49ers release Mohamed Sanu + Thoughts on Sunday: What went wrong?
Sorting through SportyMiner's takes: What went wrong?
San Francisco 49ers/YouTube
(Santa Clara, 10:37 AM PST) - According to Ian Rapoport, the 49ers are releasing WR Mohamed Sanu after a short stay with the 49ers. Sanu was a veteran presence and brought a consistent, healthy target to a team that desperately needed it: but with Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk fully healthy, the writing was on the wall. This may also indicate that Richie James Jr is nearing his return from a hamstring injury suffered earlier.
Sanu was not the same player last season, and this season as well. Slow and sloppy route-running, he was cut from New England who traded the steep price of a 2nd round pick for him - there were never expectations for him to be anything more than depth, and this move only confirms it. Sanu had 1 catch for 9 yards in his stay with the 49ers. If he gets signed after this, it is a desperation move: his career is likely over in the NFL.
This could also mean a promotion for another WR on the roster: with K’Waun Williams going on IR shortly (ACL Sprain), cutting Sanu opens up two spots. Kevin White and Jauan Jennings are both very intriguing.
Ziggy Ansah tore his biceps on Sunday, and is out for the season; yet another DL injured and out. I expect Cameron Wake or Jabaal Sheard to be brought in shortly, at least by the Rams game.
One also thinks: what does this mean for Dante Pettis and Trent Taylor? Both have been non-factors for most of the season, with Pettis not having a single catch and one total target so far. Do their roles increase? What is Shanahan thinking - and who will replace Sanu?
What went wrong on Sunday?
After taking some time to reflect on it: here are some thoughts partnered with SportyMiner, who wanted to add his contribution here.
Welcome to the inaugural Sporty Miner's Thought Refiners.
I oughta remind ya, there's no assortment finer than these short one liners For The Niners!
I miss Bosa... a lot.
We all do. Nick Bosa was our best player on defense - and was the anchor for a defense built in the trenches. When he went down, our entire season changed: we went from contender to fringe playoff team, maybe worse.
Defensive line was playing a game of “Hyder seek”... but Saleh was just hiding.
One thing is for sure. Robert Saleh is not as good of a DC as he is regarded - when the talent goes down, it falls upon the coaches to make it up with good play calling. Saleh has not done that. 3 games of Carson Wentz before this game should have screamed in the film study: HIT ME! But instead, the 49ers struggled to get pressure on Carson Wentz all game, outside of Arik Armstead who had one of his best games in his career. Letting him get into a rhythm was the first and most fatal mistake Saleh made.
Kittle managed to storm it whilst looking like he just woke up with a hangover.
Looks aside, I am concerned for Kittle. He was the best player on the football field, but he is playing through a torn labrum, sprained MCL, and bone bruise - at one point does it become detrimental to his health to play through injuries? For basketball fans: think Derrick Rose. Rose was an MVP level player by year 3 of his career - but he is one of the most injured players in history. Why? Before his devastating ACL tear in 2012, Rose had consistently played through knee injuries, ankle injuries, and more - and his high minute load paired with that is what eventually led to his body failing him. When do we start to be careful with Kittle?
Does Kittle and Beathard have the same hairdresser (and what decade is that hairdresser living in)?
Must be a Hawkeye thing.
Did I miss the revenge tour?
An FTN contributor (@Germinator) pointed out yesterday:
Again, which is why the whole “Revenge Tour” was so stupid to begin with. Everyone wanted revenge on us. The only team we wanted revenge on was KC. Made no sense.
The 49ers seem to have focused so much on the Super Bowl that they forgot about how they got there. Let’s hope they begin to remember, and fast.
Aiyuk reminds me a lot of Randall Cunningham the way he absorbs hits, bends his body and keep moving... hurdles a defender like he was avoiding a fresh dog turd on the sidewalk.
Aiyuk is already the best WR on the team - hot take. He is more of a pure receiver than Deebo Samuel is, and while Deebo is more proven - it took 3 games for us to realize: good things happen when Aiyuk has the ball. He needs to become a focal point in an offense that relies too much on George Kittle. Take some pressure of Kittle, and let Aiyuk’s talent guide the offense. It will work, it already has. That hurdle is all over the internet - and it won’t be the last time he goes viral for a play.
Judging by how far he overthrew open receivers I'm thinking Mullens' arm is now too strong for his mind to cope with.
I am not as down on Mullens as everyone else. Sample size! He played well for a backup in 2018, and he played well last week. One game will not change what he has shown in the past: is he limited as a QB? Yes. He is also better than what we saw on Eagles, where he routinely missed throws he normally would not. His OL did him no favors either.
Shanahan’s comments about "that situation doesn't exist" about Mullens taking the starting role from Jimmy G did no favors to Mullens' confidence and he could have worded it in a way that may have prevented Nick's yips yesterday.
Shanahan is blunt. That is both a blessing and curse: but transparency is clear to prevent locker room issues.
I wonder if Shanahan was playing 4D chess again and signed Sanu to be our QB2?
About that…
CJB is a pocket passer,.. in that he can't get out the pocket to run 4 yards in to an empty redzone.
That 2 point conversion was brutal and showed the low football IQ that gave Mullens the advantage over CJ in the 1st place.
Jet looked more like a prop engine out there as a lead back - where did the speed go?
2 years out of football and a torn ACL does that: I’m confident he will get it back as the season progresses. But he is very slow at the moment. Still very elusive. But the difference in the run game between Mostert and McKinnon is massive: Mostert might be the fastest player in the league. He deserved his money.
I think we need to hire a plumber to fix the OL.
No player was worse on the OL than Mike McGlinchey yesterday, at least in pass protection. Brunskill and Williams were bad too. Tomlinson and Garland were good. But all one needs is to listen to the man himself, Shanahan.
“I think Mike had as good of a camp as he's had here in his third year. I was real excited, Mike, going into the season. I don't think that he is playing as bad as advertised. I think when he has had some bad plays, it has looked bad and those stick out all the time with an O-Lineman. He’s had too many of those in a game. You take away those, I do think he's done a lot of things better. Mike's played at a high level here for two years. And I think there's a lot of parts of Mike's game that he’s a lot better at this year than he has been in the past. You get towards the end of the game there and the two-minute situations and he had some bad looking plays, which stick out. That’s part of being an O-Lineman, but by no means do I think he's had a step back. We just have to clean up some stuff. He's got to be a little more efficient throughout the game because he has gotten better, but that doesn't matter when you have a few bad ones. It's the same with the quarterback, too. You can play a hell of a game and you throw a few picks and that's what sticks out and that's what Mike's got to clean up right now.”
Shanahan has looked pissed off for a month now.
Probably due to half his team being injured. If the 49ers make the playoffs, Shanahan is a virtual lock for Coach of the Year.
Ooh... can we trade Dontae Johnson for a new snapback for Shanahan, to cheer him up?
Hmm. The Shanahat becoming a curse was not what I had on my 2020 bingo card.
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Sorry, but the criticism of Saleh is absurd. Our defense has allowed 17, 13, 9, and 18 points, while shredded by injury and constantly being hung out to dry by the offense.
They limited the Eagles to 267 total yards, 4 of 11 on 3rd down, and only 18 points. While missing their top 4 CB's (with Williams leaving the game), top 2 edge rushers, starting linebacker, and backup edge. Saleh's game plan and coaching were excellent.
Sheesh. The Saleh criticisms strike me as ridiculous. We gave up 18 points and people are ready to make him walk the plank. And comments like "he's not as good with less talent" go down with "water is wet."
Anyway, good article anyway.............Riqo Cohn. (that was a joke)