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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: San Francisco 49'ers · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in the world twelve years strong. Got a great discussion
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: coming your way on Opposition Territory this week. We have
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: not dove into the forty nine Ers in some time.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: The San Francisco forty nine Ers team is gonna be
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: very interesting to follow. They have been interesting to follow
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: during the course of training camp this upcoming twenty twenty
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: five twenty twenty six season. Can they contend in the NFC.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: We're gonna be diving into this team here in our
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Opposition Territory pod. We have a brand new guest. Cannot
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: wait to talk to him to dive into this team
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: in more detail from Fans Sided, you know we love
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: our fan sided sites out there. He's the editor over
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: at Niners Noise. Peter Pantasy, my friend, how are you.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: It's great to see you, Jeff, Thanks for having me on.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Certainly appreciate being here.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: You know what, It is great to have you on because,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: like I said, I think what's interesting with this forty
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: nine Ers team and the organization at this point is
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I think they're essentially at a critical juncture in a
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: lot of ways, There's still have a lot of talent
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: on this team, but there are still some unknowns too,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and some of those unknowns we are certainly going to
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: get into. But I kind of want to reflect first,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Peter on the interesting offseason as this Niners team is
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: looking to make waves in the NFC, and I'd like
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: to start the conversation here by getting into how this
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: organization is being run, what their vision is for the future,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: because there have been certainly some changes, for sure, to
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: this team. So when you look at this recent offseason
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: and where the team and organization really does want to go,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: what does growth look like for the San Francisco forty
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: nine ers future here as we're in twenty twenty five,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and that what the overall future looks like for this team.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: I think one of the biggest themes from the off
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: season was just younger and cheaper. Yeah, and you know
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: it's in tying this back to Philly, I think there
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: was a great lesson Howie Roseman learned you can get
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: hung up and and attached to a certain star talent
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: and when they're demanding big deals and contract extensions and
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: how you know this guy is such a star and
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: he puts puts people in the seats and sells jerseys.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: But that can come back to bite you. And I
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: think last year the Niners, not in terms of salary
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: cap spend, but you know, cash spend, actual dollars spent
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: out were either number one or number two in the league.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: And you saw the end result, right, And they're one
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: of the oldest teams in the league too, So you know,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: a six and eleven record, banged up roster, you know,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: there had to be some sort of reset, not only
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: just to save money to extend rock party, but also
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: just to free up players who were older expensive maybe
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: not part of what will be hopefully the next window
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: of playoff in Super Bowl contention, Well, like you said,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: the star power is still there. It's not like they
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: completely gutted the entire roster and got rid of anyone
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: who's anybody. There's still plenty of star power there. But
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: you know, as you saw, Deebo Samuel is the biggest
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: example of a player who's just jettison to save cash,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: you know, and here's someone who's not going to figure
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: into that long term approach going forward.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned one particular gentleman and I want to
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: get into him next because arguably the quarterback position is
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: one of the most important in any pro level of sports.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: So I want to get into Brock party and what
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: he is going to need to do this coming season
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: for this offense to have success, because I mean, look,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: I mean the reality is not every NFL fan out there,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: not every forty nine Ers fan, believes that Brock Purdy
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: is worth that five year, two hundred and sixty five
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: million dollar contract that he was given in May. I mean,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: there are those lingering questions about whether he can really
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: elevate this forty nine Ers offense and team overall moving
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: forward here. I mean, we've seen some great play from
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: him during his time in the league, and we've also
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: seen some play that has really been questionable, and he
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: does have some challenges as he continues to develop as
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: a quarterback. So, Peter, what are your thoughts based on
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  Speaker 1: what we've seen from him thus far during his time
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: in San Francisco, where you know you're able to determine
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: like what type of quarterback he's going to be and
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: can he elevate this forty nine Ers offense in the future.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here?
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's it's fascinating if you actually just kind
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: of take a step back for a little bit, because
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: this is only year three of him being a full
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: time starter.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you feel so much longer.
