With San Francisco 49ers training camp in full swing, position battles are under way at nearly every spot. Niner Noise looks at five storylines that we should keep an eye on this summer.
NFL training camps are exciting for a lot of reasons.
Teams around the league get to hit the reset button and start fresh for the upcoming season. A feeling of hope surrounds each team and their fan bases as new faces and reliable veterans don their favorite team’s jerseys once again.
In the case of the San Francisco 49ers, their reset button included not only a new general manager in John Lynch and head coach in Kyle Shanahan, but 53 new faces compared to last year’s squad.
With all that changeover comes fierce competition for a multitude of positions all over the field.
Today we will take a look at five of the biggest storylines to watch during 49ers’ training camp.
No. 5: Can C.J. Beathard win the backup quarterback job?
When the 49ers drafted C.J. Beathard out of Iowa in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, quite a few eyebrows were raised. Beathard had shown up on very few mock drafts, and not one draft pundit had the 49ers selecting him at all.
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However, head coach Kyle Shanahan saw characteristics in Beathard that you really cannot teach.
Shanahan said as much recently, telling CSN Bay Area, “He really works at it. He has a question for everything. He wants to know what you want him to do, but he also wants to know why… that’s, to me, what allows him to have a chance to be good right away because he prepares the right way.”
Beathard has put together some solid practices after a shaky start to training camp. He has been taking second-team snaps along with four-year veteran Matt Barkley, and the competition is very close.
49er beat writer Matt Maiocco even tweeted out this observation:
C.J. Beathard is competing for #49ers backup QB job vs. Matt Barkley. They’re earned equal practice snaps.https://t.co/ssJZ5DjLRj
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 7, 2017
If Beathard continues to progress and Barkley doesn’t seize the backup role, there is the possibility, however rare, that Beathard could leapfrog Barkley. Even if Beathard plays well enough to unseat him, the 49ers coaching staff may feel more comfortable having the veteran as the immediate backup to a quarterback in Hoyer who has some injury concerns.
However, if Beathard beats out Barkley, it could afford the 49ers the option of using that extra roster spot elsewhere to fortify another position without carrying a third QB.
Beathard has certainly given them something to think about with his solid play thus far. It should be interesting to watch this play out during the preseason games.
No. 4: Can TE Vance McDonald hold onto his starting job?
Most 49ers fans are well aware of the storyline involving TE Vance McDonald. After former GM Trent Baalke and company gave him a five-year extension after last season, the new 49er regime attempted to trade McDonald during the draft.
Ultimately, they kept him on the roster. But by adding free agent Logan Paulsen, UDFA Cole Hikutini, and drafting George Kittle out of Iowa in the fifth round, they clearly sent a message there will be an open competition at tight end.
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Perhaps McDonald just is not a fit in Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system. But with Hikutini flashing solid pass-catching ability and Kittle impressing everyone with his athleticism and being a reliable target for all of the 49ers quarterbacks, McDonald’s hold on the starting position is clearly in question.
My guess is Paulsen will be more of a blocking TE, and Kittle will secure another spot, leaving Hikutini, Blake Bell, Garrett Celek, and McDonald to battle for the final tight end roster spot.
While it will be a tough decision either way for the 49ers staff, the encouraging part is that when a team begins cutting NFL starter-caliber players, it means they are accruing talent and potentially getting better. This battle may go down to the wire.
No. 3: Will Reuben Foster line up next to NaVorro Bowman come September?
Admittedly, this question carried a lot more intrigue before free-agent acquisition Malcolm Smith was lost for the season with a pectoral tear.
The battle for the starting WILL linebacker spot became a little less cluttered for Reuben Foster, the 49ers’ 31st overall selection in this year’s draft, but GM John Lynch was clear that Foster would still have to earn that role, telling NFL Network.
“It’s going to be hard to keep him off the field, but we’re going to make him earn it too,” Lynch said. “Kyle’s very cognizant of that because I think Reuben will appreciate it more if he has to earn it. He’s doing his best to do just that.”
“It’s going to be hard to keep him off the field, but we’re going to make him earn it too,” Lynch said. “Kyle’s very cognizant of that because I think Reuben will appreciate it more if he has to earn it. He’s doing his best to do just that.”- GM John Lynch
And Foster seems to be getting more comfortable with each practice, having recorded four INTs in training camp so far, and just generally being all over the field making plays. And while the 49ers are intent on having Foster earn it, it seems like a matter of time before Foster is ahead of Ray-Ray Armstrong on the linebacker depth chart.
Foster may be more apt to making mistakes than a veteran like Armstrong at this point, but his playmaking ability and quick learning curve may negate all that before the end of camp.
