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2007 SanFrancisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are narrowing the gap between themselves and the Seattle Seahawks, but San Francisco is likely one more season away from challenging for the NFC West division title.

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The 49ers knew that they were going to have to bring in more talent in order to make themselves an eventual contender so that’s precisely what they did in the offseason. Bringing in cornerback Nate Clements should instantly improve a young defensive unit. The 49ers paid him like a Hall of Famer though, and I’m not sure that was the right move as he could get complacent on this team which likely still has a few growing pains ahead of itself. I think a performance based bonus structure would have been a better approach.

Offensive genius Norv Turner headed south to San Diego, but the 49ers will keep the run-first attack that he installed. Frank Gore is the all-world running back that makes this scheme work like a dream. He has also proven to be a great asset as a receiver out of the backfield. Gore set franchise records in rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage last season, cementing his place in history on one of the league’s elite franchises. Also, QB Alex Smith made the progress that the 49ers were hoping for in his second season under center. Although he remains under the radar in terms of the game’s blossoming young QB’s, we will not fail to give him his props. He nearly doubled his passer rating from year one to year two showing much better decision making skills, but he is still lacking the confidence to take chances down the field to stretch defenses in order to open up the run game even more. This is a must as the 49ers only had two 100-yard performances from its wide receivers in 2006. But at least management is confident that Alex Smith is their guy. Get him a couple top notch wide outs like Joe Montana and Steve Young had and let’s see what this kid can do the next five years.

Defensively, the 49ers got off to a horrid start in 2006, starting the season on pace to give up the most points in league history. Greg Manusky comes in from the successful Chargers organization bringing high hopes of improvement with him to the Niners faithful. We can expect a 3-4 scheme out of him and an improved year in 2007 as young guns Brandon Moore, Keith Lewis, and Ronald Fields all three show great promise.

This team simply needs more games. The talent on this squad is very young. Some of these guys, like Gore, are more talented than any other team’s players in the division, but they need more experience to see it all. For example, Alex Smith needs to know how to foil all defenses and must continue to improve his reads against the blitz. I expect San Francisco to be on the verge of the postseason in a weak division this year and pushing for a division title in 2008 if progress goes according to schedule.

By Jeff Alexander – 7/25/2007

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