It's a match made in heaven: the NFL's most disappointing kicker joins one of its most disappointing teams today, as Jeff Reed signed with the 4-7 San Francisco 49ers.
Showing posts with label San Francisco 49ers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Francisco 49ers. Show all posts
12/02/2010
11/29/2010
Pitt = The College Equivalent of the San Francisco 49ers
Due to a mini family emergency last weekend, I was unable to watch the Backyard Brawl live and subsequently unable to provide any semblance of a timely, relevant recap. But some time has passed, many people have aired a their opinions on the state of the program, and I've come up with some thoughts of my own. If that's of interest of you, there's more after the jump.
3/08/2010
STEELERS FREE AGENCY UPDATE
WR Arnaz Battle has officially been signed by the Steelers. Like earlier signee Will Allen, Battle is a special teams standout - an area I'm glad to see addressed - and will be reunited with his former position coach in San Francisco, Al Everest.
OT Jonathan Scott, a four-year veteran who's spent time with Detroit and Buffalo, reached agreement with the Steelers on a contract today. Again, this is a reunion of a player with a position coach, as the Steelers hired former Buffalo line coach Sean Kugler to the same position this offseason.
LB Larry Foote is meeting today with the Redskins, but apparently is wanted back in Pittsburgh to create depth at the position. The Steelers usually don't welcome back players once they've left, but this could be a rare occurrence of just that happening.
WR Antonio Bryant, the former Pitt standout, is visiting with the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday. The Bengals have been mentioned as possible landing spots for Terrell Owens and Brandon Marshall, so it looks like they're going to sign somebody to address their need at the position.
OT Jonathan Scott, a four-year veteran who's spent time with Detroit and Buffalo, reached agreement with the Steelers on a contract today. Again, this is a reunion of a player with a position coach, as the Steelers hired former Buffalo line coach Sean Kugler to the same position this offseason.
LB Larry Foote is meeting today with the Redskins, but apparently is wanted back in Pittsburgh to create depth at the position. The Steelers usually don't welcome back players once they've left, but this could be a rare occurrence of just that happening.
WR Antonio Bryant, the former Pitt standout, is visiting with the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday. The Bengals have been mentioned as possible landing spots for Terrell Owens and Brandon Marshall, so it looks like they're going to sign somebody to address their need at the position.
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3/05/2010
STEELERS TO MEET WITH WR ARNAZ BATTLE
According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the Steelers will soon be meeting with 49ers free agent WR Arnaz Battle, a 30-year-old Notre Dame product who played quarterback for two seasons in college.
Battle was a sixth-round pick of San Francisco in 2003, and has amassed 178 catches for 2,150 yards and 11 touchdowns in his pro career. His best season came in 2006, reeling in 59 balls for 686 yards and three scores. But he lost his starting gig in 2008, a year he finished on IR with a foot injury. Last season, he had just five receptions for 40 yards, and helped on special teams.
The Steelers aren't exactly thin at WR, with Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and Mike Wallace leading the charge. After that is where it starts to get dicey, so this could be bad news for a guy like Limas Sweed, who has not yet established himself in the league and was clearly lapped by the rookie Wallace last season.
One of the key tells in free agency is to see if there are any connections between the player and a former coach. And not coincidentally, the Steelers just hired former 49ers special teams coach Al Everest in the offseason. So don't be too surprised if the vet eventually ends up in a Steeler uniform, even though he will also visit Seattle this week.
[H/T: Pro Football Talk]
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Battle was a sixth-round pick of San Francisco in 2003, and has amassed 178 catches for 2,150 yards and 11 touchdowns in his pro career. His best season came in 2006, reeling in 59 balls for 686 yards and three scores. But he lost his starting gig in 2008, a year he finished on IR with a foot injury. Last season, he had just five receptions for 40 yards, and helped on special teams.
The Steelers aren't exactly thin at WR, with Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and Mike Wallace leading the charge. After that is where it starts to get dicey, so this could be bad news for a guy like Limas Sweed, who has not yet established himself in the league and was clearly lapped by the rookie Wallace last season.
One of the key tells in free agency is to see if there are any connections between the player and a former coach. And not coincidentally, the Steelers just hired former 49ers special teams coach Al Everest in the offseason. So don't be too surprised if the vet eventually ends up in a Steeler uniform, even though he will also visit Seattle this week.
[H/T: Pro Football Talk]
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1/12/2010
TODAY'S HEADLINES
Wild 4, Pens 3: The Penguin power play was 0-for-6, and Marc-Andre Fleury gave a shaky effort with four goals on 24 shots to contribute to the team's latest loss, their seventh in the past nine games. Geno Malkin also continued his struggles, with a minus-2 and two giveaways. He is scoreless in 12 of his last 13 games.
