Hawks46":1by14u4k said:
I don't see any Seahawk disrespect nationally. Not this year.
So, BlueThunder, why do you think Kaepernick will be worse this year? Why won't he get better in the passing game ? A lot of people really liked that pick coming out of Nevada, and I followed the Wolfpack a bit when I was living in NV, and he was damned good. Most pundits thought he'd make a good pro.
Keep in mind, some folks are predicting a Sophomore slump from Wilson. I personally think it's unlikely due to his godly work ethic and intangibles.
On paper:
Their OL is a lot better than ours.
Their front 7 was better than ours, but they lost Sopoaga and Francois. We gained Avril and Bennett. I know Bennett will succeed in this system, but I really don't know how Avril will do; it's speculation. Their LB corps is better than ours. Sorry, but any combination of Bowman and Willis is better than Wagner/Wright and Random player C. And I think Wagner will improve this year and be close to Willis.
Our secondary is better than theirs. By a lot. Nuff said.
Our skill positions get the slight nod. Lynch is better than Gore at this point of their respective careers. I don't know a ton about their depth, but if Michael puts out half the potential that is being projected, we'll have the best RB depth in the league. I'd give our WRs a big edge now that we have Harvin, and we have a better 2 TE set than they do, although Davis is better than Miller (Miller is a better blocker though).
We have an edge at QB although some people would say it's not much, or not at all. Funny, but neither fan base would trade our QB for theirs and vice versa. The true temper of how much that will be is this year; if both QBs improve, decline, and at what pace.
ST we have the edge.
So add it all up, and I'd say we have the slight edge. For either team to win at the other team's house, the visitor will have to be near perfect...these teams are that close. A couple bad bounces, dropped passes or untimely penalties make either team lose the game. Which team stays the healthiest will probably be the biggest factor although I think we're a deeper team. They probably have as much talent on the bench, but our depth has more experience.
Agree and disagree with segments of this...
1) Niners loast Sopoaga and Francois, but niether was that big a loss. Sopoaga was one of the worst rated DTs in the NFL last year according to PFF. Dorsey to me is an improvement there and I don't mean if he can be what he was at LSU. He'll never be that....but what he was at KC was a really good run-stuffer. Thats what he'll be called on do do here. He also had issues in KC because he was called upon to 2-gap. In the Niners 3-4, he won't be asked to do that. Tank Carradine is a huge upgrade over RJF and Dial is interesting. Another one of their front 7 weaknesses last year was depth at OLB when Parys Haralson, Darius Fleming, and Cameron Johnson were all injured. They has zero quality depth there. Thats where Corey lemier comes in. They also get all three of thos guys back.
2) I like Wagner at MLB, but I don't think he'll ever be close to Willis. That has more to do with my opinion of Willis tho than my opinion of Wagner. Bowman and Willis play in a 3-4, so their tackle stats get deluded and they more often have to take on linemen. Wagner is really good...don't get me wrong....but I think Willis and Bowman are just ridiculous.
3) No arguement on the secondary. Niners secondary better than they showed in the Playoffs (at corner anyway), but Goldson and Whitner were highly overrated. I wasn't all that upset to see Goldson go. I'm hoping Reid can be a better coverage safety than Goldson was.
4) At the skill positions.....I'd agree that Lynch is better than Gore at this point of his career. Lynch is still a monster and Gore is getting close to the end. Your depth issue is where it falls apart a bit tho. Niners are incredibly deep at RB. Behind Gore they have Kendall Hunter and LaMichael James. Kendall Was averaging 5.2 yards per carry when he got hurt and James averaged 4.6 in the regular season and 5.9 in the playoffs. Both were hugely productive college backs and are very good. They also drafted Marcus Lattimore but we probably won't see him till next year.
At WR...debatable. Crabtree really cominginto his own. Boldin a great #2. I like AJ Jenkins bouncing back this year and I like Patton in the draft. They'll also get Manningham and Williams back from innjury. Harvin is a good player, but I'm not all that worried about the other guys. I've never been a fan of Sidney Rice.
AT TE....I'm not sure where you get the idea that Miller is a better blocker than Davis since Davis is one of the best blocking TEs in the NFL. I do agree tho that losing Delanie Walker may swing this position group toward the Seahawks. I like the Niners 2nd rounder (Vance McDonald), but we'll just have to see how he develops.
I agree with your final statement. These teams are really close to each other. While peeps on here love to sing the paraises of Wilson and his work ethic, it's not like Kaep is kickin' it at home eating Ice Cream. Both of these kids work their a$$es off and thats a sign that this rivalry is gonna go on for some time.
Depth is certainly an issue. The 49ers lack of depth in the front 7 got exposed when Aldon and Justin both got hurt. There was nobody there to step in and was an emphasis in the draft. We'll just have to see how those players turn out.
