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Niner Talk: 49ers-Rams Week 10

Delanie Walker has been a fan-favorite throughout his seven seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.

It’s not hard to understand why.

In our latest Niner Talk podcast, Walker joined the show to shed light on his do-it-all role with the 49ers. The versatile tight end compared his position with the team to that of a handyman, willing and able to fix anything you need.

Walker also touched on his 80s homage this season, complete with an 80s-style haircut and 80s-sytle approach to the game. Walker’s passion for cars, the 49ers Gameday Live App and other topics were touched on his segment.

For the St. Louis perspective, StLouisRams.com senior writer Nick Wagoner offers his takes on Jeff Fisher’s first year coaching the Rams, the development of Sam Bradford and the challenge of stopping “Missouri Boys” Justin and Aldon Smith.

Click here to listen to the Niner Talk podcast, which is also available on our 49ers Gameday live App.

Here are some of the highlights from both interviews.

DELANIE WALKER

[:50–Walker’s thoughts on a well-timed bye week.]

“It felt good. We had eight weeks playing and had a break in the middle. It always feels good to go half and half. A lot of guys got to put their feet up and let their bodies heal, including me, and I got to go home and spend time with my family and traveled a little bit, so I feel good. I got to see what people were talking about with the Niners and there’s a lot of fans out there, so it was a good time off.”

 [4:20 – Walker’s thoughts on his do-it-all role.]

“I take pride in watching guys make plays because when guys make plays that also means we’re winning. My role is basically, I’m like the handyman – I fix everything. I can do basically whatever you want me to do. You call me, I’ll be there and I can fix it. So that’s basically what I see myself as, I’m a handyman. I really don’t care about getting the ball. When I do get it, I’m happy. But if I’m making a great block and I see Frank (Gore) break for like 30 (yards), I’m happy like I just caught the ball. At the end of the day when I see that scoreboard and we’re winning, I’m even happier. That’s just my role – do whatever I can – and the coaches believe I can do it, so I take pride in it, too.”

NICK WAGONER

[9:45 –Wagoner’s thoughts on the development of Rams quarterback Sam Bradford.]

“You guys know about this as good as anybody with what Alex Smith went through in terms of changing systems and changing coordinators year after year. This is the third system in three years for Sam Bradford, so he’s still adjusting to yet another offensive scheme, one that is different than the one he ran each of the first two years. Quite honestly, he’s still learning and growing into that role. He’s been better this year than he was last year, of course last year he dealt with an ankle injury, but he’s made some strides in terms of picking up pressure and escaping that pressure to make throws on the run. It’s still a work in progress for Sam, obviously all the talent in the world is there, the accuracy, the arm-strength, all that stuff. But as he grows in this system, I would expect him to get better and better.

[15:00 – Wagoner’s thoughts on the Rams defense needing to force turnovers vs. SF.]

“I think it sounds a little cliché because we know turnover battle in the NFL is a big thing every week, but when you have them and then they go away, it becomes even more obvious that it’s something you have to have. With the way the offense is still trying to grow, the more possessions you can get them, the better off they’re going to be, the more likely they’ll be able to score some points. The defense has really held its own and done its job, even in the Miami game three weeks ago, a game they lost. The defense did a great job but that was the one thing that was missing, they didn’t get a turnover. If they can do that, if they can get a short field for the offense, it puts them in better position to score points. Against a team like the 49ers, a team that doesn’t turn the ball over a lot, if you can get an extra possession here or there, I think the value of that is immeasurable.”