- 3 days ago
Grandi offers up his grades from the 49ers' Week 1 win over the Rams and Willard and Dibs react.
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00:00All right, guys, we've waited eight months for this day.
00:03Grandy's Grades is finally back.
00:05We're going to run through position groups, as we always do,
00:08and hand out a letter grade for each and every one of them.
00:11We start, as always, with the quarterback position, Brock Purdy.
00:15You guys talk about the interception.
00:17A couple of rough throws early in the game,
00:20but from that moment on, I thought he was just about perfect,
00:23and the rest of that game was good enough for me to get him up to an A-,
00:27A- for Brock Purdy in yesterday's game for me.
00:33I will begrudgingly go with you on A-,
00:36I will begrudgingly go with you on A-,
00:39his quarterback rating for the day at 105.6 is A-level work.
00:44Three touchdown passes is A-level work.
00:46He had some great scrambles in the second half, A-level work,
00:51but sure, sure, there were a few, and we were just detailing them,
00:55that he got away with, and one that he didn't.
00:57He had to get picked up by a teammate.
00:59Thank you, Renardo Green.
01:00But all in all, I look at Brock Purdy's performance yesterday
01:04as one where he was totally in control of that football game,
01:09in control of his bevy of weapons.
01:12Really, really great performance for him to start.
01:15A- works for me.
01:16I give him a solid A,
01:17and I'm surprised that I am the one that gave the nicest
01:21or the best possible grade.
01:22The pick was bad,
01:24and the Brendel catch could have been a disaster,
01:26but he was victimized by four drops,
01:29and you mentioned the scrambles, Mark.
01:31Those turned out to be some of the biggest plays in the game.
01:34Second and 10 on the drive that ultimately would ice the game,
01:38and the last play of the third quarter,
01:39he goes for 18 yards,
01:41which was the second biggest play of the day.
01:44So, yeah, he didn't get a lot of pressure.
01:46He made the majority of the plays he needed to.
01:49I gave him a solid A.
01:50Yeah, that scramble was a big play.
01:52You're right, in the second half.
01:53Up next is skill positions.
01:54That's running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.
01:58It wasn't like a superstar day for any one individual,
02:01but as you guys have talked about,
02:03Purdy really spread the wealth around.
02:05Shanahan calling plays, really spread it around.
02:07A good day for McCaffrey.
02:09Debut for Kalon Black.
02:10He was excellent, and he actually out-carried Christian McCaffrey.
02:14Did not out-gain him.
02:16McCaffrey averaged nearly seven yards per carry.
02:19Kalon Black, about four and a half.
02:21We give credit to Purdy for the throw to Demarcus Robinson.
02:24How about Demarcus Robinson just simply sprinting
02:26by every Ram DB on the field?
02:29Kittle, fresh off an Achilles tear,
02:32maybe a little bit of rust.
02:33There were a couple of drops here and there for pass catchers,
02:35but largely a really, really good day
02:37for the Niners' skill position players.
02:39I give him an A.
02:40I gave him an A-, and it's because of the drops.
02:42As you mentioned, the Demarcus Robinson play was great,
02:45and Kalon Black looked awesome running the ball,
02:49as did Christian McCaffrey, by and large.
02:51I had to give him that slight downgrade, though,
02:53because of the four drops.
02:55Exact same answer for me.
02:57A-.
02:58I love everything that I saw out of the backfield.
03:02Christian McCaffrey and Kalon Black,
03:03that was the run game we never saw last year,
03:06and the fact that it was shared by two people,
03:09just wonderful all the way around.
03:11The addition of Mike Evans to this team
03:14was everything that you could have hoped
03:16that it would be.
03:17A clean A if they were a little cleaner with the ball,
03:21but when you have three-slash-four potential drops
03:24from that group, we'll go with A-.
03:26Up next is the offensive line.
03:28Oh, man, what these guys did was absolutely amazing.
