Tag: 49ers camp

What does 49ers QB Brock Purdy have to prove in training camp?

This year’s training camp is a very important one for #49ers QB Brock Purdy.

It’s hard to imagine a world where a quarterback with Brock Purdy’s resume has anything to prove in training camp. In two NFL seasons he has 21 regular season starts under his belt and amassed a 17-4 record in those starts. He was a top-four MVP finisher in his first full season as a starter and he already has more playoff wins than Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott. Still, Purdy will go into his third professional training camp with one big thing to prove.

To be clear, Purdy’s teammates and coaches appear to all be sold on him as a winning quarterback. However, this year’s camp is unique because it’s the first one following a full NFL offseason from the QB.

His first camp he was a rookie who’d just gone through the rigorous pre-draft process and was just trying to find his way as a first-year NFL player.

Last season he spent the offseason rehabbing his surgically-repaired right elbow and wasn’t even given a full workload when camp started.

This year is something of an inflexion point for the 49ers’ quarterback and camp will be the first signs of what type of ascension we’ll see. Purdy’s arrow is trending up, but once the pads come on and the practice reps are live we’ll get an idea of just what kind of leap he’ll be taking.

Perhaps he’s ‘just’ the quarterback he was last year, which would be okay. Purdy was excellent last season. There are opportunities for growth though in his decision-making and how he sees and reacts to defenses.

It’s unlikely we’ll notice any tangible growth athletically or with his arm strength. We will be able to see how he’s processing things though now that he’s gotten a chance to improve as an NFL signal caller over the last five or so months. His command of the offense will be apparent. His ability to avoid turnovers or near turnovers will also be made apparent.

The 49ers are Purdy’s team for the foreseeable future barring some kind of catastrophe this season. How high he’ll climb as a pro and how far he can take them will depend on his continued growth, and this year’s training camp will be the first major step toward seeing what he’ll have to offer in the coming years.

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Former 49ers 3rd-round pick a long shot to make roster in 3rd season

The #49ers might have to cut ties early with yet another early-round offensive weapon.

The 49ers receiving corps will be worth keeping a close eye on when the team begins training camp in late July.

Aside from the Brandon Aiyuk situation, which may or may not be resolved by the time the team takes the field, San Francisco also has a handful of receivers who appeared to be in the team’s long-term plans that might now be on the outs.

For the sake of argument here we’ll say Aiyuk is with the club since that appears to be the likeliest outcome regardless of whether he gets an extension done. That leaves this group cemented on the roster:

Deebo Samuel
Brandon Aiyuk
Ricky Pearsall
Jauan Jennings

Even if the team keeps six receivers, that leaves two spots for a group of several players vying for those spots. At least one player is going to be out among Danny Gray, Ronnie Bell and Jacob Cowing. Chris Conley became a trusted option for head coach Kyle Shanahan down the stretch last season, and Trent Taylor returned on a one-year free agent deal.

Even if we remove Conley and Taylor, assuming they can be scooped for the practice squad, that means Cowing, Bell and Gray are three players vying for two roster spots.

It’s hard to imagine the 49ers are going to give up on Cowing, a rookie fourth-round pick, after just one training camp. That leaves one spot for Bell and Gray if the 49ers keep six receivers.

That’s where Bell has the edge over Gray, who spent all of last season on Injured Reserve. Bell was a seventh-round rookie last year and managed to be more productive in his first year than Gray, a former third-round pick. Bell caught six passes for 68 yards and three touchdowns in 183 offensive snaps while also contributing 112 special teams snaps. Gray as a rookie caught one ball for 10 yards in 87 offensive snaps and contributed just 19 special teams snaps.

That leaves a very narrow path to the roster for Gray. He has two options assuming the 49ers receiving corps is fully healthy.

Gray’s first option is the least likely. He’d have to take such a significant leap as a receiver that the 49ers simply couldn’t leave him off the roster. This would put him ahead of Pearsall for offensive snaps, and might even pull him ahead of Jennings.

