Tag: dee ford

A look at the highest-rated recruits in Auburn football history

Here are some of the highest-rated recruits in Auburn football history.

In the past 21 years, Auburn has had 80 players drafted, almost four players a year. Some were ranked as four-stars out of high school like Kerryon Johnson, Carlton Davis, and Braden Smith. Those three are currently playing in the NFL. Others, like [autotag]Montravius Adams[/autotag], [autotag]Carl Lawson[/autotag], and [autotag]Derrick Brown[/autotag] were all regarded as five-stars. Interestingly enough, all six of them have had successful careers in both college and the pros.

On the other hand, several of Auburn’s best players over the past few years were not ranked high at all. Both C.J. Uzomah and Dee Ford were both ranked as three-stars by 247Sports Player Rankings. Those two have had successful careers at both levels as well. However, not all of the top-rated recruits in Auburn history have seen their own share of success. Today, we will look at 247Sports’s list of the highest-rated recruits in Auburn football history based on their composite rankings. Ahead, we take a peek at the top ten highest-ranked recruits in Auburn history.

Dee Ford era in San Francisco likely over

The #49ers seem set on pulling the plug on the Dee Ford experiment after 3 years.

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49ers general manager John Lynch didn’t leave the door open very wide for defensive end Dee Ford’s return.

Ford, who missed 26 of the 49ers’ last 33 games with a back injury, hasn’t been able to stay on the field since San Francisco traded for him ahead of the 2019 season. They’ve tried riding out his slew of ailments, but now Lynch seems ready to cut ties with the 31-year-old.

“I don’t see a lot of hope in him being a factor for us on the field moving forward,” Lynch said via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

That’s the most pessimistic the 49ers have been with Ford over the last couple years. Now they’re reaching a point where they simply can’t keep leaning on him. They gave him a chance in after he missed 15 games in 2020, but he only played in six games in 2021.

To keep Ford on the roster would cost the 49ers $6.9 million against the cap. Releasing him with a post-June 1 designation would trim his cap hit to $5.8 million in each of the next two years. They’d also eat just shy of $1 million in dead cap space each year through 2026 after a couple restructures per Over the Cap.

Acquiring Ford helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl in 2019, but even that year was mired in injuries. Health was never on his side and now San Francisco seems set to pull the plug on the experiment after three years.

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49ers clear nearly $5 million in cap space with Dee Ford restructure

The #49ers restructured Dee Ford’s contract to clear some cap space.

The 49ers need to clear some cap space by Wednesday afternoon. They took steps toward getting under the $208.2 million cap by restructuring defensive end Dee Ford’s deal and clearing $4.96 million in space per ESPN’s Field Yates.

That $4.96 million brings San Francisco to roughly $5 million over the cap. Defensive lineman Arik Armstead is a restructure candidate to clear some room, and the club can make other moves to clear bits of space at a time.

Ford’s future in the NFL is still up in the air after he played in just seven games over the last two years because of a back injury. Whether he tries to play or retires in 2022, the club will still get the $4.96 million savings up front while kicking the rest of the money left on his contract down the road into years where the salary cap is expected to explode.

The most efficient way for them to open up room is by trading or releasing quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, but while the club is in a holding pattern with their QB’s trade market, moves like Ford’s restructure will make a little bit of room in the meantime.

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What does Dee Ford’s $4.6 million injury guarantee mean for 49ers

What does Dee Ford’s injury guarantee mean for the #49ers?

The 49ers have an offseason decision to make with defensive end Dee Ford, who’s injury guaranteed $4.6 million April 1 roster bonus became fully guaranteed Tuesday per CBS Sports salary cap analyst Joel Corry. While the 49ers are officially due to pay Ford that $4.6 million, it doesn’t do much to affect how they’ll operate with the veteran defensive end’s contract in the coming months.

After a restructure last season, Ford now carries an $11,909,997 salary cap hit. The 49ers have three options.

They can save $2,090,001 in cap space with a $9,819,996 cap hit if they cut him prior to June 1. If they wait until after June 1 to let him go they save $7 million against the cap with a $4,909,997 dead cap hit.

Moving on before June 1 gives the 49ers a little more room to work with in free agency, while a post-June 1 designation would allow them more room in any post-free agency moves.

