36 replies to this topic

[bobourret]

I am so glad Castonzo slipped to us!!!


The Bears are considering benching RT Gabe Carimi for veteran Jonathan Scott.
A bottom-10 tackle in Pro Football Focus' rankings, Carimi got flat out embarrassed by 49ers DE Aldon Smith in Monday night's loss, getting tossed around like a rag doll. Carimi is less than two years removed from being the No. 29 overall pick, but unless he's playing injured, there's simply no excuse for the way he performed in Week 11. A change is likely coming for Week 12.

[coltsfan1828]

I remember many wanted him. I was indifferent because I wasn't too knowledgeable on that particular draft class. That said, Castanzo still has work to do. I don't see him becoming the next Tarick Glenn, but he could be a good tackle.

[PrincetonTiger]

wow

[bobourret]

I was one of them that was very excited for Carimi. I was sure wrong

[TKnight85]

IF I would've known that Ben Ilajina was gonna have his Injury Problems, I would've wished we took Torrey Smith or randall Cobb in the 2nd round of that Draft instead of Ben. But hey, you live & you learn I suppose

[Smonroe]

I was one of them that was very excited for Carimi. I was sure wrong

Just proves there's no such thing as a sure fire pick. But he may turn it around. Or he may be Tony Ugoh.

In reality, Castonzo should probably be playing RT too. But he's the best we have.

[Nobody]

IF I would've known that Ben Ilajina was gonna have his Injury Problems, I would've wished we took Torrey Smith or randall Cobb in the 2nd round of that Draft instead of Ben. But hey, you live & you learn I suppose

I'd want Steven Ridley, or Richard Sherman, or Justin Houston, or Sam Acho. Hindsight is 20/20, though.

[Dan]

I remember Brad Wells getting stressy because we picked Castonzo over Carimi. Just another example of Wells being Wells...

[ColtsLegacy]

IF I would've known that Ben Ilajina was gonna have his Injury Problems, I would've wished we took Torrey Smith or randall Cobb in the 2nd round of that Draft instead of Ben. But hey, you live & you learn I suppose

There's nothing to learn, unless GMs can learn to predict the future. It just as easily could be Ben I playing at a high level with Smith and/or Cobb injured.

We're all great GMs in hindsight.

[TKnight85]

I'd want Steven Ridley, or Richard Sherman, or Justin Houston, or Sam Acho. Hindsight is 20/20, though.

I would've took Acho & Aaron Williams. But definitely wanted some Texas Talent.

[TKnight85]

There's nothing to learn, unless GMs can learn to predict the future. It just as easily could be Ben I playing at a high level with Smith and/or Cobb injured.

It could. But like I said "If" I knew. No one knows the future, but you could always say "What If"

[Larry Horseman]

In reality, Castonzo should probably be playing RT too. But he's the best we have.

Really? What makes you think that? I remember reading a lot of draft info on him and some were saying he might need to start out at RT but that he is a natural LT. He doesn't have the highest athletic ceiling but seems to me he is more than adequate.

[21isSuperman]

While I like Castonzo more than Carimi, Castonzo isn't an elite LT yet. With that said, I think Castonzo is a better player than Carimi. Anyone remember how before the draft, Carimi said he was the best tackle in the draft (http://www.chicagono...ckle-out-there/)?

[GrizzColt]

Aldon Smith is one of the best players in the league. He could have done that to any and all of our guys. That being said, I agree with most of you. Castonzo > Carimi, but Castonzo isn't elite by any stretch.

[chad72]

Yeah, I remember.

There were several teams we thought would go for an OT and I never thought Castanzo would fall to us. Lions and Patriots were picking prior to us, so I thought for sure one of them would go for him. Lions went D-line, Patriots went Vollmer and Castanzo fell to us.

Boston College has a great track record of producing O-linemen, hence I thought if he fell to the Pats, it was a cinch. I am glad we have him instead of Carimi. At that time, ACC had 2 potential top 10 picks with pass rushers that Castanzo had faced off - Bowers and Quinn. Bowers had a knee issue that led him to drop to the Bucs, Quinn went to the Rams. I felt more confident personally about the pass rushers Castanzo went against than the ones Carimi went against in Adrian Clayborn and Cameron Heyward (I may have missed one more). I just did not think he would be there. The Polians said that they could not believe their eyes when Castanzo fell to them. Definitely a higher ceiling, IMO, than Carimi. Hopefully he makes better strides as time goes on to go from good to great. But I do think Vollmer's O-line coach is better than Castanzo's .

[Gavin]

While I like Castonzo more than Carimi, Castonzo isn't an elite LT yet. With that said, I think Castonzo is a better player than Carimi. Anyone remember how before the draft, Carimi said he was the best tackle in the draft (http://www.chicagono...ckle-out-there/)?