His second, more likely option, is to find ways to make a special teams impact. That’s another place he’d need to take a significant leap, but it’s an easier leap to make than the one on offense.

Realistic math says Gray is the odd man out going into camp. Even if the 49ers may be wary of cutting a third-round pick before his third NFL season, history says they’ll do it if they don’t think that player is going to contribute (see: running backs Trey Sermon and Tyrion Davis-Price). That makes Gray one of the most interesting players to watch in camp. He’ll either make the club and have an impact, or be on the hunt for a new team.

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49ers open training camp practice dates announced

We have 49ers training camp practice dates!

The 49ers on Thursday announced open practice dates for 2024 training camp.

Rookies report to the team facility on July 16, and veterans are slated to report the following week on July 23.

The first open practice is two days later. Here are the dates:

Thursday, July 25
Friday, July 26
Monday, July 29
Tuesday, July 30
Wednesday, July 31
Friday, August 2
Saturday, August 3
Sunday, August 4
Tuesday, August 6
Wednesday August 7

Practices are scheduled to run for two hours, with start time slated for 10:15am Pacific at the SAP Performance Facility at Levi’s Stadium.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Thursday, July 18 at 12:00pm Pacific for $20 with proceeds going to the 49ers foundation.

Season ticket holders will have early access to tickets beginning Monday, July 15 at 9:00am Pacific. Cost for those tickets will be $10 per the 49ers.

The final practice on August 7 will be ’87 Day’ where the 49ers honor Dwight Clark by raising awareness for people impacted by ALS. Ticket sales for ’87 Day’ are donated to the Golden Heart Fund.

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4 training camp questions for 49ers new-look LB corps

The #49ers LB corps could look a little different this year, leading to some big questions in training camp.

The 49ers linebacking corps has been a pretty substantial key to their defensive dominance over the last few seasons. Fred Warner is the consensus best LB in the NFL and Dre Greenlaw’s ascension into the upper tier at the position has allowed San Francisco to control the middle of the field as well as any team in the league.

2024 comes with a new set of challenges though as the club looks to integrate some new depth and replace Greenlaw who is recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered in the Super Bowl. We’ll learn plenty about how things shake out with that group in training camp, and these are the questions we’ll be looking to have answered:

1. Can De’Vondre Campbell still play?

Campbell was an All-Pro just three seasons ago. Since then his overall production has dipped, but it could be a product of the personnel or scheme in Green Bay. He’s an undeniably talented veteran who should be able to fill in for Greenlaw even if it is past time for Campbell to be that level of player. Playing next to Warner should elevate the 31-year-old. How much it elevates his play is something we’ll be intrigued to see in camp.

2. Will Dre Greenlaw participate at all?

It sounds like Greenlaw is destined for the PUP list which would hold him out of camp and the first few weeks of the regular season. General manager John Lynch said Greenlaw wants to return by Week 1, although the GM did indicate that timeline was probably too ambitious. If Greenlaw participates in any camp though it would be a good sign that he’s tracking toward returning early in the year. If he spends all of camp on PUP, which is the most likely scenario, we can expect a mid-to-late season return if he’s able to suit up in 2024 at all.

3. Who’s the third LB?

While the Greenlaw saga plays out we’ll also need to keep an eye on which player steps in as the Sam LB in base packages. Last year the role belonged to Oren Burks who jumped up to the WLB spot when Greenlaw went down. The SLB isn’t on the field very often given how often defenses run in sub packages against modern offenses, but the winner of that job would likely be the first player up in the event that one of Campbell or Warner are unavailable. There’s a relative lack of experience behind the two starters, which makes SLB a pretty significant question mark and position battle in camp.