There’s also the chance they keep him on the roster in hopes he can get healthy enough to contribute, although that feels like a long shot after Ford missed 29 of the team’s last 36 games because of back injuries.

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49ers officially shut down Dee Ford for 2021, no decisions made on future with team

Dee Ford officially done for the season, but no decision has been made on his future with the #49ers.

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The 49ers didn’t activate defensive end Dee Ford on Wednesday. That means his 21-day practice window officially expired and the 30-year-old’s eighth NFL season is over.

Ford went down in Week 7 with a concussion, but lingering issues with a back injury that’s plagued him since college forced him onto injured reserve and ultimately ended his season.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Wednesday in a press conference said he doesn’t think more surgery is on the table for Ford, who’ll now depart to Kansas City where he does his outside rehab work. While retirement isn’t certain for Ford, the 49ers head coach intimated that it’s on the table.

“I mean, that’s what it sounds like, but you’d have to talk to him about that,” Shanahan said. “It’s a back thing that I don’t know if there’s much rehab for it. You have to keep resting it and we’ve done that a bunch, so it’s been tough on him, tough on us and it’s just an unfortunate injury.”

Ford also missed 15 games last season because of the back injury. He played in only 11 regular season games in 2019 as well because of various ailments. San Francisco unloaded a 2020 second-round pick to acquire Ford from the Chiefs during the 2019 offseason, and signed him to a five-year deal worth $85.5 million.

A contract restructure this offseason left no guaranteed money on the table for Ford next year, making it easy for the 49ers to part ways with him at relatively low cost. Shanahan said the team hasn’t made any final decisions about Ford’s future yet.

“This year? No, we’re not doing that now,” Shanahan said of releasing the defensive end. “I mean, it’s always a possibility, but no, that’s not something we’ve discussed yet or decided on.”

If Ford’s time in San Francisco is up, he’ll finish with 18 games played across three seasons and just 378 defensive snaps. He tallied 22 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 1 pass breakup and three forced fumbles.

Kyle Shanahan on DE Dee Ford: ‘I think we’ll just have to continue playing without him’

It sounds like the #49ers aren’t anticipating Dee Ford’s return in 2021.

It looked like the 49ers might be able to replicate their 2019 success on the defensive line with Dee Ford’s return in 2021. However, after just six games it appears the veteran defensive end’s 2021 campaign may be over.

Ford sustained a concussion in the 49ers’ Week 7 loss to the Colts which led to additional issues with the back problem he’s dealt with his entire career. San Francisco put him on IR the following week, and opened his practice window shortly after his required three-game absence. His deadline to be activated is Wednesday, and head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday didn’t sound optimistic about Ford’s return.

“Yeah, I believe we’ve got to make it by Wednesday and yeah, we’ll see how that goes,” Shanahan said. “That’s something that I never can predict, but I’ll be surprised if he’s back. I think we’ll just have to continue playing without him.”

Wednesday marks the 21-day point of Ford’s window being open, which means the 49ers either have to activate him or leave him on IR for the rest of the season.

San Francisco traded a 2020 second-round pick for Ford in the 2019 offseason and signed him to a monster five-year deal worth up to $85.5 million with $33.35 million guaranteed. While his production and availability fell well short of the club’s expectations, Ford had a hand in the stellar 49ers’ pass rush that spearheaded their run to Super Bowl LIV.

If his season is over, he’ll finish with 3.0 sacks in six games, bringing his total with the 49ers to 9.5 in 18 contests. He also tallied 22 tackles, eight tackles for loss and three forced fumbles.

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49ers hopeful WR Deebo Samuel, DE Dee Ford will return to practice ahead of Bengals game

Kyle Shanahan is hopeful the #49ers will get WR Deebo Samuel and DE Dee Ford back in practice this week.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan provided a little optimism Wednesday before San Francisco took the field to begin on-field preparations for their Week 14 showdown with the Bengals.

Shanahan told reporters he’s hopeful wide receiver Deebo Samuel and defensive end Dee Ford will both be back in practice for the 49ers on Thursday. Neither player participated in Wednesday’s session.

Samuel injured his groin against the Vikings in Week 12 and Shanahan indicated the injury would sideline him for one-to-two weeks. The star wide receiver didn’t practice or play in Week 13, so a return even in a limited fashion for Thursday’s practice would put him on track to potentially play in Cincinnati. Although it would stand to reason the team exercises extreme caution with Samuel in hopes he doesn’t aggravate the issue and make it a longer-term thing.

