As you've no doubt heard, the 49ers made seven cuts on Tuesday morning to get down to the league-mandated 80-man roster limit. On the chopping block were:
WR Tyler Beiler
G/C Donovan Edwards
G Nick Howell
WR Kevin Jurovich
LB Scott McKillop
P Sam Paulesu
RB Seth Smith
No one on that list was surprising, and that in and of itself is a shame in a couple of respects. We'll start with the sad story, and then the depressing one.
Kevin Jurovich was signed late last season as an undrafted rookie out of San Jose State and had a decent enough showing during training camp and the preseason to make the practice squad. No one thought much of him, but when you factored in how disappointing Ted Ginn was in his first year with the club and how then-rookie Kyle Williams didn't do anything either, missing almost the entire season with injuries, then Jurovich's chances for a roster spot in 2011 didn't look quite so hopeless. And then came the players-only minicamps in June at his alma mater. Jurovich not only had the steadiest attendance there of anyone on the team, but he was looking pretty impressive by all accounts. If he wasn't an NFL wide receiver, he sure as heck was doing a pretty spot on imitation of one. You'd have to think, given his form at the time, that if there wasn't a lockout and teams were having regular minicamps and OTA's, that Jurovich would've turned a few heads with the new coaching staff.
Unfortunately for him, life is all about timing. Whatever mojo he had in June completely deserted him in August and it has to be said that Jurovich simply choked away his opportunity. In the practices we saw, he dropped passes, ran bad routes, was visibly aired out by wide receivers coach John Morton a couple of times, and just generally looked like one of the worst players in camp, which is saying something when you're one of 90 guys vying for spots on this team. I don't know if he'll get a shot in any other team's training camp in the future, but this may well be it for Jurovich as a professional football player.
Then there's the story of Scott McKillop. A two-time All-Big East player at Pitt and the recipient of the Big East Defensive Player of the Year award in 2008, when he had 126 tackles, 16.5 tackles-for-loss, four sacks and an interception for the Panthers, McKillop looked like a steal when the 49ers drafted him in the fifth-round of the 2009 draft, even if he was a bit undersized.
McKillop was behind starters Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes, obviously, but he was a tremendous special teams performer as a rookie, recording either 31 tackles, if you believe the team's bookkeeping, or 19 if you go by the NFL's. There was a possibility that he would be groomed to be Spikes' replacement once his deal ended, or that at the least he'd be in competition with NaVorro Bowman in the seasons to come. Of course, the ACL and patella tendons he tore in his left knee on Aug. 4 of last year changed everything. Not only did McKillop miss all of his second season, but his recovery was slow to the point where he's still not running 100 percent and he has to wear a bulky brace.
McKillop didn't even see the field the first two preseason games, and it was easy to see why. He was hobbled in practice and just not moving very well. The thought was that possibly the team would try putting him on IR for a second straight season while he made a full recovery.
Then, out of nowhere, McKillop finally saw game action against the Texans, and not only played, but played well, even though he wasn't running any better. He led the team with seven tackles, making plays both on special teams and from scrimmage. He looked like the guy we saw in 2009, even though he wasn't fully recovered.
What makes this a sad story to me isn't McKillop's injury -- those happen all the time in this business -- or even that the rehab has been more complicated than expected.
No, to me the troubling aspect of it is that I truly don't believe McKillop's hobbling gait had much to do with his release. I think even if he was healthy, he was never really in the team's plans.
While the transaction wire will record that McKillop was officially given his walking papers on Aug. 30, I believe he was actually a goner much sooner, on Aug. 3, when the team signed free agent Blake Costanzo. Special teams coordinator Brad Seely was signed away from Cleveland and Costanzo was his guy, his kickoff team kamikaze. Costanzo had a good enough season two years ago to make the Sports Illustrated All-Pro team in that capacity.
What Costanzo is not, however, is a guy who can play from scrimmage in any way, shape or form. He may be listed as a linebacker, but that's just a technicality. You could just as easily list him at tight end, cornerback or nose tackle, for all the field time he sees on downs 1-3.
The prevailing wisdom for most of training camp was that the "competition" for the eighth and likely final linebacker job was between Costanzo, the special teams guy; and Keaton Kristick, who's the better linebacker. The coaches never seemed to consider the possibility that, in McKillop, they already had someone who's just as good on teams as the former and a superior linebacker to the latter. It didn't matter because he's not Seely's guy and he's certainly not Harbaugh's (I doubt Jimbo was gonna watch 2009 film of some special teamer). He was a Scot McCloughan draft pick, and thus there was nobody in the building left to make his case.
Again, as with Jurovich, it's a case of shitty timing. The only difference is that McKillop has actually shown in games that he can play, and his nose for the football is a quantifiable skill that shows up on film. The guy had seven tackles but I doubt it would've changed his fate if he had 27. The decision on him had been made some time ago. For all we know he's the one who requested his release, rather than take the IR option, if one was even given. Harbaugh said they cut him now so he can hook on somewhere else, and whether that was his idea or McKillop's, it's the right thing to do if he has no future here. The guy is an NFL player. If he can ever run as he did before, he may even be a decent NFL player.
I think what I'm trying to say is, Costanzo better really have a solid year on special teams.
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