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What you didn’t know, but should, about Arik Armstead

2018-07-03T10:20:02-07:00

Armstead’s high school coach and U.S. History teacher shares a few great stories about his former player and student

49ers defensive lineman Arik Armstead is outwardly one of the quiet players on the team. He is generally soft spoken in front of the media, but doesn't shy away from answering questions. Recently, when he held his first annual charity gala in his hometown of Sacramento he showed a different side of himself — one that is a very articulate public speaker, who is very passionate about his cause of equal opportunity education for children in economically-challenged areas.

According to Joe Cattolico, Armstead has been like this as long as he’s known him. Cattolico was Armstead’s football coach at Pleasant Grove High School as well as his U.S. History teacher. Because of what kind of person Armstead is, Cattolico never even considered it a question that he would come help coach Arik’s free youth football camp at Leataata Floyd Elementary School during the offseason.

When asked what kind of person Armstead was in high school, Cattolico couldn’t have been more proud. He said the best quality that Armstead possesses is that of lifting those around him up.

The thing about Arik that always sticks out for me is, besides all of the tremendous football ability, Arik was the kind of kid who always made everybody around him feel better about themselves and that isn’t always the case with really, really talented athletes. Arik was everybody’s friend, everyone could talk to him, Arik has a lot of interests outside of football, like you see here, and so it’s spectacular. As great of a football player he is, he’s an even better person. That’s what stands out to me about Arik.

Cattolico had to share Armstead with the basketball team and he was just happy to get to have him around as much as he did. He is close to the Armstead family, having also coached his older brother Armond in football as well. He reasons that his family is what has made him into the person he is today.

He was a young person who elevated you in the football sense but I had him in U.S. History class and he elevated the U.S. History class. He was interested in the subject matter, he was involved in discussions and in making other students feel better about what they had to say.

Cattalico explains the most impressive part about Armstead’s development since high school:

This, his understanding. A lot of guys give back and do a great job doing football camps and give back through football that way but Arik is mature beyond his years. He’s using football to give back on a broader platform. He’s using it as a vehicle for addressing issues in our society, areas where he feels like he can make positive changes as a society and a community. For someone of his relatively young amount of years on the planet, this is very special because you don’t see that as frequently as you should.

One of the more comedic memories that Cattolico has of Armstead is how he left his mark at Pleasant Grove High School:

There’s a desk that Arik sat in that actually bent. The bar bent when he sat in it and so we had that desk for years and we would tell people in the history department, “That’s the Arik Armstead desk,” because he had accidentally bent the desk by kind of putting a little elbow on it.

Cattloico also shared how respectful Armstead was in this one particular case:

I’m 6’4 and I’m usually the tallest person in my classroom and so Arik was in my classroom in the 11th grade. The rule that I had in class is that Arik wasn’t allowed to stand up in class. If he had a question he wasn’t allowed to come over to me and ask me a question because he makes me look short. If he had a question I told him “You raise your hand and I’ll come talk to you at your desk so that I feel like I’m still the tallest guy in the room.” He was always really good about that. He understood that I wanted to hold onto that one little thing.

He’s one of those guys who emanates a light from himself that just makes everyone around him better and feel better about themselves.

TO to give Hall of Fame induction speech at his old college campus

2018-07-03T08:13:42-07:00

He picked a seemingly random time for the speech. Maybe it’s not so random?

Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens announced last month that he would not be present in Canton, Ohio when he is formally inducted. On Tuesday, he tweeted out his plans for the big day. He will make his induction speech at McKenzie Arena on the campus of University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he played football, basketball, and track for three seasons.

Owens tweeted that the event will be free and open to the public, and will start at 3:17 p.m. There has been a lot of hand-wringing over his decision to skip the Hall of Fame ceremony, but I’d say this is kind of a cool thing to do. The Pro Football Hall of Fame charges for their event, but it’s worth noting it’s $19 — so, not exactly a huge expense if you’re already paying to fly out there. But it’s cool that he’s doing it at his college and providing people a chance to come by if they want.

Any thoughts on the symbolism of 3:17 pm?

pic.twitter.com/SMz2KlZwzz
— Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) July 3, 2018

One reason why the Arizona Cardinals will win the division (and one reason why they won’t)

2018-07-03T07:50:18-07:00

We’ve gone through several reasons why the San Francisco 49ers should be in the playoffs, let’s look why other division rivals should/shouldn’t win the NFC West.

There are some things far too dangerous and difficult to even attempt. The bull run, surviving a fist fight against Chuck Norris, and beating the original NES version of Battletoads.

