San Francisco 49ers Post-Lockout Updates

By Kalen Patrick

Sooooo the NFL Lockout is over? You bet it is. There has been a plethora of signings and trades already going down. I will write a piece later focusing on the rest of the NFL, but first of all, lets take a look at my San Francisco 49ers. So far it has been pretty lackluster, the 49ers as everyone predicted brought Alex Smith back (a move I actually agree with), Re-Signed Ray McDonald (another smart move) at 4 years 20 mil. The 2 players that have moved on so far are David Baas and Takeo Spikes. Both will be missed for sure, BUT both are definitely replaceable.

49ERS 2011 SEASON WILL HINGE ENTIRELY ON HOW WELL THESE 2 GUYS CAN WORK TOGETHER 

According to Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area, the 49ers are looking in to bringing long time Chicago Bears Center Olin Kreutz. Also on the 49ers radar should be Giants Center Shaun O'Hara who was released. Both are veteran guys, remember the Center position is basically the QB of the O-Line, having a strong veteran presence like a Kreutz or O'Hara would be huge for the younger players on the 49ers O-Line, including, Mike Iupati, Anthony Davis and Chilo Rachal.

Next topic would be Cornerback. It appears as if the 49ers are focusing on keeping Nate Clements, but only if he is willing to drastically reduce his salary. This to me makes perfect sense. Nate is a solid player, definitely not worth what he is being paid, but let me throw out 2 scenarios and see which one you would go for.

Scenario 1: Restructure Clements deal to go from 17 mil this season to 7 million (still a handsome paycheck), with the 10 million saved, bring in Jonathan Joseph, thus solidifying the defensive backfield.

Scenario 2: Release Clements, save 14 million and give all that to Nnamdi Asomugha.

Honestly, I would prefer Scenario 1 of Clements and Joseph than just Nnamdi. With Scenario 1 you have Joseph, Spencer and Clements as your top 3 CB's. Immediately turns a weakness into a major strength.

Nate Clements and Jonathan Joseph (pictured above) would make a nice starting tandem at the CB position


I would also look for the 49ers to Re-Sign Aubrayo Franklin. The 49ers have money to spend, and it is so difficult to find a top NT, you can't let him walk. Other moves I look for the 49ers to make is to add another veteran QB (Marc Bulger perhaps?) and I think the 49ers will add a 2nd tier Safety (Dawan Landry/Brodney Pool?). Also don't count out the 49ers in the James Jones sweepstakes. He would be another weapon in the offense, and would fit in perfectly with the likes of Vernon Davis, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Delanie Walker and Josh Morgan.

The next 48 hours will be very interesting in Ninerland. I am eagerly checking twitter and updates for any news and info. My next post will be regarding general NFL news and updates and there is plenty of that to cover. It's good to have football back. Only 6 weeks to the season. Great time to be a football fan. Anyone want to make a fantasy football league?

NBA Off-Season - Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors, where do we start? This team has been one of the most dysfunctional of all the teams in the NBA. Countless trades gone wrong, bad contract after bad contract and worst of all, this is a team which is bad BUT they are just good enough to always put themselves out of position to get a top 3 pick. In recent years the Warriors just seem to always pick between 7th and 11th. Granted they were able to get Point Guard Steph Curry 8th but still. This is a team that in the last 3 years just seems as if its been stuck in transition and just staying in that position.

Is Mark Jackson the right guy to resurrect the Warriors? 

So lets take a look at whats happened this team so far this offseason. They bring in Jerry West (credible NBA guy), they hire Mark Jackson (Boom or Bust type hire) and they get Mike Malone (X's and O's guy to help Jackson). I like bringing in Jerry West, smart move by Joe Lacob to bring some more credibility to the franchise as a whole. I'm not sure how I feel about the Mark Jackson hire, I try to look at the positives: Well known and popular among NBA players which could help bring in potential Free Agents, played the PG position which is essentially the coach on the floor and he has a great Assistant in Mike Malone to help him out with strategy and game planning. This is all good and well, but then I keep coming back to the fact that he has ZERO coaching experience. Nada. Who knows how he will react, if the Warriors are in playoff contention, big game and he has to make big decisions, can he inspire the team? So many question marks. Granted it worked with the Celtics and Doc Rivers, but did you notice Rivers suddenly became a whole lot smarter when they added Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo emerged? Hmmmm.

