00:00What are you worried about when you look at this roster as we go forward?
00:04And putting health aside, other than the guys who are already hurt,
00:07I'm worried about Mike Evans.
00:09And I don't think that if you don't have Mike Evans again,
00:12and if the Achilles flares up or if it blows out and you don't have Mike Evans,
00:17well, that to me would be worry number one,
00:19because as much as I think Keenan Allen is better than the majority of people
00:23actually think, he is not a wide receiver one boundary X guy
00:28who can take over a game in moments and lift you to where you need to be lifted.
00:32So Keenan Allen is a good, solid wide receiver three,
00:36and Debo, I guess, is your two, but he's not really, to me, a legit two.
00:40You don't throw the ball a ton to your receiver, so it's not a great need,
00:43but you do need to have that dude, and that's who Mike Evans is.
00:48So to me, the number one concern is Mike Evans.
00:52Interesting.
00:53Okay.
00:54I share everybody's love for Mike Evans.
00:57I don't know any 49er fan that is not like, Mike Evans, Mike Evans.
01:01But let me share first my biggest concern,
01:04and then I want to talk about what you just said a little bit,
01:08because I think this is a very interesting dynamic,
01:11and 49er fans would love to see where you're at on this,
01:13because to me what you just said really bucks tradition in a number of ways.
01:19But I will say if we're going to circle one player and worry about their health,
01:24for me it's Nick Bosa, because this team bases everything it does defensively on its pass rush.
01:33We know that when Nick Bosa is not there, the pass rush gets worse.
01:36We know that it's better this year than it was last year.
01:39But I think that this team needs to go get the quarterback to be a really good defense.
01:44When I look at both sides of the ball right now,
01:46the offense is the one I am more comfortable with than the defense.
01:49I firmly believe that.
01:51So if there's an injured player or someone who has dealt with injury
01:55that concerns me going forward,
01:57I will actually circle Nick Bosa more so than Mike Evans.
02:01And it leads to the response I have for you.
02:03So you and I have had so many conversations about this,
02:06and maybe this is a one-off,
02:08but you and I, I don't want to speak for you,
02:11but I think we don't love what's happened to, for example,
02:13wide receiver contracts, correct?
02:16Yeah, I think that they've gotten to be a little out of control.
02:19And in general, if you pay a guy a ton of money
02:22and you don't have a really good quarterback, it's a waste of money.
02:24Or you pay a guy a ton of money and he gets hurt,
02:27and then he goes 100 miles an hour past your stadium,
02:30he does Instagram videos, and the rest is ongoing history.
02:33Exactly.
02:34So, look, right now at the top of the wide receiver chart in the NFL
02:41is actually a guy who won the Super Bowl last year.
02:45And so, I'm not going to say, what I'm about to say does not cover,
02:48it's not all-encompassing.
02:50It's not every scenario.
02:52Jackson Smith and Jigba, he feels worth it to me.
02:56$42 million a year,
02:58and the Seahawks don't throw the ball to anybody else.
03:01So I get that.
03:03Next is Jamar Chase.
03:06They can't make the playoffs.
03:08After that, it's Drake London.
03:09They play in a division where nobody should go to the playoffs.
03:13After that, it's Zay Flowers.
03:15They're on their 18th quarterback,
03:18and Zay Flowers is best known for fumbling in the AFC Championship game,
03:22never been to a Super Bowl.
03:24Next after that is Justin Jefferson.
03:26He leads the league in the gas face this year.
03:29All he does is sit over on the sideline
03:32and look completely crushed by what's happening at his quarterback spot.
03:38C.D. Lamb, are you kidding me?
03:39The Dallas Cowboys, a perennial disappointment.
03:45Next is D.K. Metcalf.
03:47Has been traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers
03:49and plays with a quarterback who is long past his 40th birthday.
03:52After that, it's Garrett Wilson.
03:54We've talked enough about him around here,
03:56but he plays for a terrible team.
03:57After that, it's A.J. Brown.
03:59He was traded in the offseason.
04:01I don't know if his current team wishes they could undo that trade.
04:05After that, it's Chris Alave.
04:07Go ahead and see what I already said about Drake London.
04:10Then it's Amon Ross.
04:11Then it's Brandon.
04:12You get the idea.
04:15I don't know how this pertains, though, to Mike Evans.
04:17I'll explain.
04:18Okay.
04:19Where in the NFL does wide receiver immediately equal win it all?
04:27Third down.
04:28It's very rare.
04:29Third down.