Making an argument for the Arizona Cardinals to win the NFC West is one of those things. Up until recently, the Cardinals were the team having issues. While the Seattle Seahawks were getting thoroughly gutted. That changed Sunday, with Kam Chancellor’s retirement putting things into perspective.

The Seahawks have Russell Wilson and the Cardinals well, they don’t even have that. What once was one of the most underrated rosters in the league has now had draft picks that can make them great next season, but like the 49ers in 2017, it’s going to take a year. And the worst part? Their best piece, Larry Fitzgerald is on the verge of retirement.

I’m going to do it. I’m going to come up with an argument as to how the Cardinals can win this.

Reason for: Veteran leadership

I almost was going to put strike-through in the above and say “They aren’t winning the division,” but the Cardinals still can surprise. Sure, maybe Josh Rosen isn’t horrible, but the way the Cardinals can win is with their veterans.

The Cardinals have one of the NFL’s most decorated active wide receivers in Larry Fitzgerald. The only thing Fitzgerald doesn’t have is a Super Bowl ring. When he retires, the hurt in the Cardinals locker room will only be exponentially increased by that simple decision. Fitzgerald is that good, even in 2017 he amassed over 1,000 yards at 34 years old.

Along with Fitzgerald, the Cardinals have David Johnson coming back from a wrist injury and he’s no slouch at the running back position. After backs like Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington, David Johnson provides them with a solid bellcow provided he can stay healthy, so they have some veterans?

Reason against: The roster is far too young

No use mincing words. Seattle is going through an offseason from hell, but at least in 2018 they aren’t the Cardinals. As strange as it is to believe, the Cardinals have even more to work on in 2018 than that Seahawks do. As a result they have a young, inexperienced roster where they have wisely prepared for the inevitable but also took flyers to address their other picks. The 2nd round pick of wide receiver Christian Kirk was clearly to address Larry Fitzgerald’s imminent retirement and the rest of the roster has offensive line picks (for the second worst offensive line according to pro football focus). It’s all a group of question marks and a team far too young right now to do anything in the long term.

Let’s get one thing straight: the Cardinals hit a brick wall hard, but it’s one they addressed with a good draft, but that team isn’t going to win anything this year. They need development and we need to see what new head coach Steve Wilks can do.

David Carr, Michael Robinson offer 49ers 16-game prediction

2018-07-03T06:11:01-07:00

How about a Seahawks sweep and a six-game win streak?

Training camp is three weeks away, and media are working to get in final predictions before roster changes and injuries start to swing things. NFL Network analysts David Carr and Michael Robinson recently split the San Francisco 49ers schedule in half and each offered up eight predictions.

Carr took the first half of the schedule, which means he did not get to offer a prediction for when the 49ers take on his brother and the Oakland Raiders. Given that he ranked David Carr fourth on a list of all NFL quarterbacks, pardon me for assuming he would probably have predicted a Raiders win over the 49ers.

The former NFL quarterback has the 49ers struggling out of the box, losing their first four games. That first quarter of the season is the toughest stretch, so it’s not entirely out of the realm of the possible that the 49ers lose all four games. They travel to Minnesota, Kansas City and the Los Angeles Chargers, and host the Detroit Lions. All four games are winnable, but there are plenty of arguments to be made as to why the 49ers could lose each of them. I don’t think we see an 0-4 start, but I won’t say never.

Carr follows up with the 49ers winning four straight games. Again, all four are winnable, but I’m also not exactly holding my breath on that Packers game in Week 6. Coming out of the first half of the schedule, Carr has the 49ers sitting at 4-4. By comparison, in my immediate post-schedule release predictions, I went with a 5-3 mark. I had the 49ers going 3-1 in the first four games, and then 2-2 in the second set.

Here’s David Carr’s rundown of the first eight games.

@ Vikings - L
vs. Lions - L
@ Chiefs - L
@ Chargers - L
vs. Cardinals - W
@ Packers - W
vs. Rams - W
@ Cardinals - W

Former 49ers and Seahawks running back Michael Robinson handled the second half of the 49ers schedule. He gave the 49ers a win over the Raiders and Giants, which would put them on a six-game win streak when combined with Carr’s predictions.

The most interesting part of Robinson’s predictions? He has the 49ers sweeping their head-to-head series with the Seahawks. Again, not a shocking prediction, but a bit unexpected. This could be the year the 49ers finally move back ahead of Seattle, but winning at CenturyLink Field is no small task.

