Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The next step in the San Francisco 49ers preparation for the upcoming 2013 regular season will be the first of three organized team activities starting on Tuesday. The OTAs will feature everyone on the roster, minus players with injuries, and will run from May 21-23. The next two OTAs will take place May 28-30 and June 3-6.

[Photo gallery of 49ers Week 2 of Football School]

The only big news likely to come out of the OTAs will be from players who are in position battles and outperform their competition. Hopefully there will be no news of major injuries to any players. The Niners are one of the 29 teams to start their OTAs this week.

For those unfamiliar with OTAs, here are the rules per the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA):

• OTAs are voluntary workouts and no player is required to attend. But you better have a really good excuse for not attending. Most players have incentives in their contracts to attend OTAs.
• Players are limited to two hours of on-field practice and cannot be on the field for more than six hours total each day.
• Jim Harbaugh and his coaches can be on the field directing players through drills, but there is no live contact.
• According to the CBA, some of the contact that is prohibited includes blocking, tackling and pass rushing.
• Players can wear helmets and pads, but the practices are not to be fully padded.
• Team drills allowed include 11-on-11 drills, but no one-on-one drills. Some special team’s situations are allowed.
• The 49ers are required to record the OTAs and keep them on file until 30 days after the start of the regular season. The NFLPA can attend a limited number of offseason workouts and can request to view video from the OTAs if another team files a complaint.
• The 49ers and Jim Harbaugh are responsible for making sure they are following OTAs rules. Both can be fined by Commissioner Roger Goodell for violating any offseason workout rules. If it is determined rules were broken, the 49ers would lose its next scheduled week of OTAs. If a second violation occurs in the same league year the 49ers would lose a fourth-round pick in the next draft and a second week of OTAs.

 

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Earlier this week, Green Bay Packers rookie Datone Jones had some words of wisdom for the San Francisco 49ers and Colin Kaepernick: Stop running or Kap will get injured.

Jones’ full quote is below. When he gave the comments about Kaepernick he was talking about the Packers vs. 49ers divisional round playoff game:

I thought he was pretty good. But I don’t think they’re going to be able to run him like that. He takes one good hit, there goes their season.

Unless you are a Packers fan you are probably wondering, who the heck is Datone Jones? He was selected by Green Bay in the first-round of last month’s draft as a linebacker out of UCLA. A big reason why the Packers decided to select Jones is because he was known for his skills facing read-option offenses in college.

Kaepernick set an NFL record for most rushing yards by quarterback in a playoff game when he rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns in the 45-31 win over Green Bay. The Packers coaching staff had no answers for stopping Kaepernick and the read-option. With the rise of running quarterbacks last season like Kap and Robert Griffin III, the Packers are hoping the selection of Jones will help the team avoid giving up big plays to running quarterbacks. Green Bay’s coaches even went to Texas A&M in the offseason for a better understanding of stopping the read-option.

One issue I have with Jones’ comments is he makes it seem like the 49ers offense completely revolves around the read-option and Kaepernick running the football. All one would have to do is look at the NFC Championship game against the Atlanta Falcons that followed the Packers game to see that is not true. Kap only had two carries for 21 yards against Falcons. Plus, a majority of his runs last season came on broken pass plays where the no one was open or the protection broke down. In fact, most of his runs in the game against the Packers were on scrambles.

Another issue with Jones’ comments is he thinks Kaepernick is a careless runner. However, I don’t recall any major hits Kap took last season. That’s because when running the read-option, if there is nowhere to run, Kap can just hand it off. If a team focuses in on stopping him from running, he either hands it off to the running back or looks to pass the football. See the game against the Falcons.

The reason why Kaepernick continued running against the Packers in the divisional playoff game is because Green Bay’s defense could not stop him. I doubt Jones watched all of the games Kap started last season. Because if he had, he would have seen the read-option is only a small part of the Niners offense.

The Packers will not have to wait long to see if their offseason tutorials and the drafting of Jones to stop the read-option will pay off. The 49ers will host the Packers in Week 1 to open the 2013 season.

Credit: www.cbssports.com

According to tweets from CBS Sports reporter Jason La Canfora, the San Francisco 49ers are in talks with TV analyst Eric Mangini for a consultant job with the team. Mangini currently works for ESPN and he is the former head coach of the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns.

Former Jets head coach Eric Mangini, currently a broadcast analyst, has been in talks with the 49ers about a consulting position

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) May 15, 2013

Mangini’s role with the 49ers, if it came together, would be to assist the offense with ideas on how to prepare for certain defenses, etc

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) May 15, 2013

Mangini did not have much success in his years with the Jets (23-25 record) and Browns (10-32 record), but there is no doubt he has tremendous football smarts. I believe he would be a great hire and addition to Jim Harbaugh’s staff.

If hired, Mangini would consult with the offensive line on defensive fronts the team is facing each week. Now you are probably thinking the 49ers have one of the best, if not the best, offensive lines in NFL. So why hire him?

One reason is if you look at each game the 49ers lost/tied last season, San Francisco gave up 3, 6, 4, 2.5 and 1 sack respectively in those games. Also, the offensive line ranked 30^th in sacks per pass play last season, which does not exactly scream the best offensive line in the NFL. Mangini would help limit the sacks the offensive line gives up each game.

Another reason is, why not hire Mangini? He will only make the offensive line better by bringing his extensive defensive and offensive knowledge to San Francisco. He will help the 49ers beat teams like the Seattle Seahawks whose defense held the Niners to only 13 points in each game last season.

What do you think Niner fans? Is it a smart move to hire Mangini?