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| | | | | | | |  Tuesday, November 14, 2000
Niners' rookies must make immediate impact
By Dan Fouts
Special to ABC Sports Online
This isn't the San Francisco team of old; it's the Niners of older.
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Jeff Garcia -- seen here in training camp -- is now in his second year as the Niners quarterback. |
I think you have to way go back to the teams of 1979 and 1980 to understand San Francisco's troubles, especially on defense.
San Francisco has question marks at almost every position. But really, the whole defense needs to be revamped. The 49ers are going to count on rookies this year, with draft picks Ahmed Plummer, Jason Webster and Julian Peterson expected to start immediately. They need these guys to be solid starters from Day 1.
This is serious rebuilding time. Basically, you are going to see a lot of young guys all over the field for the Niners throughout the preseason, including the Hall of Fame game against the New England Patriots (ABC, July 31, 7 p.m. ET).
The battle for the quarterback position will also be interesting, because I want to see how much incumbent starter Jeff Garcia has improved. Once he is out of the game, we'll see whom out of the other three -- Rick Mirer and rookies Giovanni Carmazzi and Tim Rattay -- plays well through the second, third and fourth quarters.
So far, I've only seen the Niners rookie quarterbacks on highlight films. Carmazzi has got good size and moves well, but he hasn't played the competition that he will see in Canton. Rattay has a lot of experience in the pro-style offense from his college years at Louisiana Tech. He may be farther ahead than Carmazzi right now, plus he's been in camp all this time. It's going to be good competition for that backup quarterback spot.
The quarterbacks should be protected adequately, despite their inexperience. With the passing of Bobb McKittrick last March of cancer; Patrick Morris will now coach the offensive line. Morris was with McKittrick since 1997, so he learned a lot from Bobb. Of all the positions on that football team, the offensive line is the most experienced.
The Niners have purged their roster due to salary-cap woes from seasons past, including 1994, when they won the Super Bowl with pricey veterans like Deion Sanders. Is this a cautionary tale for teams like the Redskins, who have spent big money for veterans like Deion and Jeff George? There is no question. But there is no tomorrow in the NFL anymore, especially when you have volatile owners like the Redskins' Dan Snyder and the Cowboys' Jerry Jones.
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