Tag: 49ers training camp

3 questions under center for 49ers heading into training camp

There’s no question about who the #49ers starting quarterback is, but there are still questions about the position heading into training camp.

The 49ers are in a somewhat unfamiliar place under center heading into training camp. They know exactly who their starting quarterback is going to be and there’s not going to be any competition for that starting job.

QB Brock Purdy is going to start and then there are three QBs behind him that are surefire backups. There’s neither a Trey Lance nor a Jimmy Garoppolo. There’s not even a Sam Darnold. Purdy in 2023 acquitted himself well in his first full season as a starter. He was one of the NFL’s most efficient passers, set a franchise record for passing yards in a single season, and finished fourth in MVP voting.

San Francisco believes it found its franchise QB, but still a few question marks need to be answered at the position during camp.

1. How much better is Purdy?

One of the overlooked aspects of Purdy’s stellar 2023 campaign is that he didn’t get a full offseason to work out and improve as a quarterback. Because of offseason surgery on his throwing elbow he spent the entire offseason rehabbing just to be back for training camp. This offseason he’ll have gotten a chance to work on his game, allowing some runway for a significant leap from the third-year signal caller. Game production will obviously matter above all else, but training camp will give us some insight into if/how he got better over the offseason.

2. Who’s the backup?

This one is still important even though the 49ers got a fully healthy season from Purdy last year. San Francisco has dealt with too many season-derailing injuries at QB to just overlook the QB2 spot on their roster. Joshua Dobbs, who signed with the 49ers in free agency, and Brandon Allen will presumably duke it out for that spot. Dobbs got starts in the league last year with mixed results, while Allen spent virtually all of last season as a healthy scratch and emergency third QB. His familiarity with the offense may give him an edge over Dobbs early in camp, but it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the newcomer eventually won that job.

3. Is the next Brock Purdy on the roster?

The 49ers didn’t use a draft pick on a QB this year, but they did sign undrafted free agent Tanner Mordecai out of Wisconsin. Mordecai spent six years in college with three years at Oklahoma, two at SMU and one at Wisconsin. In those six seasons he threw 1,281 passes and completed 66.4 percent of them with 85 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. The overwhelming odds say Mordecai will get minimal reps in camp, some preseason time and then make his way to the practice squad. However, the odds said that about Purdy when he was the final pick in the 2022 draft and he wound up beating out veteran Nate Sudfeld for a roster spot. Because of that we have to at least leave the possibility on the table that Mordecai beats out one of Dobbs or Allen. His early camp reps, no matter how minimal, should give us a good idea of his chances to push for a roster spot.

49ers 2024 training camp report dates announced

49ers training camp reporting dates for veterans and rookies have been announced.

The 49ers’ training camp reporting dates have been announced for the 2024 season.

San Francisco’s rookies will be required to report for camp at the 49ers facility on July 16, while veterans will show up a week later on July 23.

No specific practice dates have been announced, but they’ll likely begin on-field work at the SAP Performance Center a day or two after that second report date.

This is a big training camp for San Francisco as they aim to integrate some new pieces on defense, work out their offensive line depth, and see how quarterback Brock Purdy looks in real action after his first full NFL offseason.

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6 biggest surprises of 49ers training camp

There have been a few things we didn’t expect to see coming out of #49ers training camp:

It looked initially like the 49ers might have a relatively uneventful training camp.

The quarterback situation was always going to steal headlines, but beyond that the starting jobs were few and the available roster spots came down the depth chart. San Francisco didn’t really even have any high-profile rookies to track.

However, the way things have shaken out through the first few weeks of camp has offered a handful of surprise story lines. Here are the six biggest surprises of the preseason so far for San Francisco:

Here’s how 49ers divided 1st-team QB reps with Brock Purdy out

Here’s how the #49ers divided the QB1 reps between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold with Brock Purdy sitting out:

A day off for 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy means the microscope focuses in on the backup QB competition between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold.

With Purdy on the sideline with scheduled off day, the 49ers illustrated how nothing has moved in the backup QB competition.

While Darnold was the first QB in with the starting group, he wound up splitting the reps evenly with Lance.

ESPN’s Nick Wagoner had both Darnold and Lance grabbing 10 first-team reps, and 10 second-team reps.

All of the third-team work went to Brandon Allen who isn’t making any progress in working his way into the backup competition. It looked early like he might push his way into the mix, but there’s no indications based on practice that he’ll be a factor in the QB2 battle.

Reports from camp indicate neither Darnold nor Lance did anything to separate themselves with their first-team reps. Wagoner had Lance at 8-of-12 overall while Darnold finished 7-of-12. Matt Barrows of the Athletic noted that Darnold started hot and finished slow, while Lance did the opposite with a slow start and strong finish.

The takes on a specific QB’s play might differ depending on the person watching and evaluating, but it’s clear for now that the 49ers backup QB battle continues to sit at a stalemate.

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Why 49ers QB completion percentage in training camp doesn’t matter

QB completion percentage is a fun stat to track, but with the #49ers in particular it means next to nothing.

A popular aspect of 49ers training camp for the last fews years has been the completion rates of the various quarterbacks vying for starting or backup jobs. It’s an interesting note from practice, to be sure, but it’s nigh impossible to put any stock into it for a couple key reasons.

