FanHouse JasonHill

With the beginning of the NFL Network's glorious Thursday night football beginning this week, fantasy football FanHouse is bringing you a preview for each and every Thursday night game from here on out. You've already seen the rankings, but things can change before Sunday. One thing that can't change? Your lineup choices for the guys playing Thursday evening. That's why we're here.

The Bears enter the game having lost three of their last four (the one win was at home over the hapless Browns). Their defense has plummeted from a respectable unit to one pretty easily shredded, whether via ground or air. The Niners come in having lost four straight and five of their last six. They are ranked fourth in the NFL in run defense and 24th against the pass.

On Wednesday, 15-year veteran Isaac Bruce made a decision regarding his future in the NFL as the 36-year-old wide receiver informed the 49ers he will be returning for the 2009 season. According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Bruce called head coach Mike SIngletary this morning and informed him of the news.

He led the 49ers with 61 catches and 835 yards in 2008, while also surpassing Tim Brown for the No. 2 spot on the NFL's all-time receiving yards list.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

After the uneventful tenure of head coach Mike Nolan, the San Francisco 49ers decided to promote Mike Singletary to interim head coach during the 2008 season.

After a bizarre debut that saw Singletary address his team without pants, the 49ers finished the season on a 5-4 run under their new coach, ending the year with a 7-9 record. Had it not been for a confusing ending to a Monday night game against Arizona, the 49ers would have finished with a .500 record for the first time since 2002. So close, yet so far.

Lance Moore only caught 32 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns in 2007. In 2008, he caught 79 passes for 928 yards and 10 touchdowns. It came from out of nowhere, considering all the other receiving options in New Orleans, but that doesn't mean we can't start grasping at who could be the one who goes from relative fantasy obscurity to a great contributor in the time of one season.

Let's check it out those who will likely see an expanded role in their offense next season, in addition to growth as a playmaker. Please realize these are for deep keeper leagues. Do not even think about keeping any of these over an elite receiver.

Donnie Avery, Rams -- As I said in my top-10 picks post about Steven Jackson, the Rams can't get any worse. They'll figure some things out in the offseason and Mr. Avery is going to be an important part of the offense for any new administration due to his youth. We saw the flashes of talent this time around, and next season we'll see him grow into a real NFL receiver. Plus, it's not like his division is chock full of beastly defenses.

I'll be honest, I didn't expect the 49ers to make that a game last night. I was thinking blowout from the start. To the 49ers' credit, however, they not only made it a game, and put themselves in a position to win the game, but they probably should have won the game as well.

With just over two-and-a-half minutes to play in the fourth quarter, down by five, the 49ers were driving for what looked to be an eventual game-winning score. And this is where the craziness begins.

Facing a third-and-three from the Arizona 18, quarterback Shaun Hill began to scramble as the pocket collapsed around him. At first, it looked like he was going to just tuck it and run for the first down, seeing as how he charged forward without his helmet earlier in the game. As he approached the line of scrimmage, he channeled his inner-Favre and decided to throw some sort of combination shovel-pass, under-handed pitch out into no-man's land where Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson made a lunging interception. Not exactly the best decision from Hill, who was fortunate to have two interceptions returned for touchdowns called back on Arizona penalties. No such luck this time.

At this point, Tony Kornheiser declares the game over.

There's always been a disconnect between DeAngelo Hall's ability to cover people in the NFL and the perception of those same abilities. Even the Raiders bit on the overrated corner, sending a second- and fifth-round pick to Atlanta and giving Hall $70 million over seven years, with $24.5 million guaranteed. Yet the occasional big play and more frequent big mouth have earned Hall a reputation he hasn't played up to.

And Raiders fans got their first glimpses of what might be a frequent occurrence when the 'ders and the 49ers held a day of joint work together yesterday at Raiders training camp.

Alex Smith and Jason Hill connected for two scores, of 19 and four yards, over Hall's head. In each case, Hill got separation on Hall, with Smith hitting the second-year receiver over the top.

That's right. The Incredible DeAngelo Hall was beaten for two touchdowns. By Jason Hill. In practice. Despite what you may have heard, Hall isn't the worst cornerback in the league. But the real top tier corners don't get lit up like that, especially when it only furthers a pattern.

But hey, at least this big-money player wants to play this year.

Lots of mock drafts and pundits have the 49ers taking a receiver in the first round. Based on the fact that mock drafts and pundits usually do their work on the previous season, that seems fair -- the receivers offered Alex Smith just about as much help as his offensive line did (which is to say, not very much).

