SANTA CLARA – Here’s who stood out to me during the first padded practice of training camp.
THE GOOD
1. RB Joe Williams. The best skill position player on the field today. Had a 65-yard touchdown run, his second of training camp. Hits a top speed no 49er other than Marquise Goodwin can match.
2. WR Aaron Burbridge. Took reps with the starters, because Pierre Garcon had the day off. Beat starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon with a dig route for a 15-yard gain over the middle. Was the only wide receiver who caught a pass from Jimmy Garoppolo. Seems like a good bet to make the team.
3. LB Fred Warner. Clearly the best rookie so far. Tackled running back Jeff Wilson for a four-yard loss. Literally tackled him. A diving, rugby-style tackle.
4. LB Reuben Foster. Met Jerick McKinnon in the backfield, lowered his shoulder and ran through the poor guy. Coaches have said they want Foster to protect himself and use his hands when he tackles instead of ramming into players shoulder-first. He prefers ramming into players shoulder first, as McKinnon learned today.
5. QB Jimmy Garoppolo. Completed 12 of 16 passes (75 percent). The longest completion was the 15-yarder to Burbridge. Threw mostly short passes to running backs and tight ends. Missed his three long throws. More on those below.
6. DE/DT Solomon Thomas. Lined up at defensive tackle during one-on-one pass-rush drills and beat backup guard Erik Magnuson with a rip move to the inside. Did not face a starting offensive lineman during this drill, but faced starting right tackle Mike McGlinchey during 11 on 11s and beat him around the edge. McGlinchey has to be the first NFL tackle Thomas has ever beaten around the edge. More on McGlinchey below.
7. OG Laken Tomlinson. The best guard on the team. Held his ground both times he faced DeForest Buckner during one on ones.
8. RB Jerick McKinnon. Caught a 30-yard back-shoulder fade near the sideline from C.J. Beathard. Moves and looks like a wide receiver.
9. RB Matt Breida. The best running back on the team. The most consistent. Runs harder than everyone else. All of his reps the first three days have been good.
THE NOT SO GOOD
1. OT Mike McGlinchey. Didn’t have to face DeForest Buckner, Arik Armstead or Solomon Thomas during one on ones. Got to face Cassius Marsh instead, and got beat to the inside. Then faced Jeremiah Attaochu, and got beat to the inside again. Said he was rusty because he hadn’t worn pads in eight months. Neither had Marsh and Attaochu.
2. OG Joshua Garnett. Armstead bulldozed him during one on ones. Just pushed him backward eight yards. Garnett can’t hold his ground. What a disappointment.
3. QB Jimmy Garoppolo. Underthrew a deep pass to Marquise Goodwin. Overthrew another deep pass to Goodwin – this one landed out of bounds. And overthrew a seam pass to Burbridge — the pass almost got intercepted by Adrian Colbert. Garoppolo is money throwing short and intermediate passes, but the deep passes don’t come as naturally.
4. WR Marquise Goodwin. Caught no passes. Almost caught one with his face, though. The underthrown deep ball from Garoppolo. Goodwin stopped, turned around, jumped, missed the ball with his hands and took it in the grill. Ouch.
5. WR Dante Pettis. Beat cornerback Tyvis Powell deep, but didn’t attack the pass, which was underthrown. Hung back and let it come to him. Allowed Powell to catch up and knock the pass away. Powell had his back turned – he wasn’t even looking. He got lucky. Pettis had the advantage and still didn’t make the catch. He’s soft at the catch point. But, apparently he was fantastic during one on ones. I didn’t watch that. I was filming the pass-rush drills.
6. DE Cassius Marsh. Andrew Lauderdale pancaked him during 11 on 11s.
7. OLB Eli Harold. Faced Pace Murphy during one on ones, rushed directly into his chest, slipped and fell on his face. The worst pass rusher on the team.
1. RB Joe Williams. The best skill position player on the field. Had a 65-yard touchdown run, his second of training camp. Hits a top speed no 49er other than Marquise Goodwin can match.
:)
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How’s Attaochu looking Grant? I know you’ve mentioned he’s nobody special, but just hoping he’s changing your mind a bit. You think we add Dumervil at some point?
I think the Niners need Dumervil at some point.
Dumervil is at home. I hope he stays in shape as the Niners will need to bring him back. Agree also with Grant that our first round pick is not looking good. Also, sorry that Garnett may be cut as a former first rounder. He is a smart, good character player. Just too soft I suppose. Other than the superb Hawaiian Buckner, our first round picks in recent years have been disappointing.
1. RB Joe Williams. I read he got stripped today. He needs to protect the ball in the preseason.
3. LB Fred Warner. Good to read.
5. WR Dante Pettis. I caught part of your periscope vid. You were more complimentary of Dante. In print however, he seems like your whipping boy.