The most obvious holdup in putting stock into the camp completion rates is that it’s practice. Quarterbacks might be trying to test their arm strength or seeing how a particular throw works against a particular coverage. They might also be working with young or inexperienced receivers who don’t run the route the quarterback expects them to run.

There are myriad things that can go wrong for a QB that adversely impacts their completion rate in ways that don’t indicate good or bad performance.

Another reason is specific to the 49ers though. One of their core defensive principles is eliminating big plays, which means funneling throws underneath to allow short completions, forcing teams to go on long scoring drives each time.

Last season San Francisco’s No. 1-ranked defense allowed the 13th-highest completion rate in the NFL. The year before that they allowed the third-highest completion rate. They finished No. 1 in points and yards allowed last season. In 2021 they were No. 9 in points and No. 3 in yards.

Joint practices with the Raiders leading into the preseason opener, plus the trio of exhibition bouts will paint a much better picture of where the 49ers quarterbacks are without needing to lean on the omnipresent training camp completion rate. It’s a fun stat to look at, but particularly with San Francisco, it’s a poor indicator of overall performance.

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49ers training camp: 5 most interesting observations and takeaways from Day 8

Training camp Day 8 news and notes that mattered for the #49ers.

The 49ers on Friday wrapped Day 8 of training camp with an atypically long session.

A long practice offered a handful of pretty intriguing observations from reporters at the team facility. Let’s take a look at some of those notes and why they matter:

Watch: 49ers’ QB Trey Lance working on his deep ball after practice

After the final practice whistle on Tuesday, #49ers QB Trey Lance showed off his arm strength with some extra throws downfield.

Before getting a day off on Wednesday, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance wasn’t done putting in work when the final practice whistle sounded on Tuesday. 

While his teammates headed toward the locker room, the third-year quarterback stayed on the field to work on his deep ball. The 23-year-old passer showed off his arm strength as he ripped the ball downfield to his coaches in the endzone. 

Via @LombardiHimself on Twitter: 

After starting the 2022 season as the 49ers’ lead passer under center, Lance’s sophomore campaign was cut short when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury against the Seattle Seahawks in week two. 

Now, Lance enters his third training camp in a battle with 2022 breakout quarterback Brock Purdy. After coming in for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, Purdy helped rally the 49ers into a deep playoff run to the NFC Championship game. 

Since being drafted with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft out of North Dakota State, Lance’s rocket-powered arm has always been praised. With a competition in place at quarterback for the 49ers, Lance’s ability to push the ball downfield could be something he leans on as he establishes his place in the 49ers’ quarterback room.

All eyes will continue to be on Lance as he battles for reps against Purdy as the 49ers continue to progress through training camp. 

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Over-eager 49ers defense leads to scuffle on 1st day of padded practice

49ers practices in pads: 1. 49ers practices with a fight: 1.

Well, that didn’t take long!

Typically when an NFL team has a training camp fight (kerfuffle, scuffle, dust up, etc.) it’s after a couple days in pads where the tensions are high, the competitive juices reach a boiling point and players lash out at a teammate in lieu of getting to hit an opponent.

For the 49ers it came Monday, the team’s first day with pads on.

Last year the first major fracas came when linebacker Fred Warner hit a wide receiver too hard for Brandon Aiyuk’s liking. This year it’s less clear how the fisticuffs started, but it was big enough that head coach Kyle Shanahan had to stop practice.

It’s not a surprise if Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was the overzealous defender. While he is a veteran, he’s also fighting for a starting job and potentially a roster spot. An overaggressive hit on the first day with pads would make some sense.

It would also not be a surprise if Jennings was one of the players firmly in the mix. He’s consistently one of the team’s most fiery competitors, and Aiyuk mentioned after Sunday’s session how much chirping there’s been between the wide receivers and defensive backs.

The good news is nobody was seriously hurt during the skirmish. Now the team has to ensure there aren’t any more major altercations.

Luckily they won’t need to wait long before getting to hit an opponent. Their joint practices with the Raiders are scheduled for August 10 and 11 leading up to their preseason opener.

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6 things that mattered most from 49ers 1st 3 days of camp

Here’s what we took away from the #49ers first three camp practices:

The 49ers made it through the first three practices of training camp with relatively little drama. That’s a huge victory this time of year when pads are left in the locker room and players are working their way back into football shape.

San Francisco will take Saturday off before returning to action Sunday for the NFL’s “back together weekend.”

It’s tough to draw a ton of conclusions from the first few days of camp, but these are the things that stuck out as important and worth following as we roll toward the preseason opener:

San Francisco 49ers full training camp primer

Just now getting back into the football swing with training camp starting up? No worries! We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know before the #49ers begin camp:

The seemingly interminable NFL offseason is finally coming to an end and actual football stuff is going to start happening again with teams taking the field for training camp.

The 49ers are due to report to camp Tuesday with the first practice scheduled for Wednesday.

It’s hard to blame any football fan that checks out after free agency and/or the draft. The good news is we’ve been locked in throughout the offseason and have all the things any fan needs to get dialed back in for camp.

Here’s our complete training camp primer with all the things we’ve been working on during the offseason: