Last April the 49ers thought they picked a great set of players but it didn’t show in 2009.  WR Michael Crabtree out of Texas Tech was the Niners’ first round pick (#10 overall).  He held out the first five games before quickly moving into the starting line-up with mixed results.  He played in 11 games for the Niners and he caught 48 passes for 625 yards (13.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  His toughness was questioned on more that one occasion as he sometimes had a case of alligator arms.  If he can just man up he will be a good WR in the NFL.  Glen Coffee was selected in the third round (#74 overall) by the Niners out of Alabama.  He served as Frank Gore’s back-up in 2009 but he didn’t look too good.  He played in 14 games for the Niners last season and he carried the ball 83 times for 226 yards (2.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Coffee also caught 11 passes for 76 yards (6.9 avg) and he returned 3 kickoffs for 42 yards (14.0 avg) last year.  He will likely have to show a lot of improvement just to make the Niners next season.  5th rounder (#146 overall) Scott McKillop was a solid special teams player for the Niners last season.  The inside linebacker played in all 16 games for the 49ers last season making 19 tackles.  QB Nate Davis out of Ball State was selected in the 5th round (#171) by the 49ers.  He was a longshot to make the team but he made enough progress during the pre-season and training camp to stick all year with them.  He will be the #3 QB for the Niners again next season.  TE Bear Pascoe was picked in the 6th round (#184 overall) out of Fresno State.  He didn’t play a down with the 49ers but he did played in 4 games with the New York Giants catching 1 pass for 9 yards.  Free safety Curtis Taylor was selected in the 7th round (#219 overall) out of LSU and he played in 7 games making 4 tackles for the 49ers.  DT Ricky Jean-Francois was the Niners’ final pick last April (7th round, #244).  He played in 2 games without making any tackles.

GRADE FOR 2009:  D+

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C-

The 49ers really like their QB situation right now.  25-year old Alex Smith finally stepped up and showed what he could do in 2009.  He played in 11 games for the Niners this season and he completed 225 of 372 passes (60.5%) for 2,350 yards with 18 TD passes and 12 INTs (81.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 24 times for 51 yards (2.1 ypc) this year.  Smith has now played in 43 games in his career with the 49ers and he has completed 660 of 1,172 passes (56.3%) for 7,029 yards with 37 TD passes and 43 INTs (69.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 111 times for 390 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career so far.  The 49ers hope that Smith will keep up the good work in 2010.

29-year old Shaun Hill started 2009 as the starting QB for the Niners before getting benched for Smith.  Hill played in 6 games for the Niners this season and he completed 87 of 155 passes (56.1%) for 943 yards with 5 TD passes and 2 INTs (79.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 8 times for 70 yards (8.8 ypc) this year.  Hill has now played in 19 games in his NFL career and he has completed 322 of 522 passes (61.7%) for 3,490 yards with 23 TD passes and 11 INTs (87.3 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 46 times for 197 yards (4.3 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  The Niners like having Hill around as the back-up because of his experience.

The 49ers dominated the Rams plain and simple yesterday.  Alex Smith had a solid game for the Niners yesterday completing 17 of 28 passes for 222 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Frank Gore was super for the Niners with 23 carries for 107 yards (4.7 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 2 passes for 25 yards (12.5 avg).  Fullback Moran Norris got rewarded for his blocking with 3 carries for 5 yards (1.7 ypc) with a TD.  Vernon Davis led the way for the passing game with 6 grabs for 89 yards (14.8 avg) with a TD grab.  Rookie WR Michael Crabtree pitched in with 3 grabs for 58 yards.  The Niners finished up with 329 total yards on offense (125 rushing, 204 passing) in this game as they held onto the ball for 33:08 yesterday.

DE Justin Smith led the way for the Niners in this game with a superhuman effort.  He finished up with 8 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks and he hit the Rams’ QBs 4 times!  This was a solid team effort on D for the Niners who sacked Rams’ QBs a stunning 8 times.  The Rams finished up with only 109 total yards in this game (87 rushing, 22 passing).  The Niners finished the season with a 8-8 record good for 2nd place in the NFC West.

The 49ers can get to 8-8 with a win tomorrow against a Rams team that they battered 35-0 in San Francisco earlier this season.  The 49ers will probably try to run a balanced offense tomorrow with Frank Gore running and Alex Smith throwing.  Gore should have success running against a Niners’ D that is allowing 138.4 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry this season.  The Rams don’t have much of a pass rush so Alex Smith should have more than enough time to get the ball to Vernon Davis, Josh Morgan and Michael Crabtree against a Rams’ D allowing 237.3 yards passing per game.

The 49ers’ D will likely be aggressive against the Rams and gang up on Steven Jackson if he’s healthy enough to play tomorrow.  Rookie QB Keith Null will likely be starting against the Niners tomorrow so expect them to get a couple pick-offs in this game. 

PREDICTION:  49ERS 27, RAMS 7

The 49ers have signed 29-year old kicker Shane Andrus to handle the place kicking duties on Sunday.  Ricky Schmitt hurt his groin in practice this week and he will be unavailable tomorrow against the Rams.  Andrus played in 3 games earlier this season for the Buccaneers and he was 0 for 1 on field goals and 6 of 6 on extra points.