liny195
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The 49ers took a calculated risk when they drafted
« on: January 31st, 2019, 2:04pm »
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Foster in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. The Alabama linebacker was a consensus top-five talent tarnished by red flags of both character and injury concerns. Foster was sent home from the NFL Combine after an altercation with medical staff Quarterback Nick Mullens Jersey , and the league was notified later that he¡¯d failed a drug test due a diluted sample. There were also concerns over his shoulder that required surgery following his senior season to repair labrum and rotator cuff damage.General manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan were willing to overlook his faults, trading back into the first round to draft Foster after a surprising slide to pick No. 31. Fast-forward to midway through his sophomore season and the 49ers are already dealing with the consequences of drafting Foster.The 49ers linebacker¡¯s turbulent offseason is well-documented, with marijuana and a weapons possession charges resulting in a two-game suspension for violating both the personal conduct and substance abuse policies. He also went to court for a felony domestic violence charge that was eventually dropped.Now, as the negative headlines begin to fade, the shoulder injury that many felt made Foster a huge draft question mark is returning to haunt him.¡°Another source predicted that Foster would not make it through his rookie season and that the linebacker¡¯s shoulder could give out on any hit,¡± ESPN¡¯s Adam Schefter reported following the draft. ¡°The 49ers¡¯ doctors, however, are comfortable with the condition of Foster¡¯s shoulder and hopeful it will hold up, though they understand there could be a risk, according to sources.¡±There¡¯s no way of knowing if Foster¡¯s shoulder has truly given out, but it¡¯s unquestionably hindering his play. Oscar of the Better Rivals podcast discovered a fascinating clip from the 49ers¡¯ Week 5 contest against the Arizona Cardinals. Foster, who¡¯s on the left side of the second-level, pursues running back David Johnson with his right arm limp at his side, using only his left arm to drag Johnson to the turf.Foster was officially diagnosed with a shoulder injury following that Week 5 contest against the Cardinals and has been on the injury report ever since. Foster was listed as a limited participant for two practices leading up the 49ers¡¯ Week 6 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. He¡¯s been a full participant in every practice since.Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was asked about Foster¡¯s ailing shoulder while meeting with the media Thursday:When asked if he¡¯d rather Foster take himself out of the game than play with one arm, Saleh replied, ¡°Sometimes.¡±The plummet for Foster has been fast and steep. He finished his rookie season as one of Pro Football Focus¡¯s top linebackers, receiving an 81.2 grade, good for 9th in the NFL. Foster¡¯s grade through the first seven games of 2018? 44.3 Rookie Nick Mullens Jersey , ranking 76th out of 85 qualifying linebackers. From top-10 to bottom-10 in less than half a season.PFF¡¯s Ben Linsey wrote an interesting article on Foster¡¯s fall from grace in which he dropped this unfortunate statistic:Foster¡¯s 12 missed tackles in 2018 ranks him second among all defenders in the NFL, despite missing the first two games of the season. He hasn¡¯t faired any better In pass coverage, allowing 20 completions on 27 targets for 228 yards, two touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 123.7. ¡°All I can do is just fight for my team, fight for myself,¡± Foster said Thursday, per Sacramento Bee¡¯s Chris Biderman. ¡°This is a game that I love. I¡¯m not going to let a shoulder hold me back. I¡¯m going to rehab it and listen to the coaches and listen to the trainers and see what I need to do to maintain my body and see what¡¯s best for the team.¡±Foster and the 49ers now prepare to face the Cardinals for the second time in four weeks, this time on the road in Arizona¡¯s State Farm Stadium. Perhaps the same opponent that brought Foster¡¯s injured shoulder into the spotlight will provide the spark that ignites Foster¡¯s turnaround toward the dominant form the 49ers were betting on as a rookie. It won¡¯t be cheap, but it will be worth every penny.Yes, the NFL should buy permanent peace with quarterback Colin Kaepernick. They should do it in order to end once and for all the debate about whether Kaepernick should have a job. They should do it in order to block a potential conclusion that the league colluded to keep Kaepernick unemployed. They should do it in order to avoid a My Cousin Vinny/Seinfeld finale-style trial, that will feature a parade of billionaires and multimillionaires who inevitably will contradict each other and themselves as they occupy the rare position of having to submit to authority other than their own.They should do it in order to ensure that none of the testimony, text messages, emails, or other materials created by the litigation will ever see the light of day.All of that can be done, if the NFL is willing to write a check big enough to get Kaepernick to agree to a deal. It would be not only a settlement of his collusion claim but also a full and final divorce between employer and employee, coupled with a broad and wide-ranging commitment to never talk about the collusion case, to never share any of the evidence obtained during the process with outsiders, and to never disparage the NFL or any of its teams.That¡¯s a big part of what the league would be paying for: Silence. And to ensure that there would be no violation Nick Mullens Jersey , the league could divide the compensation package into annual payments from an escrow account, with the ability to block those payments if Kaepernick violates any of the terms of the settlement. If Kaepernick ever blabs, then the payments would stop.Jason La Canfora of CBS recently reported that efforts to negotiate a settlement broke down, with the league and the NFL Players Association now planning for a full-blown collusion hearing, with two weeks in early 2019 eventually set aside for a real-life drama that unfortunately won¡¯t happen in an open and public setting.Settlement talks can resume at any time, and it¡¯s often the impending commencement of a trial that will prompt an agreement on the proverbial (or literal) courthouse steps. But if the lawyers are too caught up in their own convictions to ever be objective when it comes to assessing the strengths of the opposition¡¯s case, a middle ground can never be found ¡ª and one side will end up being stunned by the final result, if/when the arbitrator decides that the opponent¡¯s presentation of the evidence and its application to the appropriate legal statements makes more sense.For the NFL, the financial and P.R. consequences would be potentially too significant to justify the risk. At a time when the anthem controversy has almost entirely subsided (surely, some sort of a deal was struck between 345 Park and 1600 Pennsylvania to get a certain someone to quit tweeting about the issue), why pull the topic back to the front burner and turn up the heat? Even if the NFL wins, there will be dribs and drabs of documents and testimony that eventually land in the media, and the NFL will be fighting the battle to not look bad for weeks if not months to come.The NFL often receives criticism for not being proactive. This case presents an ideal opportunity to identify a problem, creatively predict how it could mushroom into a much bigger mess, and come up with a way to keep it all from blowing up in the league¡¯s face.
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