Scottemojo":1rulwfzh said:
This will be a test of the Niners depth.
In fact, I will have to say that the Niners D is going to be tested more this year than any of the last 3 years. With question marks on the interior line, question marks where Bowman should be, and question marks/inexperience in the secondary, it has the makings of a half step backwards for the defense. Niner fans confident that this is not a big deal because Dorsey is a run only defender are ignoring that the single YPC it may cost them in the middle may be the difference between 3rd and long and 3rd and manageable. I expect the Niners to be busy with tryouts to replace Dorsey, and perhaps even make a trade or bring in a higher dollar cut casualty late in camp. Whatever they do, or do not, will say a lot about the confidence they have in the unproven talent they have at that spot.
I am pretty confident that the Niners offense has gotten better. They will need it.
My confidence in replacing Dorsey has nothing do with "he's just a run stop guy". My confidence is that they've been rotating guys through that position for several years now and there hasn't been a dropoff.
They have a number of young promising guys to plug in there, but its true that they don't have any "proven" talent. My guess is that more rookies will get playing this year than in past years.
I dunno if that means they will take a step back tho. Won't say it WON'T be a step back, just saying its not a forgone conclusion.
The positions themselves....
Aldon: Nobody taking that spot will be anything close to him. That's a big loss for however many games he's out. They got by last year, but they need him. That's a loss.
Navorro: Also a big loss. They have some guys who are good players, but nobody even close to Bo. One of the things the Niners did a lot of last year was play Bo as the only linebacker when playing teams who went 4 wide all the time. Willis is now playing that position (IE, Willis is now playing the LB spot Bo was playing last year). Still...a big loss till he returns.
Rogers: To me...the switch from Rogers to Culliver is an upgrade. Culiver was the Niners best corner in 2012, tho he had a rough SB. Rogers was old and never repeated his 2011 season.
Brown: Solid but unspectacular. I liked the guy and wanted to see him back, but I do think Brock is an upgrade. Brock was probably their best corner last year. He played quite a bit with Rogers or Brown was hurt and played well. He was the one who broke up the pass that resulted in Bowman pick 6 vs Atlanta.
Nickel: Not using specific player here as it switched and Rogers actually played the slot WR quite a bit, but Jimmie Ward has looked good so far. Time will tell as he is a rookie....but the nickel CB position is the reason he was drafted.
Whitner: I've been saying for a long time that I though both Whitner and Goldson were overrated. Still, Whitner was a thumper back there and I think they'll miss him in run support. I don't really know what to make of Bethea yet. Will he be better in coverage than Whitner with a better front 7 in front of him? Dunno.
I'd certainly agree that there are a number of question marks there, but I do like the way all of the holes were addressed. Certainly there is potential for a falloff, but I like the guys they have in there. An injury tho to a position like CB might be brutal.