Dontay Atkinson

17.8K posts

Dontay Atkinson banner
Dontay Atkinson

Dontay Atkinson

@DonAtkinsonNFL

Writer and Sports Analyst for ReachNorth Media and editorial columnist for The Morning Line. #NFL #49ers

Katılım Eylül 2019
873 Takip Edilen5K Takipçiler
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
People understanding the value and talent of a player who was mostly ignored in the early rounds of a “draft consensus board” isn’t bizarre. It’s the natural result of expanded knowledge—something not used at all when creating the consensus board in the first place. It’s the difference between doing your own work and copying off someone else’s paper in class.
Davis Mattek@DavisMattek

Why is there an entire cottage industry of people ex post facto declaring Stribling is this great pick? Absolutely bizarre

English
2
0
6
496
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@DavisMattek I think people doing a deeper film dive into a player they hadn’t looked at before because that player wasn’t highlighted on the popularity contest known as “the consensus draft board” may have something to do with it.
English
0
0
7
114
Davis Mattek
Davis Mattek@DavisMattek·
Why is there an entire cottage industry of people ex post facto declaring Stribling is this great pick? Absolutely bizarre
Coach Yac 🗣@Coach_Yac

Albert Breer on De'Zhaun Stribling: “In the couple days leading up to the draft I’ll start to get some names that it’s like 'Whoa, where’d that come from?', or a coach or front office person will ask me 'Hey, what have you heard about where this guy is going?', and Stribling was one of those guys and I think if people knew of some of the people I was talking to that were asking me about Stribling, you would probably look at him a little differently.” Breer gives a great breakdown on why the 49ers took Stribling at pick 33

English
29
0
66
70K
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@Tonysmarkettips Bitonio incoming. He hasn’t said he’s retiring; he hasn’t said he’s not. But I think he’d relish a crack at a SB on a one-off deal. Still my gut that they bring him in right before camp.
English
1
0
10
404
Tony Farmer
Tony Farmer@Tonysmarkettips·
Do the San Francisco 49ers go into Week 1 with this offensive line? Or do they pick someone else up before the season starts?
English
23
0
26
4.1K
Eric Crocker
Eric Crocker@CoachCrocky·
@outstndnbrandon The odds of a 6’5” receivers feet looking like a 5’9” receivers feet are slim to none no matter how much they hang out.
English
8
5
244
8.5K
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@KevinPhb I’d still be behind getting Bitonio. And I’d do it before the start of camp.
English
0
0
0
9
KP
KP@KevinPhb·
@DonAtkinsonNFL An improved o line but I wouldn’t say “much” improved. I still like it though and if the 4 guys competing for LG don’t look ready, Bitonio still out there with plenty of cap space
English
1
0
1
49
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
Most of the attention has been on the 49ers D-line this offseason. Not surprising given the very depleted state they were in throughout 2025. But… Lynch and Shanahan have quietly improved the strength and depth of their O-line this offseason, as well, by adding three solid veterans (Jones, Lowe, and Toth) and two promising rookies (Willis and Cruz), PLUS securing Trent Williams on a new extension. The 49ers have dramatically improved the D-line, and built a much-improved O-line at the same time. That’s not a minor achievement, but gets no play in the Internet or even mainstream media because it doesn’t fit with the “roster mismanagement” narrative that is trending with the uninformed.
English
14
10
146
6.8K
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@pelters @Bcfromjc Brock is really hard to defend against when receivers are getting decent separation. That didn’t happen last year and he was still putting up good numbers and getting the ball in their hands. Remarkable, from my standpoint.
English
0
0
0
10
jonathan opelt
jonathan opelt@pelters·
@DonAtkinsonNFL @Bcfromjc The top 4 receivers are almost .2 seconds faster in the 40 than last year. If the line protects for a fraction of a second longer this offense will be explosive. Shanahan will let the defenses decide how we beat them this year. Lots of zone coming at us this year. Brock eats zone
English
2
0
1
23
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@Bcfromjc I know many people expect him to have lost a step, but I’m not seeing it. He’s 29, but looks just as strong and elusive as at 25, at least from my perspective. I suppose we will see.
English
1
0
0
8
BTC
BTC@Bcfromjc·
@DonAtkinsonNFL I do not agree that the lack of a running game has nothing to do with CMC. To me, I see a much less explosive athlete. I hope I am wrong.
English
1
0
2
16
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@DonteWhitner I actually do know how your name is spelled. That was simply a typo. But I do apologize for that. And I have enormous respect for your career and how well you played the position. Elite hitter. My opinion on the underlying take stands.
English
0
0
5
132
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
I appreciate Witner’s status as a former player, but I disagree completely with his premise. The only person who Lynch, Shanahan, and the draft team are accountable to is Jed York. There is no fandom management. York and ownership decides whether they are happy with overall results, and they’ve made it fairly clear they are committed to their GM, HC and staff. Secondarily, “They haven’t drafted well” is an utterly stale idea. They drafted poorly between the Lance fiasco and 2023. There is zero objective evidence that the ‘24, ‘25, and ‘26 drafts have not been successful. That was three years ago, folks. The team has moved forward and upward with rejuvenating their roster, yet some continue to dwell on circumstances that no longer exist. Check the expiration date of your takes, because they have grown three layers of mold.
Coach Yac 🗣@Coach_Yac

