Niners Nation Community Preseason Forecast Guide

Thanks for taking the time to profile our team. I’m sure I’m speaking for everyone when I say we are grateful. This is what makes SB Nation so great!

1.) Our secondary will be amazing. Flowers is quickly become a shutdown corner in this league. I often think that Brandon Carr could be a #1 with a little work. Eric Berry will be an instant start and playmaker. We have plenty of depth especially with Arenas being drafted. Our LB Core will be average but Hali making the bulk of the plays. Our D-Line is very young and only will get better. Smith and Edwards will rotate in order to be more fresh at NT. One word for our defense this year will be…“Surprising”

2.) Our offense added a lot of playmakers which we needed. We also upgraded in the line to give Cassel more time. One word for our offense this eyar will be…“Explosive”

3.) I think our drops will go down or Haley will find people that will make plays and catch the ball. Also, addition of OC Charlie Weis will only help. I think even with that said we will draft a WR next year in the first 3 rounds.

We’ll be glad to help you out with this. And your welcome to come back and discuss football with us anytime, during our game week or not. Oh and we play week 3, not week 2.

1. Our secondary (on paper) should be pretty good. Flowers is quickly becoming a shutdown corner, Carr is an above average starter in my opinion, Arenas and Berry come with all the pedigree but with rookies its just unknown until they hit the field. The consensus here is that Shaun Smith will be the starting NT but there should be a rotation between him and Ron Edwards. Edwards wasn’t all bad, but I think he was on the field to long which made him tired and limited his effectiveness. Our LB’s are average except for Tamba Hali, tell your LT to watch out for him. Actually do us a favor, dont tell your LT that.

2. Our offensive style will be similar to what New England ran I think. Expect a nice heavy dose of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles, an improved offensive line to keep our QB vertical and not horizontal, and some nice running lanes. Expect more outside the tackle runs than inside in my opinion, just a hunch.

3. Im optimistic about our WR’s and TE’s this year. I think Dwayne Bowe just had an off year in year 3, like he wasn’t fully aware of what was expected of him and the pressure associated with being the No.1 option. I dont think a return to numbers like he put up his first two years is far-fetched at all. Chris Chambers was a nice surprise last year and we expect that to continue this year. Urban and McCluster should be good too, but you should also never expect much from rookie wide receivers.

Thanks for Montana, been a die hard chief fan ever since. Do yall remember that sign that some chiefs fans had, said something like “Montana country, where the Young do not survive”

1.) While our starters in the backfield are very talented (assuming Berry comes as billed and Page returns to form coming off an injury) but I do worry about the depth at safety. I don’t see the backups as being anything more as special teams players. At OLB Tamba Hali, of course, is the pass rush specialist and should have a solid year. Mike Vrabel on the other side fills the knowledgeable veteran role, but I worry that he’s pushing it on the age issue. At ILB I for one am excited to see Derrick Johnson. A contract year means that his future depends on what happens now. And following the week 17 clinic he put on, I believe he is just as excited. The other ILB position is a point of concern for me. Corey Mays and Demorrio Williams both racked up a lot of tackles last year, but they didn’t make any plays. 0 FFs, 0 INTs, 0 Sacks. Johnson out produced both of them in those areas. At NT I see Shaun Smith winning the starting job. Romeo Crennel was high on this player and the only thing that really worked against him in Cleveland was a beautifully delivered knockout punch to Brady Quinn. Ron Edwards will move to his true position of backup NT. DE is a make or break this year. Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson have to make it work this year. Alex Magee could be a functional backup on either side.

2.) The Chiefs offseason seemed to revolve around making the offense more dynamic. Shoring up the line with Weigmann and Lilja should provide Matt Cassel with all the time he needs as well as open running lanes for Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles. Dwayne Bowe enters a contract year and will have to show his worth to keep his job in KC or to garner any interest in the offseason. Resigning Chris Chambers mean veteran leadership and a quality receiver at either the #1 or #2 position. Dexter McCluster appears to fit the Percy Harvin/Darren Sproles mold and could add a very dynamic spark.

