SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at Friday’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick. Completed 14 of the 19 passes he attempted during team drills. He threw three touchdown passes – one to Quinton Patton, one to Vernon Davis and one to Chuck Jacobs. This may have been Kaepernick’s best practice of camp. 2. Vernon Davis. Made five catches during team drills. One was a five-yard…
This is my Thursday column on George Whitfield Jr. SANTA CLARA — Something odd happened at the 49ers’ training camp this week. As you may know, this offseason the 49ers brought in George Whitfield Jr. He tutored Cam Newton and Andrew Luck and Johnny Manziel before each quarterback entered the NFL draft. Whitfield is 36. He runs a quarterback academy he calls Whitfield Athletix. It’s in San Diego. Whitfield has…
SANTA CLARA — Here is what stood out to me at the 49ers’ padded practice Wednesday afternoon. THE GOOD 1. Darryl Morris. Started off practice by beating Michael Crabrtee in a one-on-one drill. Crabtree tried to beat Morris with a move to the outside, but Crabrtee couldn’t shake him and Morris knocked away the pass. In team drills, he broke up two passes — one intended for Stevie Johnson, and…
SANTA CLARA — Brandon Lloyd was interviewed Tuesday afternoon outside of the 49ers’ locker room. Here’s a transcript. Q: Do you feel like the year off last year is a non-factor? LLOYD: Yeah. Q: Dontae Johnson said you’re a very precise route runner. Has that always been one of your best attributes? LLOYD: That’s what people say. Going against the defensive backs and there not being a lot of dialogue…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what stood out to me during Tuesday’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick. His best practice of training camp. He was accurate on the short throws and the long ones for the most part. He finally hit Vance McDonald in stride deep down the middle of the field. Kaepernick had been overthrowing that pass to McDonald since last year’s training camp. 2. Chris Cook. Intercepted…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at the 49ers’ first padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. Tramaine Brock. Broke up three passes today. First, he intercepted Kory Faulkner who was trying to throw to Stevie Johnson. Then, Brock broke up a pass intended for Carlos Hyde. And then, Brock broke up a pass intended for Kassim Osgood. 2. Michael Crabtree. Dropped one pass in the…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at the 49ers’ second non-padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. Brandon Lloyd. Made a 20-yard catch near the sideline during an 11-on-11 team drill. Colin Kaepernick threw the pass high. Lloyd jumped and caught the ball and got both feet inbounds. 2. Stevie Johnson. Beat Chris Culliver for a 15-yard catch during a seven-on-seven drill. Johnson sold the deep…
SANTA CLARA – Vance McDonald was interviewed outside of the 49ers’ locker room Friday afternoon. Here is a transcript. Q: Why do you think the ball was thrown your way so much Thursday during practice? V. McDONALD: It’s just experience with Kap. You don’t have that kind of a quarterback in college. Getting here, it’s just a matter of getting reps with him, getting experience with him timing-wise, what to…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what stood out to me at the 49ers’ first non-padded training camp practice of the year. THE GOOD 1. Jimmie Ward. Faced Stevie Johnson once during one-on-one drills. Johnson faked a move to the outside and quickly cut back to the inside but couldn’t shake Ward. Ward ran in front of Johnson and swatted the ball to the grass. Ward played with the second-team defense during…
SANTA CLARA — Colin Kaepernick was interviewed by Bay Area reporters Wednesday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers. Was it a relief to see TE Vernon Davis walk through those doors today? “Always great to have Vernon on the field. Looks good. Excited to have him back out here.” How do you enter training camp? Are you feeling about what you saw in the offseason, where do…
This is my Sunday article on the 49ers. For the 49ers, training camp is about becoming the best. Second place isn’t good enough anymore. Enough with second place. Win the Super Bowl before the window of opportunity closes. With that in mind, here are five key questions the 49ers will face in training camp. 1. Will Carlos Hyde rejuvenate the 49ers’ running game? Frank Gore is slowing down. In the…
Who has the biggest impact on the 49ers’ offense? Is it Vernon Davis? Is it Colin Kaepernick? It’s neither. Greg Roman has the biggest impact on the 49ers’ offense. He orchestrates it during the games, makes sure everyone is in tune. He determines when and how often to call each offensive player’s number. Yes, Jim Harbaugh helps game plan and has ultimate veto-power over Roman’s play-calling. But Roman has a…
Does Colin Kaepernick have more offensive talent around him than any other quarterback in the NFL? He may. According to Pro Football Focus, Kaepernick is surrounded by six high-quality players (Bruce Miller, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin, Joe Staley, Mike Iupati), and four good players (Frank Gore, Stevie Johnson, Alex Boone and Anthony Davis). Nick Foles is surrounded by a lot of talent, too: Three elite players (LeSean McCoy,…
SANTA CLARA — Colin Kaepernick was interviewed by Bay Area reporters Thursday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers. What did you get out of this three-day minicamp? “We got more work with our receivers, with our running backs. Great opportunity for us just to get better.” Are you a better redzone team now after this three-day minicamp than you were? I know that’s been a big focus…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what stood out to me during Thursday’s mini-camp. THE GOOD 1. Red-zone Kap — Two-for-two during the full-team red-zone drill. On first-and-ten from the defense’s 15 yard line, Kaepernick hit Anquan Boldin in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. On attempt No.2 — first-and-goal from the 6 — Kaepernick rolled to his left and threw a high pass to Vance McDonald who reached…
This is my Tuesday column on Vernon Davis holding out. SANTA CLARA – Taped to Vernon Davis’ locker is a white piece of paper that has a message printed on it: “Please come by the EQ Room and try on your helmet. Needs to be fitted by Friday, 5/23.” I guess Davis missed that message. You can tell he hasn’t visited his locker in a while. It looks like a…
This is my Wednesday column on Vernon Davis. SANTA CLARA – Vernon Davis has the 49ers in a helpless position, like a turtle trapped on its back. Davis can stay away and let the turtle squirm – miss mini-camps and training camp, hurt the offense and make the 49ers look bad – or he can flip the turtle over. It’s up to Davis. He’s watching the turtle flail its little…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what stood out to me during Tuesday’s OTA. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick — The passing game wasn’t clicking, but Kaepernick made three beautiful throws. First, he dropped back and looked to his right, then looked to his left and hit Brandon Lloyd in the middle of the field for a 15-yard gain. Next, Kaepernick threw a touchdown pass rolling to his right during a red-zone…
During the 2013 regular season, Colin Kaepernick’s passer rating on rollouts was 106.9. On straight dropbacks, his passer rating was 89.5 — a difference of more than 17 percent. The 49ers called 47 rollouts for Kaepernick, and he dropped straight back 410 times — one rollout for every nine straight dropbacks. The NFL average passer rating on rollouts was 96.6 in 2013. The NFL average passer rating on straight dropbacks was 86.9 —…
This is my Thursday column on Colin Kaepernick’s contract extension. SANTA CLARA – The six-year, $126 million contract extension the 49ers gave Kaepernick seemed preposterous. Why make Kaepernick the highest-paid player in football after just 29 starts? That’s not enough data to justify paying anyone that much money. Kaepernick may turn out to be a Hall of Famer, or he may turn out to be a talented player who never…