The Pens had a 2-1 lead in the second period, with goals coming from Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis. That lead evaporated 51 seconds later when Martin Havlat knotted the game at two and then grew to a 3-2 deficit with Cal Clutterbuck's ninth of the year at 12:03 of the period.
Crosby would tie the game at three in the third period with his 29th goal, but Minnesota's Guillaume Latendresse scored at the 6:13 mark, giving the Wild all the offense they would need.
Clutterbuck, who was on the receiving end of a Sergei Gonchar elbow that resulted in a major interference penalty in the third, had this to say about the usually gentleman-like defenseman: "He better hope he retires before the end of the year. Someone's going to hurt him." Unfortunately for Mr. Clutterbuck, the teams won't meet again in 2009-10. But it's good that you got that on the record.
The Pens continue their road trip on Wednesday night at 26-14-6 Calgary. [Trib]
"There was no groping":That's the headline that sticks out in the clearance of Pitt WR Jonathan Baldwin in an indecent assault charge yesterday. However, Baldwin did admit to slapping a nursing student's buttocks on a campus shuttle bus, and the going rate for that offense is apparently 10 hours of community service. [WPXI]
That's Church: The Buccos appear to have found their fourth OF in free agent Ryan Church, who agreed to terms yesterday pending a physical.
Church hit .273 with four HR and 40 RBI in 111 games last season for the Mets and Braves, who swapped Church and Jeff Francoeur on July 10. Church's career bests came in 2007 with Washington, when he hit .272 with 15 HR and 70 RBI in 144 games. [PG]
April interviewed by 49ers: Free agent special teams coach Bobby April, who interviewed with Mike Tomlin this weekend, is meeting with 49ers coach Mike Singletary today. April has also been linked to the Washington Redskins. [49ers Blog]
Shipley to Eagles: Center AQ Shipley, of Moon HS and Penn State fame, has joined the Philadelphia Eagles. A seventh-round pick of the Steelers in 2009, he spent the entire year on the practice squad and was the only member of that unit not to re-sign for 2010. [PG]
The Pens had a 2-1 lead in the second period, with goals coming from Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis. That lead evaporated 51 seconds later when Martin Havlat knotted the game at two and then grew to a 3-2 deficit with Cal Clutterbuck's ninth of the year at 12:03 of the period.
Crosby would tie the game at three in the third period with his 29th goal, but Minnesota's Guillaume Latendresse scored at the 6:13 mark, giving the Wild all the offense they would need.
Clutterbuck, who was on the receiving end of a Sergei Gonchar elbow that resulted in a major interference penalty in the third, had this to say about the usually gentleman-like defenseman: "He better hope he retires before the end of the year. Someone's going to hurt him." Unfortunately for Mr. Clutterbuck, the teams won't meet again in 2009-10. But it's good that you got that on the record.
The Pens continue their road trip on Wednesday night at 26-14-6 Calgary. [Trib]
"There was no groping":That's the headline that sticks out in the clearance of Pitt WR Jonathan Baldwin in an indecent assault charge yesterday. However, Baldwin did admit to slapping a nursing student's buttocks on a campus shuttle bus, and the going rate for that offense is apparently 10 hours of community service. [WPXI]
That's Church: The Buccos appear to have found their fourth OF in free agent Ryan Church, who agreed to terms yesterday pending a physical.
Church hit .273 with four HR and 40 RBI in 111 games last season for the Mets and Braves, who swapped Church and Jeff Francoeur on July 10. Church's career bests came in 2007 with Washington, when he hit .272 with 15 HR and 70 RBI in 144 games. [PG]
April interviewed by 49ers: Free agent special teams coach Bobby April, who interviewed with Mike Tomlin this weekend, is meeting with 49ers coach Mike Singletary today. April has also been linked to the Washington Redskins. [49ers Blog]
Shipley to Eagles: Center AQ Shipley, of Moon HS and Penn State fame, has joined the Philadelphia Eagles. A seventh-round pick of the Steelers in 2009, he spent the entire year on the practice squad and was the only member of that unit not to re-sign for 2010. [PG]
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8/29/2009
THE END OF THE ROAD FOR MARVEL SMITH
A second-round pick of the Steelers in the 2000 draft, Smith played in 111 games, starting 108 of them, over his nine-year career. But injuries would hamper the tail end of his time in Pittsburgh, causing him to miss 11 regular season games in 2008 and four in 2007.