3.) Dropped passes, dropped passes, dropped passes. The Chiefs receiving corps needs to spend some quality time with the JUGS machine. Early reports have not been good from the OTAs. I do, however, love the draft pick of Tony Moeaki. Injuries in his past are the only reason he wasn’t a 1st round pick. If you want the scoop on him, watch how he embarrasses Derrick Morgan in the Orange Bowl. Not the playmaker that Tony Gonzalez was, but could be one of the most well-rounded TEs coming out of college in a long time. Chiefs fans should be keeping an eye on the Patrick Crayton situation in Dallas. He has some of the best hands in the league, and it looks as though he may be on the way out. Kansas City would be wise to show some interest there.

Let us know when the preview is posted. I know I’d love to check it out.

of seasons in which Martyball couldn’t produce a single playoff victory, even though the Chiefs proved time and again they had built NFC-beater rosters, which the AFC never seemed to produce in the AFCC process.

1. The base D will be 3-4, but it could take any shape or form, depending on the game plan Crennel cooks up. A fine article by our own Steve_Chiefs talks about the “game plan philosophy” that seems to permeate the coaching staff. You might just see 8 guys milling about up on the line pre-snap, if Crennel thinks that will disrupt the opposing offenses, just as he did in New England, in spots. Look for a small number of basic defensive plays/assignments out of a wide variety of formations. This D should be a lot more fun for the Chiefs than any they’ve been in since Cowher was their DC. Improved speed at safety means 8-in-the-box doesn’t necessarily signal selling-out against the run, anymore. Tyson Jackson should play with much more authority, and, if my instincts aren’t tricking me, Alex Magee, quietly drafted in the 3rd in ’09, is likely to start asserting himself. Neither Shaun Smith nor Ron Edwards projects as a Pro-Bowler in ’10, but the two in rotation should bring much-needed stability and endurance to the middle. KC was very good at 3-and-outs last season, but the middle tended to crack once the opposing offense broke the ice and started picking on possibly the slowest starting pair of Ss in the league. That has changed for ’10. Lunch-bucket

1. I think you’ll see a lot of stretch runs, to try and exploit overpursuit. With speed at RB in Charles, threats to the edge need to be taken seriously, and I think these threats are the means by which KC will hope to crack the middle with Charles. Chiefs APPEAR to be trying to assemble a finesse zone-blocking line that’s quick, rather than big, with the acquisition of Lilja, but they have an eclectic mix of small and quick with big mauler types on the OL depth chart. While listed (and likely to see most of his ‘10 playing-time) as slot receiver, McCluster also addresses durability concerns with Jamaal Charles (the biggest concern entering the offseason). They won’t have to chuck half of what they want to do midway through the season. McCluster gives KC a lot of insurance in terms of speed and explosion for all 4 quarters and all 19 games, if needed. More explosion

3. D-Bowe currently seems to be imploding. But overall, I think the WR corps should be more successful this year, because the OL and running threats should be better. They’re more likely to find that elusive comfort zone/chemistry coming out of their breaks, if Cassel gets the extra second to set up and look down the field. I don’t think you can point to any WR as being a dominant force in the league – but a better team concept and a full offseason to work on it should make the QB-WR better, but more workmanlike than dazzling. The ball should come out more predictably, the receivers should anticipate the ball coming out, better, and the entire unit will be running better routes than last year, without THINKING about it, so I expect far fewer drops. Chambers, even at this late date in his career, often waits to make the basket catch, rather than challenging for the ball at its highest point. Both D-Bowe and he have shown the capacity to do it right, but Chambers might miss the rest of the game if he DOES play with full aggression and D-Bowe’s a 50-50 proposition, regardless. A lot of D-Bowe’s drops are thought to be unforced, but I’d say the biggest issue with his game in the 1st half of last season was that he was sluggish getting off the ball and the jam, so that very few passes were uncontested.