I saw that fumble. Williams had been touched down about eight times before the ball came out.
Thanks. Have you got a chance to watch him in pass protection yet?
No. I’ll watch for that.
Liked Grant’s youtube line drills. Hope there are more to come.
Williams has incredible afterburners. He reminds me of Wendel Tyler once he gets to the second level. (Remember the ball with the handle?)
If Williams gets the little (but not really little) stuff like blocking assignments, hot routes, blitz pick up and bgall security… look out.
I saw good footage of Pettis today. 1 on 1 drills are biased towards receivers but Pettis displayed a nack for beating coverage, natural hands and the underrated skill of body control.
Warner got compliments from Foster at today’s presser. Wonder if Warner’s coverage skills free Foster for occasional blitzing?
Hey Grant where are they playing Blair currently? Ashame he’s such an odd fit.
He played DT in one on ones. They’re using him the way they use Thomas.
It’s cute when you try and talk football Grant
Random thought.
How can Williams be the best skill position player and not best running back when he plays running back? I get what you are trying to say but it reads oddly.
You’re right. I’ll fix it.
Williams was the best today. Breida has been the most consistent throughout camp.
I saw the reps today on NN. Nice to see that Jeremy McNichols get some runs.
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8 possible sacks? Guess the pass rush has improved, but it is a little concerning about the O line.
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Burbridge might make the team due to his ST contributions, but that may mean he squeezes out Bourne or James.
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Taylor being out may open a spot for one of those players.
Foster looks bigger — which he should be after a full NFL offseason. Focus on football and choose better female companionship.
Warner will prove to be a great pick, don’t need him right away.
Garoppolo’s big weakness — aside from choice in date — is the deep ball. I’ll take decision making over a cannon to get it accurately deep. We’ve already seen talent without decision making.
Hope Joe Williams sticks, because we have NO ONE else to grind a defense in the 4th quarter. 5’9” 200 lbs (maybe) won’t cut it.
Joe Williams and Jerick McKinnon weigh exactly the same weight, 205LBS. Truth is, Jerick who tosses 225LBS around like a beachball may be more physical than Joe. Breida may be the tough guy in the bunch anyway
Blair should be outside, Harold is one of their best pass rushers(not a good thing), 3 headed beast at Rb, with Jet falling bk into his Min role but perhaps more snaps at Wr with Joe or Breida in the back field….imagine the possibilities. Limit their touches, keep em hungry and fresh for playoff run.
Good to read about Williams. I hope that kid turns it around. Any news about Taylor or Smith making their debuts?
No. If they’re still not practicing on Tuesday, it’s time to be concerned.
I have to admit grant, most of your articles are very negative but this one was not biased at all and just honest. Great work!
It is difficult to know who to root for when it’s Niner offense versus Niner defense. If Jimmy and the receivers do well, then something is wrong with the secondary. If the pass rushers do well, there is something wrong with the offensive line. If the running backs do well, there is something wrong with the front seven. And vice versa. I would like to know what a perfect practice looks like. Is it that just everybody looks okay, but not great, so that it is completely balanced? Personally, I would like to see the defense dominate the offense in practice…it will make the offense much better in the long run against other teams.
Tomlinson is making Mayhew look good.
On Rotoworld:
“According to Grant Cohn of The Press Democrat, Matt Breida has been a standout through the first three days of training camp. Cohn heaped praise on the second-year back, going as far as to call him the “best running back on the team.” The Niners beat reporter went on to laud his consistency, noting that Breida “runs harder than everyone else.” The 49ers paid Jerick McKinnon like a workhorse this offseason, though if Breida continues to impress in camp, he could play a larger role than expected. He’s worth stashing as a handcuff in all fantasy formats.”
Looks like they’re correcting their earlier error/slight of only mentioning the Press Democrat and not Grant.
Love McGlinchey’s answers to the “interrogation”, especially “I’m working on technique and trying to do new things and working on timing”. Yes folks, this is called “practice”. For those of you that have never coached so much as a tiddlywinks team, this is what you do. You work on your game. Certain aspects. Results can be skewered by that fact. Grant would better serve us by looking deeper and discussing what the players are working on, and how they are improving or regressing, rather than the final result of the play, which in practice doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot. Instead of “gotchya” questions, dig a little deeper. Why was his face red? I think that’s obvious.