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  Speaker 2: He came in his rookie year as QB three on
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: the depth chart and nobody saw that coming. Twenty twenty
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: three was an MVP caliber year. But at the same time,
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: you think Christian McCaffrey was playing in an MVP caliber
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: two and I mean, yeah that seasons like that don't
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: happen very often. Last year, he wasn't horrible per se still,
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: you know, among lead leaders, and you know, yards per attempt,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: he definitely wasn't like a they do the yak you know,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: yak yards for quarterbacks, how much they benefit from that,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: and like he was at the bottom, you know, So
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: it wasn't like he was just throwing five yard passes
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: and guys are taking it for twenty yards anymore. So
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: there's some misconceptions, but certainly last year was a step backward.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: So heading into this year, and I'd love to talk
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: about the contract stuff because that's just so it's fascinating
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: to me, But heading into this year, it's it's it's
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: kind of that crucial fork in the road. Right, You've
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: got your money. You know, it wasn't like resetting the
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: market kind of money, but you know you're one of
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: the top paid guys in the league. Now the roster's
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: been overhauled on offense quite a bit. You're going to
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: be without Brandon Ayuk for the first you know, four
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: or five, six weeks. Who knows what happens with Jowon
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: Jennings McCaffrey's back, but he hadn't played much last year.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: It's going to be a turning point. So I think
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: the narrative surrounding how much Perty can elevate the offense
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: versus how much he's merely a byproduct of it, You're
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: going to reach some real conclusions once this season's in
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: the books. Going back to the contract part of it,
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: it's almost as if he had plenty of leverage over
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: San Francisco and they didn't really have too much of
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: an option. I mean, you could turn the page and say,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: all right, we're just going to go, you know, draft
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: somebody else this last spring. But you're not a terrific
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: quarterbacking class outside of you know, one or two names.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Nobody on the free agent market you would have gone
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: after and Prety not only played on the cheapest contract
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: possible for quarterback or players drafted in twenty twenty two. Right,
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: So he saved the Niners, you know, talking saving money. Yeah,
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: he saved the Niners a ton of money then, but
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: he really bailed them out of that whole Trey Lance
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: fiasco from twenty twenty one. True, So you know, he
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: could have held the Niners hostage if he really really
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: wanted to. So there really weren't too many other options
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: but to pay him. Yeah, And I think when you
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: look at quarterbacks now and you see the money that
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: Trevor Lawrence got, Dak Prescott got, like it's kind of
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: just the going right, Like you've got a franchise guy,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Do you have any realistically better options? No? Okay, well
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: that's what you got to pay. So but yeah, you know,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five is going to be a fork in
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  Speaker 2: the road kind of season, especially with all the off
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: season overhauls San Francisco went through.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: I think you can look at a team like the
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles too, and if for whatever reason in the
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: future forty nine Ers would want to move on from
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Brock already even giving him that pretty sizable deal. I
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: think it's possible, quite frankly, because it's what the Philadelphia
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Eagles did with Carson Wentz. Yes, they had to eat
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: some money at the end of the day, but they
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: were able to get out from under that contract with
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: a trade and they were able to get a quarterback
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  Speaker 1: of the future in Jail and Hurts. Amazingly enough, it
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: has worked out for Philadelphia and for Howie Roseman in
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: that front office. But I don't think it's impossible now
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: in this day and age for teams who when they
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: pay their quarterback, there are mechanisms and ways for them
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: to actually get out from under it if it's not
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: working out. So it's certainly something that we're going to
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: be keeping our eyes on in terms of Rock Party
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: and this forty nine Ers front office, for sure. But
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: I wanted to move along here, Peter and talk about
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: more along the lines of what we're gonna see from
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  Speaker 1: this offense, this forty nine Ers offense this season, because
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: one of your colleagues recently wrote a piece on how
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers are in the market for potentially
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: a new wide receiver to possibly acquire before the season starts.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Because just so many injuries to that squad, and we
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: know the Eagles beat out the Niners this past week
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: acquiring John Mechi from the Texans. I mean, look, it's
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: not the biggest splash in the world, but it's certainly
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: a move that could help the Eagles. Receiving Game forty
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  Speaker 1: nine ers believe that it could have helped them as well.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm wondering, do you think the Niners are going
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  Speaker 1: to be able to make a move perhaps similar to
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: what the Eagles did here or should they try to
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: go bigger? Should they try to go bolder in terms
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: of bringing in a wide receiver that's going to make
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: a difference for brock Perty as well. What are your
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  Speaker 1: thoughts here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, they're still trying, according to Diana Rassini as of