1. Marty used to preach that the best way to make the playoffs is to win your division, and I think Pioli and Haley have taken this sentiment to heart this off season. They looked at our division, SD and DEN with both be running a pass first offence. I think it was Pioli, sometime around the draft, that said we were in a nickel set over fifty percent of the time last year. It will be more this year. I honestly believe the reason we didn’t focus more on D line and linebackers is that our base defense will be nickel. We will shift to a 3-4 ish set with roll players when we are forced to. Romeo also has a reputation of dropping to a 4-2-5. We will be a bend but don’t break, keep the freshest people on the field, play your position and hope Berry picks a few off like Law did back in the day.
2. Offence in a phrase, Whatever works. I think Haley would like to run a lot of 3 wide but, power running works better against 3-4 defenses, which DEN and SD will be running. Last year we saw a huge change in structure and play calling from game 1 to game 16 and I don’t think they have found a sweet spot yet. I think we will run a lot of motion, we will use a lot of people in unique spots. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see McCluster, Charles and Jones on the field at the same time, with Charles in slot, Jones as full back and McCluster at halfback. Balanced insanity.
3. I feel a little better about our ability to catch the ball this year, largely because of McCluster and Urban. I actually think Urban pushes Bowe for time before the year is over, this is based on Bows drops, recent comments, and history of poor judgment more than Urban’s mad skillz.

Really, the reason I think we will do a lot better this year is that we play the Rams and Seahawks, Browns are worse, Buffalo is no better if not worse, and we are a smidge better.

1. Defensively, our D backfield is definitely the strength, and as has been stated above, its mostly by design because both our division and the league writ large have become pass happy. Our LBs and DL aren’t the weakness that many think. for ILBs, Derrick Johnson showed flashes of brilliance in the playing time he got last season. He’s not your prototype run stuffing ILB in a 3-4, but he may be among the best in passing situautions. Expect to see him in coverage and on pass blitzes. Also, I expect Javon Belcher to emerge this season and become a potential starter. Although we only have one marquis ILB (DJ) and he’s not an all around player given his weakness against the run at times, we have a solid rotation and tremendous depth at the position that we can use in specific situations. On the outside, Hali had his best season since he’s been here in his first as an OLB pass rusher and he was held more 21 at a blackjack table. Vrable on the other side is a solid and smart player, but he will see his playing time fade as guys like Studebaker and Cameron Sheffield see action during passing situations. Our D-Line is going to be stout. There are certainly questions at NT, but Dorsey is emerging as one of the best 5-techs in the league, and I think Tyson Jackson will really begin his progression this year, now that he’s past the rookie hump.

2 and 3. Haley has said he intends to have an offense that runs well and throws off play action. I think we’ll see the numbers over the season show us as generally more of a running offense, as that plays to our strength. We will alter the game plan based on the opponents, but we are looking at a schedule stocked full of teams that play poor run defense. I expect a 2:1 Charles:Jones ratio, with McCluster getting some snaps at the Wildcat when he’s not in the slot. We will not drop as many passes this season in part because we will be throwing less (we played much of the season from behind last year), our QB and WRs have had a year to work on getting the tempo down, and the sheer impossibility of matching a season where we almost set a record for drops. One thing I should also say is that I think a lot of people are confused on what our passing attack will looks like. I don’t expect us to be very vertical, although we will certainly push the field off play action when safeties bite. But I think our passing offense in non-PA situations will be about getting the ball to receivers from 5-15 yards past the LoS and letting them do the rest and create YACs. It plays to our strengths since Cassel doesn’t have the most accurate deep ball and we have some guys that can (McCluster, Charles, Bowe) turn routine gains into big plays.

In closing, our team is designed to beat the teams that we’ll face in our division, and in the league as a whole. But be glad you’re a niners fan, because your team is the one on our schedule this year that we matchup most poorly against.

And we promise to beat every other NFC West team for you, and the Raiders twice so you can be the proudest Bay franchise again this season.

1) Our secondary will become great, but it takes time. Our LB core is young and therefore an unknown quantity. Crennel will help with schemes, and we will probably have an average defense. Our defense is bend don’t break.

2) Explosive

3) Not that good. Bowe is an idiot, but a talented one. Hopefully Chambers stays motivated, and who knows with our TE position.

jbrown63 is going to know more about the Chiefs going into next season than he does about his own team…

Good luck on your piece on us jbrown, and make sure and post it here at AP.

1. I gather that Kansas City will be running a 3-4 defense and has a great, or at least potentially great, secondary with Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, Jarrad Page, and Eric Berry.

