Patrick Willis’s Ankle

P-Will is the unquestioned leader of the 49ers young defense. Our 3-4 system is built to funnel ball carriers into the middle of our defense where P-Will plays. Right now Willis might be the best linebacker in the game. With that said, we know that the 49ers can only go as far as P-Will can take them. That is why his injury is so concerning. Towards the end of last season Willis injured his ankle and had to miss the Pro Bowl and most of this years OTA’s. Willis should be fine- He has had ample time to recover and has started participating in practices. What’s concerning is that the reason P-Will is great is because he plays fast and with reckless abandonment which is a good way to get re-injured. Losing Patrick Willis would be the worst thing to happen to the 49ers since Jerry Rice became a Raider.

Manny Lawson and Aubrayo Franklin

When Mike Singletary took over the 49ers he put the team on notice by sending Vernon Davis to the locker room during a game. He later gave his “I want WINNERS” speech. Since that moment the 49ers culture has changed. Most players have become committed to doing anything it takes to win. I don’t know if we can say the same thing about Manny and Aubroya. They’re both a tad bit overrated and they both sat out of OTA’s because of their contracts. This isn’t a shot at these two guys- it’s understandable to take care of yourself and your family but when players like David Bass show up to OTA’s without a contract it makes an OTA holdout look bad.

Defensive Line Depth

To have a great 3-4 defense you have to have at least five good defensive linemen. Right now the 49ers have three proven d-linemen. Besides our starting three we don’t have much depth. Ray McDonald can contribute rushing the passer but it’s yet to be seen if he can develop into an everydown player. Then we have Kentwan Balmer, and there is still time for this guy. The majority of the 49er Faithfull have written Balmer off as a bust, and he might be but we will find out this year. So between McDonald and Balmer we should have solid linemen, however the man who we should get the most excited for is Ricky Jean-Francios. Ricky dominated in college but didn’t see much action last year in the pros. Mike Singletary obviously wants to change that. During OTA’s Ricky took the lion share of reps at nose tackle. That’s not his natural position so that has to lead us to believe that the 49ers are trying to speed up his progression by getting him reps anywhere they can find them.

So remember when everyone was talking about the 49ers needing a small, shifty, change of pace back? Well I always thought that was odd because Frank Gore is so athletic. Check out this video and notice how fast he is.

Enjoy this video of the good times.

2. Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens were the winners of the off-season. They had a great draft, their young O-Line got older, and they were able to acquire Anquon Boldin. Right now the Ravens are the favorite in the AFC.

3. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are the Colts but we have to wonder when they will feel the effects of losing Tony Dungy. As long as they have Peyton Manning they will be in it at the end of the year.

4. Dallas Cowboys
Dez Bryant will help this team immediately. The McNabb trade helps the Cowboys by weakening the Eagles; it will take a year or so for the Redskins to figure out how to use him.

5. New England Patriots
New England’s young players will be better this next year, but their old players will be older. If Randy Moss can keep his speed and having a healthy Tom Brady, the Patriots should win the AFC East.

6. Minnesota Vikings
If Farve comes back, this team will jump up the list. If he doesn’t, then they will stay here. They have a great defense and sorry to tell you Chris Johnson, but AP is still the best running back in the league.

7. Green Bay Packers
Brian Bulaga needs to have an immediate impact because last year they couldn’t keep Aaron Rodgers standing.

8. New York Jets
Typically trying to buy a team isn’t the way to go but with Rex Ryan at the helm, the Jets might be able to pull off another AFC Championship run.

9. San Diego Chargers
The Chargers lost Jammal Williams this off-season, on top of their other losses, it looks like a tough year for the Chargers.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers
If Ben could keep it in his pants, this team would be contending, but without him for four games they will probably miss the playoffs.

11. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons have the makings of a great team, a good defense, a fast offense, and most importantly a franchise QB; Matt Ryan should be huge this year.

12. Cincinnati Bengals
It’s a shame Carson Palmer hasn’t been the same since his knee injuries. At one point he was a top three QB, if he gets back to that, the Bengals will be dangerous.

13. San Francisco 49ers
I am on the Alex Smith bandwagon. With that said if he plays well, the 49ers should win the NFC west. If they get into the playoffs look out; their defense could win them some games.

14. New York Giants
Has anyone else noticed that Eli Manning constantly looks like somebody stole his lunch? The Giants have to hope that the additions made to their D-line can return to championship form.

