Veteran Damon Huard did not take one snap throughout training camp and OTAs with the Chiefs last offseason, he said. Still, he managed to be the team's starter in three of their first five games.
J.T. O'Sullivan was an afterthought through the 49ers' offseason a year ago. But one week into training camp, O'Sullivan was elevated into the 49ers' quarterback competition. He started the team's first eight games.
Coach Mike Singletary said today that the 49ers' quarterback competition between Shaun Hill and Alex Smith is too close to call. And he also seems satisfied enough with Hill and Smith that he is going to leave veteran Damon Huard as the No. 3 man.
"I think the thing that we want to do right now is look at the two quarterbacks that we've talked about all along," Singletary said. "Damon Huard, I've talked to him and I've told him that, basically, he is the third guy right now. He knows he's not going to get a lot of snaps. But anything can happen in a season. He knows full-well what the intent is going forward. So there's nothing blindsiding him."
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Have you ever heard the one about Hill being a bad practice player? Well, generally that's pretty accurate. But that certainly was not the case today - or for the past week or so.
As improved as Smith has been in practice recently, Hill is still the more accurate passer on the shorter throws. But Smith certainly has the arm to throw the deeper routes, and he threw one in particular today that was beautiful.
In an 11-on-11 session, Smith lofted a perfect 30-yard TD pass to Dominique Zeigler on a corner route against a cover-2 defense. Zeigler made the catch before Dashon Goldson could get over from the middle of the field to break it up.
* * *
On the final day of OTAs, the 49ers worked on a lot of their basic game functions. It looks as if offensive assistant Jason Michael will be in charge of using the radio to relay the play call from coordinator Jimmy Raye to the quarterbacks.
During the 11-on-11 portion of practice today, the offensive and defensive reserves lined up on the sideline. (Typically, everybody, other than the defensive backs, is stationed behind the offensive huddle.) When substitutions were called today, they ran onto the field and into their respective huddles, just as they would during a game.
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Undrafted rookie Alex Boone saw his most extensive action of OTAs after being eligible to join his teammates last Tuesday. Boone is making the transition to right tackle after playing left tackle for his last three seasons at
The 49ers do not allow players to take their playbooks home - lest they fall in the wrong hands. So there wasn't really much Boone could do to keep up with what was going on while he was prohibited from working out with the team. Boone was not eligible to join the 49ers until
(I'll have more from Boone tomorrow.)
* * *
Here's more from Singletary's session with the media today:
On how he plans to spend his time leading up to training camp:
"It will be a little bit before I get away, but certainly going to have that time. In a family of seven kids, there's always going to be a lot going on. Going to make sure I get my one-on-one time there, and my wife and I really get our time away and just enjoy each other."
On the guys he's looking forward to seeing when the pads go on (he earlier mentioned Glen Coffee and Scott McKillop as rookies who have impressed him):
"I think, from a fairness standpoint, I want to see everybody in pads. We've been in pads before, and, yes, it's certainly different for some guys. I'm very excited, when we get back. I've got my notes. I know who plays fast. I know who moves fast. I know who knows where they're going. I want to see who has the desire, who has the heart to be a champion. We'll find out fairly quickly."
On whether there will be an
"We'll have some of that. A little bit of that."
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It was my understanding of the basic cover 2 defense(not the tampa 2) that both safeties were in a deep zone covering their respective halves of the field. Was Goldson designed to be covering the deep middle on this play or reacting to another route or out of position or do I just have the wrong concept of the cover 2?
Hey Matt - How much did the Nolan-era 49ers work on the "basic game functions" in practice? Judging from their game performances, I'm guessing very little. Thanks!
Matt -- Great job as usual! A few questions regarding this blog entry:
(1) Do we know whether Raye is going to be on the sideline or in the booth to call plays? Sounds like he will be in the booth.
(2) You mentioned the 49ers are not allowed to take their playbooks home. Is that in force during the season as well? So, if a player wants to put in extra time studying his playbook, he has to do it at the facility and cannot "work from home?"
(3) Sort of related to (1), do we know what "game functions" the QB coach will have other than conferring with the starting QB when he comes off the field, etc.?
My god Matt,
It's going to be 6 weeks before TC hits how in the world are you going to keep us degenerates from getting bored out of our minds other than the signings of Coffee & Crabtree?
Matt,
For the newbies (ie. me), what's an Oklahoma drill? Thanks!
I love Oklahoma drills(laughs out loud like Beavis&Butthead)!
2 players in hand to hand combat within a circle formed by teamates.
MM - following up on eric....whats ur take on Sings OTA vs Nolan OTA ?
Biggest differnce I see between Nolan and Singletary is that Nolan played not to lose and Singletary sounds like he is going too play to win. I musch prefer the latter. I also dont think Hill is going to lose the starting job so it is going to be up to Smith to win it and thats how it should be.