Back in April, I had the 49ers going 5-3 on the back half of their schedule with losses to the Bucs, Seahawks, and Rams. Robinson initially had the 49ers losing to the Rams, but based on how he described it, he would seem to have it as a toss-up. Here are Robinson’s eight picks.

vs. Raiders - W
vs. Giants - W
@ Buccaneers - L
@ Seahawks - W
vs. Broncos - L
vs. Seahawks - W
vs. Bears - W
@Rams - L (potential W)

Saleh was hired as 49ers linebackers before pushing for DC job

2018-07-03T04:50:37-07:00

Interesting nugget from a recent interview.

A year ago, when new San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was putting together his coaching staff, he interviewed Robert Saleh. Reports at the time said the February 10th interview was for the defensive coordinator job, and when the team announced his hiring on February 17th, it was as defensive coordinator.

It turns out it was not quite that simple. 49ers.com senior reporter Joe Fann put together a lengthy feature on Saleh, going back to his decision to quit the finance world to pursue a coaching career. We’ve heard some of the story before, but it included a nugget about Shanahan’s initial decision to hire him.

When Shanahan first approached Saleh about joining his coaching staff, it was to serve as linebackers coach. Saleh had served as linebackers coach under Gus Bradley in Jacksonville. Bradley and his staff were fired after the 2016 season, and after the 49ers reportedly pursued Bradley for the DC role, the veteran coach joined the Los Angeles Chargers in that role. Bradley wanted Saleh to join him in the linebackers coach role.

According to Saleh, he went back to Shanahan to broach the idea of instead becoming defensive coordinator. Shanahan was not sure at that point. He had known Saleh for some time, but did not know much about his development as a coach. Shanahan wanted a commitment from Saleh to become linebackers coach before they could even get into him becoming defensive coordinator.

Saleh decided this was an opportunity to forge his own path, and he credits Pete Carroll’s for encouraging him (and his entire coaching staff) to carve out their own path rather than simply regurgitate someone else’s philosophy. Saleh thought about it and decided to take Shanahan’s offer.

“You want to talk about one of the harder things I’ve had to do – it was separating from (Bradley),” Saleh said. “His teaching ability and all that he’s done for my family – that part was hard. I also felt like it was something that I had to do in order to see if I could do it on my own.”

Apparently Saleh pushed on Shanahan about the DC role, for which Shanahan eventually relented to formally interview him. He was impressed with Saleh, and next thing you know, Saleh is being introduced as the team’s defensive coordinator.

There was some thought at the time that Saleh was a place-holder defensive coordinator. The 49ers reportedly pursued Gus Bradley, and Kyle Shanahan was reported to be interested in Vic Fangio as an option. However, it would appear the 49ers might just have their long-term option, at least for the next few years.

In year one of the Robert Saleh defense, there were plenty of ups and downs. Things were starting to come together by the end of the season, and the team heads into year two with some talent added to the mix. There are plenty of questions. The pass rush added Jerry Attaochu and not much else. Richard Sherman could be starting but is coming off a torn Achilles. Adrian Colbert and Jaquiski Tartt have limited started experience but will be the two starting safeties.

There are questions, but at the same time, plenty of opportunity. It makes for a huge year for both the unit and Robert Saleh.

If you get a minute, make sure and give Joe Fann’s entire article a read. It has a host of interesting nuggets, including Shanahan and Saleh’s golf bets.

Golden Nuggets: We get fireworks tomorrow

2018-07-03T02:30:01-07:00

Your San Francisco 49ers links for Tuesday, July 3rd 2018

The fourth of July has gone from me wanting fireworks, to getting my sparklers once a year, to going fishing (and catching well past my limit) to where I am now.

The years in where I set off whatever had a fuse has turned to me cooking a few slabs of ribs for friends (remember, Pat knows food...just wait for the Thanksgiving posts on Twitter) and then heading to Green Lake nearby to watch the Seattle fireworks. Much more contained, much more safe, and much more legal.

But I get fireworks in another day. And fireworks are cool.

And I got links!

Ranking Top-25 49ers: No. 18 Trent Taylor (Biderman)

Jimmy G is the focal point but 49ers need defensive stars to step up (ESPN)

Can 49ers and Rams match LeBron-stoked Lakers-Warriors rivalry? (Biderman)

Who is the most underrated player in 49ers history?

2018-07-02T16:43:01-07:00

The San Francisco 49ers have had a host of prominent players throughout their history. The five Super Bowl victories mean plenty of players get a lot of love when we look back through history, but there are plenty who are a little more under the radar.

