The 49ers had their final practice of training camp on Sunday. Of course, they will have more practices over the next two weeks, but those sessions will be done in regular-season mode. That means only the first 20 minutes or so — the warm-up period — will be open to reporters.
That’s enough time to figure out who is practicing, who is rehabilitating and who is absent altogether, but not much else. All of which is to say, practice reports are finished until the spring and it’s time to recap what’s been seen so far.
Here are 10 things I learned from the 12 49ers sessions that were open to the media:
1. If Jordan Reed stays healthy, then …
I know, I know. Given Reed’s thick medical file — including seven documented concussions — that’s a big
if and fans probably would be wise to curb their expectations. Reed hasn’t appeared in 16 games since, well, he’s never appeared in 16 games since entering the league in 2013. The most he’s played is 13 in 2018 and he didn’t appear in any last season after sustaining a preseason concussion.
Now that all of that prefacing is out of the way, Reed has looked very good in his scant practice repetitions. With George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk sidelined for Friday’s Week 1 warm-up, Reed was the top target on the field. He caught five passes and was Jimmy Garoppolo’s favorite receiver on the quarterback’s best drive.
I recently interviewed another team’s scout about the 49ers. When he began discussing the offense, the first name out of his mouth was Reed’s. Kittle already creates all sorts of matchup problems for defenses. Having Reed on the field would double that burden. He’s as precise a route runner as advertised and is a bit bigger than I imagined he’d be.
If he can remain healthy, Reed would mitigate the 49ers’ lack of depth at receiver.
Reed on Sunday said he indeed considered retirement after his seventh concussion a year ago. He said watching the Super Bowl re-ignited his desire to play. And now?
“It’s just been the most fun I’ve had playing football ever,” he said. “Honestly. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t play all season last year or what. But since I’ve been out there I’ve been having a blast and I’ve just been really grateful.”
2. Trent Williams is worthy of all the hype
As discussed in
last week’s mailbag, the 49ers have upgraded at left tackle and the guy they are replacing, Joe Staley, was the team’s best offensive lineman in the last quarter-century. That’s how impressive Williams has been in his first 49ers training camp.
Few players live up to their hype, but Williams has done that so far. He has the quick feet that Staley possessed. What jumps out is his power. Williams can stagger pass rushers with a one-arm blow. That’s something no one has seen around here since Larry Allen’s two-year stint at guard. And by that point in his career, Allen had all the mobility of a metal dumpster.
Williams is more like a Ferrari. (
Too soon?)
3. Fred Warner might have been the 49ers’ top defensive player
Warner received some comparisons to Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner when Warner was coming out of BYU in 2018. The comparisons seemed a bit farfetched at the time considering that Wagner has made the Pro Bowl every season since 2014. Today they are more realistic and Warner looks poised to make the leap from very good NFL middle linebacker to one of the top players at his position.
Warner, who was always strong in coverage, added more pop to his tackling last season. This year he’s been the most menacing player on the practice field and has had aggressive encounters with Raheem Mostert, Kittle, Tavon Austin and anyone he can hit.
More than anyone else, Warner seems ravenous for the regular-season to begin. Coaches had to keep him on the sideline Friday because they were worried about him pushing too hard. Warner, fellow linebacker Dre Greenlaw and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw didn’t practice Sunday. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said he was not concerned with any of their absences.
The other top defensive player in training camp: Strong safety Jaquiski Tartt, who was excellent in coverage and who had an interception of Garoppolo on Sunday. He has just three in five NFL seasons. Bolstering that number in 2020 will boost his free-agent stock in March.
4. Center is the shakiest spot on the team
That will improve when Ben Garland returns from his ankle injury. But Kyle Shanahan said Thursday that Garland remains “week to week” for his return and that his injury was worse than some of the other ankle sprains the 49ers have seen recently.
Garland’s sprain came early in training camp and it’s given the 49ers a long taste of what the offense would look like without him. It’s not great. Daniel Brunskill mostly has filled in with the first-team unit and it’s clear he needs more seasoning. Bad snaps — including the shotgun snap that
sailed over Garoppolo’s head Friday — are too common.
His backup, Hroniss Grasu, is a journeyman who was getting shoved around by the 49ers’ talented interior rushers when he first arrived. (Though it should be noted that Grasu has improved in this regard.) Another backup, Ross Reynolds, suffered a bone bruise in his knee and will miss more time.
The 49ers brought in another center, Dakoda Shepley, for Sunday’s practice, which immediately had a domino effect. Shepley played center with the second-team group, which allowed Grasu to play with the first-stringers and for Brunskill to see his most snaps at right guard since training camp opened. Brunskill, Tom Compton and perhaps rookie Colton McKivitz are competing for the starting job at right guard.
5. The team’s toughest decision could be which defensive linemen to keep
There might not be as many waiver claims following cut-down day this year because a) with no preseason, scouts haven’t been able to assess other team’s players and b) with practice squads viewed as extensions of the 53-man roster, teams will prioritize players familiar with their own systems.
