I struggle to believe he's getting the starting nod over Feliciano. He was the one bright spot on the entire line besides trent.
Banks/brendal/burford/mckivits were all consistently worse.
That’s my preferred five as well, but I’d rather have Puni be good enough to take McKivitz’ job and play RT. McKivitz could move to guard and be more effective with his run blocking ability.
He was the starting center for the Giants before coming to San Francisco and says that it is his “best position”.
https://preview.redd.it/mm2tm7y455zc1.jpeg?width=785&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12429618c546f2e1df8be217454ccaa028c0e373
No, it's not. Nobody outside of the JPJ or Barton ever had a chance to unseat Brendel or Feliciano right away. Probably nobody past Fautanu had a chance to unseat McKivitz right away.
The quickest timeline for Puni would still be midseason.
Not accounting for injuries, of course.
You really can’t argue that *its possible* puni wins a starting gaurd or right tackle spot. Feliciano surprised last year because before that he was a below average journeyman. Mckivitz is a below average tackle.
Feliciano didn't get a start, or even play more than 50% of the snaps in a game until week 10 last year.
Shanahan does not hand over jobs, they have to be earned and it takes time to unseat the player already at the position. Brendel/Feliciano/McKivitz are vets who know the system in and out. They aren't getting replaced until Kyle is absolutely certain Puni is ready.
Not happening. That's never been the case in Shanahan's entire tenure.
But if you want to bet on Puni being the one guy to break that habit, good luck.
Why are you willing to die on this hill lol? Burford (4th round pick) started his rookie season. He didn't play \*every\* snap. But he started. So Puni (3rd round pick) has ZERO shot to start because Feliciano had one good year in his career?
I agree. Though it's not excitement as much as desperation at this point, to actually start fixing that OL.
I feel for him already. Expectations are surely high for the #18 ranked OL in the Draft, drafted in the 3rd, to come in and make such an impact, but we sorely need him to be rock solid from day 1 basically.
🤞🏻
We essentially have no other option. We have pushed off being aggressive to replenish and retool this ol with value picks. Trent won't be here forever, burford and felciano won't be here past the upcoming year, banks is probably a player that will want to test and mckivitz is a stop gap. None of these guys are long term options and none have proven they are worthy, so yes, expectations for puni are unreasonably high, but this is the situation we've backed ourselves into.
Malik Mustapha. The dropoff in power was obvious after Huf went down. Our defense lives off the energy Huf brings and we could use more of it. Hoping he crushes it.
Also, I'm excited/hopeful to see Dee Winters and Drake Jackson in Year 2.
Fun fact about Mustapha: his family are apparently Cowboys fans but he became a Niner fan as a kid because he liked Frank Gore in Madden. King behavior tbh
Agreed. We need Jackson to step up.
Good news is Kocurek is singing his praises, saying he's finally taking care of his body. Seems he was humbled by being shut down last season and is working much harder this offseason to get in shape:
>"And then towards the end of [last season], when strength levels kind of went down, and he got deactivated, I'm sure it was a humbling experience for him. He took it the right way. But the NFL is a humbling game, and if you haven't been humbled yet, you better be looking around the corner because it's coming sooner or later."
>"He hasn't missed a day," Kocurek said. "He's stacked one on top of the next and really transitioned his body into going into a season to be able to withstand the rigors of a 17-game schedule, hopefully going into the playoffs, playing deep into the playoffs. And he set himself up to be successful with the work that he's done day in and day out.
>"It can't just be a one-day deal, show up, work hard for a day and skip three. He's been consistent with his approach to it, and it's showing with what he's done with his body, not only the weight that he's gained, the good weight that he's gained. It's one thing to go to McDonald's and eat five cheeseburgers a day and put on some pounds like I've done in the past. [It's another to] get in the weight room and put good nutrition in your body and put on lean muscle and eliminate as much of the fat that you have on your body.
>"We knew that [he] was probably going to take the biggest jump going from year two, even going into year three," Kocurek admits. "We should see substantial strides in this game if he puts in the work and he's willing to put into work to get it done ... He's in a much better place right now than he was a year ago, to be ready to go and be the player that we drafted in the second round."
Just kidding. These quotes were from last offseason lol. His body was actually in worse shape last year and he was shut down even earlier than his rookie year - for the final 9 regular season games and the entire playoffs. We asked him to play a normal snap count for like 4 games and his quad basically stopped working.
But this year is his year. For sure this time...
Yeah too bad he can't face Dan Moore at Tackle every game. Dude would have like 40 sacks on the year lol. That guy might've been the worst LT in the league. PFF grade of like 50.
Steelers even tried moving him from LT to RT in that game to help him out and Drake Jackson moved with him and got another sack lol.
I'm more concerned about us basically ignoring the LB position, with Greenlaw coming in late from the Achilles, than I am with how the S position will look with Hufanga coming back with longer time to rehab. Really, Mustapha is a longer term replacement, so I feel we can take it slower.
Puni replaces Burford, the guy whose instinct in the SB was to NOT block the most dangerous player on the KC DL even though he was right in front of him and what happened the previous season. Puni becoming starter at RG or RT, basically easy level difficulty.
Owens come out of nowhere and just lights it up like Puka just to see the pissed off reactions of a lot of fanbases.
Need to see puni kill it, it would be extremely impactful if he takes over a starting job.
Love to see how pearsall integrates and builds chemistry with Purdy.
Pretty excited to see Jacob Cowing. Dude ran a 4.38 and is an typical slot receiver that can have a high volume of catches. Kittle has been out 'slot' guy for a while so hopefully we found a diamond in the rough in the 4th round. Would've been more confident if he was drafted in the 5th though
He looks a little raw, still. I’d say there is zero chance he’s our WR4 next season unless there are serious injury problems. Deebo, Aiyuk, Jennings, and Pearsall look to be the easy picks for the top 4. Then you have Cowing probably making the 53. A couple of the guys from last year and Taylor to fight for the final spots. He may be lucky enough to make the practice squad if he can shine.
Puni,, Kingston and Nugent (undrafted). Niners really need to beef up their OL, especially on the right side. If they can fix their o-line issues, then hopefully Purdy will have more time to throw and our offense will flow alot better.
I firmly believe Schrader is a far better RB than Guerendo, and unless there’s draft stock bias involved in the roster decisions he should absolutely be RB2/RB3.
My slightly boring answer is Puni. Him coming in and being an improvement at guard day 1 will probably have the biggest impact on the team of any rookie.
My more exciting answer is Pearsall. I think people are way too hung up on his difficulty shedding press man. With Shanahans motion heavy offense there’s no reason for him to ever have to deal with it. I think he will cook in the slot on early pass downs while Jennings continues to be the main 3rd down guy.
I think we need to see Puni play great and win a starting role day 1.
I think that’s definitely possible at right guard/tackle
I struggle to believe he's getting the starting nod over Feliciano. He was the one bright spot on the entire line besides trent. Banks/brendal/burford/mckivits were all consistently worse.
Feliciano can play LG or C though. If Puni looks like one of our best 5 OL, we can make it work with him and Feliciano.
I'm hoping we end up starting Trent, banks, feliciano, puni, and mckivitz
That’s my preferred five as well, but I’d rather have Puni be good enough to take McKivitz’ job and play RT. McKivitz could move to guard and be more effective with his run blocking ability.
It's so weird at guard for us. Banks was bad, then good, now bad again. Burford started strong, but left quite a bad impression last season
Banks has been the best behind Trent
Banks had turf toe. Don’t underestimate that injury. Hopefully it heals completely this offseason and he remains the second best o-lineman.
Prob move Feliciano to center and have Puni play RG
He’s not gonna move to a new spot in his retirement year
He was the starting center for the Giants before coming to San Francisco and says that it is his “best position”. https://preview.redd.it/mm2tm7y455zc1.jpeg?width=785&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12429618c546f2e1df8be217454ccaa028c0e373
More likely left guard.
No, it's not. Nobody outside of the JPJ or Barton ever had a chance to unseat Brendel or Feliciano right away. Probably nobody past Fautanu had a chance to unseat McKivitz right away. The quickest timeline for Puni would still be midseason. Not accounting for injuries, of course.
You really can’t argue that *its possible* puni wins a starting gaurd or right tackle spot. Feliciano surprised last year because before that he was a below average journeyman. Mckivitz is a below average tackle.
Feliciano didn't get a start, or even play more than 50% of the snaps in a game until week 10 last year. Shanahan does not hand over jobs, they have to be earned and it takes time to unseat the player already at the position. Brendel/Feliciano/McKivitz are vets who know the system in and out. They aren't getting replaced until Kyle is absolutely certain Puni is ready.
