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Willard and Dibs discuss what the 49ers may do, if anything, before the trade deadline in their wide receiver room.
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00:00I think where this is coming from is, and I'm going to make this up on the fly, I don't
00:06know if this is the right thing, wide receiver PTSD, wide receiver injury fear, you come up with a good
00:14nickname for it.
00:15I don't have any. I really don't. My prediction between now and the trade deadline for the 49ers on Tuesday,
00:24I think they probably will address the wide receiver position in some sort of non-exciting depth way.
00:34I think that's what it's going to be. I think we're learning more about why Juwan Jennings didn't want to
00:40come. And it got sort of reported as, well, he's still pissed at Kyle.
00:45Well, they got on a FaceTime together and Kyle admitted we pitched to him like, we want you to come
00:52out here to sort of be a reserve insurance policy with a small role.
00:58Like lesser than you were last year. And lesser than what you're doing with Minnesota right now where you only
01:03have four catches.
01:04Right. And I think he was like, dog, I'm good. Like, I'm good. I don't need to move again to
01:11come out there and not play when he's in a free agent year again.
01:15And I think Juwan feels like a lot of money has been left on the table and he's not in
01:20the greatest position.
01:21And so that stinks for him. I think he kind of put himself in that position, but that's a completely
01:26different story.
01:27But that's what I hear from 49er fans. And I'd love to explore it a little bit.
01:33The fear that the Niners will end up wide receiver-less because of all of the injuries.
01:41My initial answer to that would be, keep in mind, they won 13 football games last year with tons of
01:48wide receiver injuries.
01:50Keep in mind, whether these guys are the fancy wide receiver ones that you really want, Demarcus Robinson will be
01:59back this week.
02:01They re-signed Kaderil Hodge. He played some games for them early this year.
02:06You stick them out on the field with the guys you already have, Brandon Cooks, Jordan Watkins, etc.
02:11Can you beat the Las Vegas Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys in back-to-back weeks?
02:17Two of the worst defenses I've ever seen in my life of watching football.
02:21Can you do that as the 49ers, knowing all we know in that, by the way, they don't lean that
02:29hard on their wide receivers very often anyway.
02:32And then, we'll worry about later in the year with names like Mike Evans, Debo Samuel, and Dajon Stribling.
02:41I'm not, in this moment, terrified of this idea.
02:45But I get that a lot of 49er fans are.
02:48And I understand that you can be, quote, terrified of that.
02:52And I do think that a lot of that stems from the fantasy football part of it,
02:56where, you know, if you're in any sort of a league and you have a couple of guys hurt at
03:01a position,
03:01well, you jump to the waiver wire and you're going to add somebody.
03:03And that's just a click and it's a player and it's not exactly anywhere near the same as what a
03:09pro football team would do.
03:10And I do think that the most important part of all of this is what does Shanahan do?
03:16What does he run?
03:17He loves the 21 personnel.
03:19We talked to Kyle Juszczyk yesterday, the fullback.
03:22He's one of only, I think, seven or eight fullbacks in football, two running backs, one tight end,
03:26which means two wide receivers.
03:28And so if you're Jawan Jennings and you know that's the reality, well, last year you got to be wide
03:34receiver one
03:34because you didn't have Ricky Pearsall and Debo wasn't here and Mike Evans wasn't here
03:39and you didn't really have a lot of guys.
03:41And even Demarcus Robinson missed, what, three or four games off the rip because he got suspended.
03:47And so if you are even a wide receiver out there who might get traded,
03:51and I'm looking at the Calci right now, Mark,
03:53and Josh Downs is 80% chance on Calci to be traded.
03:57Yeah, and he has requested one and plays for a team that has already signaled that they're giving everybody away.
04:03Right, and I don't know if you're Josh Downs, do you want to come to be on the 49ers?
04:08Probably not.
04:09They're a team that is going to win and probably be a playoff team.
04:13But, again, you come to a team where they've already got wide receiver one when healthy
04:16and wide receiver two and probably wide receiver three,
04:20and you've got a guy you just drafted who you want to be wide receiver two.
04:24I'm not sure if Stribling will play at all this year,
04:26but if you're a wide receiver, Brian Thomas Jr., 49% to be traded,
04:31which is a 50% proposition.
04:33Not that they have a say necessarily where they go,
04:37but I just don't think that the 49ers are looking for somebody at the top of the wide receiver market.