Andre Iguodalas presence would make perfect sense for a Warriors team severely lacking defense

So lets look at some of the things the Warriors can do this offseason to put themselves in good position going forward. Biggest question is what to do with Monta Ellis? Trade him or keep him? I love Monta, I love watching him play but I just don't think the Warriors can win with Ellis and Curry. It's time for the Warriors become a more conventional team (weird idea right?). Make the trade for Andre Iguodala and you can maybe get a pick or role player on top of Iggy. You add Iggy to drastically improve your defense, he is also decent on the offensive end, now that he realizes he should not take many 3's. That is the main trade that the Warriors do.

Nene would be a 'BIG' addition to GS. See what I did there?

In Free Agency I want the Warriors to make a big splash and the main targets won't be travelling far. I want them to pursue both Aaron Afflalo and Nene from Denver. Afflalo is very good on the offensive end and an underrated defender. Nene along with Marc Gasol are the prized Free Agent Centers. I see ZERO chance of Gasol getting away from Memphis. Nene is an active big body in both the defense an offensive ends. The Warriors current Center Andris Biedrins has become soft to the point that he is afraid of contact because of how bad his free throw shooting is. I do think his career can be salvaged, and I do think the Warriors can and will trade him, even if they will be eating up some of his contract. If Gilbert Arenas, Corey Magette, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard lewis can get traded, so can Biedrins.



These moves give the Warriors a much more balanced and conventional starting 5, along with having some real nice depth too. Starting 5 of:
PG - Steph Curry
SG - Aaron Afflalo
SF - Andre Iguodala
PF - David Lee
C - Nene

With role players including: Excellent 3-point shooter Dorrell Wright, good young defender in Ekpe Udoh, solid role player in Reggie Williams. Plus the Warriors have the 11th overall pick and can maybe select another big guy to help out on defense. I do think the Western Conference is gonna be weaker in coming years. Spurs are old, Mavs are old, who knows how Lakers do without Phil Jackson. I think the 7th and 8th seeds are absolutely attainable with solid moves including the ones I made in this mock offseason.

Let me know what you guys think and give me feedback and what not. Check back regularly for updates. SPREAD THE WORD

NFC West - Free Agent Moves That Need to Happen

As I wrote in one of my previous posts, the NFC West is unquestionably the worst division in football. All 4 of the teams in this division have a lot of work to do. Here are some free agent additions I think each of the teams should make. These additions should be taken in conjunction with the trades that I wrote about before. Hence, the following trades have occurred:
Arizona gets Carson Palmer, Seattle gets Kevin Kolb and the one change I wanted to make was St. Louis trades for Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers instead of Chad OchoCinco. Smith has already stated he wants out, and while Smith is not drama free, he won't be as much a distraction as 85 and would provide a receiver that would fit perfectly with Sam Bradford. Also will add a trade the 49ers could explore in addition to a Free Agent signing.

 

The NFC West was a combined 25-39 last season, with 7-9 Seattle winning the division

Arizona Cardinals
Barrett Ruud - Middle Line Backer
The Cardinals added a franchise QB in Carson Palmer in my projected trades that need to happen. That along with the addition of RB Ryan Williams in the draft should go a long way to improving the offense. Now lets take a look at the defense. The Cardinals have one of the more talented secondaries in the NFL, and pro-bowl caliber lineman in Darnell Dockett. While Dockett is a vocal leader, they really need a strong presence in the Middle of the defense. With the departure of Karlos Dansby, there was a clear lack of talent at the linebacker position. Ruud, in my opinion, is perfectly suited to play in this defense, he racks up tackles and can make plays with INT's. One of the more underrated players in the NFL and could vault the Cardinals defense in to one of the better ones in the NFC. With adding Palmer and Ruud, the Cardinals would be a perfect candidate for bounce back team of the year. Something I also touched on in a previous post.


