Official 49ers Thread

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Is Fred Warner now the second best BYU player ever in the pros, or is that still Todd Christensen? Christensen was an all pro from 83-86 and in five pro bowls from 83-87. He was also on that memorable 83 Raiders team, Marcus Allen, Howie Long, Lester Hayes, Ted Hendricks, Alzado, etc. Warner is so good and he never gets injured, I imagine he'll pull ahead of Christensen eventually.

[BigFatMeanie]

Who is the first?

[Pelado]

I'm guessing he's thinking Young.

[BigFatMeanie]

On paper Steve Young is probably the right choice but I think one can make a credible argument for Jim McMahon

[Pelado]

On paper Steve Young is probably the right choice but I think one can make a credible argument for Jim McMahon

Agreed.

[clackamascoug]

Is Fred Warner now the second best BYU player ever in the pros, or is that still Todd Christensen? Christensen was an all pro from 83-86 and in five pro bowls from 83-87. He was also on that memorable 83 Raiders team, Marcus Allen, Howie Long, Lester Hayes, Ted Hendricks, Alzado, etc. Warner is so good and he never gets injured, I imagine he'll pull ahead of Christensen eventually.

Danny Ainge had a better pro career than Steve Young or Jim McMahon...

Just saying....

[Sizzle]

As a follow up to the trade for Christian McCaffrey, it's pretty crazy to watch how effective the offense has been since then.

What's most fun to watch is the diversity in looks and formations that they can create out of 21 personnel – with the same guys on the field, they can essentially be either a downhill, power running team or speed teams out.

If teams play base defense with three LBs, you're most likely matching one of Deebo, Aiyuk, Kittle or McCaffrey 1:1 against a linebacker (or creating zone coverage holes with LBers and those players). It works because McCaffrey is such a dynamic receiving threat who runs a full route tree effectively.

If teams try to shift to nickel, they're bringing an undersized defender into the box against Kittle and Juice who are both plus blockers at their positions, while having Aiyuk on the outside – honestly, his blocking on Sunday was the most impressive part of his game in my eyes, go re-watch him on McCaffrey's long TD run – with both Deebo and CMC as threats to run the ball. The ability to have two players who can run holds backside pursuit and draws eyes / attention – split seconds enough to open a crease to get through.

Purdy has been great pulling the trigger based on what he sees. I don't mean to downplay what he's done, because he seems to process really well and get the ball where it's supposed to go, and when things do break down a bit, he's generally been really good at extending / capitalizing. But the overall scheme is fun to watch – especially with the diversity and flexibility their 21 personnel sets up.

[Pelado]

As a follow up to the trade for Christian McCaffrey, it's pretty crazy to watch how effective the offense has been since then.

What's most fun to watch is the diversity in looks and formations that they can create out of 21 personnel – with the same guys on the field, they can essentially be either a downhill, power running team or speed teams out.

If teams play base defense with three LBs, you're most likely matching one of Deebo, Aiyuk, Kittle or McCaffrey 1:1 against a linebacker (or creating zone coverage holes with LBers and those players). It works because McCaffrey is such a dynamic receiving threat who runs a full route tree effectively.

If teams try to shift to nickel, they're bringing an undersized defender into the box against Kittle and Juice who are both plus blockers at their positions, while having Aiyuk on the outside – honestly, his blocking on Sunday was the most impressive part of his game in my eyes, go re-watch him on McCaffrey's long TD run – with both Deebo and CMC as threats to run the ball. The ability to have two players who can run holds backside pursuit and draws eyes / attention – split seconds enough to open a crease to get through.

Purdy has been great pulling the trigger based on what he sees. I don't mean to downplay what he's done, because he seems to process really well and get the ball where it's supposed to go, and when things do break down a bit, he's generally been really good at extending / capitalizing. But the overall scheme is fun to watch – especially with the diversity and flexibility their 21 personnel sets up.

Thanks for that breakdown.

[Sizzle]

Who is the first?

If he keeps playing at this pace, Puka Nacua

[Commando]

If he keeps playing at this pace, Puka Nacua

Kind of an amazing NFL transition not seen since Austin Collie. And even he struggled out the gate. If Puka stays healthy he's going to be another household name.

[Sizzle]

Fred was really, really good on Sunday night. Forced a fumble with a Peanut punch. Ended another drive by stepping in front of a crossing route to take it away AND sack Dak. Had a pick. Fred deserves more POY love and recognition honestly.

San Francisco's offense was on fire too. You could tell Dallas' gameplan was to take away McCaffrey and while they limited him, Purdy was surgically good. Yes, playing with that much talent absolutely helps. But some of the throws you couldn't draw them up any better. The throw that he layered over VanderEsch to either Deebo or Aiyuk was one of those picture perfect throws. I don't know that I've seen an offense as balanced as SFs that I can remember. Their versatility lets them attack in so many ways – if you blitz, you risk 1:1 matchups with Deebo, Kittle McCaffrey or Aiyuk. If you play soft, the run game can gash you for 6+ yards a pop easily. Teams best hope has been to have Purdy come back down a bit, but he's passed every test so far. The last I heard was "wait until teams get him the second time." Well, he's played Seattle twice (threw for 330+ yards in game 2), Arizona twice (game 2 only threw 1 incompletion) and Dallas twice (game 2 threw 4 TDs) so this seems to be a level of play that he's at least capable of sustaining regularly.