04:42I know that they are.
04:43You know that they are.
04:45The NFL world knows that they aren't, and they shouldn't be,
04:49and I guess this is the thing that I'm having a hard time understanding.
04:55I totally get that right now they have experienced some injuries.
04:59They are still current, and even if they weren't current,
05:03let's say they were all coming back.
05:04Remember when we thought after the bye Mike Evans and Debo Samuel might play.
05:08Even if they were all coming back,
05:09is it reasonable to assume that players with that much mileage
05:13will get hurt again at some point this year?
05:16I think all of that is reasonable.
05:20However, does that then mean that we go to the next thing,
05:25which is for, it sounds like a lot of people,
05:28really desperate stuff.
05:30Let's give up the next two sets of first-round draft picks
05:34so that we can do something at the top of the market,
05:36or let's welcome back somebody who has essentially been abusive
05:41toward the organization for the last two years,
05:45left out on teammates, made fun of a car accident,
05:49called the front office predators.
05:52Let's welcome him back because we're scared that more people might get hurt.
05:58That's the only point I've been trying to make.
06:01It feels to me like we're getting a little excessive
06:05with how you want to bolster the wide receiver room,
06:10especially for a team that very rarely leans on its wide receivers
06:15to win football games.
06:17Better player than lesser player?
06:19Always good, as Greg Cosell says to us.
06:22Would they have won in Seattle a few weeks ago without Mike Evans?
06:25Maybe not.
06:25But how often do you come out of a Niner game and go,
06:30wide receivers, man.
06:32That's how we just did what we did, the wide receivers.
06:34It's not how the Niners do what they do.
06:38And by the way, they moved the ball in Atlanta pretty well.
06:41They turned it over, but it wasn't the wide receiver's fault.
06:43Four times.
06:44I mean, you had the quarterback throw a couple of picks.
06:46You had a punch out, and like your 10-year Niner wall guy,
06:51George Kittle, lost a fumble.
06:52And so Kalon Black lost a fumble.
06:55And that's really where the game swung.
06:56And I'm just looking at this list here on Kal Sheetrade on anything
07:00of, like, the players to be most likely to be traded.
07:04And as you go down the list, none of them really ring to me
07:09as wide receivers you would want.
07:11The one interesting one is a guy who's just almost been missing all year,
07:15and that's Calvin Ridley in Tennessee.
07:17He's got one year left in his deal.
07:19He's played a lot of the games, but he has seven catches.
07:22And so I'm not even sure if that would be the fit.
07:25And what Kyle said yesterday in his press availability is any wide receiver
07:30that you would want to bring in has to be a veteran and somebody who can
07:34quickly pick up the system.
07:36And, you know, Garrett Wilson on this list is trading at a 5% probability
07:42to be traded at all.
07:43So as we get into this, oh, the Niners need a wide receiver, well,
07:47think realistically about who it might be, and the likelihood is it would be
07:52somebody who would be wide receiver two or three for two or three weeks.
07:57Yeah, I mean, let's be honest.
07:58It's not like they're as desperate as, you know, the Los Angeles Rams.
08:03Did you see this today?
08:06Did you see this?
08:07I don't know what it is until you tell me.
08:09Well, okay.
08:12Are you talking about my guy?
08:13Sean McVay says that in his 10 years of coaching the Rams,
08:17Niner fans, wait for this.
08:18I want you to hear this.
08:19I'll tell you what.
08:20I can tell you myself.
08:21Niner fans, whatever you're doing, if you're driving, if you're distracted,
08:24if there's somebody talking to you, tell them to stop talking.
08:26You've got to listen to this.
08:28Niner fans.
08:30Sean McVay says that in his 10 years of coaching the Rams,
08:33this year has been the hardest for losing key players to injuries.
08:42Yeah.
08:43How bad do you feel for the Rams?
08:47They've got injuries.
08:48A lot of them.
08:49They got injuries.
08:51I don't know how they're supposed to function.
08:53No wonder they're four and four.
08:55They've got injuries.
08:57As a Niner fan, could you all imagine what it would be like if there were injuries?
09:03What on earth would you do?
09:06It's not like you can go out and win football games if you have injuries.
09:12So now I understand why the Rams are four and four.
09:15Now I understand why they didn't show up to Australia.
09:19I didn't know this.
09:20They have injuries.
09:22A lot of them.
09:24Injuries, dibs.
