San Francisco 49ers: 5 Takeaways from 2016 OTA Sessions

Risers

Gerald Hodges – inside linebacker

Hodges is splitting first-team repetitions at the weakside linebacker position with Ray-Ray Armstrong and Michael Wilhoite.

This is good news for Hodges, as his 2015 season was not stellar. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required) he ranked 75th out of 97 qualified linebackers with a grade of plus-43.6 (from a zero to 100 scale) which is far from great. Then again, this grade was 10 points higher than Wilhoite, but about 8 points less than Armstrong (who played in 321 less snaps).

Hodges has performed well in the OTAs so far, as noted by Taylor Price of 49ers.com:

"Hodges later recorded a pass breakup on a Gabbert pass intended for tight end Vance McDonald.  Hodges later tallied an interception on a pass that was tipped by one of those pesky shoulder-pad-nets during a later 7-on-7 period."

Tank Carradine – outside linebacker

Carradine has reportedly lost around 25 pounds from his 2015 size, now down to around 270 pounds. The Niners are making one last-ditch effort to get him productive on the field. By turning him back into a pass-rush specialist, this is his best opportunity to make an impact on the field.

The first thing in OTAs which has been noticed is his speed. He now can run down the field with tight ends and have the ability to cover them, as noted by Price:

"Former defensive tackle Tank Carradine continued to impress in his transition to outside linebacker and pass-rusher in defensive sub packages. Carradine, who weighs 270 pounds, was able to run stride for stride with tight end Busta Anderson."

The team also has him working on his pass rush from a 2-point stance, which in the video below looks impressive so far:

DeAndrew White – wide receiver

White is quietly improving through OTAs and is well on his way to cementing his place on the final roster.

He is ahead of Patton, and he is close to the production of Ellington. Right now he would likely be the team’s fourth receiver behind Smith, Rogers and Ellington.

What is a WR supposed to do well? Catch the football!

He is doing a nice job of this, as Cohn explains:

"Also caught six passes during team drills, including a left-handed one-hand grab over the middle, which was the catch of the day. White seems almost as effective as Bruce Ellington, and much more dynamic than Patton."

Fallers

Chris Davis – cornerback

Davis has struggled mightily so far in OTAs and has been beaten repeatedly playing at the nickel position, mostly by Ellington and White. He would have been a roster bubble player anyway, but his performance so far almost guarantees he will be a roster casualty.

Blaine Gabbert – QB

Gabbert isn’t exactly setting the world on fire currently, though he will still most likely be the team’s starting QB in Week 1.

Unfortunately through OTAs the interception bug has hit him, though he is trying to learn a new offense and execute it at the same time. Grant Cohn says:

"Threw two interceptions during team drills, one of which bounced off of a tall screen attached to the back of a ball boy. The screen was supposed to mimic a tall defensive tackle with his hands up. During 7-on-7s, three ball boys with screens on their backs would rush the quarterback, and Gabbert kept hitting the screen."

The good news is we are only two weeks into OTAs. There is another OTA session, followed by minicamp, and then training camp in July. Gabbert has plenty of time to work out the kinks and improve on his execution.

With Kaepernick still unable to throw the football, we have to pray Gabbert has the offense worked out by Week 1.

First-team offense

The Niners were terrible last year getting plays off on time which resulted in ridiculous delay of game and false start penalties.

The Kelly offense is known for its speed and getting to the line of scrimmage as quickly as possible and snapping the ball to get the defense off guard.

There is work to do on this front as Price notes:

"The 49ers finished the session with a two-minute drill period. The first-team offense converted a 3rd-and-19 with a 20-yard Gabbert-to-Smith connection, but the offense ran out of time and was unable to spike the ball to run one last play."

Sound familiar?

Next: OTAs roster projections