But there's a problem with this way of draft prognostication -- it ignores player development and, uh, a little thing called free agency.

By adding Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce in free agency, the team has already improved drastically. Johnson is sort of anonymous to a lot of fans, because he played understudy to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald thus far, but the former first-rounder has a ton of big-play ability. Bruce is ancient but can still offer a lot in the intangibles department and is a reliable target.

And then there's Jason Hill, a project receiver the 49ers took last year who has skills comparable to DeSean Jackson (one of the incoming rookies most linked to the 49ers). Hill had a rough rookie year (as do most projects) but has reportedly made tremendous strides. With the aforementioned duo and Arnaz Battle locked into the team's top three spots, Hill wouldn't be relied on for much and if he proves capable of doing that drafting a receiver early would be totally unnecessary.

Now Vernon Davis ... who knows what's up with that dude.

To get you ready for the season, FanHouse is previewing all 32 NFL teams. Here's San Francisco's outlook.

2006 Record: 7-9

2006 Offense: Frank Gore stepped into the upper echelon of running backs; unfortunately, the rest of the offense is a year or two behind. Still, this unit showed marked improvement over the second half of the year. Alex Smith made his bones without any real playmakers in the passing game, especially with Vernon Davis missing a chunk of his rookie year because of an injury. A lot of this has been attributed to the work of offensive coordinator/quarterback guru Norv Turner, who's now preparing to fail as a head coach again running the Chargers.

2006 Defense: The 49ers defense finished 26th last year, Mike Nolan's last employing the 4-3. That's what you'd about expect from a unit that, Manny Lawson aside, was comprised of aging, unspectacular veterans. The team ranked in the second half of the league in rush defense, pass defense, interceptions, and sacks. Pretty substandard all around. They also didn't benefit from weak field position (see below).

The last time the 49ers returned a punt or kickoff for a touchdown, Johnny Drama was still doing Viking Quest. OK, so it was really 2005, in Mike Nolan's first game as coach. But that was 31 games ago, and as this promising 49ers team gets ready to begin training camp, their return game once again appears to be in question.

Rookies and unproven entities Jason Hill and Thomas Clayton might get tries on the return teams, and Brandon Williams returns on punt duty. Last year Williams averaged 6.7 yards per return as part of a punt unit that ranked 17th in the league. It makes you wonder, in an era where teams are drafting players who specialize in nothing but returning the ball and an offseason which saw the 49ers improve at all levels of their defense and a few on offense, why the team didn't make a more concerted effort to address the position.

The truth is, they don't need to. I think the return game is being overemphasized and overrated because of the recent success of guys like Devin Hester. But the truth is, in the grand scheme of things, Hester only scored five touchdowns last season, and those supplemented a sterile offense. It's always helpful to have a reliable guy who can get every last yard possible in the return game, but a playmaker like Hester is unnecessary if you've got the pieces on offense. With an emerging monster in Frank Gore and a much-improved group of pass-catchers this season, the 49ers will be fine.

Auburn's schedule has been scrutinized by every college football prognosticator in the land. They all point to LSU, Florida and Georgia as the key games in the Tigers run toward a national championship. A game that continues to be overlooked is the one Saturday night at Pat Dye Field.

Don't expect Washington State to come into town and lay down for the Tigers. These guys play Pac-10 football and will be every bit as good as Georgia Tech was on opening night a year ago. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville has spent all week preaching that to his players.

Auburn comes into the game a 15 1/2 point favorite. Don't expect the point spread to be easy to cover. Auburn offensive coordinator Al Borges is familiar with the Cougars after spending seven years in the PAC-10. "They're a tough opponent, a lot tougher than a lot of people think," Borges said.

He should know. While coaching out west, Borges worked along side Cougars head man Bill Doba. In fact, Doba was defensive coordinator at UCLA at the same time Borges served as offensive coordinator. Does that give either man an advantage? Probably not. What it does give them is a working knowledge of each others systems.

Despite only winning four games a year ago, Washington State does bring back its quarterback, Alex Brink who threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns last year. Auburn's secondary will be tested often and early by two preseason All-Pac 10 selections, Jason Hill and Michael Bumpus.

Before everyone starts looking ahead to LSU don't forget we've got two very dangerous games coming up in the next couple of weeks. I have faith the coaches will have the players ready.