09:25Tons.
09:25Tons of them.
09:26I've never seen this in my 10 years, I'll be honest.
09:28Soft.
09:29What?
09:29Soft.
09:30The Los Angeles Rams this year.
09:32I'm not saying the whole organization.
09:34But this year, with the, we're smarter than you in Australia, with the press conferences
09:40that he won't show up for, comments like this.
09:43I said it week one, and there were some people who made fun of me for it, that the Rams
09:48sounded
09:48shook to me.
09:50Maybe I should adjust the word.
09:52They've been soft this year.
09:54This whole organization is acting soft.
09:58The fact that he even came out and said this is soft.
10:03I mean, he maybe isn't wrong.
10:05I haven't looked at all their 10 years of injuries, and he's not saying this is the reason why they've
10:10lost games.
10:10I think he is saying that.
10:12Why else would you say that?
10:13Because it's just maybe a statistical fact that you've had all these people gone.
10:19You've got Devontae Adams, who's going to be out maybe for the remainder of the year.
10:22You lost Miles Garrett almost immediately.
10:24And so, yeah, you can have a lot of injuries.
10:26I do think the only soft part of it is that you actually mention it, and you put that out
10:31on the ether, because, you know, Kyle Shanahan will list off 14 people who are on the injured
10:36list, and then he just says, go ahead, ask your questions.
10:39He doesn't ever, like, lean on that as an excuse, and, oh, the substation, you know?
10:44It's got to be that damn substation.
10:46I tell you what, man.
10:48Quote, that's just the way it goes.
10:49That's NFL football.
10:51I know everybody in that training room is doing everything they can to be back as fast as
10:57they can, and when and if those guys can do that, we'll welcome them with open arms,
11:02and it'll be a nice boost for us when they get back.
11:06Nice next man up mentality, Matt.
11:09Way to really, really inspire the people who are going to be out there for you this week.
11:14Make sure you let everybody know, boy, it's tough, but, man, we're looking forward to getting
11:19people back on the field.
11:21That's the way to inspire your backups.
11:23That's a little bit.
11:24Good work, Rand.
11:25That's a little bit Yaxl-ish, to be honest.
11:27Well, I mean, he only got one basket against me.
11:30I know he scored 28, but he only scored once against me.
11:33Right.
11:34You're right.
11:35So, anyway.
11:36Hold on, Yaxl coming up at four.
11:38It's going to be the summit.
11:39Or maybe sooner.
11:40Right, and I'm not trying to throw shade at Yaxl, but, yeah, the Stafford comments,
11:45they're not great, but, you know, he's not alone in, you know, throwing shade at teammates.
11:50Well, I guess the larger issue that is sort of the, it's the undercurrent to everything
11:5749ers and its injuries.
11:59And so, I guess the question becomes, do you want the 49ers to act at the trade deadline
12:06in such a way that you are building your roster with the thought that, A, everyone's going
12:16to get hurt, and, B, there's something that we can actively do at the trade deadline to
12:22sort of insulate ourselves from that idea?
12:25I don't really think you can operate a team that way.
12:27I know there are people that might hear this conversation and go, duh, duh, they're going
12:31to get hurt, they're Niners.
12:33So, okay, I don't really buy that.
12:37I think there are a bunch of other teams that are dealing with this crap.
12:40Somebody named Fagnano is starting a football game tonight.
12:43Do it right.
12:44You're going to put the hand up, like, Adivin Chen.
12:46A Fagnano.
12:46A Fagnano.
12:48This football team had Lamar Jackson starting for them last week, and a few plays in.
12:56One snap.
12:57Lamar's out, and Tyler Huntley, his backup, are out for the year.
13:00Nope.
13:01They lose, they fall to last place, and it all falls apart.
13:05But a Niner fan will be like, substation, am I right?
13:08And it's like, I just.
13:09But we lost C.J. West.
13:10I don't know if you can operate your team that way where you are heading into the trade deadline
13:17acting out of fear that more people are going to get hurt.
13:22I can go ahead and take those fears away.
13:24They will.
13:25Right.
13:25They will, and you deal with it, and this team has dealt with it better than anyone.
13:29So, eight of the ten years of Lynch and Shanahan, they've made a deal either at the deadline
13:34or just before the deadline.
13:36And just go back through and look at the deals they made of the eight times they acquired a
13:41player.
13:41How many times do you think they did it because somebody got hurt?
