49ers training camp: Day 9 - In person notes, during an interesting albeit limited practice.
The playbook was not going to be used very extensively today.
Let’s start with the worst thing all day, which was the offensive line, specifically the 2nd team.
The 2nd team OL struggled all morning, routinely allowing plays to be blown up from the start. All three of the backup QBs were under consistent pressure. No matter who the interior DL and edge rushers were, they routinely beat their man. If Tom Compton plays at tackle, the 49ers are in big trouble. Colton McKivitz also struggled all afternoon, as did the center. Aaron Banks had a forgettable performance in addition. The 2nd team OL clearly has not meshed as a unit like the first team OL has. I wouldn’t expect Aaron Banks to start Week 1, which may come as a disappointment.
As for the WRs, Brandon Aiyuk is clearly the most talented WR on the team, and Deebo is the WR2. Aiyuk is in line for a dominant season and seems to utilize his catch radius far more. Trent Sherfield is going to be the WR3, and although Mohamed Sanu looked good, he was often schemed open and wasn’t beating CBs one on one as Sherfield was. Kevin White had multiple catches, including one tough catch on a throw that was a bit off from Garoppolo. Probably his best day of camp. River Cracraft is not going to make this roster - he struggled to create separation the entire day. Travis Benjamin looked good during one on ones. Jalen Hurd was not used all day, save for an end around play rehearsal in which Hurd got the ball. I would mark Sherfield down as a roster lock. Kevin White also looked good during special teams, which was stressed. He was both a gunner and returner. Right now, the WR hierarchy might be Aiyuk, Samuel, Sherfield, Sanu, James Jr - and after that, it’s a free for all. White or Hurd are my guesses to come out of there. Jennings didn’t work on special teams, nor did Hurd.
During eleven on elevens, there were some key developments. Trey Lance is the only QB working in the pistol, save for one Garoppolo rep. Shanahan has never used the pistol in this offense, so it will be quite interesting to see Lance work in it. With that being said, he looked extremely uncomfortable both running and throwing the ball from the pistol. His footwork didn’t seem to click in the pistol, nor did his running ability. The 49ers had Hokit as the H-back during 2nd team drills. Also noticed that Jordan Matthews got some reps in the backfield as well. The playbook was clearly not being showcased today, as the 49ers ran very simple offense stressing underneath and over the middle areas. There was almost no passing outside of the numbers, save for a couple of Lance completions and a Garoppolo fade to Kittle for a score. Kittle dominated the smaller Lenoir on the rep.
As for defense, very interesting as well. The 49ers ran a ton of Cover 1 today, which is likely just part of the script, but was still odd for a team so inclined to play zone. The 49ers rarely ran five wide to counter Cover 1, nor did they attack the sidelines which I found odd - everything stressed the underneath game today, which is Garoppolo's strength. Jason Verrett was dominant, and K’Waun Williams looked very good as well. Deommodore Lenoir struggled, but had first team reps at the end during the “move the ball period”, along with Mark Fields starting at the other outside corner position. Lenoir and Fields also played during the 2nd team “move the ball” period. Hufanga seems to be a chess piece, as he lined up as a single high safety, in the box, and even as a slot corner once.
Ken Webster went down with an injury after a collision with Jordan Matthews, so keep an eye on that.
The QBs. Both Garoppolo and Lance did not have good days, and I would put their performances roughly equal. Garoppolo spent far too long holding on to the ball, save for scripted one read throws, and had some ugly misses both on throws and reads. Garoppolo was still good when throwing short and over the middle, as always. He missed reads, Kittle was wide open on multiple occasions. He’s the same he always has been, and did benefit from a simple play design throughout the afternoon. When things are defined for Garoppolo, he’s good. When he’s required to make two or more reads, that’s when things start going wrong. Hesitating all day, and telegraphed multiple throws. Ward broke on multiple balls. The problem isn’t the speed of going through progressions for Garoppolo, the problem is and remains going through them correctly.
As for the rookie, Lance was pressured all day with the other backups and didn’t have much time to throw, but still completed some good passes downfield and to the outsides. He missed high often. Wasn’t his best day, wasn’t his worst. Lance ended the practice by no fault of his own, he threw a laser to Elijah Mitchell, hitting him perfectly in stride and in the hands - Mitchell couldn’t hang on, and the ball perfectly fell into the outstretched arms of 3rd year safety Marcell Harris. Lance also had a pass dropped earlier in the drive, when Jauan Jennings dropped a 15 yard laser over the middle. It was tight coverage, but the ball was exactly where it should be - Jennings couldn’t hold on. For a WR that thrived on contested catches, Jennings was not impressive all day - but he is returning from a period on the COVID list.
Mitchell and the rest of the RBs, save for that drop at the end, had great days. All of them broke off multiple good runs and showed good vision. JaMycal Hasty could make a late run for a roster spot, as Gallman was the least impressive of the RBs today. Hasty may have been the most impressive of the backs.
Sudfeld looked good until eleven on elevens, whereas the opposite is true for Rosen. Rosen missed ugly throws during one on one drills, but completed three of his three passes during eleven on elevens. The 5th string QB - Kyle Shanahan, of course, threw three picks in 6 throws while throwing against the 2nd team defense. Yes, I’m serious. It was quite funny though.
Nick Bosa looks like he’s in football shape, to say the least, but still simply did workouts on the side throughout the entire practice. He got standing ovations every time he went near fans. He was clearly trying to focus on his left knee, as he was practicing his get-off the entire day off that knee. The interior DL remains the strength of this football team, even with Javon Kinlaw not playing. Especially the depth, as mentioned before - wrecking the 2nd team offensive line.
Overall, it was a good practice for the defense and an average one for the offense. The playbook was basically not used today, as play design was extremely limited and consisted mainly of short outs, levels concepts, and attacking the short to intermediate zones over the middle.
Good to hear about the running backs.
Thanks!