There’s a slit, albeit a small one, on him being named QB this year. He is signed for this year, so him being here for longer depends on the Martz situation and whoever is the coach then (god forbid Nolan), among others. There is common agreement that he is not the QB of the future, but is a viable filler, not necessarily stopgag, for now especially since he knows the offense. There is some sentiment at NN about him, and in the 49er fanbase in general, but most of us feel that he is in fact doing an able job in the offense so far. Most of all, giving some optimism if any at the QB position in which we haven’t really had for a while.
For a quick scouting report, he has an arm that’s perfect for the Martzian offense. Quick slingin’ and accurate. What’s left is chemistry with the receivers, one which will come with more playing and practice time. He does force some balls which shouldn’t be thrown, and he misses some bad but it’s more of a communication issue. He’s also a playmaker. There’s been several times this season where someone like Smith would just take a sack, but JTO would scramble or force his way out of the sack and run for a medium gain or find a receiver for a medium-large gain. however, this has it’s negatives too. He has some plays where he holds the ball too long, where he should just throw it out, and either gets sacks or tries to scramble and gets caught from behind or fumbles. I think he’s learning this slowly though. Again, he also tries to force balls that just aren’t there, and this this is the (absurb) point that some of his opposers make for his head.

Although JTO has bounced around the league for numerous years, this is first time starting. So I’m certainly willing to cut him some slack on some of his mistakes. The offense as a whole is improved from last year and I think it’s a combination of Martz and O’Sullivan. JTO knows the offense from his days in Detroit, which gave him a leg up once he got a shot with the first team offense in training camp.

The bad news with all this is he’s a free agent after this year, so if he finishes off strong he could certainly walk. At the same time, if Martz can right the ship on offense the rest of the way, he too could end up somewhere else, possibly as a head coach. The problem for the 49ers is they really don’t have a guy of the future in the fold. I fully expect them to cut Alex Smith and whether or not they resign JTO, I see them drafting a QB in the early-middle rounds (so maybe rounds 2-4).

Scouting Report: Based on his running style, you wouldn’t call O’Sullivan a running QB. He has an awkward sort of gallop that’s rather ugly. He’s probably a scrambler in the mold of Brett Favre or John Elway as far as trying to use the run to make things happen if the pass protection breaks down. As my boy jtoj said, this creates problems in that he often times will wait to long before deciding to take off, at which point he’s sacked for a loss, or fumbles the ball. Part of that is to blame on a rather shoddy offensive line and part of that is on JTO’s desire to try and make something happen.

As far as his arm, O’Sullivan can certainly whip the ball down the field, but his accuracy leaves something to be desired. Sometimes it certainly is incorrect route-running, but I definitely accuracy is not a strong point for him. Of course, when Isaac Bruce (who obviously knows Martz’s routes like the back of his hand) is free and clear, JTO can get him the ball.

His biggest weakness has been the decision-making. Aside from the scrambling issue discussed above, he makes some pretty crappy passing decisions. He has a bad habit of staring down his receivers and completely overlooking safeties. He’s thrown every type of bad interception: twice in the red zone against New Orleans and once for a pick-6 against Philly. If things go as they’ve gone lately, I’d expect one of your safeties to get an easy INT. Of course, if O’Sullivan’s development takes a step forward he could just as well put up 300+ yards.

The problem is in the choice of the “Big Sub” defense. Choosing to use five defensive backs opens up the middle of the field for bruising running backs to just roll all over the defense. The other problem with that defense is that the 49ers defensive line isn’t all that good in creating pressure. They sacked Matt Cassel 5 times in Week 5, but aside from that he was never forced to throw on the run or knocked down much. If things go according to form, Eli Manning will have all sorts of time to throw the ball. The 49ers have talent in the secondary, but they can’t run around all day if the QB has too much time to find a taret.

