SANTA CLARA – The Niners newest quarterback, Josh Johnson, spoke today about his comfort level in the offense, his history with Colin Kaepernick, and why he likes Jim Harbaugh’s coaching style so much. Here’s a transcript. Q: How has it been going for you getting into the playbook? JOSH JOHNSON: It’s been going great. I’ve been fortunate for the last few years to play for a variety of different offensive…
SANTA CLARA – Fourth round pick Joe Looney spoke to reporters after Jason Slowey this afternoon. Looney suffered a Lisfranc fracture at the Senior Bowl in January which required surgery. He’s still rehabbing, and today he discussed how that process is going, what he’s doing in the meantime and what position on the offensive line he will play once he returns. Here’s a transcript. Q: What are you doing these…
SANTA CLARA – After practice, the 49ers P.R. staff invited the media out to the field to interview a few players. Most Niners were already in the locker room, but sixth round pick Jason Slowey stayed out on the field with Joe Looney and Colin Kaepernick to do some extra work. Slowey lined up at center, Looney lined up at right guard and Kaepernick took about 20 snaps from Slowey,…
SANTA CLARA – Seventh round pick defensive end Cam Johnson returned to the practice field this week. He underwent a procedure in June for a knee injury he sustained his senior season at the University of Virginia. He spoke today about the progress he’s making with his knee, what he’s practicing and who he’s learning from. Here’s a transcript. Q: How do you feel after your knee procedure last month?…
This is the time of year when we go through certain scenarios, and this is a lurking scenario: the option option. The Niners have two players on their roster who are two of the greatest college players to ever play in an option offense. I’m talking about their last two second round picks, quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back LaMichael James. Here’s what Ron Jaworski recently said about the read…
SANTA CLARA – 2011 second round pick Colin Kaepernick briefly spoke outside the Niners locker room this afternoon. He discussed the part of his game he wants to improve the most, his relationship with Josh Johnson – his main rival for the backup quarterback job –and his budding friendship with this year’s second round pick, LaMichael James. Here’s a transcript. Q: What are you accomplishing these first few days of…
SANTA CLARA – The newest Niner, Darcel McBath, spoke today about how he became a Niner and how he can contribute to the team. Here’s a transcript. Q: How did this opportunity come across for you? McBATH: They just called me, asked if I was healthy and if I was in shape and if I was ready to play football and if I thought I could come in and compete…
SANTA CLARA –Dashon Goldson may hold out the beginning of training camp – he still hasn’t signed his franchise tag – so the Niners were proactive Monday, signing defensive back Darcel McBath to a one-year contract. The Denver Broncos drafted McBath with the 48th overall pick in 2009. Current Niners defensive backs coach Ed Donatell was on the Broncos staff at the time, so McBath has a connection to Niners…
SANTA CLARA – Backup quarterback Scott Tolzien has one of the widest perspectives of any player on the 49ers. He’s terrific at putting things in perspective for you and me. This afternoon he broke down the collective mindset of the team and his individual mindset as an aspiring quarterback heading into training camp. Here’s a transcript. Q: How does your second training camp feel different than your first? TOLZIEN: Last…
SANTA CLARA – Second-round pick LaMichael James missed seven weeks of the Niners offseason program because he was still in school. He’s working out at the team’s facility this week, and he spoke to reporters today about how he’s gotten himself up to speed, what he can bring to the team, and what he wants to accomplish in training camp. Here’s a transcript. Q: Were you able to make up…
SANTA CLARA – First-round pick A.J. Jenkins spoke today about his mastery of the Niners playbook, learning to field punts and how he’s handled criticism this offseason. Here’s a transcript. Q: How do you feel entering your first camp? JENKINS: I feel real good right now. I feel confident. I’ve been studying the playbook like crazy. I feel real good as far as the play calling goes. Q: When are…
SANTA CLARA – Ted Ginn Jr. attended the minicamps and the OTAs, but he didn’t participate because the knee and ankle injuries that kept him out of the NFC Championship Game all the way back in January still bothered him. Six months later, he’s apparently ten pounds heavier, stronger and healthy. The past two days he’s worked out with the rookies at the team facility, and he gave himself an…
Top five questions as we head into training camp, starting Monday: Will Dashon Goldson hold out? He wanted a multi-year extension from the Niners, but the July 16 deadline passed and the Niners didn’t give him one. All he can do now is sign the one-year franchise tender. The same situation happened to former Niners nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin two seasons ago. Franklin wanted an extension and didn’t get one,…
FYI – this is the 49ers schedule through August 19. Of course, this is all subject to change, but for now things really get going on Monday. I’ll be there, so now you know my schedule, too. Date Media Availability Practice Notes Monday, July 23 12:50-1:45pm Rookies and Selected Vets Tuesday, July 24 12:50-1:45pm Rookies and Selected Vets Wednesday, July 25 12:50-1:45pm Rookies and Selected Vets Thursday, July 26 11:30am…
What exactly do we expect from the 29-year-old Frank Gore next season? Here’s what Football Outsiders projects: “From an advanced stats perspective, it appears that the 29-year-old is entering the third act of his career. In his first two years, he ranked in the top 15 of rushing DVOA. In the next four, he ranked no higher than 20th. Then, last season, he ranked lower than any other running back…
Although many of you disagree with Football Outsiders projections for the upcoming season, their 2012 almanac has some interesting stats from last season I’d like to share with you. “Alex Smith was out of the pocket on 19 percent of pass plays, fifth in the league, and was pretty bad on these plays, with just 4.4 yards per play and -25.1% DVOA.” What this means to me: Quarterbacks usually ad-lib…
Our friendly poster Ribico wondered which teams Football Outsiders projected to do well next season. It’s a good question. Here are the nine teams they project to win more than nine games. I’d love to hear what you think. Patriots: 12.0 wins. Packers: 11.1 wins. Bears: 10.2 wins. Steelers: 10.1 wins. Falcons: 9.9 wins. Bills: 9.7 wins. New York Jets: 9.2 wins. Ravens: 9.2 wins. Saints: 9.1 wins. To purchase…
Football Outsiders just published their 2012 Football Almanac. You can purchase it here for $12.50. I get nothing for this. I am not associated with Football Outsiders. I merely give the link as a service to my readers. They project the Niners to win 7.2 regular season games next season – of course, not exactly 7.2 games; that’s just the average of a million simulations they did. Please don’t attack…
I’ve got another game we can play as we spin our wheels this offseason. What will the Niners regular record be next season? This is not a fruitless exercise. This is another way of examining how the Niners currently stack up against their competition. Some questions to consider while making your projections: How will the Niners change next season? How will their opponents adjust? How will the Niners adjust to…
Greg Cosell just wrote a blog on football theory which I find interesting, and you can read here. He asks why NFL teams don’t structure their offenses around great running backs anymore. As we know, the 49ers spent much of the last decade building an offense around a great running back – Frank Gore. Gore rushed 282 times last season for 1,211 yards and eight touchdowns. The Niners offense attempted…
