Niners Nation
Report: Titans hiring 49ers’ Robert Saleh as next head coach
“The 49ers have Gus Bradley on staff, serving as the team’s assistant head coach and a potential natural successor to Saleh. However, San Francisco is expected to evaluate all of its options.”
49ers game review: Wide receivers group struggled in Seattle. Are changes coming? (paywall)
“he tone was set immediately on Rashid Shaheed’s 95-yard, game-opening kickoff return. What happened on the 49ers’ coverage?
One issue: rookie running back Jordan James.
The fifth-round pick was lined up on the left side, the second closest to the sideline, and wasn’t blocked as he ran downfield and appeared to have an angle to make the tackle at the 27-yard line, about seven yards from Shaheed. However, James didn’t take a sharp turn and his rounded-off path allowed Shaheed to sprint through a wide alley as James loped behind him. Linebacker Luke Gifford and cornerback Chase Lucas dove at Shaheed’s feet around the 38-yard line and he later avoided the attempted slide-tackle trip by Eddy Piñeiro, a former soccer player, en route to the end zone.
James does have this excuse: inexperience. He arrived Saturday having played 17 special-teams snaps in his NFL career, including nine in the previous week’s wild-card win at Philadelphia.“
49ers’ rookie Mykel Williams on season-ending knee injury: ‘It’s been hard’ (paywall)
““Bosa’s been extremely helpful,” Williams said Monday. “He’s like a real big brother. He looks out, he comes in, checks on me, sits down, eats lunch with me, talks to me, asks me about my knee, asks me how I’m feeling. I feel more comfortable leaning on him and asking him for stuff, versus like a lot of other people … because he’s been through it. He knows exactly what it feels like and how to move.”
Ranking 49ers’ position groups as their offseason begins (paywall)
“The dominant theme from the 49ers’ season was how well backups and newcomers slid into key roles. The exception was defensive end. Once Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams went down with ACL injuries, no one stepped up. Bryce Huff was leading the team with four sacks in Week 7, but he had no sacks from that point on and didn’t have a single pressure Saturday. Midseason addition Keion White was only marginally more productive. Bosa and Williams are expected to make full recoveries, but those recoveries will spill into the offseason, if not the regular season. It seems like another year in which the 49ers must fortify their edges.”
49ers locker room postmortem: Kittle’s optimism, and other notes (paywall)
“I talked to Ji’Ayir Brown for a while as the locker room started to empty out. He’s simultaneously an honest, reflective person, and someone who has ambitions that might border on delusional. I respect that.
I think you have to have unrealistic expectations to make it to the NFL and succeed, and Brown and his former JUCO-to-Penn State teammate Jaquan Brisker both pursued an unrealistic path to get where they are.
I found...