I havent seen much of Carimi to see how good or bad he is but I wouldn't exactly call Castonzo a good LT either, way to inconsistent at this point, decent but not good yet

[gbrads_rants]

Smith made Carimi look realllllllly bad though....that had to make some sort of move...Webb is weak too though....

[Smonroe]

Really? What makes you think that? I remember reading a lot of draft info on him and some were saying he might need to start out at RT but that he is a natural LT. He doesn't have the highest athletic ceiling but seems to me he is more than adequate.

He's the best we have, but I'd say he ranks in the second tier of the leagues LTs. He'll get better, but if you watch him you'll see he gets beat quite a bit. We were spoiled with Tarik.

[Superman]

I never thought we'd have taken Carimi over Castonzo. I thought we might be deciding between Solder and Carimi, because there was no way Castonzo was going to make it to us. Then in the days leading up to the draft, the Pats reportedly fell in love with Solder, so I wasn't surprised they took him. I was surprised Castonzo was there, and I would have been upset if we hadn't taken him.

After the first round, I thought maybe we should have taken Stephen Paea or Sione Pua instead of Ijalana. But Ijalana was VERY highly rated. I can't really be critical of that pick.

[Jason_S]

I never thought we'd have taken Carimi over Castonzo. I thought we might be deciding between Solder and Carimi, because there was no way Castonzo was going to make it to us. Then in the days leading up to the draft, the Pats reportedly fell in love with Solder, so I wasn't surprised they took him. I was surprised Castonzo was there, and I would have been upset if we hadn't taken him.

After the first round, I thought maybe we should have taken Stephen Paea or Sione Pua instead of Ijalana. But Ijalana was VERY highly rated. I can't really be critical of that pick.

Solder is who I remember a lot of people wanting. I hadn't watched any college ball the prior year so I didn't have any desired players that year.

[chad72]

I never thought we'd have taken Carimi over Castonzo. I thought we might be deciding between Solder and Carimi, because there was no way Castonzo was going to make it to us. Then in the days leading up to the draft, the Pats reportedly fell in love with Solder, so I wasn't surprised they took him. I was surprised Castonzo was there, and I would have been upset if we hadn't taken him.

After the first round, I thought maybe we should have taken Stephen Paea or Sione Pua instead of Ijalana. But Ijalana was VERY highly rated. I can't really be critical of that pick.

Yeah, Stephen Paea was a prototypical NT though 1-gap NT. However, he did have a greater ceiling than any of the ones we had. Given that we did go Drake Nevis in round 3, we were obviously looking at D-line then and I would have loved to get Paea there. Nevis probably deserves to go to a pure 4-3 team where I bet he will tear it up as a UT with more snaps.

[BLOODontheTRACKS]

Yeah, I remember.

There were several teams we thought would go for an OT and I never thought Castanzo would fall to us. Lions and Patriots were picking prior to us, so I thought for sure one of them would go for him. Lions went D-line, Patriots went Vollmer and Castanzo fell to us.

Boston College has a great track record of producing O-linemen, hence I thought if he fell to the Pats, it was a cinch. I am glad we have him instead of Carimi. At that time, ACC had 2 potential top 10 picks with pass rushers that Castanzo had faced off - Bowers and Quinn. Bowers had a knee issue that led him to drop to the Bucs, Quinn went to the Rams. I felt more confident personally about the pass rushers Castanzo went against than the ones Carimi went against in Adrian Clayborn and Cameron Heyward (I may have missed one more). I just did not think he would be there. The Polians said that they could not believe their eyes when Castanzo fell to them. Definitely a higher ceiling, IMO, than Carimi. Hopefully he makes better strides as time goes on to go from good to great. But I do think Vollmer's O-line coach is better than Castanzo's .

just so people aren't confused...it was solder not vollmer

[Tark The Shark]

Glad that we took Castonzo because he is probably the best lineman we have. Definitely the most consistent, as in starts.

I never really knew much about Carimi so I don't know what his mentality was like.

Although I think it is more Aldon Smith just dominated that game no matter who was blocking him, Webb was the brunt of the Aldon Train.

I remember thinking why 49ers drafted Smith even though their LB position was solid, and I was wrong to think that.

I have seen more offensive lineman fizzle out nowadays. Guys like Jason Smith, Gabe Carimi, James Carpenter. Offensive lineman aren't a surefire "safe" pick anymore.

[chad72]

just so people aren't confused...it was solder not vollmer

Yep. You can tell I know enough names on the Pats' O-line by now . It is Nate Solder that they drafted ahead of Castanzo, and they also have Sebastian Vollmer on the other side who was a 2nd round pick.