San Francisco 49ers
Jonathan Joseph - Corner Back
In the draft, the 49ers were hoping and praying that someway, somehow, LSU CB Patrick Peterson would fall to them at 7. This was not to be as the Cardinals took Peterson with the 5th overall pick. The 49ers did select talented sack artist in Aldon Smith. Now what the 49ers need is a top end CB. While the only 2 true shutdown CB's in the NFL are Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha, Joseph would be an excellent addition to the 49ers defense. Joseph gets overlooked playing for the Bengals and playing beside Leon Hall, but he is one of the better CB's that doesn't get talked about.
While the Pass Rush was a problem for the 49ers last season, their secondary was the major weakness of the defense. By adding Aldon Smith and Jonathan Joseph, the defense under new coordinator Vic Fangio would get a huge talent injection, to go along with other excellent players in Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Aubrayo Franklin (who the 49ers need to re-sign) and Takeo Spikes.

Jonathan Joseph would be the ideal consolation prize for the 49ers after missing out on Patrick Peterson in the draft

49ers trade 5th round pick to Tampa Bay Buccaneers for QB Josh Johnson
The reasoning behind this trade? 49ers HC Jim Harbaugh was Josh Johnson's college coach, and thus Johnson would be familiar with Harbaugh's offense. While I am not expecting Johnson to start, his impact would be more in helping the other QB's (Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith) in learning Harbaugh's offense. With the shortened offseason the 49ers QB's will need all the help they can get and having a guy in the locker room who spent years with Harbaugh would be invaluable. Not only this, but it was in Harbaugh's offense which put JJ in the position to be drafted where he was, and I think back in this offense he would make for a solid backup QB in the long term behind Kaepernick. Also acquiring JJ means no more David Carr which is always a good thing for any team.


Seattle Seahawks
Logan Mankins - Offensive Guard
It appears to me that Mankins is not committed to staying with the Patriots, it also looks obvious that he is after a big payday. Well it just so happens that Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen is one of the richest men in the World and when it comes to his Seahawks he is not afraid to spend money. Recently Seattle has invested high draft picks to shore up the Offensive Tackle positions (Russell Okung at LT and draftee James Carpenter at RT), but questions still remain in the interior of the O-Line. By adding Mankins, Seattle would be regaining a LG and LT combo with the potential to be as dominant as Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones were for years up in the Pacific Northwest.
If we take my projected trades, Seattle would have added Kevin Kolb, who would immediately become the franchise QB. Not only would adding Mankins help Kolb in the passing game, but he would be a vital piece in establishing an effective run game. Seattle's biggest problem on offense in 2010 was consistency, at times look great, and at times look awful. Improving at the QB position and adding 2 major additions to the O-Line (Mankins and Carpenter) would go a long way to making the Seattle offense that much more consistent.


St. Louis Rams
Darren Sproles - Running Back/Kick Returner
The future in St. Louis is all about Sam Bradford and putting him in the best position to succeed. Trading for Steve Smith, gives Bradford a legit pass catcher and by adding Sproles, the Rams would get a change of pace back who would compliment Steven Jackson perfectly. Sproles is a home run hitter in the run game, while Jackson is more of a bruiser who excels at pounding the defense for gains of 5-10 yards. Sproles will also be a huge help in the return game, putting Bradford and the Rams offense in better field position consistently.

The NFC West has essentially been the laughing stock of the NFL the last few years, highlighted last year by the winner having a pathetic 7-9 record. The first time ever a division winner having a losing record. I believe that with the trades and free agent signings made, that would go a long way to improving this division and bringing it back to respectable.