Berry worked out with Flowers extensively prior to the draft, and both are excited about the chemistry. Flowers has commented that Revis wasn’t “Revis Island” until year 3, and expects a similar year 3 for himself.

However, the LB corp seems questionably, as does the DL situation. Who do you think will fill the hole at NT, Ron Edwards or Shaun Smith? How do you feel about the seemingly weak LB group, given that Romeo Crennel is the new DC, and had great success with fairly average players in New England? What word or phrase do you feel best describes the defense’s style?

LB’s are a big “?” Tamba Hali did far better than expectations last year converting from DE, but was the only real force rushing the passer. On the other side, Mike Vrabel, while an excellent leader, is winding down an outstanding career. Andy Studebaker, from a tiny D-II school made some big plays subbing for Vrabel. Inside, DeMorrio Williams led the team in tackles last year, but never seemed to make spectacular plays. The much more talented Derrick Johnson should be a starter, until you look at how inconsistent he plays. Cory Mays was also inconsistent.

The NT position will probably be a rotation. Some young guys in the front 7, Gilberry and Belcher looked good at times, but the real question with the front 7, is how much improvement will we see from Tyson Jackson and Glen Dorsey, and can the NT position have solid play.

2. How would you describe the offense’s style, in a word or short phrase? I imagine that the team will run plenty of three-wide sets with Dexter McCluster and Jerheme Urban alternating in the slot, and keep the attack balanced with Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones working out out of the backfield.

New England Midwest – they plan to gameplan against the opponents strengths to setup mis-matches.

3. As a 49ers fan, I know all about how annoying it is to see the ball hit a wide open receiver right in their hands, only to have them drop it. How do you feel about your WRs and TEs going into this season? Do you think the drop rate will go down, or will the team be looking for a top rated WR in the draft next year?

If Bowe could just hold onto the ball, he’d be an elite WR. Chambers was a nice pickup midway through last year. KC TEs were a problem last year, and just as it looked like Brad Cottam was picking it up, he suffered a neck injury. Assuming he returns, and the TE we drafted truly is the best blocking TE in the draft, TE is looking better than it has since Tony Gonzalez got his wish, and got out of town.

Crennel did so well on defense, despite having mediocre linebackers, for two reasons:

1) The linebackers were extremely driven players who let their play do the talking on the field. They all had chips on their shoulder and wanted to disprove everyone by playing excellent football.

2) The defensive line was stellar. An elite defensive line will open up lanes, as well as makes plays on their own, and will make average linebackers look above average. If the Chiefs’ D-Line can manage to put together a solid season, the linebackers will improve more than just what they, personally, have improved.

might lose to denver in london becuse mcd will treat that as a super bowl

1. i feel like our secondary will soon be one of the best. Flowers is a lockdown, carr is a good number 2 corner.. so far its hard to find a weakness in berry and we all love him here. jarrad page i think is kind of on the edge. he has had his times where hes very good but he also makes mistakes. amd arenas will be a good nickle. i expect a lot of blitzs from him. shaun smith is probably better than edwards. We’re still kinda iffy on the NT situation though. and linebackers. we’re hoping corey mays improves vrabel and hali are solid and DJ needs to stay consistent and step up a little.

2. on offense i feel better about our offensive line. but i wouldnt expect the line from 2003. hopefully albert steps up more this year. receivers should be better i still expect some drops.but no star WR but Matt cassel shou;d have a trent green in his prime season. with good numbers but no star WR. the running game should be phenomianal.

3 i think we’ll deffintly draft a WR early. i think our corp should be better but i dont think we’ll have any pro bowl receivers or TE’s.

I would play close attention to them this season. I know everyone likes to focus on Offense and Defense but with K Ryan Succop, we finally have a reliable leg to hit the field goals. Dustin Colquitt can punt the ball a mile and hopefully with our improved offense this offseason his leg will be fresh instead of having to punt every 30 seconds.
Whomever we assign as our KR/PR is going to be an immediate upgrade over Bradley. Javier Arenas, and Dexter McCluster are going to give our offense better starting field position everytime they are kicked to.

1. Scarilicious.
2. Scrumptrilescent.
3. Yes.

You asked for one word. You get one word.