Relying on Duane Brown as a starting LT doesn't help. Rodgers was a dead man walking with him at the blind side, whether it is after 4 snaps or a few games. We are just fortunate Duane couldn't play after two games, and even that was two games too late. Otherwise he was the LT plan and a disaster at that. I am afraid JD is big part of the reason his amazing work to get Rodgers didn't gain any benefit. Yes, part of it is luck, but he has himself to blame for not addressing tackle spot, like many of us was begging again and again and again this offseason. Let's give credit where credit is due, for getting Arod, but also admit that he screwed up with OT, ultimately negating the entirety of benefit gained and forcing a back-up too in a tough spot.
I agree the brown at LT wasn't great, but we weren't just reliant on him. we knew AVT could play RT, we knew becton could play and prefers LT, we drafted tippman to step in as well and him and CMG can both play OC or OG as well as swietzer who we signed. JD has flexible options. Mitchell has played well as well and is in year 2 as a 4th rounder and we signed turner to be a swing tackle who has experience. we also drafted an OT in the 4th this year. we weren't reliant on brown only. the o-line was awful weeks 1-3, the past 2 weeks it's been above average. we also had injuries in preseason and they haven't really played together. sometimes o-line needs time to gel with each other edit: also you can't blame JD for who actually sees the field. he makes the roster. coaching staff decided the starters. if anything the coaching staff should be blamed for brown at LT over becton and not starting tippman from day 1
True…they ALL make mistakes, and also TRUE, trading all those picks for Lance and then having to sell for less than pennies on the dollar is a BAD look for Lynch. However…he ALSO drafted a MUCH better QB with the last fucking pick in the draft, he has also been humble enough or smart enough to realize that Lance sucks and he just cut bait and moved on, and of course, he also has a team that has consistently been in the playoffs and has been a Super Bowl contender year in year out… And while I am a JD supporter, JD hasn’t had that level of success so his mistakes stand out more…if we had Rodgers here healthy, no one would be having this Zach debate…he’d be on the bench and out of mind, but here we are…
I agree coaching shares the blame, but AVT was a Guard and Tipp a Center. JD and Saleh both saw them that way. Inability to actually bring talent to tackle spot without makeshift shit hits the fan scenario of having to move multiple players from originally planned positions is fully on JD, and he is absolutely to blame for that. Again, credit where credit is due, but let's be fair. He fucked up when it came to OT, and the team paid enormous price for it. His best move to finally get a great QB was completely negated and then some. We are left with a back-up QB and there are still major concerns about OT to protect him.
and JD traded for a top 5 QB when he realized zach wasn't it. if purdy got hurt right now and the niners finished 5-12 would you shit on lynch for it or understand injuries happen. if JD did nothing about the QB position then yeah I can understand the criticism. but losing a top 5 QB to injury 4 plays in is bad luck and not JDs fault Gms just add talent. coaches decide who plays and where. coaching staff purposely moved becton to RT to accommodate brown. it's on the staff. remember brandon moore? he was a fringe DT for us. Coahcing staff tried him at o-line and took time to develop him. he wound up being an above average OG on our line for years. One of the reasons JD targeted AVT in the draft was his versatility. he loves versatile lineman. its why he grabbed fant in FA and now turner. it's why he drafted mitchell. CMG was an OG before he was a OC. Denver made him an OC IIRC. Fred werner, the best LBer in the NFL was drafted as a safety. saleh made him a LBer and had him put on weight. look at him now. we wanted to do that with sherwood as well but injuris set it back and we found a gem in quincy. Good coaching staff utilizes talent and puts their best players on the field. Corderelle patterson was a meh WR for like 6 years. ATL signed him and made him a RB and he had a career year. At the end of the day, JD had these players who could play OT for us on the roster, Becton, AVT, mitchell, turner, Brown, and Warren.
Agreed that coaching is at fault too, but not enough talent was added at OT, and this was a very significant factor in Saleh playing Brown there to start with. We just can't absolve JD for this monumental failure. Both Saleh and JD fucked up, but JD just had to get more talent and not force Saleh play multiple players out of position right away, which is not an obvious decision to make. No matter how you slice it JD failed at OT, and that resulted in much bigger failure. Even now we don't have even two reliable tackles to protect Zach, not to mention the depth.
based on what? an realistic comparison in the NFL or your feelings? seems like it's your feelings. you and 90% of the fan base for 75% of the teams all think the same about their team. doesn't make it reality. good OTs don't fall off trees. look at the trash OT KC is fielding. taylor is so bad he became a meme. Pitt is fielding some jokes too. there are a lot of shit OTs in the NFL and too many stud edge rushers. its just the talent pool. NFL is weak at LBer, S, TE, QB, and o-line as a whole. Strong at WR, RB, Edge, DT, and CB
They didn't have to be good, just not terrible. A 22 year old with 66.5 pff rating could help. Last year too, even compared to other OTs, ours were bottom rated, according to PFF. Something like 69, 72, etc out of 77 tackles. So, yes, even compared to other teams we sucked. And this year he replaced Fant with Turner and called it a day. We could see the result 4 plays in. And now with OG AVT, who was forced to play Tackle, out, it will be tough for Zach too because we have no depth - at least based on what I saw in training camp/preseason. I just don't understand the need to defend JD for something he clearly fucked up.
mitchell wasn't terrible when he came in, becton has been great when healthy, brown was ok last year until he got hurt, AVT was solid at OT. Only terrible one was duane brown this year and funny enough he was sitll better then the starting RT for the chifs and starting LT for the steelers.
i know there was someone who made the switch for the niners. thought it was werner. sentiment still stands though. obviously moore is one of the best examples of a position switch. we tried to change cager to a TE but it didn't work edit: looked it up, he played hybrid S/LB at BYU like adams did for us with the jets, but scouts projected him as a LBer and he was drafted as one and played that way for the niners. saleh had him bulk up a little to be a full time LBer. I remember saleh talking about it with sherwood when we drafted him
Gonna probably get slammed for this, ---- but damn, ---- Christian Darrisaw would've been a great pick at 23 in 2021.