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: this morning, apparently they're still on the phone making some calls.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: You know, as far as who, I think a Mechi
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  Speaker 2: comparison is probably a good one, you know, sort of
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  Speaker 2: a B or a C level receiver with some experience
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  Speaker 2: who could do some different things, but not necessarily a
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: big name. Right And the reason I say that injuries
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: are it's depleted beyond belief right now. It's incredible the
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Niners are shot wing the bottom of their depth chart.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: It's like if you, if you, if you suffer any
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: sort of moderately serious injury or waved injured or or
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: at least with a settlement, it seems. But yeah, I
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: mentioned Ayuk, probably not back until you know, week six, uh,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: maybe later. DeMarcus Robinson, who's looked really good in camp
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: and in the preseason. He's facing a three game suspension
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: for U d U Y last year when he was
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: with the Rams, so he might not be available. Yeah,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: and then you think about Juwan Jennings with his calf
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: and he wants a contract extension, and that leaves Ricky Pursall,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: the second year guy, their first round pick from a
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: year ago, who's looked very good. But then after that
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: you're kind of like, who, right, you know, Robbie Chosen's there,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: but he's, you know, at this point in his career,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: probably just a fringe guy to maybe give some advice.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: But when healthy, you know, assuming comes back and is
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: set one hundred percent, knowing Robinson comes back. Jordan Watkins,
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: a rookie out of All miss he's banged up right now,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: but he's looked really good in camp and during the
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: preseason when healthy. That receiving core isn't I wouldn't even
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: say isn't bad. It's it's good. I won't say great,
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: but like it's good. You can rely on it. And
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: plus you go back to that whole focusing on the
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: youth movement saving money. If you go on the big splash,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: you totally derail all of that. So yeah, yeah, it
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: might be more of sort of a maybe a B
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: level guy or something like that. You can come in
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: and help out, not necessarily a big name, but someone
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: can at least just hold the line for a little
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: bit until people come back. Absolutely, that would be what
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: I would suspect. Okay, we'll see.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: We'll see what happens for sure. Again, folks are talking
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: to Peter Pantasy from fan Sided. He's the editor over
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: at Niners Noise and Peter, why don't you everybody where
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: They can find you on the socials out there on
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the interwebs if they want to follow you and see
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: what type of content you're putting up on the webs.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Just so that nooy is part of the
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: fan side and network. So if you search fan sided
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: forty nine ers, you'll stumble upon Niner Noise and catch
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: us there s F Niner Noise is on Twitter, on
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Facebook two and then for me it's just at Peter Pantasy.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: I'm not too active crazy on Twitter x or anything
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: like that. I used to probably a good idea. Yeah, yeah,
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: I became a dad a few years ago. Yeah, so
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: after that it kind of was just like priority shifted absolutely, like, yeah,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: I don't need to worry about followers or anything like that.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: But you know, occasionally you'll hear me chine in, but
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: I'm usually just doing the work stuff now.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Awesome, very good, And if you're new to watching us
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  Speaker 1: got some more forty nine Ers talk coming your way
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: after we take this break. We'll be back in just
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: a bit. All right. We are back with our friend
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Peter Pantasy and to get into this forty nine ers
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: team more and what we may be seeing here. Want
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: to move over to the defensive side of the ball here, Peter,
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: because you know the Niners, they went through a pretty
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: quiet offseason in terms of the defense from everything that
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: I have seen. So I wanted to start with discussing
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: the secondary here because there appears to be a lot
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: of questions as to how this secondary may perform this
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: coming season with the talent that is there. You've got
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Chase Lucas. He seems to be a lock to make
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: the roster at this point. He's a guy who has
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: been in the league, uh here for some time, but
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: but doesn't necessarily have much of a resume. Marcus, uh
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: is it is it? Sigal Sigel? Yeah, I mean he's
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: got he's he's had a good camp, good preseason thus far,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: not a lot of huge names in terms of the
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: secondary for this forty nine ers defense. What are your
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: thoughts on how this secondary is looking here and what
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: we may expect from them at some point down the
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: road here.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's it's it's not a lot of
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: huge names for the entire defense sans you know, Nick
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Bosa and Fred Warner the secondary. So I'll point out
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: a couple of incumbents worth mentioning. Diamador Leonor a very
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: good up and coming cornerback kind of put a name
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: for himself out the last couple of years. He's he's
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: CB one for sure. Ardo Green, the second round pick
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: from a year ago, c B two uped In Stout
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: is another name who's going to compete with with Chase Lucas,
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: and Lucas has been fantastic this preason. Nobody saw that come. Yeah,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: it's been like, what, like, where was this your entire career?