03:32We mentioned the run game for the Niners.
03:34As a team, they averaged 5.8 yards per carry
03:38on 30 rush attempts.
03:39That's the magic number for the 49ers on offense,
03:43and they kept Brock Purdy upright.
03:45He was not sacked, and he was only touched twice
03:48in the entire game.
03:50Find me something that this group did not do well.
03:52Jake Brendel caught a pass.
03:54They get an A+. They were perfect.
03:55I'm with you, and I know Dibbs doesn't give A+,
03:57so we'll be on an island here,
03:59but this was an A-plus performance
04:00because I don't know what else you're supposed to do.
04:02I don't remember any penalties.
04:04Maybe I'm forgetting one.
04:05There was an offside, I think, by one of the guys,
04:08but basically, next to zero penalties.
04:11Brock Purdy doesn't get touched.
04:13You average 5.8 yards per carry.
04:15Miles Garrett comes to town
04:17and gooses the football game.
04:20This offensive line gets an A-plus.
04:23That's as close to a perfect performance
04:24as I've ever seen.
04:25I said yes to the offsides penalty,
04:27but it was a receiver, actually,
04:29because it was that play that was first and 10
04:32from their own one,
04:33and it was a receiver lined up offside,
04:35so I apologize to the O-line.
04:37You guys both nailed it,
04:38and I don't give A-pluses.
04:40If I did, this would be an A-plus,
04:43and so many times you saw Dominic Poonie
04:46and you saw Connor Colby
04:48just out in the second level
04:50looking for somebody to put their hands on
04:52because everything at the point of attack
04:54was taken care of.
04:55They were phenomenal.
04:55It's an A.
04:56Yeah, they absolutely were.
04:57All right, we transition to the defense now.
04:59The front seven, that's the down linemen
05:01and the linebackers.
05:03There were some holes early for Kyron Williams,
05:06for Blake Corum on the ground,
05:08but beyond that, early in this game,
05:10there was not a lot.
05:11Of course, the Rams only scored seven points
05:13in this game,
05:14and I know the Niners didn't end up sacking
05:17Matthew Stafford in this game,
05:19but they hit him a bunch.
05:20Osa Odigizua had four quarterback hits,
05:23one for Nick Bosa,
05:24one for Upton Stoud,
05:26came on that corner blitz.
05:27CJ West got one as well,
05:29and then Okoronkwo as well
05:31got a quarterback hit in this one as well.
05:33They pressured him.
05:34That pressure by Odigizua
05:36led to the Matthew Stafford interception
05:38that was picked off by Renardo Green.
05:39I thought this group was better than expected as well.
05:43I give them an A.
05:44They were better than expected, certainly.
05:46I think that they had a hard time
05:48containing Stetson Bennett late in that ball game,
05:50and that needs to get...
05:51I mean, I'm obviously...
05:52Give them an F, Dibs.
05:54Against my lowest grade,
05:55and that's to say that this team was phenomenal.
05:57I do think, to your point, Grandy,
05:59they early on were kind of a little bit vulnerable
06:03against the rush attack,
06:04and you had no sacks,
06:06and so because of that,
06:07I gave them a B+.
06:09Really?
06:10B+.
06:11B+.
06:11I will go A- for this group.
06:15I still think there are depth issues
06:17and more to develop
06:19in the whole CJ West, James Thompson area.
06:22Thompson's a rookie and an undrafted free agent.
06:25This is a tough spot
06:26after what happened to Alfred Collins,
06:28but Grayson Halton can really play.
06:31This is a fifth-round rookie.
06:32He's going to have a big role this year.
06:34That was fantastic.
06:35Osa Odigizuwa is going to be
06:37the acquisition of the offseason on defense
06:40and won't get a lot of attention
06:42because of the position that he plays,
06:44but yes, outside of some up-the-middle runs
06:48that were happening earlier,
06:50this group did the job.
06:52Goal-line stand.
