Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday wrapped up the San Francisco 49ers 2013 three-day rookie minicamp at team headquarters in Santa Clara, CA. Last season, the 49ers were the only team in the NFL not to have a rookie make start in a game at any point in 2012. Don’t expect San Francisco to repeat that this season.

[Photo gallery from San Francisco 49ers rookie minicamp]

The two positions were rookies will likely start this season are at safety and defensive end. The selection of first-round draft pick Eric Reid will fill the void at strong safety and he will likely be starting by Week 1. While second-round draft and defensive lineman, Tank Carradine, will likely start at some point in 2013 because of injuries to other players on defense.

With the rookie minicamp ending on Sunday, the rookies will not have much rest as they continue their workouts this week. This time they will be joined by the veterans and entire roster for a helmet-free fundamental workout to prepare for Organized Team Activities that start on May 21.

Here are some highlights from the 49ers’ rookie minicamp:

• Safety Eric Reid, a first-round draft pick, and tight end Vance McDonald, a second-round draft pick, went one-on-one plenty of times on the practice field. Reid broke up one pass in a drill and in another he closed in quickly to bat down a B.J. Daniels‘ pass intended for McDonald on an underneath route. In fact, McDonald did not hold onto a couple catchable passes. But McDonald did make a nice catch on a deep corner route after beating Reid.

• Wide receiver Quinton Patton (fourth-round) did not look good in his route-running and was described as “predictable” in his routes. He did receive positive marks for his explosiveness off the line. He also was seen on the field catching punts and did a nice job of dodging tacklers.

• Even though Tank Carradine will likely start at some point this season, he was not medically cleared to practice at the rookie minicamp. Neither was running back Marcus Lattimore (fourth-round). There was a possibility Carradine would take part at the workouts, however, he is still recovering from a knee injury. Lattimore was not a surprise as he is not even expected to play this season as he recovers from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

• Quarterback B.J. Daniels (seventh-round) not only took snaps under center, but also lined up at running back, and fielded punts and kickoffs. Daniels will be competing for third-string QB and if he does not make the team as a quarterback, his versatility could land him a spot on the roster. It should be noted that Daniels never played at running back or fielded punts and kickoffs before. At quarterback, Daniels struggled the first day, but he improved his accuracy the second day with good throws to receivers.

• Another QB taking snaps was undrafted rookie Nate Montana. The son of Joe Montana is a long-shot to make the team and he was inconsistent with his throws to receivers. There is a chance Montana can jump ahead of Daniels for a shot to make the final roster. But even Daniels is a long-shot to make the team.

• Former Olympic discus thrower and current defensive lineman Lawrence Okoye spent a lot of the rookie minicamp working one-on-one with defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. Reports said Okoye “looked natural and reflexive at the right defensive end position at the snap of the ball.” However, it should be noted that Okoye did not fare well against the rookie offensive linemen when going through drills. It looks like he has a long way to go before realizing his dreams of playing in the NFL.

• Cornerback Marcus Cooper (seventh-round) was one of highlights at the rookie minicamp because of his solid job covering receviers. Most the time he was lined up against Quinton Patton as a left cornerback. He held his own against Patton by breaking up passes and not allowing any deep passes to be completed against him.

Jim Harbaugh talks about 49ers rookie minicamp:

Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Friday marked the start of the San Francisco 49ers 2013 rookie minicamp. The camp will be conducted at team headquarters in Santa Clara and will provide Jim Harbaugh and his coaches their first on-field glimpse of the newly minted Niner players. The rookie minicamp will end on Sunday.

Expected to attend the rookie minicamp are ten of the 49ers 11 players drafted in April. Four of the players are at the minicamp, but have not been cleared to practice despite undergoing medical evaluations on Thursday. The only drafted rookie not attending is wide receiver Quinton Patton. The fourth-round draft pick cannot participate until his college class graduates, which is expected to happen next week.

Harbaugh on the start of rookie minicamp:

Excitement’s in the air. Our team got bigger. There’s more of us. These guys look really good. They look like football players. … I’m very pleased.

Our goal is to get our guys ready for when the veterans come in here, give them a chance to make the football team and evaluate. We don’t want to cut anybody. We don’t want to cut anybody that’s going to come back and beat us on another football team eventually. A lot of excitement, a lot to be done.

Indeed, there is excitement in the air as this will mark the first offseason workouts since the 49ers restocked their roster through free agency and the draft. For the rookies, the focus of the three-day workouts will be getting assimilated with playing in the NFL.

Not a lot of news will come out of the minicamp; however, one player to keep an eye is defensive lineman and former Olympic discus thrower Lawrence Okoye. He is trying to make the 49ers roster despite never playing a down of football professionally, in college or high school. He did have a promising career as a junior rugby union player before he started training full-time as a discus thrower.

On Friday and Saturday, the rookies will hit the field at 3:00 p.m. PST, with camp ending on Sunday.

Here is a full list of rookies at the minicamp:

Drafted Rookies Attending:

S Eric Reid, DE Cornellius Tank Carradine, TE Vance McDonald, RB Marcus Lattimore, DL Quinton Dial, LB Nick Moody, QB B.J. Daniels, OT Carter Bykowski, CB Marcus Cooper.

Undrafted Rookies Attending:

QB Nate Montana, DL Lawrence Okoye, LS Kevin McDermott CB Darryl Morris, CB Lowell Rose, C Sherman Carter, RB D.J. Harper, FB Alex Debniak, HB MarQueis Gray, WR Chuck Jacobs, OT Luke Marquardt, G Patrick Omameh, NT Mike Purcell, TE Jason Schepler, WR Greg Wilson.

Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Last weekend the 49ers held their rookie minicamp with all seven draft picks in attendance.  Coach Jim Harbaugh had the rookies working hard over the three days of minicamp.  First round pick A.J. Jenkins looked impressive despite feeling he was out of shape.  Second round pick LaMichael James showed off his quickness on offense and could be the 49ers version of Darren Sproles.  There was one casualty with rookie Darius Fleming likely out for the season with a torn ACL.

In a new Niner Noise poll below we are gauging who fans think will be the rookie that shines over all of the others in 2012.  Answer the poll and tells us your thoughts in the comments: