QB: Kap...I wrote a really long excerpt on him...and deleted it. He's so polarizing and his whole development has been so...convoluted and arguabuly fucked up by everyone from Harbaugh and Roman to Chryst and Balke. Kap is not a good QB. Every metric supports this, watching him play supports this...but he seems to be a really hard worker, a good person and obviously insane physical traits. It just appears as though he will always need to have the perfect situation around him to succeed and he will never ever come close to the situation that he started with in 2012 and I don't know if I want to believe a QB who can't overcome adverse situations will ever lead this team to a super bowl. Teams know his weaknesses now, they know his strengths and sadly, he's too easily neutralized. With that said, kaps play whether it be consistently sub-parm or downright horrendous, has not made him the worst offensive player on this team...not even top 5 worst offensive player on this team...and that's a problem. That's a coaching problem, but it's also players failing to execute scheme...anyways I digress
RB: Hyde is good, but he's being run into the ground, Bush is made of glass while Davis and Hayne look equally green.
O-line:We're all aware of our offensive line. This is the single biggest reason why our offense is as bad as it is. As bad as Kap, the play-calling and receivers have been at times, the O-line has just been consistently putrid.
WR:Torrey Smith was/is considered a one trick pony(granted one that we really needed) and needs an offensive line to get deep. Boldin is very noticeably aging and can't sustain the pressure and attention a number one WR gets .Patton and Bruce can't seem to ever get on the field consistently, whether it be because of injuries or erratic play...we basically don't have depth here and our top end talent is nothing special.
TE: This is another sad corps. Vernon is a shell of his former self, Vance has the receiving ability of a door, while Celek, the most sound of the three see's the least amount of playing time(Iirc)
Defense we have some talent, but Mangini is actually retarded. Mangini's defense, to my understanding from what i've seen is sort of a hybrid zone blitz scheme. The reason he runs this scheme is because he doesn't trust the pass-rushers we have so he exoctic blitz packages mixed with shallow zone coverage(why Wilhoite keeps being put on slot receivers that cross into his zone, subsequently burning him) that's suppose to cause hesitation in with the QB. Now, this would be great if we had a guy like Timmons, or Mayo, or Chandler Jones...utility backers who can get pressure anywhere..hell even the Old Bowman could do this. But we don't have those guys, so this scheme is CONSTANTLY blowing up in our face, leaving guys wide open because we have no pressure. Fangio had a very strict/simple defense the played lot of cover two press-man coverage and it for the most part worked. Not always, but we rarely got beat on big plays...Lots of bend, very little break, even last year. Acker, Brock and Dontae Johnson are all better in that scheme...not this zone blitz. combined with the fact we have one linebacker and two lineman who seem to be the only guys who can even generate pressure...this scheme will never ever consistently work.
DL; our two best lineman also happen to be two of our youngest guys, Armstead and Carradine. They also see the least amount of PT...Meanwhile we keep playing a consistently average Dorsey, a perpetually injured Williams(who when health is good) and Dial, who although I very much adore, has not been as good as the other two youngsters. At this point these two guys should be getting the lions share of snaps. They create the most havoc on the D-line and the play the least. Come tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find some snap counts on the season for these guys, but I just got off work and I'm about to crash. This has been more frustrating than anything else because...
OLB: Outside of Lynch has been dogshit. Lynch is very, very good. From a metrics standpoint, Lynch is consistently grading out to be one of the best in the league. granted he's not finishing sacks, but he's also usually the first and only guy making it into the backfield. Brooks has never been at best an average pass-rusher, but he always lived off of Aldons ability to get to the QB. He was however a great utility backer, he could cover, maintained outside contain extremely well and was generally a very good player to have given the strengths of previous rosters. He doesn't have that now, even with a really good lynch, his weaknesses are just so clear... Simply put, we need more help in the pass-rushing department and Brooks, Lemonier and Harold aren't cutting it at all.
ILB-Holy fuck. What a decline. Bowman isn't the same player, it hurts to say it but as of right now, he's not. Maybe getting another off-season of rest will help. But he just doesn't show the same explosiveness and sadly it's not that surprising. He's still far more consistent than the guy next to him in Wilhoite. There are a lot of players underperforming on this D, Brock, Bethea, Reid...but Wilhoite has been so bad it literally hurts to watch. No scheme can fix a guy who consistently gets beat in the pass game, can't make a solo tackle and and in general just shows a lack of talent. There's a reason we traded for Hodges, and once Hodges learns the scheme, he should be replacing Wilhoite asap
CB-Strangely enough, this group has shown the most long term promise to me. Brock has been getting beat like a drum, but he's still making his presence felt in games. His interception was awesome today and I think if this coverage scheme ever gets any semblance of consistency, one that puts him specifically in more man to man coverages....then I expect him to look a lot better. Acker is another guy whose showing a lot and it seems other pundits are recognizing it too. I wouldn't be pissed if we went corner in the first round, but I think him and Brock have played well enough to where we shouldn't have to worry about this group for another year or two if they continue to improve.
safety; Reid is basically average. again, i think he, like Brock is having difficulty with the new scheme because he blew multiple coverages earlier in the year, but he seems to be playing consistently better. Not at a pro-bowl level but he hasn't been as bad as Bethea. Bethea looks to me like he's not only lost a step, but like the rest of the secondary, seems to not be getting calls out correctly and/or on time. He hasn't been as consistent in tackling and the middle of the field has been our weakest link in the pass defense game. I'm not saying bench him because I really think Tartt needs the time to develop, but he's not going to be the same guy we saw last year. He's getting caught flat footed, being beat in man and zone and just doesn't seem to be his normal consistent self...but again I blame a lot of this on mangini.
I could go on, but this is just my rant on this season so far.