15. Miami Dolphins
Bringing in Brandon Marshall could be a double edge sword. On one hand he is a beast on the field, on the other his off the field issues could get him in trouble. If he was able to find all those distractions in Denver, imagine what he could get into in Miami.

16. Houston Texans
Andre Johnson is the best receiver in the league right now. If Schab stays healthy, this could be the first year the Texans make the playoffs.

17. Tennessee Titans
Two weeks ago the Titans would have been higher up on this list but after another Vince Young incident I can’t justify predicting them going 500. I hope that Young can get it together but it might be time to consider if a different career would benefit the young man. Chris Johnson could have another good year but don’t count on him breaking any more records.

18. Washington Redskins
The Redskins will be fun to watch. Donovan McNabb might have been the least appreciated player of the last decade. He will continue to be underappreciated until he wins the Super Bowl, and I bet he knows that. NFC East is stacked, but don’t sleep on the Skins.

19. Philadelphia Eagles
Year one of the post-McNabb era isn’t going to be pretty. I find it odd that for so long the best player on the field was the Eagles’ QB but their receivers were trash. Now that McNabb’s gone, the receivers are good and the QB is mediocre.

20. Denver Broncos
I like that Josh McDaniels has a plan. Unfortunately, the problem with having a plan is that you have to get it started. The last couple of years the Broncos have purged their team. They aren’t as talented as they were two years ago but they might be better off for it.

21. Arizona Cardinals
The Cards lost so much this off-season it would be ridiculous to think that they won’t take a step back. By the way Joey Porter is not the answer.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars
This team has a chance to do better than their ranking implies because they have Mo-Jo Drew. Tyson Alualu was probably the most unexpected pick of the draft but don’t sleep on him becoming a stud in the NFL.

23. Chicago Bears
Don’t expect DAAAAA BEARS to do much this season. I don’t get why a team would decide that they want to be the Redskins and sign every free agent with a big name. Peppers makes their team better but chemistry is huge in football and it takes awhile to build after an off-season like the Bears had. Also the Mike Martz signing is crazy. The Bears have a QB who is reckless and then they pick up a coordinator who wants his quarterback to throw the ball every down. I predict that Cutler will set the record for most interceptions in a season this year.

24. Oakland Raiders
Call me a Homer if you’d like but I have the Raiders winning the AFC West this year. The Raiders had a good draft for the first time in years, they finally have a decent QB, and they are fast. Watch out for the Raiders this season.

25. Detroit Lions
The Lions are a couple years away from being relevant. Stafford looked like a young Troy Aikmen at times last year. They have built an almost solid defense, and Jahvid Best is my pick for offensive rookie of the year.

26. Carolina Panthers
It’s interesting that a team that is two years removed from success is so far down the list but losing Julius Peppers would be a huge step back for any team. Also I just don’t think that Williams and Stewart will be very effective until Steve Smith and the passing game gets going.

27. Seattle Seahawks
The Hawks simply do not have enough talent at this point to be a winning football team. Pete Carrol might be a good head coach but it will take him a few years to transform this team.

28. Cleveland Browns
The Holgren signing is huge, but just like the Hawks they don’t have the talent to compete, the difference between the two is that the Browns signed Colt McCoy. I’d bet at this time next year we will be talking about the Browns as a dark horse for the playoffs

29. Kansa City Chiefs
I am not a believer in Matt Cassel. I’m predicting that this will be his last year as a starter.

30. Buffalo Bills
The Bills should call TO back because that’s the only way they could be relevant next year. The Bills could end up higher on this list if CJ Spiller lives up to his hype.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I really like Josh Freeman but he doesn’t have enough around him to win more than a few games. I probably wont get another chance to talk about the Bucks for a while so I guess I should mention that one of my favorite players is Cadillac Williams. I would call him the Little Engine that could but he’s more like the Big Engine that still could even on broken tracks. Anybody who comes back from the injuries this guy’s had has heart.

32. St. Louis Rams
Finally, we have the Rams. Steven Jackson is a beast; he’s big, he’s tough, and he’s fast. But he did hurt his back last year. If they want Screech a.k.a Sam Bradford to be successful they better wait to play him until Jackson’s back to 100 percent.

