Answering your questions

The 49ers have two first-round picks in the 2010 draft, and they would be wise to assess their needs this season before deciding the best way to use those selections.

I’m thumbing through my Athlon Sports Pro Football 2009 Preview, and I pause on Page 126 to look at the NFC predictions.

Every year the NFL sends a memo to its 32-member teams reminding them that people are actually paying to watch the preseason games. And every summer, 32 teams understandably ignore the plea to give substantial playing time to their starters.

Allen Rossum enters training camp as the 49ers’ main man on kickoff and punt returns. But who else can handle the chores?

Jimmy Raye is the 49ers’ seventh offensive coordinator in seven years. Mike Martz, Jim Hostler, Norv Turner, Mike McCarthy, Ted Tollner and Greg Knapp held the position from 2003 to 2008.

There is no handbook on being a leader. And there certainly is not just one way to go about that duty. While the 49ers might have leaders on the team, there are not many who fit the traditional label.

Several years ago during training camp in Stockton, I witnessed an undrafted rookie with whom I had spoken several times leaving the 49ers’ executive office with his bags packed.

Within the first month of the offseason, coach Mike Singletary decided it was time for practice-field standout Dashon Goldson to unseat Mark Roman as the 49ers’ starting free safety.

Coach Mike Singletary said at the conclusion of organized team activities that the 49ers are behind many of the top teams in the league because they: a) don’t have a starting QB named; b) have their seventh offensive coordinator in seven years; c) they need to work out their depth chart at WR, and d) have a head coach who has not spent a full season on the job.  

Mike Nolan was hired in 2005 as coach. But he was more than a coach, he was also the decider. Today, we answer two questions about the 49ers’ decision-making process.

It’s late June, so don’t expect the 49ers to add some quality, team-changing player at a position of need. After all, an overwhelming percentage of the really good players already are on teams.

Remember the not-too-long-ago days when the 49ers were in a yearly battle to create salary-cap space? Those days are over.

The 49ers’ offensive line is a promising group. But promise and productivity are two different things.

It all starts defensively with the pass rush. The best secondary in the world is going to look pedestrian if the opposing quarterback can sit in the pocket all day. Without a pass rush, a defense is not able to generate as many turnovers. This is the subject of today’s question.  

Today’s question is in reference to the blog item I posted earlier this week. Rookie offensive lineman Alex Boone was behind his new teammates because NFL rules prohibited his participation in 49ers workouts before Ohio State staged its graduation ceremonies.

Today is the first day of the remainder of the NFL offseason. To commemorate this momentous occasion, the staff here at Instant 49ers is starting a perhaps-daily feature we like to call “Question of the Day.”

It’s not the best group of receivers the 49ers have ever assembled. Obviously, Rice and Taylor trumps all. But this is the deepest the 49ers have ever been at wideout. (And if you don’t believe me, try to name seven better receivers who have been on the roster at the same time.)

There have been a lot of questions tossed my way recently. And I haven’t had a lot of time to answer them. But here are some answers to common questions surrounding the 49ers at this time.

Tonight — coincidentally, it was right around bed time for the kids — I took part in a live chat with the fans who gathered at 49erswebzone.com and 49ersparadise.com. Thanks to my wife for handling the tucking-in duties without me.   Here are some excerpts from the chat. The full transcript can be read at 49erswebzone.

The folks at Niners Nation recently asked me if I’d take part in a 49ers Q&A. We came up with an idea. We’d give our answers; they would give their answers; and anybody who has an opinion will get a chance to let their voices be heard, too.