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Another trying fall awaits this long-dominant franchise, which has plenty of eager young players but, alas, no Young

By Michael Silver

How bad did it get for Owens and the rest of the Niners last year? Even the Bengals talked smack to them.Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport The Book An opposing team's scout sizes up the 49ers "One thing the Niners' defense never did was beat itself. Until last year. It was brutal. Cornerbacks getting confused on their coverage, linebackers who didn't know where to line up. [Defensive coordinator] Jim Mora better get these guys on the same page or he'll be gone.... If their young defensive backs aren't shell-shocked, the Niners will get by on youth and aggressiveness.... I like their defensive line if everyone's healthy, but when do they start worrying about Junior Bryant?... Jeff Garcia is a better quarterback than people think. He won't thrill you, but he'll move the chains.... Steve Mariucci is a good coach, but one problem he faces, and it's an almost impossible one, is what to do with a legend. How does he get Jerry Rice off the field and give Tai Streets a shot? If he sits Rice down, it's a problem. If Garcia doesn't get the ball to Rice, it's another problem. Then when he gets it to him, Rice can't run with it.... They'll run the ball; they always do. But now it looks like [center] Chris Dalman's neck injury is serious; they'll struggle." Player to Watch Because his mother was a 49ers cheerleader during the '60s, Jeff Ulbrich has heard plenty of stories about the franchise's gory years. "My mom told me the team was so bad they'd get booed coming into Kezar Stadium," says the 6-foot, 249-pound rookie middle linebacker. Three decades later Ulbrich infuses the rebuilding defense with an old-school intensity. "About a week into training camp he was picking up all of our stuff," says offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. "He reminds me of Chris Spielman -- he's not the tallest guy, but he's so damn smart and has great instincts." Says Lance Schulters, the Niners' Pro Bowl safety, "Once the ball is snapped, he's crazy. We just wind him up and let him go."

Their free fall from grace came with such stunning swiftness, it's hard to conceive that at this time last year the 49ers were talking Super Bowl and carrying themselves with a self-assured aura of superiority. What a difference a jeer makes: Any remaining trace of the Niners' bravado was obliterated last Dec. 5 in Cincinnati, where a sickly secondary was shredded by the wretched Bengals -- one of whom, since-departed wideout Carl Pickens, felt comfortable enough to mock the defenseless visitors. The eighth consecutive defeat, a 44-30 pasting, clinched San Francisco's first losing season in 17 years and was, in the words of linebacker Ken Norton Jr., "an embarrassing moment. I mean, who the hell is Cincinnati? They had no respect for us, and Pickens was talking mess and pushing people around. I thought, If Cincinnati's talking s---, we've hit rock bottom."

During that wipeout in Cincinnati, and for much of a season that ended with 11 losses in 12 games, San Francisco's overmatched and undersized coverage men flailed helplessly against an onslaught of deep passes. Let the record show that the Niners' dynasty came unraveled at the corners: The team started seven players at the position in '99 while surrendering 36 touchdown passes, the fifth-highest total in NFL history.

Not surprisingly, San Francisco addressed its most glaring weakness in last April's draft, picking two cornerbacks -- first-rounder Ahmed Plummer from Ohio State and second-rounder Jason Webster from Texas A&M -- both of whom the Niners felt were seasoned enough to step right in and endure all-out assaults on a weekly basis. "Based on last year, I'm sure receivers who play us will be licking their chops," Niners wideout Terrell Owens says. "If we're going to do anything, our young corners will have to grow up fast."

The Niners have a precedent for dual-edged rookie excellence at the position: Ronnie Lott and Eric Wright in '81, the season the team won its first of five Super Bowls, and Tim McKyer and Don Griffin in '86. While those players thrived from the outset, coach Steve Mariucci is merely asking Plummer and Webster to survive. "If we can get even one corner to make a few plays, it changes everything," says safety Lance Schulters, who made the Pro Bowl in '99. "Playing in the middle last year was so frustrating. Stuff was happening on both sides of the field, and I was like, Man, who do I help?"

Among those corners no longer requiring Schulters's assistance are 5'7" Mark McMillian (out of football), 5'8" Darnell Walker (who signed with the Vikings) and 5'9" R.W. McQuarters (traded to the Bears), three players who struggled against stronger, taller receivers. Both of this year's starters, Plummer and fourth-year man Monty Montgomery, are 5'11". While only 5'9", Webster has been lauded by teammates for his aggressiveness when the ball is in the air and will see plenty of time as the third cornerback.

The secondary's improvement can't be accurately gauged until the real games begin, but neither Plummer, a three-time academic All-America who has been married since 1999, nor Webster, chosen by A&M players as a team spokesman following the bonfire tragedy that killed 12 people before the Aggies' game against Texas last November, seems awed by the challenge. "Those two guys have played in big games, and neither one is going to get overwhelmed by the transition," says Mariucci.

Even so, recollections of last year's aerial torture sessions continue to haunt the team's veterans.

Owens: "I hear it all the time from receivers around the league -- 'We can't wait to play y'all.' I mean, we made [Carolina's] Patrick Jeffers look like he was all-world. I'm not saying he's a garbage receiver, but we put him on every highlight show."

Norton: "We'd know exactly what the opposing offense's game plan was -- throw deep -- and we were powerless to stop it. It didn't matter what we did up front; we'd just watch the ball sail over our heads and know they were either going to catch a deep ball on us or get a pass-interference call."

As encouraged as the other Niners may be about the potential of their young cornerbacks, few harbor delusions of grandeur. The franchise is grappling with Steve Young's retirement and an ongoing salary-cap nightmare, and there is uncertainty at virtually every other position. It remains to be seen which of three young safeties (Zack Bronson, Pierson Prioleau or fourth-round draft pick John Keith) will emerge as a force opposite Schulters and replace retired defensive leader Tim McDonald.

"If nothing else, we're going to play with more passion than we did last season," Schulters says. "These guys are young and hungry, and we'll try to be aggressive and have some fun."

How Dr. Z Ranks 'Em: 27

Issue date: August 28, 2000

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