Day 2: The good and not so good from 49ers training camp

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (11) catches a pass during NFL football practice at the team’s headquarters Friday, July 27, 2018, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

SANTA CLARA – Here’s who stood out to me during Friday’s non-padded training-camp practice.

THE GOOD

1. QB Jimmy Garoppolo. Completed 7 of 9 pass attempts (78 percent) during 11-on-11 scrimmages. Seemed sharp and in command of the offense. Has the ability to practice like this every day. Used lots of play-action fakes. Never challenged Richard Sherman or Ahkello Witherspoon in man-to-man coverage. Instead, threw short passes to FB Kyle Juszczyk, TE Garrett Celek, TE George Kittle, RB Matt Breida and slot receiver Victor Bolden Jr.. Threw intermediate passes against zone coverage.

2. DT DeForest Buckner. Caused both of Garoppolo’s incomplete passes. Tipped the first pass from behind as it left Garoppolo’s hand. Later, beat center Weston Richburg and forced Garoppolo to scramble and throw an errant pass. Also beat Laken Tomlinson and accidentally knocked Garoppolo down, who completed the pass anyway. Buckner was so disruptive, he almost seemed apologetic whenever he blew up a play. Like he was sorry he wasn’t letting the offense practice. Buckner is too good for these workouts. No one can block him. He is by far the best player on the team, and one of the 20 best players in the NFL.

3. CB Ahkello Witherspoon. The best cornerback on the field. Gave up zero catches. Physically intimidated wide receivers. Ran over one while breaking up a pass. Witherspoon has improved dramatically since a year ago, and will continue to improve as quarterbacks test him and avoid Richard Sherman. Playing next to Sherman will fast-track Witherspoon’s development.

4. WR Kendrick Bourne. Made a leaping, twisting, back-shoulder-fade catch over cornerback Jimmie Ward, near the sideline for a 10-yard gain on third-and-8. Made this play look routine. Clearly the best backup wide receiver on the roster. May be good enough to start in the near future.

5. WR Victor Bolden Jr. Beat Sherman for a five-yard catch on third-and-four. The first receiver to beat Sherman in training camp. Also caught a five-yard pass over the middle and sprinted through the defense for a 60-yard touchdown. Finished practice with four catches. One of the most explosive players on the team. The 49ers must find a way to keep him when he comes back from his four-game suspension to start the season.

6. RB Joe Williams. Ran an outside-zone running play to the left, found a quick cut back lane, hit it smoothly and instantly and scored. A natural. I can’t imagine the 49ers will give up on this guy. He’s too gifted.

7. QB C.J. Beathard. Completed a 50-yard touchdown pass for the second practice in a row. This one went to wide receiver Max McCaffrey. Beathard throws a nice deep ball.

THE NOT SO GOOD

1. QB C.J. Beathard. Still holds the ball too long in the pocket. Had Dante Pettis open over the middle during 7-on-7s and couldn’t get him the ball. Stared him down before making the throw. Telegraphed the pass and got intercepted by backup free safety Antone Exum Jr.

2. WR Marquise Goodwin. Ran a shallow cross during 7-on-7s and caught a short pass over the middle, took two steps and Brock Coyle stripped him. The ball rolled to Jaquiski Tartt, who recovered it. Goodwin may still have ball-security issues. Something to monitor.

3. WR Pierre Garcon. Caught no passes. Received zero targets. Hasn’t made a catch during training camp. Quarterbacks don’t even look his way and he doesn’t seem to run full speed every rep. Strange. You’d think Kyle Shanahan would call extra passes for Garcon to create chemistry between him and Garoppolo. They didn’t play together last year.

4. DE Cassius Marsh. Jumped offside during the sixth play of practice. But hey, at least he had fun out there.

5. OT Mike McGlinchey. Fell to the ground during one of Garoppolo’s nine pass attempts, and got beat around the edge by DE Jeremiah Attaochu during another one of Garoppolo’s passes. Rough day. We’ll see how he responds Saturday when players wear actual pads and practice resembles actual football.

6. Offensive focus and discipline. Players on the offense kept forgetting where to line up in the formation. More than once, the offense had to quit the play, run back to the huddle and start over. Not good, especially during a scripted practice when each player knew ahead of time the plays they would run and the positions they would be in. Shanahan can’t let these mistakes continue.