"more from Boone tomorrow" - niceee
You're right. Nolan was a politician. Although we don't know how well Singletary will do as an NFL coach, at least he's not a politician, and we can believe he has the courage to do what he thinks he needs to. That, by itself, is a huge improvement.
I guess if the QB situation is too close in training camp they should let them battle it out in preseason and if still the 49ers should figure out which QB will have more progress as the reg season goes on. But if its still too close then they should have both QBs on the field, 1 QB slotted as a WR and keep doing an end around pass or flee flickers to one of the QBs.
Something is going to happen to Nate Davis so he can go on IR. Sometimes I feel that Sing is a bit manic, We're a great team...gonna go deep in the playoffs. Then, Can't coach with 'em. Highly emotional.
Matt - Is it true they don't allow players to take the playbook home?I could have sworn in an interview within the last month, Dre Bly was on the plane home with a playbook. With soo much content to learn, wouldn't it make sense for them to study at home?
I'm sure he meant "get over from the middle of the field" in a relative sense. If Zeigler ran a flag/corner route, he'd be running the route away from Goldson who was probably in coverage closer to the middle of the field IN RELATION to Zeigler running his route.
Cover 2 -- Yes, the Tampa 2 also uses it, the distinction being as the secondary adopts it as the BASE package. (The front 7 also has simplified gapping/coverage tasks in the scheme.)
Oklahoma drill -- A blocker vs. a defender trying to tackle a runner sprinting into the "chute" (between 2 tackle bags). Ultra-competitive practice, for bragging rights. Whoever draws the short straw gets Sopoaga ~lol~
Here's a vid of the Jaguars in action: http://jaguars.fandome.com/video/103014/The-Oklahoma-drill/
Hey Matt,
Michael Silver of Yahoo wrote this after the draft:
“My head is always spinning,” McCloughan says. “Now, with the second first-rounder next year, I’m thinking, ‘Can we trade for somebody? Should we investigate this stuff that’s out there about the Cardinals moving Boldin?’ Even though this is supposed to be a slower period, my thoughts are dominated by, ‘How do we improve this roster?’ It’s kind of sad, but that’s the truth.”
In light of Brandon Marshall's trade demands in Denver, why don't we unload some of our depth at the position in exchange for an immediate number one?
Imagine the fear that fielding Marshall, Crabtree and Morgan (with Gore and Davis on the inside) would instill in opposing defenses! How would you defend that??
Besides draft picks, possible bait could be Roman (Nolan's favorite), Battle (free agent soon), Brandon Jones (overpriced?) or a Zeigler or Jason Hill.
cmon dude - you are insulting the intelligenceof every niner fan out there....
...brandon who??
...not only his he a serious head case off the field
...he has a suspicious injury record...
....and we are set at WR in terms of youth, talent and the kind of character (fingers crossed on crab) we on the team for the next 10 yrs....
we shouldn't even think drafting WR in the next 5-6 yrs..
...McGm is the man.....
..don't sleep on Brandon Jones.....
Matt - I know this is way in the past, but I was listening to an interview you had with Fitz & Brooks from a few months ago, right after Martz was fired. In the interview, it was indicated that you had some information on Martz's feelings about Frank Gore. However, you opted not to address it at that moment. I was wondering if you were ever able to get the full story on that, or if you have any additional information regarding this you'd be able to share?
3 roster spots - who do you pick?
QB Davis, S Lewis Baker, S Curtis Taylor, RB Kory Sheets, RB Thomas Clayton, T Alex Boone, T Barry Sims, LB Mark Washington, LB Justin Roland, WR Michael Spurlock, WR Maurice Price.
Brandon who?? You, my friend, are insulting the intelligence of every NFL fan out there.
Brandon Marshall...the hardest receiver in the league to tackle. Yeah, he's got issues, but he's no Michael Vick. A change of scenery should help and as with Boone, Sheets and Brooks, I'm sure Singletary can manage to keep him in line.
I'm not saying the 49ers receivers aren't good, or deep. I'm saying as of now, they're good but not great and they're too deep.
The problem with the 49ers depth, genius, is they can only keep six or so and they can only start three. Arnaz Battle and Ike Bruce will be gone after this season...in Battle's case, it could be much sooner. (I'd keep Zeigler over him)
So trade guys who are good but won't start (Jason Hill), and who will be gone (Battle, Roman) for one of the top five receivers in the league...yeah, sorry to insult your intelligence with that sort of logic.
Brandon Jones is no Brandon Marshall.
re: 3 roster spots - who do you pick?
QB Davis* - Should replace Huard next year
S Curtis Taylor
RB Kory Sheets
T Alex Boone*
WR Michael Spurlock
*practice squad - but pay them a regular salary instead of the $5k/week practice squad minimum to prevent them from agreeing to a claim by another team.