom has never played a snap in the NFL can all of a sudden match with doug baldwin and percy harvin when they go deep. If anything if your a rookie safety teams will be targeting you to see what your made of i dont care who you are if your a rookie your going to make rookie mistakes they dont know what its like to play in the link, this isnt northern illinois your not facing Toledo university your facing the defending champs

St. Louis I agree is relying quite a bit on a few of the rookies to step up and play well right away. Not sure where you are getting that for San Fran though. Jimmy Ward is not expected to start day 1. They have Reid and Bethea expected to be the starters. Jimmy Ward is expected to be a 3rd down specialist at best. I could see a couple rookies starting for them but they will have to earn it as there are already established starters. One position I could see is the other ILB position with Bowman hurt giving Boreland a chance to start day 1. If he is not ready though not like they don't have other guys that can't step in day 1 and play. Marcus Martin is another at Center but again there is already an established guy at the position.

Now they will have to rely more on some unproven guys to step up but these are guys who are 2nd and 3rd year guys. They know the system and know how the NFL speed is. Not like they are rookies trying to learn everything possible.


Also Stevie Johnson is not the only reason 49er fans are excited. Crabtree should actually be fully healed. Kaepernick will be in his 2nd full season starting so I would expect him to improve upon last season. The RB position should really be better than last year with the depth they have now. I know they have some unproven guys but those guys have some of the highest upside of any back up RB in the league.


Yes defensively they have some major question marks but they also drafted some guys with high grades around the league that have had a couple of years to really learn the system and the NFL.

 

[KwitYerWhinin]

First Vernon wants a new contract but that doesn't affect his talent. He is still one of the best TEs in the league. Big deal he wants a new deal. Is lynch going to go down this year because he is unhappy?

Kap had Boldin at WR until crabs came back extremely early from a major injury. He had no WR to throw besides Boldin. Kap was much better on e crabs came back. So he will have crabs, Boldin and Stevie Johnson ( who has schooled shermy bad) to throw to. Much better than just Boldin. I would say.

Gore is pushing the end. Great career. But let's not act like the 49ers don't have guys waiting. Hyde is a rookie but the talk so far is he is beasting. Marcus Lattimore isn't wearing any braces on his knee and feels no discomfort, and the best writers say it sure looks like his burst is back. So I'm not worried about the RB position. We also get Bruce Miller back at FB.

Brock was one of the highest rated CBs last year. Eric Reid had a great rookie season. Bethea isn't the greatest SS in the world but he is just as good as Whitner IMO. The starting corner spot next to Brock is the one I'm worried about.

Iupati will be back. Boone wants a new contract and he deserves one. Want him back. Iupati is gone after this year more than likely, so we can't lose them both.

Bowman's injury hurts because it's bowman. But we have plenty of guys who will fill and and be productive. We managed when Willis was out last year. We will do the same here.

Justin Smith isnt the same... He is still a top 3 at his position. He's good. But we do have tank waiting in the wings.

You see everyone forgets that the 49ers have had the most draft picks the last two years. They have players waiting in the wings. It's hard to crack a roster with a lot of talented guys on it.

My only question is how Kaep having crabs is going to help his situation. I think that is normally considered a negative. Especially if you are trying to impress the ladies.

 

[Uhsplit]

I think he is saying that many of the concerns for San Fran have been overblown.

I understood it that way too. Thread is titled who wins the West. I suppose my earlier question was rhetorical.

 

[cdumler7]

I understood it that way too. Thread is titled who wins the West. I suppose my earlier question was rhetorical.

I understand. I do think though there were quite a few posts before his that were trying to show how the 49ers look like they are starting to fall apart this off season. Although I will agree they have a few more question marks this off season than in the last few I think it is way too early to be counting them down and out. Injuries and suspensions could be tough at the beginning of the season but all those star players are expected back and getting role players more experience going into the playoffs can only better the team. Throw in we just don't know how those role players are going to play. I am one who has picked San Fran to win the division as I think some of those players who have been waiting in the wings will step up big time for San Fran. Others obviously see them falling at least a little. We shall see but again there were just quite a few posts in a row of people saying San Fran will slip this year.

 

[gowazzu02]

First Vernon wants a new contract but that doesn't affect his talent. He is still one of the best TEs in the league. Big deal he wants a new deal. Is lynch going to go down this year because he is unhappy?

Kap had Boldin at WR until crabs came back extremely early from a major injury. He had no WR to throw besides Boldin. Kap was much better on e crabs came back. So he will have crabs, Boldin and Stevie Johnson ( who has schooled shermy bad) to throw to. Much better than just Boldin. I would say.