This article has 26 Comments

  1. Nice rehash of your periscope.
    .
    With pads on, Now the O linemen can hit the pass rushers. Real football.

  2. prac-tice
    /praktes/

    -repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it.
    -perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one’s proficiency.

    Just saying.

    All I can say is thank God in 25 years of coaching softball the parents only showed up for the games. Being questioned or second guessed after a game was part of the business, but practice? Come on! I understand that todays fan, I suppose, wants to get the play by play of every waking moment of his or hers team, even practice for heavens sake, but when did this micro-analyzing of PRACTICE become prevalent? Rather silly.

    Thanks though Grant, your reporting of practice has changed my whole outlook on the season. I’ll be calling my bookie immediately. ;-)

  3. When a Niner does good that usually means another Niner did bad, so…….

    The O-line needs Buckner to sharpen their skills, they will be facing some really good D-lineman. CJ Beathard is going to be just fine glad to have him as a backup.

    Not so good #6 – totally agree with you. Yes its early in camp but there are certain things that should not be happening and that’s one of them, especially in todays football world where practice time is limited.

  4. To quote Grant… “C.J. freaking Beathard.” And it wasn’t meant to be a compliment…

    1. I stand by that statement. One of the worst third-round picks in a while. Not his fault, though. He didn’t pick himself.

  5. Soccer and track?? LOL! At least I played football in MS and HS! Love your reporting though! Keep it up!

  6. Without pads, if your d-line can’t beat your o-ine, you are in deep, deep, doo doo.

    And if Buckner is one of the 20 best players in the league without pads, lil cohn must think Hoyer is #1. He was great without pads too.

  7. I agree completely with you on C.J. Grant. He’s a backup. No more. That’s why I figured they would pick up a veteran free agent, though I understand it’s slim pickins. Maybe they will at some point. Right now they don’t have any insurance at the QB position, in my HO in the event JG goes down with a significant injury. My prediction of a SF SB is of course predicated on an injury free JG year at a minimum. Grant, do you foresee the team trying to find another QB to better back up JG or is C.J. their answer to take the helm and lead them to the playoffs and farther?

    1. Unless a veteran QB with demonstrated skill in Shanahan’s offense drops into their laps, CJB will be the backup—-unless CJB completely tanks in preseason or is placed on IR for the year.

  8. @CamInman
    24m
    #49ersCamp first practice in pads goes without incident. -Reuben Foster knocked down lot of guys in 1v1 coverage, not as good in 11v11 -Garoppolo 11-of-16, missed 2 deep passes to Goodwin -Joe Williams nice burst -McGlinchey did OK in linemen drills – Garnett < Armstead

    1. Yes, very interesting. The player and the agent have done their homework.

      For sure no more “jacked up!” on ESPN (yes, it’s not been featured for some time now….).

    1. “Ridiculously alarming”?!
      “As a professional, Rodgers should know better — what kind of example is he setting to this young UCLA QB behind him”?

  9. Thanks Cassie. I’m not sure whether C.J. has demonstrated a whole lotta skill in KS’s offense, but I think your right, unfortunately. I have enough of a bet on the team winning it all that I’d like to see someone else besides C.J. Maybe they are waiting to see who’s released when the rosters start getting cut down. It’s hard enough to imagine, and bet on the Niners winning the SB (I have faith) but with Beathard at the helm. I think not. I’d like to know what Grant thinks. Of course, if you needle Grant a little bit, he gets all butt hurt and doesn’t respond. Rather thin skinned. Reminds me of a large, orange haired man some 30-35% consider their President! ;-)
    Yea, that’s it for Green Bay. A practice pic(s) by Rogers. Their season is over. They shouldn’t even bother suiting up.

  10. https://www.49ers.com/news/7-observations-from-49ers-training-camp-july-28

    “Not to be outdone, Joe Williams ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run on a toss to the left that marked the offense’s play of the day. Shanahan praised Williams’ decisiveness on the play during his post-practice presser.”

    “Pettis’ strong showing in 1-on-1s continued in full-team work. He had several short-to-intermediate catches while working both sides of the field.”

  11. Just guessing, SF 49ers not targeting Garcon or Sherman early in training camp during 11 on 11 in order for them to get their legs underneath them/up to speed coming off injuries…. They can run ‘shadow’ plays without being target of passes, lowering chance of early camp fluke injuries?

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