04:30And again, I already said, maybe Mike Evans is a one-off,
04:33but I'll add to the point that I just made that we're talking about the 49ers.
04:37Right.
04:37And this very rarely is a drink that gets stirred by the wide receiver.
04:45And even without him the last two weeks.
04:47Did the offense look to you like they couldn't move the ball?
04:50At times.
04:51At times.
04:52Not against the Raiders.
04:53And they probably won't struggle against the Cowboys.
04:55I want him.
04:56I want him bad.
04:57I think he's a big deal.
04:59Do I think that the 49ers are dead without him?
05:02I don't.
05:02I do.
05:03Okay.
05:03He has 27 catches.
05:0525 of them have gone for a first or a touch down.
05:09And so without him, you don't really have that guy.
05:12Debo Samuel is a great football player.
05:15He doesn't run the same level of routes.
05:17Brock Purdy has shown in the brief time he's had Mike Evans that if it's a big spot, he looks
05:22Mike's way.
05:23And Mike tends to catch the ball when it's thrown his way.
05:26And Jordan Watkins, tons of upside.
05:28Jacob Cowling, we'd rather not throw you the ball on and on.
05:31Christian Kirk, blah, blah, blah.
05:33Your two drafted guys recently can't get on the field.
05:35Mike Evans represents the boundary X that you need.
05:39He represents a guy who is absolutely a go-to.
05:43Right now, your go-to players are Christian McCaffrey, obviously.
05:46George Kittle, when you can get him the ball, he's a tight end.
05:49And he's north of 30 now, or just about 30, and you've got Mike Evans.
05:54So if you don't have Evans, now you've got McCaffrey and Kittle.
05:57And the defense has an easier time in the big spots on third down defending you.
06:02And I've been a guy who said all along that the Niners are not wide receiver dependent.
06:06But they are now to the extent that this guy is a huge, clutch, Hall of Fame caliber player.
06:12I'm not going to fight you on it.
06:14He's a big deal.
06:15And I think every Niner fan, I mean, he is right up there in terms of, like, the acquired players
06:22in this city
06:23who just snap immediately fit and are immediately loved.
06:29Christian McCaffrey, Hunter Pence, Trent Williams.
06:33I don't know.
06:34Maybe you could throw Jimmy Butler in there.
06:36There was a time.
06:37Kevin Durant, et cetera.
06:38You get the idea.
06:39Players that are acquired through either trade or free agency.
06:45And in a short period of time, you're like, oh, like, love, love, love, love, love, love.
06:50So I'm with you.
06:51I really am.
06:54And I'm not telling any Niner fan to not be worried about the Mike Evans situation.
06:58The word Achilles sends shivers up the spine.
07:01I get all that.
07:03But I stand firm that largely football is not based on wide receivers.
07:11And it's why I don't usually think that $35 and $37 and $40 million contracts for wide receivers,
07:20it's usually not money well spent.
07:23I get it.
07:24They're fancy.
07:24They're fantasy players.
07:26They're jersey sellers.
07:27They're big names.
07:29All of that.
07:30Like, did the Cowboys regret CeeDee Lamb?
07:32I don't think they regret CeeDee Lamb.
07:34He's wonderful.
07:35But what has it led to?
07:36Do you know what I mean?
07:37So that's all.
07:38Like, yes, I'm going to agree with the concept of what you're saying about Mike Evans.
07:44But I feel like the 49ers can win a lot of football games, even if he is missing time here
07:49and there.
07:49They can win a lot of football games.
07:50I'm not saying that they can't go out and go 13-4 if he doesn't play again.
07:54I'm just saying if you get into the big spots, in the big games, in the big month, which is
07:59January,
07:59and it might even be February, we've seen Super Bowls in the past where Emmanuel Sanders ran a deep nine
08:06route.
08:07It was a post, whatever the route was, and he was unable to catch the ball.
08:12And you've had a couple of different spots where you didn't have the playmakers to make the plays.
08:18And I look at this team, and they are a bend but don't break defense.
08:22Nick Bosa, I don't think that he would be as big a loss because I don't think that he's going
08:26to be Nick Bosa this year.
08:27And he may not be ever again with all the injuries.
08:30I mean, he's not one game in.
08:33You could say that about Mike, too.
08:34Yeah, but Mike has already made, like, really eye-popping, big-time plays.
08:38And Nick Bosa's made a couple of plays, and then he got hurt warming up.
08:42I mean, historically, Nick Bosa has been a linchpin for the 49er defense.
