Trial and error tend to weed out any attempted future illogical trials.
Think you don’t need a taller ladder to clean the gutters? That hospital bill might make you bite the bullet on an extra 10 feet of aluminum comfort.
It’s human nature, and humans are inherently dumb before they are smart. Evolution keeps its course, and just like this cycle of the human condition, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan kept the wheel turning.
Not every trial was an error; they hit on a couple of good pieces for the franchise. But do not forget about who was responsible for drafting Joe Williams, Reuben Foster, CJ Beathard and Solomon Thomas. Not to mention sitting on their hands when it came to acquiring the services of a free agent class that seemed to largely be crushing on San Francisco.
There are loads of free agents available that seem like they would be great additions to the club.
Last season, Jimmy Garropolo and Jerick McKinnon got injured, which is unavoidable, but it seemed like players weren’t getting open or weren’t catching the ball, putting added pressure on whichever of the several quarterbacks that were used last season to force the ball down the field.
It’s not vindication for what these quarterbacks did. However, circumstances might have been different if the man meant to pass the football to the playmakers around him had more playmakers around him to dump the ball off to.
As a result, these trials turned to errors quickly and resulted in a 4-12 season, another losing record. Foster got rightfully cut. A third-round quarterback in Beathard got supplanted by a promising young undrafted quarterback in Nick Mullens. Williams got released and has yet to get another shot. Thomas continued to play the edge on base downs, eventually being limited to just five snaps per game.
Thomas was a first-round pick, but by no means does that allow you to avoid developing him. Towards the end of the season, when Shanahan finally admitted that the season was a tryout for 2020, everyone finally started to see the Solomon Thomas from Stanford, not the one from the 49ers.
So what’s the silver lining in this sea of rocky currents?
The 49ers know exactly why they suck.
Get edge presence; get playmakers on offense; get better cornerbacks; acquire another linebacker. There’s enough to play the NFC champion Rams, the red-hot Seahawks, and the troublesome Cardinals.
Stop sucking. Start addressing why you suck. It is obvious to the public, and the diplomatic “due diligence” only holds worth if it yields wins. Cultures are established by the practice of those cultures giving people what they want, and you play the game of football to win the game of football.
The shopping list is written in bold font with red pen markings highlighting the outside of the words. Complete it, and you will win football games. Knowing why you suck is the result of a lot of trial and error, and the 49ers have had their fair share of that.