The 49ers at 49ers Hive put together a fun offseason prompt:

Who’s the most underrated player in #49ers history? #49ersHive
— 49ersHive (@49ersHive) June 20, 2018

Underrated player can mean a lot of things. I think we could break this into two questions:

Which player does not get enough love among 49ers fans?
Which player does not get enough love among non-49ers fans?

There are a host of players from the pre-Walsh years that are easily forgotten and could fit into either of these categories. Names like John Brodie, Gene Washington, R.C. Owens, and Kermit Alexander are just a few. However, that’s more about age and not knowing full history, rather than not having proper appreciation from fans who watched the team at that particular time.

So let’s look at this question another way. Which 49ers players during your time watching the team are most underrated? If you’ve been a fan since the beginning of the franchise, we’d love to hear about some of the old school players. If you’ve been a fan since the Walsh years, or if you’re younger and have only been a fan for 10 or 20 years, who are your most underrated.

In some ways, for non-49ers fans, I think Garrison Hearst is woefully underrated — both for his return from the ankle injury, and his performances before the injury. He’s fifth all time on the franchise rushing leaderboard, and his 4.7 yards per carry trails only Joe Perry (5.2), Hugh McElhenny (4.9), and Charlie Garner (4.8) among 49ers running backs in the top 20 of the leaderboard.

One player that I think ends up underrated in some respects by 49ers fans is J.J. Stokes. From a draft perspective, it was not the most effective pick. But once he entered the NFL, he was a decent receiver for a stretch. The trade up for him still stings, but all things considered, he wasn’t that awful. Make of that what you will.

Who are your underrated 49ers, past and/or present?

Jimmie Ward, D.J. Reed flexibility could be key to safety bubble watch

2018-07-02T15:01:01-07:00

The San Francisco 49ers are moving Jimmie Ward from safety to cornerback, while college CB D.J. Reed is getting safety work. Who will prove more flexible?

The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up minicamp and are now a month away from the start of training camp. The 90-man roster is just about set, although a transaction here or there would not be entirely shocking. Shortly after the draft we put together a complete roster bubble watch, and now it’s time to re-visit it. The offseason workout program did not lock in most roster spots, but it might give us some hints here and there.

Over the next two weeks, we’re going to take a look at each position, and what the bubble watch looks like. As we’ve done for a while now, the bubble watch breaks down to lock, strong bubble, weak bubble, and longshot. For some positions, we’ll have multiple players listed at strong bubble, even though not all are likely to make the roster. But the idea is that they both stand a good shot, even if it is just one of them. Additionally, this does not reflect whether or not a player will be traded. Trades can and probably will happen during training camp, but the positioning on this focuses on whether or not they’d be cut.

Quarterback
Running back
Wide receiver
Tight end
Tackle
Guard
Offensive Line
Defensive Line
Linebacker
Cornerback
Safety

Today, we move on to the safety position.

Lock: Jaquiski Tartt, Adrian Colbert
Strong Bubble: Don Jones, Marcell Harris, Chanceller James, D.J. Reed
Weak Bubble: Antone Exum
Longshot: Terrell Williams, Corey Griffin

I included D.J. Reed on the cornerbacks, but per Matt Barrows, he also got safety work during the offseason workout program.

The 49ers kept either four or five safeties on the roster last year. Leon Hall offered some flexibility between cornerback and safety, but he was primarily a nickel back. This offseason saw the team draft Marcell Harris, sign Terrell Williams and Corey Griffin as UDFAs, and sign returning veteran Antone Exum in June.

Jaquiski Tartt and Adrian Colbert are all but locked into the two starting safety positions. Don Jones brings special teams flexibility, but is returning from tearing his ACL last year in training camp. Chanceller James also tore his ACL last summer and seemed like he had a decent shot at a roster spot at the time. Harris tore his Achilles last summer before his final college season, but should be ready to go for training camp.

Tartt and Colbert could be very capable starters for the 49ers, but the team is short-handed behind them. That would explain why Reed is getting work at safety after spending his college career playing cornerback. The team will be looking to build his versatility. Harris and James seem more like thumper types than center field types. Jimmie Ward has free safety experience as well, and while he worked at cornerback during the offseason workout program, I would not be surprised at all if the “super-sub” role we’ve discussed involves more than just cornerback opportunity.

And that’s where this bubble watch gets interesting. Barring the team bringing back Eric Reid as a utility player, Jimmie Ward could be the key to the secondary depth chart. If the 49ers decide he is worth using as a reserve at four of the five nickel defense roles (all but strong safety), that offers a lot of flexibility. But if D.J. Reed can develop into the free safety role along with slot work, that too could provide the needed flexibility. It all comes down to who can prove themselves most capable of two or more roles.