In an interesting twist, it's been speculated that the 49ers' signing of Smith may have caused a domino effect that landed them holdout WR Michael Crabtree instead of gifted rookie lineman Michael Oher:
The 49ers knew signing a nine-year veteran with a back problem was risky; general manager Scot McCloughan said at one point that Smith had a 50-50 chance to return to his Pro Bowl ways. Obviously the team's gamble didn't pay off. The signing of Smith also may have factored in the decision to take wide receiver Michael Crabtree with the 10th overall pick instead of Ole Miss tackle Michael Oher. Taking him with the 21st pick, Oher signed early, has played well and looks to have won the job at right tackle. Crabtree remains a holdout and his camp continues to make threats that he's going to stay out for the entire season.It's rare that the Cleveland Browns make what so far appears to be a good call in the personnel department, because Crabtree has pretty much lived up to their ominous pre-draft assessment. Combine the choice of Crabtree with betting on Smith to somehow flip a switch and be perfectly healthy in 2009, and there you have the 49ers in a nutshell. There's a reason why they haven't been to the playoffs since 2002.
Marvel Smith Retires; Game Preview [Niner Insider]
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4/28/2009
ASHLEY LELIE, PITTSBURGH STEELER?
Frankly, Lelie's reputation has been nothing short of disappointing since entering the league as a first-round pick by Denver in 2002. What is a major red flag to me is the fact that he's played for four teams in four seasons, a one-and-done with the last three teams who've acquired him: Atlanta in 2006, San Francisco in 2007, and Oakland in 2008. And these were all bad teams. The '06 Falcons won seven games, the '07 49ers won five, and the '08 Raiders won five as well.
His receiving yardage has been in decline since 2004, from 1084 yards to 770 to 430 to 115, with a slight bump to 197 last season.
In addition to free-falling numbers, Lelie has exhibited a diva mentality at times, holding out after the Broncos had the nerve to attempt to upgrade their receiver position in 2006. After finally forcing a trade to Atlanta, Lelie gave up $982,000 as a result of holdout fines and prorated signing bonuses he was forced to repay.
I'll never forget the description John Clayton gave of Lelie at one of those ESPN 1250 Fantasy Football Camps in Pittsburgh a few years ago. He was quoting one of Lelie's coaches, and let's just say it wasn't a compliment. At all. In fact, it was enough to turn me off from Lelie all these years later.
Maybe one last change of scenery, and to a strong organization for once, will be what the doctor ordered for Lelie. Like incoming rookie Mike Wallace, he's got fantastic speed, which the Steelers are clearly prioritizing. And if it doesn't work, there's always the option of Gary Russell-ing him.
Steelers meet with free agent WR Lelie [Trib]
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4/26/2009
SCOTT MCKILLOP TO 49ERS
Joining an intriguing draft class that includes Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree and Alabama RB Glen Coffee, the San Francisco 49ers made Pitt LB Scott McKillop (aka "The Player Nobody Wanted") the newest member of their organization with the 10th selection of the fifth round (146th overall). ESPN had McKillop pegged 122nd overall and fifth among ILBs, so this was relatively close to where he was projected.
The 6'2", 240-pound Kiski High product was the 2008 Big East Defensive Player of the Year and Pitt's second first-team All-American on defense since 1989. He had 137 tackles, four sacks, and two interceptions last season for the Panthers.
He joins an up-and-coming 49er team and will be tutored under a pretty good linebacker in his own right, Niner coach Mike Singletary. McKillop is the second Panther taken in the 2009 draft, the first being LeSean McCoy, who was a second-round pick of Philadelphia. Both young men were drafted into great opportunities and should perform well as professionals.
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The 6'2", 240-pound Kiski High product was the 2008 Big East Defensive Player of the Year and Pitt's second first-team All-American on defense since 1989. He had 137 tackles, four sacks, and two interceptions last season for the Panthers.
He joins an up-and-coming 49er team and will be tutored under a pretty good linebacker in his own right, Niner coach Mike Singletary. McKillop is the second Panther taken in the 2009 draft, the first being LeSean McCoy, who was a second-round pick of Philadelphia. Both young men were drafted into great opportunities and should perform well as professionals.
Send your news, tips, and links to Mondesishouse@gmail.com.
3/27/2009
MARVEL SMITH SIGNS WITH 49ERS
Smith, who hails from Oakland, California, was selected by the Steelers out of Arizona State in the second round of the 2000 draft. He signed a six-year, $26 million contract in 2003 that the Steelers opted to lapse this offseason. He started 108 games in the Steeler black and gold, but completed an entire 16-game season just four times in his nine years with the team. Smith has primarily held the tackle spot since starting nine games as a rookie. He departs with two Super Bowl rings and ample financial consideration for his efforts.
49ers Strike Deal With Marvel Smith [PFT]
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