As far as blowing the Eagles game, 49ers offense was equally to blame. On the first drive of the fourth quarter, the 49ers ended up punting from their own 3, giving the Eagles great field position. On the second drive, they went three and out and the Eagles started at midfield. On the third drive, JTO threw an INT that the Eagles returned to the SF 7. And on a later drive, JTO threw a pick-6.

I don’t think it was Eagles talent, so much as all around poor play. The Eagles are certainly a solid team, but the 49ers gave that game away with poor play and a piss-poor gameplan on both sides of the ball int the fourth.

I see the biggest problem as the Niners’ complete inability to get pressure on the quarterback. Except for against the Lions (who are the Lions, so I don’t even know if it counts), it happens without fail that the opposing team, when they have to drive down the field, find themselves facing no pass rush. As good as the individual corners on the Niners are, and I think they’re good even though Walt Harris seems to be slipping a bit, they can’t cover forever.

Against the Eagles, the offense completely failed in the fourth quarter. Fooch describes it well, I think.

I like that defense is when they blitz 2 of the DBs.

The only time TO really comes up is when we discuss out lack of receivers. I really didn’t like him in Philly but my venom towards him has mellowed in the last year or two. It’s become basic indifference I suppose. Once he turned on McNabb and the Eagles, 49ers fans were like, “Told you so.” Maybe he finally has the right type of QB in Dallas, or maybe he’s finally matured.

Martz gets the ball to his running backs, but the problem is that he seems to avoid the RBs like the plague late in the game, even when they’re leading. I think his problem is that he gets too cute with his play-calling and wants to show how smart he is. I’m baffled that a team up by 2 points would run three straight passes in the middle of the fourth quarter.

At the same time, I’m fine with Nolan staying out of the mix. When Martz came in, Nolan made it known he was stepping out of the offensive picture, and with an ego like Martz I think that’s best for all involved. I think if you try and tell Martz what to do it’s just going to create tension. I think Martz has to realize on his own what the problem is. Sort of like a 5-year old.

Ted Tollner is our QB coach. Martz is OC, but he acts as basically head coach of the offense. A lot of OCs get a lot of input from the head coach, but with the 49ers Nolan lets Martz handle just about everything with the offense.

I’m glad you enjoy it. I think it forces people to get a little more involved and allows for a little more creativity.

but once quick glance at Niners Nation shows that they don’t exactly think he’s the second coming of Bill Walsh

People are furious right now. Nolan means well, but he sometimes seems completely out of his element. He brought a better sense of discipline after Dennis Erickson, but his game management skills are pretty rough. He has issues with communication that leads to players getting thrown under the bus and Nolan not taking as much blame as he probably should. To get an idea of the general hostility, check out this FanPost:

http://www.ninersnation.com/2008/10/14/634928/mike-nolan-s-fatal-flaw-it

Even I’m for firing Nolan at the end of the year. And I am typically verrry slow to get to this kind of point (unless we’re talking about Bruce Bochy – wrong sport, sure – in which case it didn’t take long)

The more interaction, the better in my opinion. I’m always looking for new ways. With Bleeding Green Nation, we did 4 downs on offense and 4 downs on defense. With Revenge of the Birds (our Cardinals blog) we picked 8 team/individual matchups and each listed who we thought had the advantage and why. Anything and everything is good.

I also like the 5 questions. You know I try to probe a little. With this being a little bit of a short week, though, I figured I would let it go. Generally, I will do 5 questions with anyone who is willing.

Davis is certainly working his way to bust/workout warrior, but I think he deserves a little more time. When asked about Davis I point to the rather high expectations versus the actual production. He finished high among NFC tight ends in receptions and receiving yards last season. The problem is that expectations are for him to be the next Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez.

This past weekend, he got a lot of short, quick passes that did not require the longer precision routes. Because of his size and speed he turned one pass into a 57 yard gain. My biggest problem with the use of Vernon Davis is that I wished they threw more screens and quick passes to him. Once he gets the ball in his hand he’s a beast to take down. On longer routes he struggles making the catches. While that’s disappointing, why not play to his strengths, which are prodigious?