Donte Whitner on what fans want to hear from the 49ers on their past draft mistakes: “All they want to hear is someone from the 49ers take accountability. They want to see someone get up there and say 'We know we haven’t drafted well. We know that. We’re trying to figure out why and we’re going to do everything in our power to figure it out', because accountability is number one when you’re chasing a championship. And fans haven’t heard that. All they hear is 'We have this process and we trade back', we’ll get outside of your process, adapt somebody else’s, so that we can have some success drafting players and ultimately win a championship.” 🎥: @thegritcode

English
21
7
84
7.9K
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@TopEnz That was a story, but one that Shanahan largely denied. There’s no doubt he really liked Jones coming out of college, but there’s no actual info suggesting he intended to draft him and was talked out of it.
English
1
0
2
149
Michael Perry
Michael Perry@TopEnz·
@DonAtkinsonNFL I seem to remember Shanahan really wanted Mac Jones and there was a lot of pushback from fans and some media. “Maybe internally too?” And they ended up picking Lance. Am I misremembering?
English
1
0
0
144
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@SturgFish I’m used to that. It’s why I bought a fly swatter at the Dollar Tree and keep it next to my desk.
English
4
0
12
140
Adam Sturgeon
Adam Sturgeon@SturgFish·
Careful. The Grant Cohn’s and Chase Senior’s of the world are going to come after you for saying something that makes sense.
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL

Most of the attention has been on the 49ers D-line this offseason. Not surprising given the very depleted state they were in throughout 2025. But… Lynch and Shanahan have quietly improved the strength and depth of their O-line this offseason, as well, by adding three solid veterans (Jones, Lowe, and Toth) and two promising rookies (Willis and Cruz), PLUS securing Trent Williams on a new extension. The 49ers have dramatically improved the D-line, and built a much-improved O-line at the same time. That’s not a minor achievement, but gets no play in the Internet or even mainstream media because it doesn’t fit with the “roster mismanagement” narrative that is trending with the uninformed.

