Cedrick Wilson Hits a Girl

The Steelers have always been one of the NFL's classiest organizations, led by the esteemed Rooney family. After being arrested for sucker-punching his ex-girlfriend, former 49er Cedrick Wilson is no longer going to wear the black and gold.

Wilson entered the Patron Mexican Grill shortly before 8 p.m. and saw [his ex-girlfriend, Lindsey] Paulat sitting at the bar, according to a criminal complaint filed by Northern Regional Police. Paulat told police Wilson pushed her on the shoulder and, when she turned around, punched her in the left side of her face before leaving the eatery promptly.

What kind of stone-cold, psychotic shit is that? Hitting a woman is bad enough, but even if you hit a man this way, you would be considered a low-life coward. Cedrick Wilson rates somewhere between Omar Little and Rae Carruth as a criminal. But the Niners wide receiving "corps" is in such poor shape I bet McNoughlan strained their shoulders exploding for the phone to call up CW now that he is available again.

Mock Draft - James Hardy Early Front-Runner

Most major sports sites have released their first (of 283) mock drafts leading up to April 26th. The Niners screaming need at WR is not lost on anyone.

FoxSports.com
Devin Thomas - Michigan State (WR / 6'2", 216)
The Niners need serious help. Their offense is horrendous. Their defense is disappointing. And it looks like there's no hope. The one thing San Francisco can do is give Alex Smith a deep threat who can make plays deep. With Sweed and Hardy off the board, Michigan State's Devin Thomas is the best big bodied, deep threat available.
(USA Today article on Thomas' scouting combine performance.)

SI.com
James Hardy - Indiana (WR / 6'5", 218)
The 49ers woeful offense needs receiving weapons for quarterback Alex Smith (or quarterback Shaun Hill), and Hardy emerged at the combine as a prospect with late first-round value. He's got prototypical NFL size and runs very fluid routes. LSU receiver Early Doucet is another name to keep track of.

ESPN.com (Insider protected)
Needs: WR, OT, OLB, DE, QB
James Hardy - Indiana (WR / 6'5", 218)
San Francisco needs a playmaker at wide receiver to take the attention away from TE Vernon Davis and pressure off QB Alex Smith. Hardy comes with some baggage and he needs some polishing, but no receiver in this class possesses a more imposing combination of size and natural athleticism.

Scouts Inc's overall assessment of Hardy:
Indiana red-shirted Hardy during his true freshman season in 2004. Hardy appeared in ten games during the 2005 season. In 2006, he appeared in ten games recording 51 catches, 722 receiving yards and ten receiving touchdowns. Hardy appeared in all 13 games of the 2007 season recording 79 catches, 1,125 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns. Hardy lacks ideal suddenness and will struggle to separate versus some of the elite cover corners at the next level. He also comes with some character baggage that will cause him to drop a bit during draft weekend. However, Hardy possesses a unique blend of size, athleticism and reliable hands, which is why he could be selected as high as the second round.

CBSSportsline.com
Early Doucet - LSU (WR / 6'1", 210)
With Terry Glenn contemplating microfracture surgery and the mercurial Terrell Owens 34 years old, the Cowboys would be wise to add a receiver early. Manningham struggled with consistency at times at Michigan, and will have to prove better speed at his Pro Day than the 4.6s he ran at the Combine if he is to remain in the first round.
(Sheer laziness as he just copied the comment on Manningham since the Cowboys pick right ahead of us. And TO is 34?! Where has the time gone?)

Offseason Update

With the start of the free agency signing period looming, the Niners have taken care of a couple of their own (Roderick Green and Isaac Sop"onarope"oaga). Don't expect a signing binge like last year but McNolan looks ready to make a play for some key pieces to stock the half-full talent cupboard. Here are some quick hits on the four key guys that may be wearing scarlet and gold at a press conference very soon.

Bernard Berrian - Granted Mike Martz is going to need WRs to help out Alex Hill or Shaun Smith or whoever is playing QB next fall. I'm just not sure that Berrian is the guy. He can definitely stretch the field vertically. But my lasting image of him is dropping a pass and hitting himself in the helmet. We already have enough guys that can do that for cheap. Frankly the draft holds more promise than free agency this year, since it has been touted as one of the deepest WR classes in a long time. Between the 29th and 38th picks, the Niners should be able to pick up some help there. BrownMagic Says: NO.

Justin Smith - Now this is intriguing. The Niners aren't exactly lining up Umeniyora, Strahan, and Tuck, so we need help all across the defensive line, especially pass rushers. Smith only had 2 sacks with the dismal Bengals D last year but that could have been a result of the other 10 guys around him. With a better secondary and linebacking corp, he could face fewer double teams and help out with the "elephant" pass rush position that Tully Banta-Cain never quite grasped. Keep an eye on this one. BrownMagic Says: If the price is right.

Calvin Pace - Although I can't really recall this dude, he actually had a pretty decent year (98 tackles & 6.5 sacks) on what was a surprisingly effective Arizona defense. As an added bonus, this would weaken a division rival. BrownMagic Says: Let's do this.

