NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Senior writer jclombardi sums up 49ers scouting report & wide receivers profile.

49ers scouting report: Run offense: The 49ers rank No. 31 in the NFL in scoring, so the loss of their best offensive player, halfback Frank Gore, to a season-ending hip injury Monday night is huge. Gore ranks second in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage (1,305) and No. 11 in rushing (853 yards, 4.2 yards a carry). Gore's primary replacement is Brian Westbrook. He showed his running talent as Gore's replacement against Arizona by gaining 136 yards on 23 carries, but he won't hold up physically under that kind of work load. Anthony Dixon will share carries and is averaging 3.0 yards on 24 rushes. Pass offense: QB Troy Smith replaced injured Alex Smith and has flashed intriguing skills, as he is an excellent athlete and natural leader. The 49ers are 3-1 in his four starts. OC Johnson uses Smith on rollouts and bootlegs as much as possible, and he's calling conservative games to help protect a green player who had only two starts and threw but 48 passes coming into this season. Smith's accuracy is shaky. Vernon Davis is an elite tight end (40 catches, 13.7-yard average) who can score from anywhere on the field. Michael Crabtree must be accounted for (35 catches, 13.4-yard average, five touchdowns). Run defense: The 49ers run 3-4 scheme and rank No. 11 in yards allowed and are tied for No. 10 in points. They have the best inside linebacker in Patrick Willis who plays tough between the tackles and is explosive enough to make plays sideline to sideline. A scout said, "They're very active (in the front seven), they're very strong. They play well together, they've got good team speed, they're good on the edge, they don't do things to beat themselves." NT Franklin is on the small side but is a key player for a defense that ranks No. 8 in rushing yards allowed and No. 5 in yards allowed per carry. Pass defense: There's no pass rusher offenses have to account, but the 49ers rank an OK No. 12 in sacks percentage. DL Justin Smith (five sacks) gets good pressure from the inside and Willis (five sacks) blitzes well up the middle. The 49ers have an experienced and solid pair of starting cornerbacks in Nate Clements and Shawntae Spencer on a defense that ranks No. 16 in passing yards allowed and No. 19 in yards allowed per catch. Special teams: Kicker Nedney is having an excellent year. Punter Andy Lee is a boomer. Ted Ginn Jr. contributes next to nothing as a receiver but is an OK return man.

Getting their turn in Packers receiving line: Whether Donald Driver’s thigh injury is bothering him more than he’s letting on or whether the inevitable erosion of athletic skills has begun at age 35, the Green Bay Packers’ passing attack hasn’t missed a beat. Driver hasn’t been the same dynamic receiver who posted his sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season last year, but No. 3 receiver James Jones and No. 4 Jordy Nelson have picked up the slack. In the five games since Driver initially hurt his thigh Oct. 17 against Miami, Jones has 20 receptions for 325 yards and two touchdowns, and Nelson has 21 catches for 203 yards and one touchdown. ”I talked a lot in training camp about how our (Nos.) 3 and 4 would be 1s and 2s in most places,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “That’s a gift that we have, having guys like Jordy Nelson and James Jones.” It’s a gift that keeps giving. Rodgers’ confidence in the 6-foot-1, 208-pound Jones and the 6-3, 217-pound Nelson – and even in No. 5 Brett Swain – is one reason the Packers’ four- and five-receiver sets have been so productive.

Christmas is coming, and if there’s one thing that Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams has on his list for his family and friends, it’s the new VIZIO 7" Portable TV. Watch this interview SportsGabNetwork editor Matt Loede does with Williams, as they talk about the season, the injury, and Williams’ new TV!

VIZIO 7" Portable TV – get it now at a retail store near you!

· The VIZIO 7" Portable TV is the perfect item to take on the road!
· Allows me to keep up with all the latest news and my favorite programs from almost anywhere.
· Doubles as a digital photo frame
· Able to hook up game consoles to the unit. Play my PS3, XBOX 360, etc.
· No subscription required (as it picks up local ATSC and NTSC signals)

It seemed like a novel idea. Leslie Frazier chose not to abandon the running game in the first quarter. This team surely needs to give the ball to Adrian Peterson at least 25 – 20 times. But if he can't go, why not give the ball to Toby Gerhart and let him pound away at it ? That is just what Frazier did against the Redskins, and the kid looked pretty good. He runs with such force with a total lack of abandon. I am a bit concerned about him putting the ball on the turf though.

Another good idea who's time has come, would be to let Favre audible out when he sees a miss match. This is something he has not been allowed to do under Brad Childress since their famed confrontation last season. Because Childress was a bit of a control freak, he had a hard time letting go of control enough to let Favre audible very much. Now I'm not saying he should be given complete free reign, but there have been numerous occasions when it should be obvious to a good field general that a certain play simply will not work.