Has anyone gone down to spring training and watched a game? Do you think how the pitchers are throwing, what they are throwing, and in what sequence, is what you will see ultimately in real league game? No. I certainly hope not. They are working on their game. They might be working on their fastball one particular start. Maybe a curveball the next. Coaches are looking at the work and the progress on any one skill, not just the final result. That is secondary to the progress the player is making on the skill they are practicing. Same thing applies to football practice, or any sport. The key for a player is to refine all of the aspects of their game during “practice” and put them together for the final product when playing a real game. That’s the only time it counts. Then, and only then can you analyze and critique their “entire” set of skills. The rest is just malarky. Nice job Mt. McGlinchey.
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I will repeat what I said about J. Williams last year. He could lead the NFL in rushing and he could lead the NFL by double figures in balls on the ground. Fumblers are fumblers they seldom get much better at ball security, Shanahan is going to have to decide how many turn overs Williams is worth. I’m also concerned with his ability to pick up the blitz. Is he the kind of player to do the extra film work to prepare for complex blitz packages? I hope he proves me wrong regarding his fumbling.
Yea, Wendell Tyler had the same issue but he worked out pretty good for us.
Razor,
I was thinking the same thing until I looked up his stats. His fumbling actually got worse with the 9ers. His worst season with the Rams was 10 fumbles, his worst with the 9ers was 13 in 1984 with far less touches than with the Rams. Like I said in my post Shanahan is going to have to decide how much is too much and with the other RB’s the 9ers have I think he will be given a very short rope. I will be rooting for him, you can’t have too many talented RB’s.
We used to call him Fumbell Tyler. But he made some great runs and we were talented enough on both sides of the ball to make up for the fumbles. Whether we are now or not is the big question.
I dont know why so many fans bring up Wendell Tyler with such fondness. He had 1 season for SF where he eclipsed 1000 yards rushing and had 13 fumbles that year. The rest of his career in SF was pretty ho hum…
Probably because Tyler/Craig was one of the best backfields ever.
and we always remember those SB championship teams a little more warmly.
;>)
Wendell Tyler may have carried the ball like a loaf of bread, but he averaged 5 yards per carry during those Glory Years. Wendell Tyler matched with Roger Craig, were an unstoppable force.
That was a sweet backfield.
Tiki Barber
dReed,
Barber had 44 fumbles in 10 years, hardly a “fumbler”, in fact his highest fumble years came later in his career.
I believe he changed the way he carried the ball due to ball security issues, stats aside…..maybe something similar would benefit Joe W. as well.
Rodger Craig seldom fumbled, but one was the one no Niner fan at that time will ever forget.
Yea, loved Wendell. He was an electric runner, but he was also a fumble machine. 26 fumbles on 593 carries (once every 22.80 carries) in 3 years with the team, not counting ’86 where he only fumbled once in 31 carries. Fortunately for him he played on one of the all time great teams in NFL history, the ’84 team. ’83, ’85 and ’86 weren’t so bad either. Williams doesn’t have that luxury, at least not yet.
I like Frank Gore. He has had 40 fumbles in his 13 years, for an average of only a smidge over 3 per year. He carried the ball 3226 times, and fumbled only once in every 80.7 carries.
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Glad Joe Williams has had a year to work out and get stronger. That 65 yard run may be a harbinger of the future.
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If JW can become the bell cow, it will make McKinnon more effective, as a change of pace back.
Watching the live look into the 49ers training camp. Goodwin really burned Sherman on 1 on 1s. Jimmy G hit him on a long go route. Sherman bounced back and just knocked the ball away from Robinson. Sure it’s all geared towards the WRs for these battles, but still interesting to watch Sherman.
Jimmy looked pretty good on the deep passes. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares today during 7 vs 7 and 11 vs 11.
Grant’s observations provide an excellent window into camp. His analysis is a little subjective for my taste. He’s a student of the game, but it is clear he had never coached, the key being simplistic evaluation. He’s right about Williams’ talent and speed easy to see on film. What is missed is his lack of focus on the essence of the game, to ncluding ball security. If I were Turner I’d tell him he has to prove himself on STs, to see if he can overcome something he doesn’t want to do. I’d bet even money the fumbling stopped.
Fingers crossed that Mcglinchey can play and keep Jimmy G upright ,I’ve got t a very uneasy feeling about the Right side of the O line .
McGlinchey will deliver, on that I can promise you.
I wonder how Barton, Fahnhost, and Steve Wallace looked after four days of their very first camp…?
Joe Fann
✔
@Joe_Fann
Jimmy Garoppolo 45-yard bomb to Marquise Goodwin in 11-on-11 alert. Goodwin beat Jimmie Ward down the right sideline, and Garoppolo put it right over his shoulder.
GC – after 1st pad practice…
GC – on the LT re- signing
Alarming indeed….
Meaningful?
Joe Fann saying Dante Pettis did quite well today. And Joe Fann even poked fun at ‘hot takes’…
Naw, just shows how a little criticism will motivate a player to play better. Sounds like Pettis upped his game, but of course, they NEVER read the blogs.