13:44I'll go ahead and answer it for you.
13:46The answer is zero.
13:47So, they acquired Christian McCaffrey not because Mostert and Wilson were hurt.
13:53It's because they weren't good enough.
13:55And last year you got Keon White because you were not good enough at rushing the passer.
13:59And he came in and he helped you a little bit.
14:01He didn't help you a ton.
14:03But that's the move you made.
14:04And you brought in Emmanuel Sanders a lifetime ago because you didn't have a wide receiver you could trust.
14:09It was never because of injury.
14:11So, if you look at this team, what have they done?
14:14They brought in an interior defensive lineman to Forrest Buckner because your interior defensive line
14:19has not been good enough.
14:21It's not because you had C.J. West and Alfred Collins get hurt.
14:24It's because you're not able to stop the run inside the guards and inside the tackles.
14:29So, any move they make from here until next Tuesday will not be an injury reaction.
14:35I do think they're going to make another move or two.
14:37I agree.
14:38I do think that – I don't think they're done.
14:40I don't think it'll be a wide receiver.
14:42I think it's more likely going to be a cornerback.
14:46And it's not because Jack Jones had to get cut.
14:49It's because you've got three corners and you don't have four.
14:52And if you lose a corner – and I'm not trying to be Mr. Square here with four corners.
14:57But you need four corners.
14:58You did activate Nate Hobbs this week.
15:01Big, yeah.
15:02Yeah.
15:02So, you do have four corners.
15:05In theory.
15:06Yeah.
15:06And he's going to make his season debut.
15:08And, in fact, I don't know.
15:10We don't have an active – inactive list yet.
15:12But his window has been opened.
15:15And Prysock is on the team, too.
15:17That's five.
15:18So, like, it's an interesting take from you.
15:21You've got people who have CB next to their name on the roster.
15:24Yeah.
15:24Yeah.
15:25Yeah, people that they've invested in.
15:27And Prysock has not yet really been able to play corner.
15:30And you went with Jack Jones instead.
15:33And then –
15:33And you drenched him.
15:34Right.
15:35And then you cut him.
15:36Yeah.
15:36So, listen.
15:37I'm not saying you're wrong.
15:39Maybe it will be.
15:39But we do already know they attempted to get one wide receiver.
15:43They got on a FaceTime with Juwan Jennings to see if he wanted to come.
15:47And if you heard John Lynch yesterday, they didn't do that until there was – the framework of a deal
15:54was in place.
15:55They were ready to make a trade.
15:57If Juwan wanted to be here, he would be.
15:59And there would be a wide receiver acquisition.
16:01I can't think that that conversation just stops there.
16:04That's fair.
16:05And I do think that Juwan is a unique and singular addition to where he knows the system, he knows
16:11the verbiage, and you know exactly what he would bring to your team.
16:14So, that to me is a little bit of an easier move than, you know, bringing in somebody from the
16:20outside who perhaps doesn't even know the system.
16:22I think it's pass rusher and or wide receiver.
16:26And I don't think anything that's going to touch a draft pick that's in the top three rounds.
16:33That would be my prediction.
16:36Default was a four?
16:38Yep.
16:38Default was a four.
16:39I don't think that there's going to be – I for sure don't think any first-rounders.
16:44I would be very surprised on second and third-rounders.
16:47And I think it's defensive end and wide receiver.
16:52Those are the two positions I think they'll look to.
16:54Could Khalil Mack be a 49er by Tuesday?
16:57Absolutely.
16:59Even Brian Thomas, Josh Downs, do these guys require a first, second, or third-round draft pick?
17:07I think the answer is no.
17:09Thomas is an interesting one, but Downs is an expiring deal.
17:14Mack is an older player and an expiring deal.
17:17These are people who will cost you fifth-round draft picks.
17:20And so if that ends up being in the cards, I can see that.
17:25But to me, this is – that's as far as this one's going to go.
17:28Agreed with that.
17:29And the only thing about Khalil Mack, and I don't think that it's going to cost you a ton of
17:34draft capital,
17:34but the way he's played throughout his 13-year career is out of a 3-4 scheme where he's the
17:40outside linebacker
17:41and he rushes off the edge and the scheme that Raheem Morris, Raheem the scheme, as I like to call
17:47him,
17:47they go four down or five down.
17:49They never go three-down linemen.