[Superman]

Yeah, Stephen Paea was a prototypical NT though 1-gap NT. However, he did have a greater ceiling than any of the ones we had. Given that we did go Drake Nevis in round 3, we were obviously looking at D-line then and I would have loved to get Paea there. Nevis probably deserves to go to a pure 4-3 team where I bet he will tear it up as a UT with more snaps.

He was perfect for our 1-gap defense. He hasn't done much, fighting injuries and such. He still has the ability to be a really good tackle, and he would have been a good candidate to groom into a 3-4 nose tackle under Pagano's system.

And we could have had him and Nevis, rebuilding our line for several years moving forward.

Nevis should definitely be in a different system. He was starting to come on for us, so it sucks that he's on IR again. But he belongs in a 1-gap defense, for sure.

[chad72]

I have seen more offensive lineman fizzle out nowadays. Guys like Jason Smith, Gabe Carimi, James Carpenter. Offensive lineman aren't a surefire "safe" pick anymore.

Pass rushers and secondary guys are like gold now. The value of NTs and OGs has dropped because of less running in the league unless the NT has great pass rush moves. Besides, those positions in the trenches take longer to contribute at the next level. The younger pass rushers and secondary guys can contribute faster, just like the skill position guys if coached well and drafted for the right system.

So, if I am building a franchise with top 10 picks in any 2 or 3 consecutive years - QB, Pass rusher/Secondary, WR is what I would focus on for this passing league in round 1.

Because those NTs and OLs drop further than before, quality ones can be found in round 2, IMO for the trenches, that is where I would get them.

RBs - round 3 or later because of RBC unless there is a special talent like Peterson or Richardson.

[TKnight85]

Since they came up in this Discussion.... are the TWO Smiths on the 49ers REALLY RELATED????

[gbrads_rants]

Since they came up in this Discussion.... are the TWO Smiths on the 49ers REALLY RELATED????

Yeah same father different mother......

[TKnight85]

Yeah same father different mother......

Wow, Ronde & Tiki couldn't even get on the same team. How'd they manage to do it??

[Tark The Shark]

Pass rushers and secondary guys are like gold now. The value of NTs and OGs has dropped because of less running in the league unless the NT has great pass rush moves. Besides, those positions in the trenches take longer to contribute at the next level. The younger pass rushers and secondary guys can contribute faster, just like the skill position guys if coached well and drafted for the right system.

So, if I am building a franchise with top 10 picks in any 2 or 3 consecutive years - QB, Pass rusher/Secondary, WR is what I would focus on for this passing league in round 1.

Because those NTs and OLs drop further than before, quality ones can be found in round 2, IMO for the trenches, that is where I would get them.

RBs - round 3 or later because of RBC unless there is a special talent like Peterson or Richardson.

Absolutely, 3-4 OLBs are the number one pick after the QB.

The NFL has seen a huge influx of good young OLBs like Aldon Smith & Von Miller.

It is all about passing in the NFL right now, so definitely secondary and OLBs are very much in need.

When healthy, we have one of the better OLBs tandems in Freeney & Mathis, and sometimes Hughes. Problem is our secondary is not great at least DB wise. Once guys get healthy we will see improvement. Most of the time Davis is a good shutdown corner, problem is he is rushed back too much because he is the only good DB.

Hopefully we address this problem in the draft next year. But I trust Grigs already has people in mind.

[Superman]

Since they came up in this Discussion.... are the TWO Smiths on the 49ers REALLY RELATED????

Yeah same father different mother......

Wow, Ronde & Tiki couldn't even get on the same team. How'd they manage to do it??

Don't you see the resemblance?

[RGIII]

I'm pretty sure the Bears are just terrible at developing offensive linemen. They haven't gotten that right since the late 80s as far as I can recall.

[TKnight85]

Don't you see the resemblance?

No, only thing that looks the same is the Team they're on lol

[throwingBBS]

Castonzo has had ankle problems. Notice one is wrapped different than the other. Makes me think he is not playing 100% healthy.

[unitaswestand]

Castonzo is a good left tackle. I think it is unfair to compare him to Tarik, because Tarik played with Peyton Manning. Manning makes EVERY offensive lineman look better than they are because he gets rid of the ball so fast. Luck this year and the clowns we had playing QB last year both hold the ball much longer. So I think you have to consider than when grading Castonzo.

[shakedownstreet]

I'm pretty sure the Bears are just terrible at developing offensive linemen. They haven't gotten that right since the late 80s as far as I can recall.

they are also terrible at devoloping qb's. one would tend to believe peyton manning would have tanked in chicago

see john harbaugh in chicago & then see him in indy

[ColtsLegacy]

Don't you see the resemblance?

No, only thing that looks the same is the Team they're on lol

That's weird, because "Smith" is such a unique last name.