He upped his game because he’s prob getting more settled by the practice, and also looking to secure a key role on off. Not sure how much more motivation a rookie would need, but there’s always the cohn blog to supplement the rage.
As a core, this might be the best rb and wr group we have had in many years…..Interesting Bourne hasn’t been mentioned much since they threw the pads on, hoping it’s a meaningless observation. Any thoughts on #84, Sir Cohn?
Seb- Naw, just shows how a little criticism will motivate a player to play better. Sounds like Pettis upped his game, but of course, they NEVER read the blogs.
Seb, I’ll bet your Subaru players never read these silly blogs, or even articles written by pensil jockeys pretending to know what they are talking about, unless of course they need a good laugh. You show your naivete with that silly statement.
I agree with you Hack. Like I’ve said, Grant needs to delve deeper into what the players are “practicing”, not just the final result of an excersise, to put it simply. Right now, if you dive into one of Grant’s many observations over the last week, you’ll hit your head on the bottom of the pool. JMHO
Oh no, the shallow end too…
Juan, maybe you forgot the interview Eddie Debartolo had with Grant. Eddie stated that they went about their business, and did not let writers like Lowell get into their head. They acted like they never read the sports page. Then, Eddie admitted he read every word. If the great Hall of Famer and former owner of the San Francisco 49ers can admit he did read writers like Lowell and Glen Dickey, I will take his word over your pontifications and pronouncements.
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In this new media age, one does not rely on only the few columnists in the Green Section. Each team has an official blog, along with several unofficial blogs. It is hard to winnow through the chaff, but sometimes some seeds may germinate and sprout, growing strong. Same thing with ideas.
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For example. For several seasons, I advocated trading back to accumulate picks, which then can be used to move up and select the player they coveted. For many seasons, most teams have been content to sit tight with their picks. They picked players from their assigned spots. Now, teams like the Pats and Seahawks have used the trade back strategy to good effect. The Seahawks have even traded back multiple times, something that yours truly has been advocating for years. Some day, there will be deals involving multiple players, just like in Baseball and Basketball.
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Juan, please do not stand too close to the pool. You might become all wet, because I intend to make a big splash. That pool you are referring to will not be empty of water, just like Grant’s observations are not empty of thought. His reports are deep, refreshing and stimulating. Pontificating that practices are meaningless, are the real empty thoughts, devoid of reasoning. Practices are critical, but quick overviews may not be as important as studying the tape, which the team has and the casual fan does not have access to. They will decide the composition of the team and who can implement the schemes, by conducting practices. These practices will decide the fate of the bubble players, so they are very important, and can change lives.
Sebbie… You have a dizzying intellect…
I’m not too sure posting the same idea/message over and over again means much the 234th time. New idea or takes would be greatly appreciated and well received please and thanks
Believe me, I do try to be original. I try to think outside the box.
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However, there is a strategy to repetition. Just like in advertisements, repeating things will imprint those thoughts into the target’s psyche. Since you have read those same things 234 times, my advice is just for you to scroll past. I will write to not only target the regulars, I am also writing for the first time reader.
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Since you asked so nicely, I will present a new strategy. One play I hope to see, is the flea flicker with McKinnon. However, I would add a new twist. JG should pitch back to McKinnon, who runs towards the side line, drawing the defense. He should then pass back to JG, who then throws a long bomb to Goodwin. Goodwin starts off by deceiving the DB into ignoring him by falling down. Goodwin then gets up, sprints downfield, hopefully uncovered.
Pettis is sounding like a slightly better version of AJ Jenkins. Why can we not draft a good WR? I hope I’m wrong but dude seems to be a disappointment already.
Yeah, especially today in one-on-one drills when he caught a ton of balls. Pettis, yup, a loser! Do you think he’ll be released by next week?
Cassie does your daddy know you are on the 9er blogs?
Jenkins was soft at the catch point, too. But he had no wiggle. Pettis is agile.
Grant do you think Pettis I s going to be legit?
I’ve seen Pettis in person vs Cal and he was among the best players on the field, if not the best, period. He’s gonna be a contributor for this team, without a doubt! Great draft pick! Is that the NFL? No. But he’ll have some great moments, guaranteed!
Cassie, you made me laugh while taking a sip of beer! Damn you!!
Snort…
Dizzying is the understatement of the year Cassie!! There’s a Seinfeld episode where they go to a party and Jerry and Elaine come up with a signal in the event they get stuck in a boring conversation. They tap on the top of their head. Somehow I can foresee that same situation talking with Seb at a party. I’m sure he’s a nice enough guy but Booooorrrring! Tap tap tap tap tap…………………………….