A possible exception when it comes to pirating the 49ers’ roster: defensive line. Other teams know how deep the 49ers are at that position. They usually keep 10 defensive linemen. Assuming Ronald Blair (knee) makes the 53-man squad, the last two spots might come down to Kevin Givens, Kentavius Street, Darrion Daniels and Dion Jordan.
A good argument could be made for keeping any of the two. Jordan has made the fewest number of plays of those four. However, he’s the only one from that group who lines up at a spot, defensive end, that had major depth issues last season and that is currently dealing with injuries.
6. Running back is the team’s second deepest position
A testament to the 49ers’ strength at running back: When they waived undrafted rookie Salvon Ahmed last week, he was immediately snapped up on waivers by the Dolphins.
The 49ers’ first three tailbacks seem set: Mostert, Tevin Coleman and Jerick McKinnon. The questions are whether the team keeps four tailbacks and, if so, whether No. 4 is Jeff Wilson or rookie JaMycal Hasty?
Could the team get tailback No. 5 onto the practice squad? The Seahawks always seem to be lurking around the waiver wire for 49ers leftovers and Wilson, in particular, would seem to fit their mold for running backs. Of course, Seattle had a chance to pounce on Wilson when he didn’t make the 49ers’ initial roster last year and passed on the opportunity.
7. Nick Bosa and Dee Ford don’t need a lot of practice to prepare for the season
OK, that’s something I learned in
last year’s training camp, though it applies to this one, too. A year ago at this time, Bosa was out with a high-ankle injury while Ford was dealing with tendonitis in his knees.
Neither played in the preseason yet both were effective in the Week 1 win — a game dominated by the 49ers defense — in Tampa. Bosa and Ford had a sack apiece. (Ford aggravated his knee tendonitis while practicing on Youngtown State’s artificial turf women’s soccer field between that game and Week 2 and wasn’t the same for the rest of the season.)
This year Ford is dealing with what the 49ers have called a minor calf strain while Bosa has an undisclosed muscle strain in his leg. Like last year, both are expected to be on the field Sept. 13 against the Cardinals.
Bosa’s injury is a bit of a mystery. However, he was seen on the sideline Sunday giving pass-rush tips to Kerry Hyder. Bosa was doing everything at a slow pace for instructional purposes, but he did not seem hindered in any way.
8. Deebo Samuel has a shot at playing Week 1 against the Cardinals
The 49ers’ top wideout has been doing his most extensive rehabilitation work — sprinting, changing directions, etc. — in recent days. He also caught some stationary passes from the quarterbacks during individual drills Sunday.
Samuel, however, has yet to return to practice, a prerequisite for being on the field on Sept. 13. In fact, there are a lot of players who probably need to resume practicing at this time next week in order to have a shot at playing against Arizona.
So far, the only players ruled out for the Cardinals game are: center Weston Richburg (knee), receiver Richie James (wrist), defensive lineman Jullian Taylor (knee) and receiver Jalen Hurd (knee).
9. The 49ers’ undrafted streak continues
Heading into training camp, the conventional thinking was that undrafted rookies would be hurt the most by the oddball, pandemic-altered offseason. It certainly hasn’t looked that way on the field as Hasty, Daniels, fullback Josh Hokit, defensive back Jared Mayden and tight end Chase Harrell have been impressive, perhaps in that order.
Of course, whether any makes the 53-man roster remains a big question mark. With no preseason games, teams can more easily stash little-known rookies on their practice squad. The good news for the 49ers is that their undrafted rookies look like they could contribute if called upon.
10. The 49ers don’t need crowd noise for intensity
It might seem odd on television if the Cardinals-49ers Week 1 game is played in a silent stadium. The NHL playoffs began without any artificial crowd noise — either in the stadium or on the broadcast — and the games had the atmosphere of an Olympic qualifying match between Greece and Belarus.
The electricity on the field on Sept. 13, however, will be intense whether there’s noise or not. It certainly was during Friday’s warm-up in Levi’s Stadium. Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, for example, is just as loud, fiery and relentless on game days as he is in drills, and he could be heard bellowing to his linemen before every play.
The 49ers haven’t faced another team since Feb. 2. After they lost that game the players said they were itching to play again, that they didn’t want the season to end. All of which is to say, there will be plenty of electricity in Levi’s Stadium in two weeks no matter the ambiance.
“I’ll be honest, once the games do start, you don’t really feel the fans anyway,” Saleh said Sunday. “It’s a very, very intense football game and you’re so focused on your job that the crowd noise and all that stuff is just — for the lack of a better (description), it’s there but it’s not.”
— Reported from Santa Clara
they changed it for this season. you can have like 4 or 6 vets and 4 or 6 protected players whom other teams can't poach aside from two day period after games
