49ers Nolan makes right moves at wrong time

By Bryan Hersh  |   Saturday, October 08, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

San Francisco 49ers
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49ers head coach Mike Nolan has made some interesting moves this season.
These moves include trading the playmaking linebacker Jamie Winborn to the
Jaguars for an undisclosed pick, placing quarterback Tim Rattay on the
trading block, benching full back Fred Beasley. In addition, he has clearly been off
on his evaluation of talent as demonstrated by the lack of legitimate
backups in the defensive backfield, at left tackle and at tight end.

Nolan is a rookie coach, who is making some rookie mistakes and appears to
be acting out of desperation. The time to trade Tim Rattay was this
off-season so that he could either bring in a legitimate mentor for rookie
Alex Smith, or commit to playing Smith regardless of the week to week
outcomes. Winborn is a playmaking linebacker on a defense that is suffering
terribly. Had he been traded this off-season the 49ers might have gotten a
decent deal for him, instead they are likely stuck with a very low pick and
a defense that will continue to suffer without him. Fred Beasley is the
best fullback the team has, and yet he has seen the bench far too often this
offseason. Couple this with an offensive line as thin as a piece of paper,
and well, I feel bad for the quarterbacks. Nolan is also stuck with some
pretty vulnerable talent in the defensive backfield, at tight end, and at
left tackle because of poor judgment of talent this offseason.

Nolan needs to right the ship quickly, but it may be too little too late.
Alex Smith will start at quarterback this weekend, but Nolan has yet to
confirm that Smith will remain the starter for the rest of the season. This
is the wrong approach for a rookie quarterback. With a few small tweaks
Nolan can restore fan confidence to the team, and essentially 'get his act
together'. But he needs to start acting with a cool head, and making
calculated decisions rather than moves out of desperation. He needs to
think three steps ahead, and recognize the consequences that his actions have on the team.

Most fans will continue to support Nolan for a certain duration, but the more mistakes he makes like this, the more likely fans will be calling for his head in the same way as they did Dennis Erickson's, and deservedly so.

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