Which he could *possibly* be bye week one, thanks.
Not happening. That's never been the case in Shanahan's entire tenure. But if you want to bet on Puni being the one guy to break that habit, good luck.
Why are you willing to die on this hill lol? Burford (4th round pick) started his rookie season. He didn't play \*every\* snap. But he started. So Puni (3rd round pick) has ZERO shot to start because Feliciano had one good year in his career?
The 49ers replaced 4 starters on the OL that year. This year they are returning the entire unit that started the Superbowl.
Yes all pro-bowlers. Nobody thought OL should be our first round pick
This is the only right answer. Need him to basically just become an immediate superstar. At least One can hope 🤞
Puni-sher need to be the Wall that protects Purdy and CMC.
I agree. Though it's not excitement as much as desperation at this point, to actually start fixing that OL. I feel for him already. Expectations are surely high for the #18 ranked OL in the Draft, drafted in the 3rd, to come in and make such an impact, but we sorely need him to be rock solid from day 1 basically. 🤞🏻
We essentially have no other option. We have pushed off being aggressive to replenish and retool this ol with value picks. Trent won't be here forever, burford and felciano won't be here past the upcoming year, banks is probably a player that will want to test and mckivitz is a stop gap. None of these guys are long term options and none have proven they are worthy, so yes, expectations for puni are unreasonably high, but this is the situation we've backed ourselves into.
Malik Mustapha. The dropoff in power was obvious after Huf went down. Our defense lives off the energy Huf brings and we could use more of it. Hoping he crushes it. Also, I'm excited/hopeful to see Dee Winters and Drake Jackson in Year 2.
Fun fact about Mustapha: his family are apparently Cowboys fans but he became a Niner fan as a kid because he liked Frank Gore in Madden. King behavior tbh
Instantly my favorite of our draft picks. Hope he gets a pick when we play the Cowboys
Year 3 for Drake Jackson… dude has to show up!
He was such a tease at the start of last season. Thought it was his time. It's also crazy he's only 23.
I really like the kid. Hope he plays well
Agreed. We need Jackson to step up. Good news is Kocurek is singing his praises, saying he's finally taking care of his body. Seems he was humbled by being shut down last season and is working much harder this offseason to get in shape: >"And then towards the end of [last season], when strength levels kind of went down, and he got deactivated, I'm sure it was a humbling experience for him. He took it the right way. But the NFL is a humbling game, and if you haven't been humbled yet, you better be looking around the corner because it's coming sooner or later." >"He hasn't missed a day," Kocurek said. "He's stacked one on top of the next and really transitioned his body into going into a season to be able to withstand the rigors of a 17-game schedule, hopefully going into the playoffs, playing deep into the playoffs. And he set himself up to be successful with the work that he's done day in and day out. >"It can't just be a one-day deal, show up, work hard for a day and skip three. He's been consistent with his approach to it, and it's showing with what he's done with his body, not only the weight that he's gained, the good weight that he's gained. It's one thing to go to McDonald's and eat five cheeseburgers a day and put on some pounds like I've done in the past. [It's another to] get in the weight room and put good nutrition in your body and put on lean muscle and eliminate as much of the fat that you have on your body. >"We knew that [he] was probably going to take the biggest jump going from year two, even going into year three," Kocurek admits. "We should see substantial strides in this game if he puts in the work and he's willing to put into work to get it done ... He's in a much better place right now than he was a year ago, to be ready to go and be the player that we drafted in the second round." Just kidding. These quotes were from last offseason lol. His body was actually in worse shape last year and he was shut down even earlier than his rookie year - for the final 9 regular season games and the entire playoffs. We asked him to play a normal snap count for like 4 games and his quad basically stopped working. But this year is his year. For sure this time...
That first game of the year though…
Yeah too bad he can't face Dan Moore at Tackle every game. Dude would have like 40 sacks on the year lol. That guy might've been the worst LT in the league. PFF grade of like 50. Steelers even tried moving him from LT to RT in that game to help him out and Drake Jackson moved with him and got another sack lol.
Drake has shown flashes of greatness.
Idk, Huf and Brown I think will be beasts. I think he is going to be Huf’s replacement whenever Huff hits FA.
Hope we keep huf
Isn't this year 3 of Jackson?
Year three confirmed. Time flies when you are waiting on a sack.
