<p>Last week I stumbled across an interesting article completely unrelated to the <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SFX” class=”sbn-auto-link”>49ers</a>.&nbsp; A writer for the Seattle Times put together a <a href=”http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawksblog/2009374787_1matt_hasselbec.html” target=”_blank”>ranking of the 15 most important Seahawks</a> for the 2009 season.&nbsp; <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2306/Matt_Hasselbeck” class=”sbn-auto-link”>Matt Hasselbeck</a> topped the list, followed by <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/3050/Patrick_Kerney” class=”sbn-auto-link”>Patrick Kerney</a>, <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2312/Walter_Jones” class=”sbn-auto-link”>Walter Jones</a> and TJ Houshmandzadeh.&nbsp; I can see how those four might be your most important guys.</p> <p>After reading the article, I thought, why not come up with our own list.&nbsp; I decided to go with just 10 guys because there will be plenty of consternation on just that short a list.&nbsp; When considering “importance,” I look at these players as the guys the 49ers need to step up to a certain level for the 49ers to have success this year (we won’t even begin to try and define “success”).</p> <p>I went back and forth on what to do with the offensive line: Do I list each guys individually, or go with the unit as a whole?&nbsp; I chose the latter.&nbsp; As great as <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/19082/Joe_Staley” class=”sbn-auto-link”>Joe Staley</a> might be, how useful is it if the entire right side of the line goes down in a heap?&nbsp; Fell free to argue counter to that.</p> <p>No matter what, I would imagine it would be pretty unlikely anybody will agree 100% with my rankings.&nbsp; Looking at them, I already have my doubts.&nbsp; Each time I go through the list I move a man up or down.</p> <p><b>1. Offensive line</b>: There are plenty of important areas, but if the Jimmy Raye offense is what we think it might be, the offensive line will be key.&nbsp; They’ll need to give Hill/Smith time to make plays, and they’ll need to break up some daylight for <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/2084/Frank_Gore” class=”sbn-auto-link”>Frank Gore</a>.</p> <p><b>2.

<p><img src=”http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/14593/goldennugget.jpg” align=”right” />Good morning everyone, not a lot of links today but I’ve got a few. Apologies for not getting the links up sooner but I’ve been pretty busy and right now I’m in kind of a hurry, so this introduction is going to be short.

ON THE WEBAlex Smith discusses friend’s death in ‘08Looking back on 2008, Alex Smith recently explained why his and the 49ers’ on-field struggles were the least of his problems.

The NFC West is shaping up to be wide-open this year. How will it end up?

San Francisco 49ers’ 2008 first round pick Kentwan Balmer might start by mid-season. He has trained with Justin Smith, one of the hardest workers on…

<p>While poking around SB Nation I came across a <a href=”http://www.fieldgulls.com/2009/6/25/924794/when-should-you-hold” target=”_blank”>post at Field Gulls</a> linking to a very interesting article <a href=”http://www.advancednflstats.com/2009/06/why-there-is-so-much-holding.html” target=”_blank”>about holding penalties</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It basically argues about the value of taking a holding penalty on a given pass play.&nbsp; It utilizes a whole bunch of equations that are way over my head and concludes that:</p> <blockquote> <p><span class=”fullpost”>The bottom line is that the probability of detection at which committing holding is worthwhile is when it is about 4/5 the chance a pass rusher will get a sack if he beats his blocker. For argument’s sake, say that a pass rusher in the backfield gets a sack half the time

Wide receiver Josh Morgan showed a lot of promise as a rookie, but injuries kept him from taking on the kind of role the 49ers had envisioned. This…

<p><img src=”http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/14593/goldennugget.jpg” align=”right” />Gooood morning folks, James here with the Nuggets for the day. Checking in ON TIME and for the third day in a row, I’m on a roll I must say…

Will the Cowboys be better without T.O.? This might shock you, but T.O. seems skeptical of that.

<p>Up to this point we’ve discussed <a href=”http://www.ninersnation.com/2009/5/15/876046/nfc-west-position-by-position” target=”_blank”>quarterbacks</a>, <a href=”http://www.ninersnation.com/2009/5/22/883267/nfc-west-position-by-position” target=”_blank”>running backs</a>, <a href=”http://www.ninersnation.com/2009/5/29/892196/nfc-west-position-by-position-wide” target=”_blank”>wide receivers</a>, <a href=”http://www.ninersnation.com/2009/6/5/899604/nfc-west-position-by-position” target=”_blank”>tight ends</a>, <a href=”http://www.ninersnation.com/2009/6/12/906917/nfc-west-position-by-position” target=”_blank”>centers</a> and <a href=”http://www.ninersnation.com/2009/6/19/917489/nfc-west-position-by-position” target=”_blank”>offensive tackles</a>.&nbsp; Today we round out the offensive line with a look at all the guards in the division.&nbsp; Guard is not the easiest position to grade on the offensive line as it is just sort smushed in between the other offensive linemen.&nbsp; However, as I indicate in my write-up on the <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/SFX” class=”sbn-auto-link”>49ers</a> guards, I think the 49ers are in an excellent position for 2009.&nbsp; If they let Dave Baas go after this season as a free agent things may change going forward.&nbsp; However, these posts are about the team’s status at each position in 2009.&nbsp; And in 2009, the potential and production at guard is looking good.&nbsp; The rankings list the 49ers third, but I think the top three teams in the division are actually bunched fairly close together.</p> <p><b>1. <a href=”http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/STL” class=”sbn-auto-link”>St