4. How are the 2023 picks coming along?

This one piggybacks off the third LB conversation. San Francisco selected LBs Dee Winters and Jalen Graham late on Day 3 in last year’s draft. Neither player contributed defensively as rookies, but there’s reason for optimism about both given the 49ers’ penchant for finding quality LB talent. This is a wide open door for both to step into a starting role as the third LB. If either of them takes that job this season it bodes well for their future as a contributor for San Francisco’s defense. Watching their progress should be a fun aspect of camp this year.

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4 big questions for 49ers OL heading into training camp

There are a handful of key questions for the #49ers to answer in training camp on the offensive line.

It’s not exactly a secret the 49ers offensive line is one of the biggest weaknesses on the roster. Even with Trent Williams manning the left tackle spot, there are still enough question marks that keep this unit at the bottom of any 49ers position group power rankings.

There weren’t any major changes in this offseason, but there were some interesting moves on the margins that should give us a few questions to answer as the team goes through training camp.

Here are four key questions for San Francisco’s offensive line in camp:

1. Who’s starting at RG?

It isn’t entirely clear what the 49ers’ plan is at right guard. Spencer Burford was handed the spot entering camp last year, but he eventually lost his spot to veteran Jon Feliciano. Feliciano and Burford are both back this season. They both figure to be in the mix at RG. Third-round pick Dominick Puni should also get a real chance to start at that spot. Ben Bartch may also factor in. There are a ton of players who could start at right guard. Who ultimately wins the job will be perhaps the biggest question the 49ers will answer in camp.

2. Is there a real competition at RT?

Colton McKivitz wasn’t bad as a starting right tackle last season. It’s absolutely a spot San Francisco could upgrade though. McKivitz didn’t face any real competition last training camp. This year it’s unclear whether he’ll be handed the starting gig again or if players like Chris Hubbard and Brandon Parker (or Puni) will get chances to wrestle that starting gig away from the incumbent. We should learn early on where McKivitz’s job security is based on which players are rotating in with the starters.

3. Has the depth improved?

While there are questions in the starting unit, depth has also been a concern for San Francisco the last handful of years. They’ve been one injury away from being really up against it on the offensive front. This year with some of the moves they’ve made on the fringes they could give themselves an opportunity to have a deep group where an injury or two doesn’t cost the club much in the way of productivity up front. It’ll be worth watching how the starting group shakes out, but the second and third-team reps will tell us a lot about whether the overall depth at the weakest area of the roster has improved.

4. What position does Puni play?

The third-round pick from Kansas primarily played offensive tackle in college and was very good there. He was stellar at left guard as well, however, and he profiles as a guard in the NFL. Signs point to him competing at right guard. It isn’t out of the realm of possibilities though that he’s just their best option at right tackle. It’ll be interesting to see where he lines up and if he gets any shot at offensive tackle.

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49ers have new major box to check before training camp

The 49ers have a new major box to check before training camp.

Brandon Aiyuk’s contract remains the biggest unchecked box on the 49ers’ offseason to-do list. However, they added a new one Thursday when NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported 49ers head of player health and performance Ben Peterson is taking a job with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks as their new VP of player health and performance.

Peterson was part of an overhaul of the 49ers’ health and performance staffs after the 2019 season. They put their training staff and player performance staffs under one umbrella following some terrible injury luck during head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch’s first few seasons.

Prior to joining the 49ers, Peterson was with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. That makes the NBA his third major US sports league.

Health is a key component to making a deep playoff run. It’s even more important for the team to stay on top of player health and performance with so many veterans on the club. Finding a replacement for Peterson has to be one of the 49ers’ top priorities with a little over a month left until training camp starts. Their hire to replace Peterson could play a major role in whether they’re able to return to the Super Bowl, making this one of the key items for them to figure out before camp.

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4 interesting notes from 49ers final practice before traveling to Las Vegas

The most interesting things from #49ers practice Tuesday:

The 49ers on Tuesday finished up their home practices for the week. They’ll take Wednesday off before opening a pair of joint practices with the Raiders on Thursday. Those two clubs will match up at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday for the preseason opener.