As a Niners fan, I absolutely love it.

[BigPiney]

Fred was really, really good on Sunday night. Forced a fumble with a Peanut punch. Ended another drive by stepping in front of a crossing route to take it away AND sack Dak. Had a pick. Fred deserves more POY love and recognition honestly.

San Francisco's offense was on fire too. You could tell Dallas' gameplan was to take away McCaffrey and while they limited him, Purdy was surgically good. Yes, playing with that much talent absolutely helps. But some of the throws you couldn't draw them up any better. The throw that he layered over VanderEsch to either Deebo or Aiyuk was one of those picture perfect throws. I don't know that I've seen an offense as balanced as SFs that I can remember. Their versatility lets them attack in so many ways – if you blitz, you risk 1:1 matchups with Deebo, Kittle McCaffrey or Aiyuk. If you play soft, the run game can gash you for 6+ yards a pop easily. Teams best hope has been to have Purdy come back down a bit, but he's passed every test so far. The last I heard was "wait until teams get him the second time." Well, he's played Seattle twice (threw for 330+ yards in game 2), Arizona twice (game 2 only threw 1 incompletion) and Dallas twice (game 2 threw 4 TDs) so this seems to be a level of play that he's at least capable of sustaining regularly.

As a Niners fan, I absolutely love it.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Fred was really, really good on Sunday night. Forced a fumble with a Peanut punch. Ended another drive by stepping in front of a crossing route to take it away AND sack Dak. Had a pick. Fred deserves more POY love and recognition honestly.

San Francisco's offense was on fire too. You could tell Dallas' gameplan was to take away McCaffrey and while they limited him, Purdy was surgically good. Yes, playing with that much talent absolutely helps. But some of the throws you couldn't draw them up any better. The throw that he layered over VanderEsch to either Deebo or Aiyuk was one of those picture perfect throws. I don't know that I've seen an offense as balanced as SFs that I can remember. Their versatility lets them attack in so many ways – if you blitz, you risk 1:1 matchups with Deebo, Kittle McCaffrey or Aiyuk. If you play soft, the run game can gash you for 6+ yards a pop easily. Teams best hope has been to have Purdy come back down a bit, but he's passed every test so far. The last I heard was "wait until teams get him the second time." Well, he's played Seattle twice (threw for 330+ yards in game 2), Arizona twice (game 2 only threw 1 incompletion) and Dallas twice (game 2 threw 4 TDs) so this seems to be a level of play that he's at least capable of sustaining regularly.

As a Niners fan, I absolutely love it.

Outside of Trent Williams and Brock Purdy, who are on the opposite ends of their career timelines, the Niners' key players are all in their primes right now. Kittle, Aiyuk, McCaffrey, Warner, Bosa and Deebo are all in seasons 4-7 of their careers. Kittle is 30 but he's a tight end, on the other hand McCaffrey is 27 but he's a RB. With Deebo's workload and playing style he may start slowing down within the next couple seasons. While this team has a window for a couple more years after this, this year is clearly their best shot, particularly when you consider Trent Williams' age.

The 2019 defense was perhaps better than this year's because of Sherman and Deforest Buckner. On the other hand I think this team's safeties are better and Bosa, Warner and Greenlaw are better players now than they were in 2019. But the offense is miles better than that offense. Purdy is better than Garappolo, he doesn't turn the ball over and he makes quicker and better decisions. The wide receivers are better. The o-line is marginally better. I liked Raheem Mostert quite a lot, but Christian McCaffrey is even better.

Through five games they have not yet been hit with a season-ending injury to anyone. Supposedly there was some worry regarding Aaron Banks tearing a bicep, but apparently it's his shoulder and not something that should cause him to miss more than possibly one game. If the team avoids too many injuries -- particularly to Williams, Purdy, Bosa and Aiyuk -- then they can win it all.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Even with the decimated drafts due to the Trey Lance debacle, the 49ers still somehow ended up with six starters between the 2021 and 2022 classes -- Banks, Hufanga, Lenoir, Purdy, Burford and Drake Jackson. Hufanga is an all-pro, Purdy is playing like a top 10 QB and Banks and Jackson are above average starters.

[smokymountainrain]

On paper Steve Young is probably the right choice but I think one can make a credible argument for Jim McMahon

late to the game, but just saw this and thought it was crazy, then pelado agreed. how would one go about making an argument for McMahon over Young?

Young doubled him in yards passing and TDs. he won 30 more games in his career, and his passer rating was light years better than McMahon. Young had a longer, better career, and his peak was A LOT better than McMahon's peak. seems to me that if you have peak and you have longevity, there really is no argument to be made.

Young 8 seasons with a higher passer rating than McMahon's highest. in my estimation, not only would be it be impossible to make even a slightly intelligent argument that mcmahon was better, but it isn't even remotely close.