Play the kid

An e-mail exchange with 49ers super-genius Ofercofer brought about the following comment:

[...] the defense created good pressure for a half but has to create turnovers one way or another. It's time to gamble on Goldson at free safety.

He's right in two respects. First, he's right that Goldson is a gamble. For one thing, he's only been in the big leagues for one year. According to Barrows, Nolan trusts Mark Roman and is not likely to hand the reigns of the defense to an unestablished player. Apparently, while Roman has 5 interceptions in 8 years and had 0 interceptions last year, he is wise in ways undetectable to the common fan.

Along these same lines, Goldson may leave the defense susceptible to the big play. In the Cardinals game last week, Steve Breaston beat Goldson over the top for a 40-yard play to the 1-yard line that lead to the Cardinals' first touchdown.

In spite of that fact, Ofercofer is also right that now is the time to get Goldson into the lineup. In '07, the 9ers gave up 51 pass plays for more than 20 yards. That was good for fourth worst in the NFL. They can't do much worse with Goldson in the lineup, can they?

Goldson's upside, of course, is his potential to be the ball hawk Roman is not. Maiocco juxtaposed the two in the early pre-season. Essentially, his comparison boils down to this,

[Roman] is a solid all-around player [while Goldson] seems to have a flair for being in the middle of the action.

Another argument that Goldson is ready now is his pedigree. By and large, Pac-10 defensive backs arrive in the league NFL-ready. Here's a list of some other Pac-10 DBs who have made it big, along with the year in their career they cracked the starting lineup:

• Nnamdi Awesom-O 4000 (2)
• O.J. Atogwe (2)
• Antoine Cason (Rookie)
• Erik Coleman (Rookie)
• Michael Johnson (2)
• Ricky Manning (2)
• Deltha O'Neal (2)
• Jarrad Page (2)
• Troy Polamalu (2)
• Marcus Trufant (Rookie)

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of Pac-10 defensive backs who never see a snap. I put together this list to show that many Pac-10 defensive backs who do make it into their team's starting lineup are ready to do so early in their pro careers. I assume that this has something to do with the Pac-10's tendency to emphasize pro-style offenses and disciplined passing games. That's my best guess.

As this applies to Goldson, consider the offenses he faced in college. He saw USC with Leinart, Cal with Aaron Rodgers, Stanford with Trent Edwards, Oregon State with Derek Anderson, Oregon with Kellen Clemens and Dennis Dixon, and the list goes on. Having seen these offenses before arriving to the NFL, it's no wonder he does so well on the practice field. Now's the time to let him take that onto the game field.