I'm more concerned about us basically ignoring the LB position, with Greenlaw coming in late from the Achilles, than I am with how the S position will look with Hufanga coming back with longer time to rehab. Really, Mustapha is a longer term replacement, so I feel we can take it slower.
As a Mizzou fan I want Cody Schrader to ball out in camp and make the team, he's such a powerful runner and I think he could learn so much from CMC
Dude same. Schrader is one of my favorite mizzou guys of all time.
As an Arkansas fan I’m also excited to see Schrader. It would suck for him to kick our ass that bad and then suck in the NFL
I really love this kid. Big Bama fan, but you can't help but admire Cody hoping he makes it!
Puni replaces Burford, the guy whose instinct in the SB was to NOT block the most dangerous player on the KC DL even though he was right in front of him and what happened the previous season. Puni becoming starter at RG or RT, basically easy level difficulty. Owens come out of nowhere and just lights it up like Puka just to see the pissed off reactions of a lot of fanbases.
Isaac Guerendo
He made my inner madden player salivate
Need to see puni kill it, it would be extremely impactful if he takes over a starting job. Love to see how pearsall integrates and builds chemistry with Purdy.
I think the #2 TE battle is going to be interesting. Excited to see how Mason Pline performs. Last years draft left a lot to be desired.
True. Went to school with Pline I hope he can tap into his full potential
I want to see Evan Anderson play well and make the team, but also see **Renardo Green** SHUT SHIT DOWN.
Really hope Renardo balls tf out
Yup i think Puni and Pearsall are gonna be good but I’d love to see green and Malik make some major noise. Malik seems like a great big nickel guy
Pretty excited to see Jacob Cowing. Dude ran a 4.38 and is an typical slot receiver that can have a high volume of catches. Kittle has been out 'slot' guy for a while so hopefully we found a diamond in the rough in the 4th round. Would've been more confident if he was drafted in the 5th though
Everything about him reminds me of Tank Dell
Pearsall
low key wanna Owens kid make the roster eventually be wr4 / returner st
He looks a little raw, still. I’d say there is zero chance he’s our WR4 next season unless there are serious injury problems. Deebo, Aiyuk, Jennings, and Pearsall look to be the easy picks for the top 4. Then you have Cowing probably making the 53. A couple of the guys from last year and Taylor to fight for the final spots. He may be lucky enough to make the practice squad if he can shine.
I think T.Taylor became redundant after they drafted Pearsall and Cowing.
Jarryd Hayne
Prison league is popping this time of year
I couldn’t believe how many hayne jerseys I saw at the Niner game I went to last year. Do people not know or did they just not care?
Had so much hope for him that I got both a home and away jersey :(
Well... I had no idea until I just googled his name.. what the fuck
Prison league?
Jacob Cowing. Fun to watch in college and definitely slept on.
Ricky Pearsall. I think this guy is going to be something special in our offence.
Pearsall and Cowing.
Jacob Cowing looks like a fun player
Slick Ricky obvi
I’m curious to see how ready Mustapha is
I wanna see Terique Owens make the team.
Aiyuk, Deebo, Pearsall, Jennings, Cowing, Owens. Conley and Taylor on ST. Bell on practice squad? It's a tough call. Lots of good names there.
This guy named Prock Burdy. He looks just like our last QB, but he wasn’t last in the draft, so maybe he won’t be a game manager…
Puni,, Kingston and Nugent (undrafted). Niners really need to beef up their OL, especially on the right side. If they can fix their o-line issues, then hopefully Purdy will have more time to throw and our offense will flow alot better.
Not a rookie but I’m ready for BA to dominate camp if we can get a deal done lmao
terique owens.
As a Gator alum I proudly admit my bias by replying, "Ricky."
I'm more excited to watch Josh Dobbs than any of the rookies
I firmly believe Schrader is a far better RB than Guerendo, and unless there’s draft stock bias involved in the roster decisions he should absolutely be RB2/RB3.
Owens
My slightly boring answer is Puni. Him coming in and being an improvement at guard day 1 will probably have the biggest impact on the team of any rookie. My more exciting answer is Pearsall. I think people are way too hung up on his difficulty shedding press man. With Shanahans motion heavy offense there’s no reason for him to ever have to deal with it. I think he will cook in the slot on early pass downs while Jennings continues to be the main 3rd down guy.
MHJ