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: But Stout had himself an excellent camp and and pretty
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: much everybody was just he's the lock to start at Nickel.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Safety is a bit more of a concern, and I
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: say that primarily because Malik Mustafa. It was a rookie
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: last year, hard hitting rookie. I mean, another one of
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: these wow guys the forty nine ers seem to find
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: late in the draft. He suffered a torny a cl
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: in the in the regular season finale a year ago.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: We didn't know that until the draft last April because
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: the Niners didn't have to release an injury port because
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: their season was done. So you know, when he comes back,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: that's better. But yeah, it's it's it's primarily a lot
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: of unknowns filling in the gaps of young names, like
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: you said, people who don't necessarily have the star power.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: And that goes for you know, the defensive line too.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: I mean the Niners, I think it was five of
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: their first six picks last April were all on the
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: defensive side of the ball. The Robert Sola influence, you know,
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: as saw it comes back to the Bay Area, you know,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: reinforcing that defensive line that saw so much off season turnover,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: and then also plugging in guys in the secondary like Stout,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: like Siegel, and so far those guys had good camps.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Stout Spin a little banged up. He hasn't played this preseason,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: but make what you will of preseason games. Usually it's
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: camp that tells coaches who they like. But but yeah,
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: it's it's it's a work in progress, but it's performing
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: better than I think most fans anticipated. Plus you've got
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: the tutelage of Sola there, and you know, regardless of
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: what you thought about him as a coach in New York,
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: you know he can get the most out of the defense. Yeah,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: and so that's kind of the X factor where it's like,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: you know, you might not necessarily look at, you know,
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: San Francisco's defense overall and say, okay, yeah, this is
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: an elite unit, but then kind of quietly halfway through
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: the season it's like, oh yeah, not only allowing some
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: of the yards per game, other right along the lead
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: leaders and yards per play, that sort of thing that
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: would be kind of my expectation, you know, just to
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: kind of get things going with. So, yeah, I'd like
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: the investments, but yeah, who stands out him on that
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Group's that's yet to be seen.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because you look at the division and you look
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: at some of the receivers within this division and it
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: makes me think that forty nine or secondary could have
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: some could have some troubles on the horizon. But that's
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: why the pass rush has been so important to the
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Niners over all these years, and and and where this
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: pass rush is currently at, because it's it's been strong overall.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: I mean mentioned Nick Bosa. I mean, he's always been
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: a stud. But then I think, you know, as you
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: kind of alluded to, there's some questions about the depth
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: heading into this season on the defensive line the pass
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: rush as well. So I wonder, as we just were
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: shifting over from talking about the secondary to how important
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: this pass rush has been, how critical is this past
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: rush going to be for the forty nine ers to
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: have success this coming season, Peter, because I'm wondering if
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: it is going to be as productive as it has
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: been in the past, and if they're going to be
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: able to see success this season because of the pass
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: rush or not. I don't know what are your thoughts here.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Well, you look at the off season investments and I'll
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: I'll approach those with cautious optimists. Okay's Bosa right. Nobody
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: questions that Bryce Huff Eagles fans are familiar with him,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: not a fit in a three to four under Vic
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Fangio's scheme, whom Niner fans know well. It was DC
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: over here during Jim Harbaugh's time. But that was a
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: guy Robert Salas said, Hey, I got the most out
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: of him in New York. Bring him over. Okay, great
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: worked out for both sides. Niners gonna you know, pass rusher,
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Eagles get rid of him. So you've got two veteran bookends.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: MIKEL Williams, who, if it wasn't for his ankle injuries
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: in college, probably would have been a top five pick,
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: maybe could have been regardless. You know, he's more of
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: an inside rusher on the defensive end, so his development
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: would be interesting to watch. C J. West the the
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: nose tackle, short and squatty, like Sola likes him, very
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: good interior disruptor. So there are pieces there behind Bosa
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: you can look at and say, Okay, maybe that works out.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: I'll say this is kind of an interesting comparison. One
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: of the problems with the Niners defense a year ago
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: was the lack of adjustment and creativity from former defensive
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: coordinator Nick Sorenson, who's one and done, probably in over
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: his head. When Bosa suffered his injury, he was out
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: for the rest of the year. There are no adjustments
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: to it. You know, you figure there might be a
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: little bit more blitzing. You know, there's a key example,
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: but not really. Sala comes back and traditionally he wasn't
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: much of a blitzer, but you know, in his press
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: conferences he's talking about I've learned a few things, implemented
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: some stuff when I was in New York, and we've
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: seen that this preseason. Oh like there's a nickel blitz
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: right there, right, Okay, that was kind of cool. So
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: there's gonna be some ways to manufacture. There's gonna be
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: some different elements that go into what Solid does. And
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of the other X factor to part
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: of this is when you have linebackers at the second
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: level who can act as cover guys. Fred Warner the
