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Posted: Friday August 23, 2002 4:15 PM
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| Sports Illustrated's Don Banks tackles three questions from 49ers camp:
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How will first-round cornerback Mike Rumph aid the 49ers' defense in its attempt to match up with the Rams' vaunted passing game?
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Mike Rumph
Brian Bahr/Getty Images |
Rumph, the 27th overall pick, adds another effective cover man to the San Francisco secondary, which gives the 49ers more options when the Rams and other teams go to those widely popular three- and four-receiver sets. San Francisco doesn't expect Rumph to challenge third-year veteran Jason Webster for his starting right cornerback job this year. But that competition really doesn't matter, because the 49ers drafted Rumph to play the third-corner role, which they figure will result in him being on the field for about 500 snaps this season -- more than 30 per game.
Here's what San Francisco envisions: In obvious passing situations, Rumph will enter and play right corner, his natural position, bumping Webster inside to the nickelback role, where he'll face off against a slot receiver. Webster, who's strong, quick and has good anticipation, is well-suited for playing inside. That leaves Rumph in his best position, on the right side, where the mental load is easier on a rookie and where he can be given safety help if need be.
Rumph is most effective when he's up in a receiver's face in press coverage, using his long arms and 6-foot-2, 205-pound physicality. If he can get his hands on his opponent in bump-and-run, he'll often drive a receiver out of bounds. But Rumph has struggled so far when he's playing off a receiver. That's his weakness right now, because his long legs inhibit his change of direction in and out of cuts. Until he improves that part of his game in practice, expect to see Rumph playing to his strengths with press coverage.
The 49ers also believe they'll match up better with the Rams now that they've added veteran free safety Tony Parrish, who replaced the departed Lance Schulters. Defensive coordinator Jim Mora is convinced that Parrish is fast enough to cover a wideout 1-on-1 for short parts of a game, and has the former Bear working as the team's dime back, along with reserve corner Rashad Holman.
The keys to how effective the 49ers' nickel package is against the Rams, Mora said, will be threefold:
First off, outside linebacker Jamie Winborn, a second-round pick in 2001, is the man who draws the dangerous Marshall Faulk assignment. Winborn is fast enough to stay with Faulk downfield -- as much as that's ever possible -- and also won't hurt the 49ers in run defense. If he can handle that role decently, and starting cornerbacks Webster and Ahmed Plummer do a good job against two of the Rams' top receivers, San Francisco's specialty package has a fighting chance to slow the Greatest Show on Turf.
"I'm not stupid enough to stand here and say, 'Oh, we got 'em,'"' said Mora of the Rams, who have beaten San Francisco six consecutive times. "I can't say yet if we've significantly closed the gap. You hope that you have. But the games against them will tell us that."
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What's the surest sign that it's football season in San Francisco?
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J. J. Stokes
Tom Hauck/Allsport |
That's easy. When you hear a 49ers receiver complaining about an offensive game plan that doesn't feature him enough. The surprise, of course, is that it wasn't Terrell Owens this time.
This week, the team's other starting receiver, J.J. Stokes, made it clear that he'll campaign for more passes in 2002. "Catching 54 balls last year, in my opinion, is definitely not enough touches," Stokes said. "This year I'm going to be fighting my way to get balls. It's going to be a daily fight."
Stokes better be prepared to take a number and wait in line. The 49ers are not going to de-emphasis Owens -- possibly the game's most potent weapon at his position -- in order to jack up Stokes' reception totals. Owens already has made it clear that he has his sights set this year on breaking Jerry Rice's 1995 NFL record of 1,848 receiving yards.
Then there's 1,200-yard rusher Garrison Hearst and promising second-year running back Kevan Barlow (759 yards of combined rushing and receiving as a rookie) to get the ball, too. Anybody think offensive coordinator Greg Knapp's got a cushy job?
Although Stokes has been an obvious underachiever since being selected in 1995's first round out of UCLA -- his career year was in 1998, when he had 63 catches for 770 yards and eight touchdowns -- he has turned into an important third-down threat playing opposite Owens, who draws all kinds of coverage in those situations. Over the course of the past two seasons, 66 of Stokes' 84 receptions have produced either first downs or touchdowns.
Stokes may view that as a niche role, but with the 49ers loaded on offense, it may be the only one he can continue to call his own.
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Speaking of Owens, what are the odds of him and head coach Steve Mariucci keeping things patched up all season?
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Steve Mariucci
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
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Last we checked, it's off the board in Vegas, which is never a good sign.
Yes, Owens is saying all the right things right now. He's being careful with his words, diplomatic with tough questions, and trying hard to be the consummate team guy. But, hey, it's August. Check back in October, once the 49ers have lost a meaningful game or two and Owens' numbers suffer.
Not that Mariucci's celebrated trip to Owens' home in Atlanta this offseason wasn't a good idea. It was. Somebody needed to make the first move to defuse what had become a distracting two-year feud between San Francisco's most irreplaceable player and its head coach. Owens simply could not be sacrificed without hurting the franchise.
It's just that, well, the skeptics among us would point out that new-found maturity isn't usually something one acquires in a bulk shipment. The test of Owens' new attitude -- and Mariucci's new acceptance of his mercurial star -- will only come once things aren't going their way. When the second honeymoon is over and their pride or sense of autonomy has been infringed upon.
That's when we'll know for sure if Steve and T.O. are really going to be OK. Until then, in terms of judgement, put me down for the kind of play that Owens is rarely responsible for: incomplete.
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