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San Francisco 49ers: 5 Things To Look For in Training Camp

By Trevor Irvine

Jun 8, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (99) warms up during minicamp at the San Francisco 49ers Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 8, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (99) warms up during minicamp at the San Francisco 49ers Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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San Francisco 49ers
Oct 11, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson (9) kicks the ball prior to the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O /

Who Will Be the Kicker?

This isn’t a vital question going into training camp, but is an interesting one nonetheless.

Incumbent veteran Phil Dawson signed a one-year $3,134,000 contract to remain a 49er. He had a good 2015, converting on 24 of 27 field goal attempts. However he is now 41 years of age. Will his body hold out on him? Can he keep making long field goals?

The team brought in former Liberty University kicker John Lunsford, who is the FCS career leader with 12 50-yard-or-more field goals.

Though he clearly has the leg, his accuracy was a major concern. In 2015 he made only 13 of 24 field-goal attempts (54.2 percent conversion rate). With a game on the line, this is a major worry.

Both these guys will get a chance to compete, similar to last year when Dawson and Corey Acosta competed. However, it would be a major surprise to see Dawson not be the kicker going into 2016. Anything is possible, however. Very few people saw Andy Lee getting traded to the Cleveland Browns and Bradley Pinion inserted as the punter prior to the 2015 season.

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So this scenario isn’t completely impossible.

However, it seems likely only a major injury will prevent Dawson being the kicker again. You have to take accuracy over distance in today’s NFL. Games are far to close on average to have a haphazard kicker on your squad who could cost you a game.

So there you have it folks. Five different things we should be looking for in the upcoming training camp. As you can see, there are several important questions that must be answered prior to the beginning of the regular season.

Certain players need to step up and others need to prove themselves. Will we see answers to these questions?

For the sake of 2016, we certainly hope so!

Next: 49ers 70th Anniversary Season: A Distraction from Losing

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com, Sports-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.