English
2
0
8
418
Harry Berezin
Harry Berezin@HarryBerezin·
@DonAtkinsonNFL @FM49s Oh I completely agree on the larger point. Just seems like when it comes to OL they think they can get by with scheme. And they keep getting proven wrong. I’d like to see some evolution in terms of our approach to that part of the roster.
English
1
0
6
60
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
The narrative is that Lynch and Shanahan aren’t adept at building a roster, which simply isn’t true. There’s a mountain of evidence to dispute that. I’d like to see them make the O-line a priority, too. But that’s much easier said than done. There aren’t many plug and play guards and tackles falling out of the trees. It’s a time investment. Yes, they should have started earlier. But Puni was a good move, and I think Cruz and Willis will be as well. There’s more ahead. Another vet signing would be a good idea. And Seattle used speed to get over on alot of teams last year. I wouldn’t bank on that repeating in ‘26. Defending against a team like them gets easier the second time round.
English
2
0
3
84
Harry Berezin
Harry Berezin@HarryBerezin·
@FM49s @DonAtkinsonNFL Is it a narrative that Seattle completely overran us upfront in those last two games? Or that o-line play scuttled our hopes late in the last 2 SBs we’ve been in?
English
2
0
1
63
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
Always room for improvement, of course. I’d like to see better skill at center (not saying Brendel isn’t competent), but some things he could do better. Maybe Willis gets groomed for C. Puni had a down year, but I expect him to bounce back now that he’s healthy. Overall, I suspect they grade higher than people are expecting.
English
0
0
1
24
FM
FM@FM49s·
@DonAtkinsonNFL @HarryBerezin We have a good offensive line not the best of course but once they get a narrative some run with it. Good observation Dontay.
English
2
0
3
75
Tony Renghini
Tony Renghini@tonyrenghini·
Kaelon Black was the only back I watched, outside of the Notre Dame guys, who showed both consistency and proficiency running gap and zone style runs. Plus the pass pro is probably the best in the class. Routes at the senior bowl were great. Wonder how many of these guys actually watched him
English
2
0
6
255
Coach Yac 🗣
Coach Yac 🗣@Coach_Yac·
John Middlekauff on Kyle Shanahan saying Kaelon Black was the second rated RB on the 49ers draft board: “When I saw that quote I immediately text teams 'Is this insane to have the Indiana RB as the number 2 RB on this year’s draft board?'. Everyone that responded said 'yes'.” 🎥: @3andout_pod
English
96
36
564
157.5K
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
The solidifying at left guard helps. So does getting Kittle back soon. But the greatest impact of all is going to be the improved WR room. Deep threat and separation ability of receivers is going to keep teams from cheating up and crowding the box, which is the main reason the 49ers couldn’t run well last season. The poor run game wasn’t ever a CMC problem. The soft spot at left guard (which forced Williams to concentrate on two rushers at once) and opposing defenses bringing safeties up because there was no genuine deep threat by SF, were the principal reasons why CMC couldn’t break through. Evans and Stribling taking the top off the defense is what fixes a lot of run game issues.
English
2
0
0
170
BTC
BTC@Bcfromjc·
@DonAtkinsonNFL Do you think they are going to be able to run the ball efficiently with McCaffrey as the lead back? That is my #1 concern.
English
1
0
1
170
Nick Bosa Was Held
Nick Bosa Was Held@BosaWasHeld·
Hold your loves ones today. Hold them like the Chiefs held Nick Bosa in the Super Bowl.
English
13
75
682
17.2K
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
@Graham_SFN Truth. I can even respect contrary opinions if they are rooted in fact. But most of what’s out there is just regurgitated nonsense.
English
0
0
13
234
Brad
Brad@Graham_SFN·
I think this past week has revealed who has thoughtful, objective takes and who is just a parrot of surface level takes
English
10
7
158
6.7K
WTC
WTC@FormerlyWTC·
@DonAtkinsonNFL By giving up so much future draft capital to take Trey Lance they absolutely had to hit on every pick in 2022 & 2023. Not only did they not hit on their picks, with the exception of Brock Purdy they didn’t just strike out, but struck out worse than everybody could’ve imagined.
San Diego, CA 🇺🇸 English
1
0
2
119
Dontay Atkinson
Dontay Atkinson@DonAtkinsonNFL·
The Trey Lance fiasco was the crotch kick that brought the 49ers draft tactics and selection process into question. No one was branding the Lynch/Shanahan drafts as “terrible” until then. The Lance draft year (2021) wasn’t even their worst year. They took 4 solid players in that draft who ended up being highly productive starters. 2022 and 2023 were bad draft years. The team’s last THREE drafts (2024, 2025 and this year) all show genuine promise, though it’s too early to say for sure, at least for the last two. But it seems the 49ers draft room is being black-balled by analysts and fans mostly due to the Lance boondoggle and the two drafts afterward that were flops. All I’m saying is that people need to look at the entire body of work. The Lance disaster knocked the team off its axis for two years, but they’ve since recovered, and to suggest they are on a downward spiral is both deceptive and unsupported by any factual evidence.
Danny G@DannyG_49

@Graham_SFN The Lance trade is the root it. Burned a lot of draft capital and got no production in return. 2022 and 2023 drafts were diminished, and poor selections with the remaining picks compounded the problem. 2 straight years with not much young talent added to the team.

English
35
4
122
22.1K

Keşfet

@DavisMattek @ayesha5683 @Tonysmarkettips @CoachCrocky @outstndnbrandon @KevinPhb @pelters @Bcfromjc