It wasn’t a very long day with a heavy workload after a lengthy Monday session, but there were a handful of interesting nuggets that came out from reporters at camp.

Nothing new or substantial happened with the QBs, so we left the QB stuff out. Brock Purdy is still the starter and took all the starting reps. Trey Lance and Sam Darnold are still splitting the second-team reps and in a race for the backup job. That didn’t change at all Tuesday.

Let’s run through the rest:

WR Danny Gray gets positive early review from Kyle Shanahan

Danny Gray struggled in Year 1, but Kyle Shanahan likes what he’s seeing from the #49ers WR in training camp:

Another 49ers third-round pick from the 2022 draft is receiving high marks for his early training camp performance from head coach Kyle Shanahan. First it was running back Tyrion Davis-Price getting praise from his coach, now wide receiver Danny Gray has entered the fray.

Shanahan on Thursday talked about how Gray is performing following a strong performance in Thursday’s practice.

“I think he’s having a real good camp,” Shanahan said in his post-practice press conference. “He put the work in phase one, two and three. He was able to get through OTAs working hard and not having an injury. And he obviously spent the 40 days away well because he’s catching the ball, he’s in real good shape, and he’s been out there very consistently and the ball came his way a little more today.”

This is a pretty significant step for Gray who was mostly a non-factor in his rookie year. The 105th overall pick played just 87 offensive snaps in 13 games and caught just one of his seven targets for 10 yards.

There’s a speed element Gray brings that the 49ers can’t replicate with anyone else on their offense. Simply running past defenses isn’t going to be enough to get on the field in Shanahan’s offense though. There has to be more in Gray’s bag as a route runner, and he has to be an effective blocker who knows where to line up.

It sounds like he’s checking some of those boxes as training camp rolls along. That’s a great sign for his chances of not only making the team in 2023, but having some of the impact the team hoped he’d have out of the gate as a rookie.

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49ers training camp Day 4: How QBs split reps with Brock Purdy out

The #49ers split the 1st-team reps between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold with Beoc

Brock Purdy’s scheduled absence from Sunday’s practice allowed the 49ers to dish out first-team reps to other quarterbacks.

In two sessions that he’s been on the field, Purdy has taken all the first-team snaps. Sunday saw Trey Lance work with the first team on 12 of their 16 reps. Sam Darnold got the other four. The reverse was true for the second-team snaps per charting posted by ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

Brandon Allen was only with the third team.

This would indicate Lance is perhaps slightly ahead of any QB battle, but head coach Kyle Shanahan indicated the team intends to split the reps between that pair throughout camp.

The competition for the backup QB job won’t really get in full swing until the team begins practicing in pads, but it’s clear based on reports from camp that while Lance got the first-team reps, Darnold has performed well.

Assuming neither player falls off precipitously — the 49ers’ QB battle should be fun to track throughout the preseason.

Here’s who missed Day 4 of training camp for 49ers

The #49ers had a handful of expected and unexpected absences on Sunday:

The 49ers on Sunday took the field after a day off and had a handful of scheduled and unscheduled absences.

QB Brock Purdy, DE Austin Bryant, LT Trent Williams, DL Kalia Davis, DE Nick Bosa and CB Charvarius Ward were all out of Sunday’s session per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

Purdy was out for a scheduled off day. He’s still practicing just twice per week for the first couple weeks of camp as he finishes up his rehab on his surgically repaired elbow.

Williams had a veteran day off, while Bosa remains out of camp amid negotiations on a long-term contract.

Wagoner reported Ward is dealing with a groin issue and missed team drills. He was also a non-participant Friday. Bryant was also out Friday, though there’s no word on whether he’s dealing with an injury.

There was no specific reason given for Davis’ absence. He tore his ACL during his final year of college and missed all of last season. It would make sense if Davis got some additional off days, but it’s unclear for now why he didn’t practice Sunday.