Like when a team packs eight men in the box to stop Peterson and it's clear that there are only 2 cornerbacks and 1 safety covering 2 wideouts plus a tight end but the play calls for an off tackle run. This is the time for an audible, and after twenty years, I have every faith that Favre knows when to pull the trigger. So, I for one would really like to see some of the controls taken off when the numbers are in our favor. After all, offense is really nothing more then putting your best players in favorable situations so that the odds dictate success.

Another thing I would like to see is for the team to get Percy Harvin involved early including a few plays at running back and even a Wildcat or two.

But the biggest thing I want to see on Sunday, is a little imagination on offense. Last week was a step in the right direction, but at some point, let the athletes air it out ! To do that, means that the offensive line needs to give Favre more then 2.4 seconds to throw. If the line would find a way to do that, then a lot of the offensive woes would take care of themselves. That, …… and a few less Favre panic throws.

Defensively, it would be exponentially favorable for the feared defensive line to actually act fearsome. How about a little pressure from the bookends Jared Allen and Ray Edwards. Also a little push up the middle from the Williams boys would also help. It has been getting a bit better week to week, but this SHOULD be a dominant front four. It would be awesome if they'd play like it.

And would it be asking too much to create more turnovers then we give ? Just asking !
So, what should we expect on Sunday ? More of the same, or least I hope so. It was nice to win a game. But really, the main reason was because the offense didn't turn the ball over, for the first time all season. Still, we didn't put up many points, and the defense gave us good field position on several occasions.

Last week, the Leslie Frazier era was rung in properly. The effort was much better and the team played as a team moving ahead instead of backwards.

The hard luck Buffalo Bills come to Minnesota on Sunday. Hopefully we will get a team demoralized by the Steelers last week. They continue to fight hard despite several last second ( Literally) losses. They have been on the short end of 3 overtime losses. Expect the Vikings to have their hands full in this one.

My guess is the team shows up. The Bills have issues on the O-line so I say Jared Allen has a big game, Chad Greenway makes plays all over the field, and Peterson ( IF he plays ) hit's the holes created by a motivated offensive line hard and just keeps pounding. If Favre has time, and can manage to not make any glaring mistakes. The defense bails the team out again, as the Offense continues to have trouble in the red zone. However, …Longwell adds 3 field goals and the Vikings win.

Minnesota – 19

Buffalo – 13

SO BE IT !!!

The Texans today out safety Torri Williams on injured reseve with a hamstring injury and promoted rookie offensive guard Shelley Smith from the practice squad to the active roster. Williams, 24, is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound rookie from Purdue.

Smith, 23, is a 6-foot-4, 299-pound rookie from Colorado State who was drafted by the Texans in the sixth round of this spring’s draft. Smith received the standard base salaries of $320,000, $405,000, $490,000 and $575,000 as well as a signing bonus of roughly $104,000 and a fourth-year escalator clause earlier this year, according to a league source.

Smith started 31 games for Colorado State and was named All-Mountain West Conference over the past two seasons.

Could Jon Gruden be out of the both in 2011 and on the sidelines at The University of Miami? The Hurricanes seem to think so, as UM athletic director Kirby Hocutt traveled to Tampa to meet with Gruden, a meeting expected to take place today.

The Miami Herald reports that Hocutt went there to see just how interested Gruden is, and if he can be talked out of the Monday night booth with ESPN and back on the sidelines.

Gruden said at first he was not interested in the UM job, but the report today says that Gruden has begun to show some interest and suggested to Hocutt he is considering the job.

The meeting today could go a long way in seeing just how interested – or not – Gruden may be in the position. Two members of UM’s Board of Trustees said Gruden is UM’s top choice and are hopeful he will be receptive.

Gruden could use the interest to drive up interest in possibly getting an NFL coaching spot offered to him this offseason.

UM has put together a list of other candidates that it has interest in if Gruden says no. That list includes Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh, Connecticut’s Randy Edsall, Utah’s Kyle Whittingham and Arizona’s Mike Stoops, plus at least two others names.

The Lions have had terrible luck with the QB spot, losing Matthew Stafford for most of the season with injury, and now it appears that Shaun Hill is headed down the same road.

Hill broke his index finger on his right hand, and reports say that he could be done for the season. Lions coach Jim Schwartz will not address the issue till after Wednesday’s practice.

“I’m really not going to comment on anything as far as that,” he said. “Tuesday is an extra day for us. With the Bears not practicing today it doesn’t make any sense for us to talk about it ourselves. It’s not so much holding anything back it’s just a competitive thing with Chicago not practicing today and no sense giving them a jump on anything.”

It appears that Drew Stanton could be the answer at QB this week for the club, as took all the reps with the first-team offense.

With Hill down, the team worked out two quarterbacks Monday, J.T. O’Sullivan and Josh McCown.