06:53Come on, A-minus.
06:55All right, up next,
06:55it's the secondary cornerbacks and safeties.
06:59Largely a very good day for this group as well.
07:01When you hold the reigning MVP to 15 for 25 for 155 yards,
07:06no touchdowns and one interception,
07:08you did your job exceedingly well.
07:10Renardo Green with the interception big for him.
07:13He also had a pass interference.
07:15Maybe you disagree with the call,
07:16but was called for that one there.
07:18I thought maybe the only two instances
07:20where I could see a mistake by the secondary,
07:23they were both Jair Brown.
07:25One was where he tried to intercept the ball
07:27intended for Puka Nakua.
07:28Instead of trying to wrap him up,
07:30it turns a decent gain into a large gain,
07:33set up their touchdown,
07:34and the touchdown came when Jair Brown
07:36tried to just truck Kyron Williams.
07:38Instead of, again, wrapping up,
07:39he spun off of him and got into the end zone.
07:42Not the biggest deal.
07:43Those are the only two mistakes I could point out.
07:45Jack Jones, how about playing some dime
07:48with six DBs on the field?
07:50We'll talk about that in coaching as well.
07:52But overall, a good day for the secondary.
07:54I gave him an A-minus.
07:55Yeah, I gave him an A,
07:56because honestly, those two plays by Jair Brown
07:59are kind of the only thing I can come up with,
08:01and I think it's hard to downgrade an entire group
08:03because of a couple missed tackles,
08:06especially when we're talking about that play against Puka.
08:08That is an elite receiver who made a great play on the ball.
08:12I saw what Jair Brown was going for.
08:14He just missed it a little bit.
08:16But Renardo Green, probably his biggest moment as a niner.
08:20Jack Jones comes in, does great stuff.
08:22I loved Upton Stout with the blitz that I thought was a game-changer there.
08:27Siegel and Lenore led the team in defensive snaps.
08:31They never came off the field.
08:33You didn't hear Lenore's name.
08:34There's a reason for that.
08:35He's an elite corner, one of the most underrated players in this league.
08:39Matt Stafford, the MVP, scored seven points.
08:42Give him an A.
08:43I could echo everything that Grandy said,
08:46but, I mean, he spoke for a long time,
08:48and I can't remember everything he said,
08:50but everything you said is exactly what I would say,
08:54including the A-.
08:55So, good on you, Grandy.
08:57Ditto.
08:57A little harsh on Jair Brown, but you're not wrong.
08:59Like, those were the two things that stood out that had me go A-.
09:03Well, I think you guys know I'm not the hugest fan of Jair Brown.
09:06I hope that he proves me wrong as the season goes along.
09:08All right, up next is special teams.
09:10If you remember Grandy's raids from last year,
09:13you remember this was rough at times.
09:17Special teams.
09:19Debo Samuel returning a kick all the way out to near midfield
09:23to set up the second half, which was,
09:24I mean, it's where this game turned,
09:26was right out of the halftime break.
09:28That was huge.
09:29Pinero made a 50-plus yarder.
09:31He missed one at the end, but I don't really care about that.
09:34Special teams helped the Niners a whole lot more than it hurt.
09:36I give them an A+.
09:37I mean, I just have PTSD from a special team,
09:41so when you do something good,
09:42you get way boosted up, in my mind, an A+.
09:45I like that, and my grade's a little bit different,
09:48but the Pinero miss was just, okay, big deal.
09:51You're up by 20 anyway, and it was a doinker from 50-plus.
09:54The punting net average, 31.5.
09:57That's not getting it done.
09:59Pinero only had one touchback,
10:00and every kickoff was, like, to the one
10:03or to the goal line, basically,
10:04but not perfect, so I gave him an A-.
10:07That's interesting.
10:07I gave an A-.
10:08I think that's strategic.
10:10I don't know that they're trying to touch guys back.
10:13No, they're not.