17:51And so I just don't think Khalil Mack schematically is the guy who fits with what they do here.
17:55So Mike Evans, they've already said, probably not going to be out there this week.
18:00Debo Samuel's not going to be out there this week.
18:02They continue to throw water on the flame of Dajon Stribling being back early in December.
18:09I think you're starting to kind of say it right when you get to the point where you're like,
18:15look, if they can get anything from him this year, that would be great.
18:18I don't know that they're going to.
18:21I sort of arrived at that spot with Christian Kirk as well.
18:24No one's talked about this, but Christian Kirk was a limited participant in practice yesterday.
18:29Guess what he was today?
18:31A non-participant in practice today.
18:35So I, for a while ago, kind of got myself to the spot where I'm like,
18:39if Kirk gives you anything this year, that's gravy.
18:42He has not so far, other than running around a little bit out there in Atlanta.
18:46So the situation does call for depth.
18:50I don't disagree with that.
18:52I just don't think that the top of the market stuff is the conversation.
18:58I don't think it's available to them.
19:00And I do think the Evans and the Samuels of the world, I think they're going to be back soon.
19:06But especially with what we're looking at right now, if I'm Kyle Shanahan and I watch the Raiders on defense
19:14and I watch the Cowboys on defense, the last thing I'm going to do is blink and give up first
19:19-round draft capital
19:20for a wide receiver or anything else.
19:23The 49ers will move the ball on these two teams and they will move the ball against them at will.
19:28That's my prediction.
19:29Pound the rock.
19:31And if you look at the Raiders, I think they're either second to last or dead last defensively against the
19:37run.
19:37And so you go out there and you just drive it home.
19:40And Dallas is in that same sort of a range in terms of rush defense.
19:45So, yeah, it's more about Christian McCaffrey and Kalon Black.
19:48And if Debo can come back, you let him run the ball as well.
19:51In terms of wide receiver, your urgency over the next two games, it's not really there.
19:56And then I think you've got Minnesota after that.
19:59Correct.
19:59And Minnesota, they're an all-day sucker when it comes to defense.
20:03So that's going to be tough no matter who you have and no matter what you're out there trying to
20:07do.
20:08So I think that it's more of a long-term vision.
20:11The only thing that I've got half an eye on as it pertains to the wide receiver, if they know
20:16behind closed doors that this Mike Evans situation is far worse than any of us think, then you might see
20:23a move.
20:24I don't think that they're ringing that bell.
20:26I mean, Kyle said yesterday that he's made a lot of progress.
20:29We feel good about where he is.
20:31However, he did not dispute the idea that this is going to take management.
20:37And I know that that's a crappy word in sports today.
20:40Anyway, Steph Curry does not play back-to-backs.
20:43He needs to be managed.
20:45He's under a new normal.
20:47Sure, that might be Mike Evans the rest of the way.
20:50That Vikings game is 17 days away.
20:53That doesn't sound terribly far off, but in the NFL world, it kind of is.
20:58That's three games in 17 days then from now, right?
21:01That's correct.
21:01Okay.
21:02That's correct.
21:02It's November 5th.
21:03They play on the 8th, the 15th, and the 22nd.
21:05So, it's not that far off, but 17 days in the NFL world and in injury recovery is a long
21:12time.
21:13And that's the way I'm starting to segment this schedule.
21:17If I'm the San Francisco 49ers and I've got question marks at wide receiver injury,
21:23I am going to circle November 22nd, both the Sunday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after.
21:29They play the two best defenses in football, Minnesota, in Mexico, and then home here to Levi's to take on
21:36the Seattle Seahawks.
21:37I want my guys ready for those games, but I believe that I can.
21:43Demarcus Robinson, Jordan Watkins, Brandon Cooks, Jacob Cowing, and Kaderil Hodge and depth acquisition at the trade deadline.
21:53I think that group gets me wins the next two Sundays if I'm Kyle Shanahan.
21:59One, you're confident of that, and you never want to take anybody for granted,
22:02and you do have the home game on Sunday, and then you go to Dallas,
22:06and then you're going to wind up going to, I think, Colorado Springs to get that altitude acclimation,
22:12which will be an acclimation sensation, as you well know, before you head down to Mexico.
22:17So, I think being 6-1, you do have a little bit more of a cushion to where you can
22:22be patient with guys like Nick Bosa,
22:24although he'll likely return on Sunday, but certainly Mike Evans.
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