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: best in the game. Yeah, But when you have linebackers
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: who can kind of serve in that coverage type role
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: that allow you to send pressure off an edge from
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: a defensive back, that opens up some creativity. So I
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: think it's going to be a little bit more of
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: a schemed pass rush than we've seen in rece or
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: you know, during Saula's previous tenure, okay, where it was
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: permissious to traditional foreman rush. Probably a little bit more schemed,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: but uh, that's still going to be the bread and butter,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: and just hoping that some of the other investments end
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: up panning out.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see where this
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: pass rush goes. Uh, certainly this twenty twenty five season. So, Peter,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: before I let you go, and I've been asking our
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: guests on our Opposition Territory podcasts every week these questions
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: to close us out. Want to certainly do this with
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: you as well as it pertains to this forty nine
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Ers team, talking about the biggest concern for this team
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: heading into the season and also what you're least concerned
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: about heading into this season. So let's first start with
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: what your biggest concern is for the San Francisco forty
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: nine Ers team.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Maybe I have a menu to choose from.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: But what don't need one. I've got my favorite item
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: on the favorite.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: Itea take it away.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know every team would say this, but at
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: the same point, like I think Niner fans are have
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: some PTSD with this, and so far in preseason it's
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: not helping the injury bug. I mean last year I
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: think it was sharp football pointed out. But I think
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: last year the Niners were the most injured team in
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: the league.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they were.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Twenty twenty was like unprecedented in terms of injuries, right,
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Bosa, it's like everybody who
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: is anybody right insane? Twenty twenty one was bad, you know,
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty three was like, oh wow, this is what
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: a team can do when they're healthy. What's that like? Right?
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: But yeah, just the injuries, you know, and it's literally
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: going into it the preseason now, and it's like every
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: every week, Oh gosh, that guy's going to be out
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: two weeks, that guy's going to be out three weeks,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: that guys out a month, and it's well, I mean
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: just now, before we hopped on, the Niners had to
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: wave injured. You know, promising rookie running back he suffered
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: a high ankle spring Corey Kiner and under other circumstances
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: they wouldn't have needed his roster spot. Yeah, okay, yeah,
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: you're not playing for a few weeks and you'll come
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: back when you do. No, they need they need the bodies.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: So injuries are my biggest concern. I don't know if
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: it's something about the water out here, but whatever it is.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Been a lot of injuries over the years. Yeah, been
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: a lot of injuries over the years. Well, what on
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: the flip side of the coin, what are you least
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: concerned about heading into this season? And forty nine Ers fans,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: you know, your NFL fans out there, what should we
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: be least concerned about when it comes to this forty
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: nine Ers team?
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: You know, I am least concerned about brock Purty, Okay,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: And the reason I say that is because there are
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: so many other ways the Niners can win even if
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: they're functioning at half strength, right, barring injuries. Just do
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: you if injuries derail any team like significantly, then yeah,
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: let's talk about next year. I'm not too concerned about him.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: I don't think he needs to carry an offense. He
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: doesn't need to, and that's fine, that's great. You know,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: there's plenty of other weaponry there, like you know, I
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: like a McCaffrey, like like a kittle. You know it'd
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: be effective. Right. You can go out there and be
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: as Cam Newton oys points out, you can be a
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: game manager, and that's fine. Anything that you do beyond
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: that is merely a bonus so I'm not worried about him.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: You know, I mentioned Robert Sala in the defense, and
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: going back to that twenty twenty season, the Niners defense
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: gave up a lot of points, but not a lot
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: of yards. Yeah, they were pretty good despite the injuries,
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: and that was Sala, right, So like they can find
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: ways to win even if Perty's not playing at like
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: a top five or even a top ten level. And
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: so I'm not worried about him. Nope, that would be
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: just fine for him just to go out there and
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: produce at a respectable level. Don't need to do anything
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: beyond that.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, it's going to be interesting to see
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: how this forty nine Ers team performs this season. Could
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: surprise a lot of people. The injury bug could derail them.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: It's going to be interesting to watch for sure. Again, folks,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Peter Pantasy, the editor over at Niners Noise at Fans
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Sided again. You know we love our fans Sided sites
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: and Peter, it was great talking to you. Thanks so
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: much for taking the time to jump on our Opposition
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Territory podcast. I'd love to have you on at some
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: point down the road.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: My friend, Absolutely, Jeff, for sure, I look forward to it.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Opposition
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: Territory this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
• 25:33
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• 25:36
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• 25:39
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• 25:43
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• 25:46
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• 25:49
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• 25:56
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• 26:01
  Speaker 1: we will catch you next time.