Moderatoren » The most glaring need for the San Francisco 49ers

SANTA CLARA Alexander Mattison Jersey , Calif. (AP) — The team’s first two big moves of the new league year were made to address that deficiency with the additions of an edge rusher in Dee Ford, who has a propensity for strip sacks, and a speedy linebacker in Kwon Alexander, who has a knack for finding the ball.“That wasn’t fun to watch,” general manager John Lynch said Thursday. “It is something we have to live with. It’s a reality, and we needed to change that. These are the type of players that we believe can reverse that trend. Starting with Kwon. He’s always around the ball. There’s so many things to like, but that is definitely something that jumps. And then Dee, he has a knack for getting the ball out. Eight forced fumbles last year, and that first step is lethal. We think that can help our entire team get that virus going, where we’re taking away the ball on a regular basis.”The 49ers paid a big price for these additions, trading a 2020 second-round pick to Kansas City to acquire Ford and then giving him a five-year, $87.5 million contract http://www.minnesotavikingsteamonline.com/dru-samia-jersey , and signing Alexander to a four-year deal worth $54 million.Ford had a career-high 13 sacks last season and led the NFL with seven forced fumbles. He also led all edge rushers with 84 total quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, making him exactly the kind of playmaker the 49ers lacked on defense this past season.“It’s really a mindset and muscle memory,” Ford said of forcing turnovers. “It’s not really an intricate skill to have. It’s just a mindset. Most guys get to the quarterback and just want to take him down. Just switch the mentality and knock the ball out. You have to work it. Everything happens so fast so it needs to be muscle memory to go for the ball.”The 49ers haven’t had an edge rusher reach double digits in sacks since Aldon Smith had 19 1/2 in 2012 and have the fifth-fewest overall sacks in the NFL the past six seasons. DeForest Buckner led the team with 12 sacks this past season, mostly from an interior spot.Alexander, coming off a torn ACL, has six career interceptions, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and seven sacks in 46 games.“Speed and violence affect the quarterback and make people do stupid things before they want to,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Both of these guys have a lot of speed, and they both play very violent.”With Ford slated to start at defensive end in the Leo position on San Francisco’s defense, the strategy in the draft could be altered. The Niners have the second overall pick and could be in position to take Ohio State’s Nick Bosa Daniel Jones Jersey , who is projected to play the same role.Now they could be in position to move down in the draft or look at a rush linebacker like Josh Allen.“We’re evaluating everyone,” Lynch said. “Having Dee just makes us a better football team, and the draft’s something separate. Yes, those two do interact at some point, but we’ll see. We’re going to go out there and look. At No. 2, you want to have a great football player. That’s what we’re looking for and we’ll see where it ends up.”The 49ers also signed cornerback Jason Verrett to a one-year deal, receiver Jordan Matthews to a one-year contract, linebacker David Mayo to a two-year contract, and agreed on a one-year deal to bring back safety Antone Exum. San Francisco also released linebacker Brock Coyle, who announced he will retire after suffering a back injury last season.Verrett is a 2014 first-round pick by the Chargers and made the Pro Bowl in 2015. But he has played only five games the past three seasons after suffering knee injuries in 2016 and ’17 and then tearing his Achilles tendon during a conditioning test on the first day of training camp last year.Verrett will compete with 2017 third-round pick Ahkello Witherspoon and 2018 third-rounder Tarvarius Moore for the starting spot across from Richard Sherman.“It’s a smile now, cry later type of thing for me,” Verrett said of his run of injuries. “It was a lot of dark moments dealing with the injuries Quincy Williams II Jersey , but I came out of the tunnel and I’m ready to get things rolling.”Matthews is a cousin of former 49ers great Jerry Rice and has always wanted to play for the team. He was a second-round pick by Philadelphia in 2014 and has 270 catches for 3,255 yards and 22 TDs in five seasons with the Eagles and Buffalo.Matthews averaged 75 catches a year his first three seasons before being slowed by injuries in 2017 with the Bills and a lack of opportunities last season with the Eagles after returning to Philadelphia.Mayo was a special teams standout for Carolina who offers depth at inside linebacker for San Francisco.Exum spent the past two seasons with the 49ers and started seven games at safety in 2018. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard was disappointed when his name didn’t appear on the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster Tuesday night.Now the league’s leading tackler intends to make all future opponents pay for the perceived snub.“He told me he’d have 40 tackles this week, and I told him that’s humanly impossible,” tight end Eric Ebron said Wednesday.But if the Colts (8-6) have learned anything about their star rookie, it’s not to discount anything he says.When South Carolina State played Clemson in 2016, Leonard had 19 tackles against the eventual national champs and his childhood favorite, which never offered him a scholarship. His performance that day earned him the nickname “Maniac” around campus, a nickname he still clings to, and put him on the radar of Colts general manager Chris Ballard.Throughout the draft process, he heard from the critics again. This time they were questioning the level of competition he faced in college; how long it would take to make the transition from FCS to the NFL; and whether Ballard reached when he took Leonard at No. 36 overall, four picks into the second round, in April.Others questioned whether missing all of the Colts’ spring and summer workouts because of a bad hamstring would slow him down this season.Leonard has proved all of them wrong.Despite missing one game Ryquell Armstead Jersey , at New England, he continues to lead the league with 146 tackles and needs 15 over the final two games to break Jeff Herrod’s single-season franchise record (160), a mark that has stood since 1991. And if Leonard’s play matches the hype, Herrod’s record could go down Sunday against the New York Giants (5-9).“It adds more fuel to the fire,” Leonard said when asked about missing the Pro Bowl. “It gives me more reason to go out and keep fighting. With everything I did and knowing it’s still not enough, I’ve got to put more on my resume.”Leonard views it as more of a promise than a warning and it fits his personality.While he revels in the underdog role, he routinely plays with a chip on his shoulder and continually sets his standards high. His goal each week is to get 25 tackles and he’s finished in double digits in seven of the Colts’ 14 games. He’s tied with Carolina’s Luke Kuechly for the most games with 10 or more tackles this season.But what the Colts have found in Leonard is much more than a tackling machine.His seven sacks are third most by a Colts rookie, trailing only Dwight Freeney (13) and Vernon Maxwell (7). Dee Ford, Khalil Mack and J.J. Watt — all Pro Bowlers — are the only players this season to force more fumbles than Leonard (4). He also has 12 tackles for loss, six passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.Andrew Luck spotted the potential almost from the first moment Leonard suited up for Indy. At the first training camp practice, Leonard made a leaping, acrobatic interception of the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback.“I’ll be honest Gardner Minshew II Jersey , the first couple of training camp practices I said ‘My goodness, he’s not supposed to be that fast and play linebacker,'” Luck recalled. “And then he went up for that interception and came down with it, and I just said ‘My goodness.'”Luck appreciates that he won’t have to contend with Leonard in a meaningful game. The rest of the league won’t be as fortunate.“I want to go out there every week and make every tackle,” Leonard said.“I like to set a crazy goal, so each week if it’s not 25 (tackles), I’m mad at myself.”