At this point I am pretty concerned for the team. Nearly every element of the winning team that worked is gone and acceptable replacements have been few and far between. The declining Vernon Davis, formerly the most athletic tight end in the game, is gone. Vance McDonald is a big boy which is nice for blocking but is FAR too slow to start on any passing plays intending on targeting the TE. Celek and Carrier are pretty unproven as well. Gone is Michael Crabtree where he seems at least to be having a lot more success post-9ers than "super bowl champion" VD. Gone soon will be Anquan Boldin, arguably the best WR of the past 3 years on the team. And who do we have to replace them? As it stands an underused Torrey Smith, Jerome Simpson the untested and previously suspended speedster, Bruce Ellington (maybe a punt returner at best?) and the jury is out on Deandre Smelter. Case in point we lack a go-to #1 WR. Unless the new OC can figure out how to get Smith active 49ers are SEVERELY lacking in WR position, and even if Torrey Smith could become a #1 WR for us we would still be completely lacking at WR2.
While I was pleased to see Ian Williams extended the 49ers line has taken another hit with the loss of Alex Boone. Although he may not have played as well last season and held out the last two season he was one of their highest rated players on the line. The OL has taken loss after loss, perhaps the return of Anthony Davis could help a little but guys like Dewery, Pears, Tiller, Sliberman are NOT good enough to be starting. The pro bowl talent of Joe Staley and Navaro Bowman can't carry their entire respective offensive and defensive lines when the rest of the guys lining up are a bunch of bums!
I had hoped, like everyone else, that the hiring of Chip Kelly would signal the resurgence in Kaepernick's career we so need. Then came the rumors he wanted a trade. Then came the confirmation his agents were requesting a trade. At this point I'm pretty done with Colin Kaepernick. Of course I loved him when he was winning but even the past two seasons where we broke even under Harbaugh and went sub .500 under Tomsula I was always rooting for him, always defending him, always believing that he would break through once again and become the star QB he was. But at this point it seems like he has no heart in it. There is no point in forcing him to play, he'll play like crap, Gabbert will start, and we will be on the line for 11 mil of his contract. There's no point in releasing him, sure we'd save cap $ but there's no real gain. The Denver Broncos are interested, with Osweiler leaning towards Houston and Peyton retiring they find themselves in the unusual position of being without a QB right after winning the Super Bowl. I say deal CK7 to Denver. They're AFC so it is unlikely to bite us in the butt unless we both make the SB, they need a QB, trade for the best player or pick they'll deal our way. Draft a QB with that 1st round pick we have and make him and Gabbert compete for the starting QB position.
Next of huge concern is the lack of free agent moves so far by the 49ers. The Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Miami Dolphins have picked up HUGE and the 49ers have picked up literally no one. We have an enormous amount of cap space. I know 49ers past team policy has been spend low in the free agency and draft well but the drafts haven't been going particularly well lately for us and between all the retirements, free agency departures, etc. we simply don't have the talent to not sign all the best players we can right now.
What do you guys think?