Gore is pushing the end. Great career. But let's not act like the 49ers don't have guys waiting. Hyde is a rookie but the talk so far is he is beasting. Marcus Lattimore isn't wearing any braces on his knee and feels no discomfort, and the best writers say it sure looks like his burst is back. So I'm not worried about the RB position. We also get Bruce Miller back at FB.

Brock was one of the highest rated CBs last year. Eric Reid had a great rookie season. Bethea isn't the greatest SS in the world but he is just as good as Whitner IMO. The starting corner spot next to Brock is the one I'm worried about.

Iupati will be back. Boone wants a new contract and he deserves one. Want him back. Iupati is gone after this year more than likely, so we can't lose them both.

Bowman's injury hurts because it's bowman. But we have plenty of guys who will fill and and be productive. We managed when Willis was out last year. We will do the same here.

Justin Smith isnt the same... He is still a top 3 at his position. He's good. But we do have tank waiting in the wings.

You see everyone forgets that the 49ers have had the most draft picks the last two years. They have players waiting in the wings. It's hard to crack a roster with a lot of talented guys on it.

a well thought out reasonable argument from a SF fan.

I also use the we have depth argument for Seattle.

The biggest difference, is Seattle has proven to have worthy depth, you listed alot of guys you hope or think will step up and replace aging or gone stars.

I forget the numbers but SF played their starting units a ton the last two years. Sure you have a lot of draft picks, but as of now, those picks haven't done anything.

The one flaw on JH's resume (besides no SB ring) is that he hasn't proven to be able to draft. Sure Reid made the pro bowl but that was a no brainer pick, you make your depth with your later round picks and we shall see what he has. I dont believe its enough to win the division, but that is,,,, my ,,, opinion. and your welcome to disagree.

 

[gowazzu02]

Depth is a hard thing to maintain. I do think from top to bottom the starting line up in Seattle is hard to beat. Last year they also showed some great depth (other than the OL) when a few of the starters went down. The next couple of years for the Seahawks though really could test that depth. As you said injuries especially in the NFC West division could be a major decider of how the teams fare. There really isn't a huge gap from 1st to 4th in that division like some of the others which speaks volumes considering Seattle is considered the top team in the league.

Stated better. Seattle has to continue to play chess while the rest of the league plays checkers in the draft.

When your 3rd, 4th and 5th round picks become uber stars and demand huge contracts you need to continue to draft starters in the 3rd , 4th and 5th rounds......

 

[NickTheGreek]

You guys won the Super Bowl last year, so you are right to think your team is the best again, but I think you're looking at those teams with a slant. The Rams may well be a year away. but if Bradford stays healthy, their weapons on offense look more formidable than you give them credit for, and you'd better strap up for their D.

As to the 9er's not being able to draft, we'll have to disagree on that. I thought they killed it this year. Jimmie Ward is gonna be a stud IMO, Borland as well. They got good value in Martin and Ellington, and will Redshirt Brandon Thomas like they did Lattimore last year, and have an outstanding OL addition next season. And they drafted Carlos Hyde. A backfield with Gore, Lattimore, Hyde, James and Hunter? I'm telling you, they will cut a good RB. They have a great OL and like him or not, Kaepernick is a talented dude. All three teams could win more than 10 IMO

Rams have the best front 7 in the NFL, hands down. Bradford is and always will be just a soft QB and won't get it done, sorry STL.

Who is Jimmie Ward and why is he going to be a stud? Besides, he only mans the nickelback for 60% of snaps. Stud and impact in 2016 likely but not a baller in 2014, uk.

Who is going to start at RB? Gore is complete and is digressing. Can Hyde pick up the blitz scheme? Any screen action? Nobody knows. James may not even make the squad and kendall hunter can't take the pounding. I like how you continually toss out roster spots with a total disregard as to how they fit the scheme.

The 49ers have one of the most overrated offensive lines in the NFL and it doesn't surprise me that UK is still lost and hasn't figured out how to corroborate his opinions with some evidence. Go look at ProFootballFocus for OL. SF is now middle of the pack and below in many of the advanced stats. The bookend tackles aren't as great as their reputation and Iupati is overrated and Boone is very good but holding out.

Kaepernick may be talented but it ends when he needs to go through progressions and read a defense. A great runner but average QB without passing intangibles or ability to sense pressure in the pocket. Not impressed. you don't watch anything more than redzone based on every post I've wasted time reading of yours, uk.

You're not too knowledgeable about football, UK. Talk big, non-existent knowledge.