Lance Briggs - Sounds sexy but we is going to be wayyyyy too expensive for what he provides. Our run stopping is (currently) not as much of a concern as our inability to rush the passer. As sick as it would be to see Willis and Briggs patrolling the middle of the field for the next decade, I think the team's weaknesses on offense need to be addressed first. BrownMagic Says: I'd rather have Antonio Bryant if we're going to pay someone to destroy Lambos.

Free agency is a quick fix for teams that are in contention to make a Super Bowl run - not teams that are trying to get above .500 for the first time in a half decade. Last year's irrational exuberance was tempered by the disastrous 8-game losing streak and general ineptitude on offense. This year, let's let someone else jump in to the empty swimming pool headfirst.

Briggs By the Bay

ChicagoSports.com is reporting that the Bears have resigned themselves to losing Lance Briggs to free agency, and it looks like he may land by the Bay. Briggs replacing Derek Smith alongside Willis? Everyone should be excited.

"I can go play with Bam Bam?! SWEET!"

This is an update from the scuttled trade deal the Niners and Bears worked on around the trading deadline, but that was scuttled. Hopefully McNolan can pull this off since this offseason will make or break their careers.

In other news, Nolan and staff will be coaching the Senior Bowl for the third straight year, which always helps get an upper hand in the draft. Of course, the coaching invitations go to the worst teams in the league. I think it's safe to say that this is Nolan's last appearance in Mobile - he'll either get this team out of the dumps in '08 or he won't be a head coach in January 2009.

It's Official - Willis Named DROY

One of the few bright spots for the 49ers all season was the play of their present and future defensive anchor, Patrick "Bam Bam"Willis, who was officially named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Photo courtesy of NinersNation.com

Willis received 48 out of 50 total votes (2 going to the Panthers' Jon Beason). Even though Willis came into the league as a highly touted LB, it was probably his game-saving rundown of Sean Morey against the Cardinals and his monster performance against the Bucs that sealed the deal on this award. Congrats to Bam Bam and look forward to him wreaking havoc on the field for years.

Step 1: Cameron Fired

Cam Cameron has officially been relieved of his duties as the Dolphins' head coach. Let's see if the McNoughlan Twins can make the right move and bring him in to tutor Alex/Shaun, properly utilize Gore, and get The Disease to stop flexing for the mirror and working on his hands.

Cameron is a good fit for the few offensive pieces we have and the system Norv Turner put in place. His time as OC in San Diego helped turn LT and Gates into the premier players at their respective positions. Let's hope we can get him in here to do the same for this sad-sack offense.

Hostler Out, OC Search & Rumors Begin

With Jim Hostler now out of a picture he never should have been in, rumors are swirling around who the 49ers next OC will be. What used to be the most powerful coordinator position in the NFL (see Holmgren and Shanahan), it is now a coaching purgatory where the talent is useless and your boss will not hesitate to undercut your decision-making with his R2P2, early 1920s-era offensive mindset.

The early front-runners for the job are Mike Martz (aka Newman), Brian Billick, Chan Gailey, and Cam Cameron (if Bill Parcells decides to fire him in Miami). Let's just say I'm not tickled pink by any of those choices.

Change Are Not A-Comin'

Despite my optimism that something would change with this team to give the Faithful even a glimmer of hope for next year, the Yorks continue to fiddle while Ninerdom burns. Actually I guess ashes can't burn so maybe "weakly smolder" is more appropriate. In case you haven't heard, Nolan remains head coach and Scot McCloughan is the new GM. This duo does not inspire any confidence so let's just meet back here in a year to discuss who our new coach will be for the 2009 season.

Highlights of the press conference from ESPN are below.



My favorite line from Nolan: "This will allow me to focus some more on football issues." As opposed to when you were focused on trying to solve climate change or designing your Reebok suit and dress shirts last offseason? You coach a sub-par football team. Getting back to .500 would be considered a miracle. I can't take another season of his "stiff upper lip" bullshit.

Mutiny Is In The Air

Insubordination has never been something Mike Nolan has looked upon with mercy. He's had a history of "disappearing" players (Barlow, Winborn, Jennings) in order to maintain his authority and aura of command. This year the facade of team unity was cracked when he threw Alex Smith under the bus at midseason and the dam burst several weeks later.

Looks like the captain has lost control of his ship and Alex isn't the only one that's fed up. Today's Chronicle has an article where two unnamed defensive starters are strongly critical of this administration...errr, staff.

Both players said they wanted a coaching change, citing numerous issues with Nolan they said have been setbacks for what they consider to be a strong defense: questionable personnel schemes, such as abandoning the base 3-4 scheme too often in favor of nickel and dime sub packages that left the edges and middle of the field exposed; favoritism that determines playing time; poor game and clock management; poor communication that extends beyond the Nolan-Alex Smith injury flap.

It's good to know that this team isn't full of mindless automatons of the type that Coach Nolan prefers. Hopefully this also catches the attention of the Youngstown ownership group and these meaningless wins at the end of a meaningless season don't cover up the fact that this entire year has been an unmitigated disaster.

Wrong Ball

What a play. Of course it would only work in high school, but neat nevertheless.



In other news, this team went on to lose the game 35-7. At least they didn't get skunked.