10:13That was my point.
10:14Yeah, okay, those are great kicks,
10:16and their coverage of the kicks was even better.
10:18The Debo thing,
10:19and I like what you guys said about the Eddie Pinero miss.
10:22To me, when you hit the upright from 52, 53 yards away,
10:26in a way, that's, like, not a miss.
10:28That's a good kick.
10:29That's a long kick.
10:30You hit the upright.
10:31It's not like it was way off or anything like that,
10:33but because it's there,
10:35I'll downgrade, I guess, to an A-,
10:38but a really good performance across the board.
10:41And last but not least, it is coaching.
10:42This, for me, was the easiest grade of the day.
10:46Kyle Shanahan just ran circles around Chris Shula,
10:50the Rams' defensive coordinator.
10:51They did not know what the heck was going on.
10:54Miles Garrett was taken out of the game entirely.
10:57Kittle gets credit for that.
10:58Trent Williams has credit for that,
11:00but maybe more than anybody else.
11:01Kyle Shanahan gets credit for that.
11:03And I just love the creativity that we saw from Raheem Morris
11:06and his defense in this first game as the Niners' D.C.
11:10They took a roster that is clearly talented,
11:13but not as talented as the Rams,
11:15and they made them, the Niners, look way, way better.
11:18A-plus.
11:19I echo the A-plus.
11:21I have said it before.
11:22I will say it again.
11:23The San Francisco 49ers have the best head coach
11:26in all of football.
11:27It drives me nuts when people say,
11:29well, he's a good play caller,
11:31but did you see how buttoned up this entire operation was
11:36for an entire week-and-a-half-long period in Australia
11:41and the performance that they just put on?
11:43His fingerprints are on everything.
11:45By the way, with those rookie performances,
11:48if you're going to put player personnel on him,
11:51then give him credit again for what right now is appearing to be
11:55a nice draft after some struggles there the last few years.
11:59The whole team, the scheme, everything seemed ready for everything.
12:04And Raheem Morris, as you point out, what a wonderful debut.
12:08I thought he hit the right buttons at the right time.
12:11These guys allowed us to put our feet up in the fourth quarter.
12:15Good on you, A-plus.
12:16And I'm going to add to that and just throw in the name Dustin Perry,
12:20who is also a coach, and he falls under the coaching,
12:23and he's strength and conditioning.
12:25So you talked about the whole operation,
12:27and it was when do we get down there?
12:29How do we get these guys fit?
12:31And then it's the laminated play sheet,
12:33and it's Raheem Morris and his new schemes,
12:35and Randy talked about playing dime and all the rest of it.
12:38But the things we see coaching-wise a lot of times
12:41are not the totality of what it is,
12:43and that's why Dustin Perry,
12:45as much as I've given them all grief over the injuries and whatnot,
12:49I think that you mentioned the phrase,
12:51the whole operation, that whole thing was just so tight.
12:54You got there early enough.
12:56You were the rested, prepared team,
12:58and it showed on the field.
12:59It's a solid A.
13:01And that's week one of Granny's Grades.
13:03Damn.
13:03I think the lowest grade for me was an A-minus.
13:06Lowest grade for you, Dibs, a B-plus.
13:07Correct, yeah.
13:07Lowest few A-minus?
13:08A-minus, yeah.
13:10I didn't give anybody below an A-minus.
13:11Me neither.
13:12And I said on the thread earlier, our show thread,
13:14like, that might be the most complete performance I can ever remember.
13:19Even like that funky game when Raheem Mostert ran it all the time
13:23and Jimmy threw eight passes.
13:25Oh, and the Green Bay Packers, the NFC title game.
13:27That was just a thorough, like, we're going to run it,
13:29you can't stop us, beat down.
13:30It was just outclassed.
13:31Yesterday was all three phases, we are clean, and we're awesome.
13:34Up against the Super Bowl favorites.
13:37Right, right.
13:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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