49ers Training Camp: Full 2016 Preview for San Francisco

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January 20, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke addresses the media in a press conference after naming Chip Kelly (not pictured) as the new head coach for the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

News and Rumors

The major news this week was the promotion of Tom Gamble to assistant general manager under general manager Trent Baalke. Gamble was with Chip Kelly in Philadelphia from 2013-14 as the vice president of player personnel.

Gamble returned to the 49ers in 2015. In 2011-12 he was the team’s director of player personnel.

This move by the 49ers looks to put Baalke on official notice his job performance is under scrutiny. Indeed, Niner Noise’s Peter Panacy says this year may well be Baalke’s last with the organization:

"It’s entirely possible the 49ers promoted Gamble simply to give Baalke some extra assistance in rebuilding a roster in need of help — sort of like “one man can’t do the entire job” or something like that. Perhaps. But the promotion could also be a two-fold move as well. It puts pressure on Baalke to work quicker and more effectively. But it also gives the Niners an option in case the players Baalke has selected largely don’t pan out to expected levels."

Jim Tomsula was the “fall guy” for last year’s ordinary season. Baalke (and CEO Jed York, for that matter) do not have this luxury to use again in 2016. Kelly is their guy, and he cannot be judged based on one season of work, no matter what happens.

Baalke can be judged — he has had his good times and his bad times. But, under his watch, the 49ers roster and on-field performance has dipped sharply since 2013, and he played a major hand in the ousting of then-coach Jim Harbaugh, who had taken the team to 46 regular-season wins and a Super Bowl.

This year may well be do-or-die year for Baalke. And they have their ready-made replacement waiting in the wings in Gamble.

Well, this isn’t a rumor but the 49ers defensive line depth took a hit today with the retirement of Kaleb Ramsey. Ramsey was a seventh-round pick in 2014, and spent the 2015 season on the practice squad.

Ramsey was way down on the depth chart for the D-line, so the only real issue is a loss in depth. However, I wish him all the best in retirement.

The return of Davis has brought an interesting question. How committed is he in playing football now? Although the team is reportedly more interested in keeping Davis than trading him, the team is “wary” of Davis’ reinstatement and could be questioning his commitment to football, per Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (h/t Dallas Robinson of profootballrumors.com):

"San Francisco is somewhat worried that Davis will be challenged in his return to the everyday grind of the NFL, and the team’s staff will watch him closely as camp and the preseason progresses. Davis, a former first-round pick, is far more talented than the Niners’ incumbent right tackle, Erik Pears, so the club doesn’t have much to lose by letting Davis attend training camp and compete for a starting position."

Davis’s performance (or lack thereof) will be an interesting side-note to camp.

Next: Predicting training camp winners