Ford’s practice status has been unknown since he doesn’t show up on the practice report while he’s still technically on injured reserve. However, his practice window was opened two weeks ago, and this is the third week it’s allowed to be open before he’s either activated or placed on season-ending IR. He hasn’t been at the portion of practice open to reporters since his window was initially opened, which indicates his participation has been limited at best.

Getting Ford to add a handful of pass rush snaps per game would be exceedingly helpful to a 49ers defense with a banged up secondary.

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49ers open practice window for DE Dee Ford

Dee Ford has been on IR since Week 8, but his practice window is now open, giving the #49ers DE a chance to return vs. the Vikings.

The 49ers could be getting some reinforcements on their defensive line soon. Defensive end Dee Ford had his practice window opened after spending the last several weeks on injured reserve to take care of a back injury that cropped up in the wake of a concussion he suffered in Week 7.

Now Ford will return to practice for the 49ers on Thursday with a chance to play in San Francisco’s crucial Week 12 matchup against the Vikings.

Ford hasn’t played a ton this year, but he’s been effective when he is on the field. He had 10 pressures and three sacks in just 91 pass rushing snaps before his injury.

Adding him to a pass rush unit that’s starting to get more from DE Arden Key could help the 49ers’ defense continue playing at the level it played in Weeks 10 and 11 when they gave up a combined 20 points.

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49ers uncertain about timeline for DL Dee Ford’s return

The #49ers don’t have a timetable for DL Dee Ford’s return from a back injury that landed him on injured reserve.

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The 49ers placed defensive end Dee Ford on injured reserve prior to Week 9 because of complications with back issues he’s dealt with since college. An update from head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday indicates there’s no timeframe for his return.

Ford originally went down in Week 7 with a concussion and missed Week 8 because he was in concussion protocol. Then he showed up on the injury report with a back injury in the lead up to Week 9, and he was placed on IR at the end of the week.

Shanahan said the club is taking it day-to-day with Ford, who’ll be required to miss a minimum of three games.

“It’s the same thing as usual guys. Just dealing with that back,” Shanahan said. “We’re not sure. If it lingers very long, we’ll probably go to short time short-term IR, but we haven’t decided that yet. He is on short-term IR, we just don’t know whether he’ll be able to be back in three weeks. It’s day-to-day with that stuff. So we know it’s at least three games, but we’ll wait and see after that.”

Last season Ford played in Week 1 and then missed time with what the team initially said was a neck injury. That was eventually classified as a back issue that sidelined him for the final 15 games.

It’s good news that the 49ers aren’t ruling Ford out, but another back issue for the 30-year-old defensive end is not an optimistic sign for the rest of his 2021 season.

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49ers optimistic DE Dee Ford, LB Azeez Al-Shaair will return vs. Cardinals

The #49ers had two players out of Sunday’s game because of concussions, but both are expected back Sunday vs. Arizona.

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The 49ers defense was shorthanded in Chicago in part because of a pair of key players sitting in concussion protocol. Defensive end Dee Ford and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair both missed Sunday’s game, but head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday said he doesn’t anticipate either player missing a second game.

San Francisco didn’t rule either player out in Friday’s injury report, listing both as ‘doubtful’ before downgrading them to ‘out’ Saturday.

“I am optimistic about them next week,” Shanahan told reporters on a conference call. “They were close enough that we took it all the way until Saturday. But usually when it’s not looking good on Friday, that’s why we put them down as doubtful. We held out hope that’s why he took them with us out, but still a long shot this week. Much better today and hopefully that will be cleared by Wednesday.”

Ford is second on the 49ers with 3.0 sacks this season, but they still managed to sack Bears QB Justin Fields four times without him. Defensive end Samson Ebukam saw additional work with Ford out and took advantage with his best game as a 49er and his first sack of the year.

Al-Shaair has seen an increased role since LB Dre Greenlaw went on injured reserve with a groin injury. The former undrafted free agent has acquitted himself well with more playing time. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles got the start in his place Sunday and played well with a couple tackles and a QB pressure.

The 49ers will need as many healthy defenders as possible to pull off an upset over the Arizona Cardinals, so Ford and Al-Shaair’s returns would be welcome for San Francisco.

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