When Nolan was hired as the 49ers head coach, he brought Mike Singletary along with him. At this point Singletary was the linebacker’s coach under Nolan with the Baltimore Ravens. Nolan made Singletary his assistant head coach and linebacker’s coach. This doesn’t sound like a big deal but at this point there weren’t many teams giving Singletary a chance at a promotion. This became even more prominent when the Rooney Rule was stringing Singletary along the league. In 2007 he interviewed with Dallas and San Diego; both teams already had plans in place in regards to their head coaching positions. So Nolan was the first to give Singletary a chance.

Another reason Iron Mike should thank the well-dressed Mike would be the players he left him with. While Nolan was running the team, he put together a pretty decent roster. Dashon Goldson, Frank Gore, P-Will, Vernon Davis, and Aubrayo Franklin are all players that Nolan had a hand in bringing to San Francisco. Nolan did a decent job picking out the groceries; it just took Singletary to cook them up.

Most 49ers fans have bought into what Coach Singletary is selling, however he was taught how to sell a fan base by one of the best to do it. Mike Nolan had the 49er fan base believing that he was their savior. He was able to convince the York’s that they should give a guy with no head coaching experience the keys to the franchise. It seems like Singletary has done the same thing.

Lewis has to be the most underrated player on the 49ers. He has been productive his entire career and last year was no different. Even with an injury, he still managed 82 tackles and an interception. Lewis is better suited to play in the box; this doesn’t bode well with the 49ers because they are weak at the corner position. Basically if you can’t cover with your corners, you can’t afford to have a safety in the box to stop the run. The 49ers coaching staff has also said that they would like their safeties to mirror each other, Lewis wont be able to do that. It’s odd that a solid contributor like Lewis is on his way out even though he is still able to contribute. The 49er Faithful will hope that this is caused by a growth in talent by other players.

Taylor Mays

Lewis is the starter at the moment but he won’t be for long. Taylor Mays is a monster; he stands at about 6’2 and 230 pounds. He is built like a linebacker but runs like Chris Johnson. Mays will be great at some point, when is a matter of how quick of a study he is. That’s good news for the 49ers because the knock on Mays has never been his work ethic. He studies the game and works as hard as anybody. Most of his flaws come from a lack of knee bend, this affects his change of direction and his back peddle. Taylor Mays will be the defensive version of Vernon Davis within the next two years.

Players like Curtis Taylor and Reggie Smith also play strong safety, I didn’t put them on here because they are better suited to play free safety.

Dashon Goldson

Coming into the league, Goldson was more of an athlete then a safety, last year he turned that potential into on field production. Goldson ended the year with 94 tackles and 4 interceptions. He also put in the national spotlight by having his best game of the season in the 49ers’ Monday Night Football game verses the Cardinals. On national television, Goldson had 6 tackles and interceptions and 2 forced fumbles; making it the best game played by a 49ers’ safety since Ronnie Lott. Goldson’s talent is obvious and he will become an elite safety in this league, the problem is that I don’t know if it will be with the 49ers. Goldson has made it abundantly clear that he wants to get paid. Publicly showing that you are about your money tends to make you less popular with the media and the front office. This came out recently when the 49er Faithful clearly wanted the 49ers to sign OJ Atogwe. The 49ers weren’t interested in OJ, but their fans were. This speaks to Goldson’s standing with the fans. Goldson had a better season statistically and OJ hurt his shoulder, but the 49er Faithful still were clamoring for the Ex-Ram. If Goldson and the 49ers’ defense improve like they should, then Goldson will be a top 5 safety in the league this year.

Reggie Smith

As it stands now Reggie Smith is the back up free safety but don’t be surprised if he ends up on the practice squad. The former 3rd round pick did a decent job filling in last year while Michael Lewis was injured, but he didn’t do enough to really deserve a roster spot. Since this guy came into the league, nobody has been able to figure him out. He’s a tweener Saftey/Corner and isn’t particularly good at either.

Curtis Taylor

The LSU standout has found his niche on special teams. Taylor has an unusual mix of size and speed, which hasn’t translated in the secondary thus far in his career. Smith versus Taylor for the back up role should be a very interesting battle during mini camp. Both are athletic and contribute on special teams. Either could be a solid contributor to the team. It should come down to whoever taps into their potential sooner.

Chris Margos

I want to mention Margos because it seems like he has the tools to be a productive NFL player and maybe with the right coaching he could compete for a roster spot.