Steve Young was a tremendous quarterback during his time in San Francisco, and while he doesn’t maintain an official relationship with the team, it is certain that his opinions carry some weight with the 49ers organization.

That said, San Fran may want to ignore Young’s latest comments, as they push for the team to trade away their lone superstar, in RB Frank Gore, if they’re going to stick with the spread offense in the future. Young claims Gore isn’t a good fit in that type of offense, and the 49ers would be better served in finding a runner that’s more in the mold of Colts RB Joseph Addai or former Rams RB Marshall Faulk.

“You can’t run the spread with Frank Gore being effective. He’s not the guy who’s going to catch the ball like Marshall Faulk, and slash and burn like Joseph Addai and different guys who have thrived in the spread.”

- Former San Francisco quarterback Steve Young

The only problem with that assertion is that Gore has proven himself to be effective in any role he’s been placed in, whether it be as a runner, receiver, or as a blocker on third down, so it stands to reason that he could be just as dangerous in the spread formation as he is now in a traditional set.

Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat did an excellent job of comparing and contrasting Gore with Addai earlier today, and while a case can be made for either runner, it’s obvious that the 49ers would be best served in hanging on to their homegrown talent, rather than dealing it away at its peak, like they would be doing if they traded Gore.

No related posts.