Not to mention that lining up next to NaVorro Bowman will only help Foster to allow him to be aggressive but disciplined in learning from and playing next to one of the NFL’s best linebackers.
If he continues to play the way he has so far, Foster will be starting when the games begin to count in September.
No. 2: Will Joe Williams or Matt Breida back up Carlos Hyde at RB?
When the 49ers drafted Carlos Hyde back in the 2014 NFL Draft, he was considered to be the heir apparent to former 49ers running back Frank Gore. And while Hyde has showed traits of being that guy, he has struggled to maintain his health.
Thus far in his brief career, Hyde has missed 14 games, and has yet to break the 1,000-yard threshold for rushing yards in a season, although he came up just 12 yards shy of the mark last year.
And with Hyde entering the final year of his contract, he seems to have brought a renewed dedication to becoming what the organization and fans thought he could be when he was drafted.
He has dropped weight and responded strongly to the club bringing in what some feel is his first real competition since Gore left to play in Indianapolis.
One of those players is Joe Williams, a fourth round pick from Utah selected in April’s draft. Williams was initially taken off the team’s draft board after John Lynch found out that Williams had quit his team for a short time in 2016, but after learning the whole story, Kyle Shanahan insisted they take Williams. Lynch eventually relented, and Williams has begun to show the speed and shiftiness that had Shanahan trumpeting his selection.
Williams isn’t the only player that has been pushing Hyde in camp. A UDFA from Georgia Southern is staking his claim for a roster spot as well. His name is Matt Breida, and he has been the brightest of the strong group of UDFAs the team brought in after the draft.
With his 4.37 40-yard dash, Breida’s combination of speed, athleticism, and elusiveness would be a great change-of-oace from the ground and pound game Hyde is known for. In the tweeted video below, all three are on full display.
If Hyde continues to show the hunger and competitive spirit that has reinvigorated him thus far, and he is able to carry that over into the regular season, the Niners would be ecstatic.
And even if he does, the team will still need a solid secondary back to spell him. Shanahan would still want to be able to run play-action to optimize the offensive gameplan.
More importantly, if Hyde’s physicality causes him to miss games again, the team should feel comfortable putting either Williams or Breida in the backfield.
Whichever way it goes, it’s nice to have solid options for a team that seemed to have very few they could count on the past few seasons.
No. 1: How will the 49ers secondary shake out?
While much of the training camp hype has centered around the potential of the front seven of the defense, the secondary may actually be where more attention should be paid. And not necessarily for a positive reason.
While Rashard Robinson is the presumptive number one cornerback, the rest of the secondary may not be so settled.
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The second corner back position is still undecided with veterans Dontae Johnson, Keith Reaser, Asa Jackson and Prince Charles Iworah battling rookies Adrian Colbert and Ahkello Witherspoon for the right to line up opposite Robinson.
Meanwhile, K’Waun Williams was signed in the offseason to battle Will Redmond for the slot defensive back position.
While each has had their share of good days and bad, Johnson seemed to be outplaying the others until he also suffered a concussion in Tuesday’s practice.
When training camp started, 4th year veteran Jimmie Ward was slated to start at free safety. And while Ward has talent and experience playing safety (although in college he played strong safety), he also comes with a history of being injured.
Ward has sustained two fractures in his first three seasons (Jones fracture in his foot, and clavicle fracture), and now is dealing with a hamstring injury and has been placed on the PUP list.
With his slight frame and that injury history, the 49ers will be keeping a close eye on his health and availability for sure. But the concerns in the secondary don’t stop there.
The other safety spot was considered a lock with Eric Reid moving into the strong safety role.
His size (6-foot-1, 213 pounds) and physical nature make him a perfect fit for the position, but his injury issues and history of concussions raise a few red flags as to his ability to stay healthy for a full 16-game schedule.
Reid, who has been in the league since 2013, has already suffered three concussions, but also missed time last season with an arm injury and just recently missed time during camp with an ankle injury. The immediate backup at both safety spots was Jaquiski Tartt, who himself had a camp injury to his ribs, but has returned to practice in a limited role. All that has left UDFAs Chanceller James and Lorenzo Jerome filling in as the safeties during the three veterans’ time away. Both have played well in the time given to them, and may be closing in on securing roster spots on the final 53-man roster (Jerome especially).
All this concern may be for naught if these three players return and stay healthy and produce.
If the 49ers secondary can stay healthy and be aided by a strong front seven generating a pass rush, they unit may be solid enough to make some plays and create turnovers.
Next: 49ers vs Chiefs: Top 5 things to watch for preseason, Week 1
But the injury concerns and relative youth behind the veteran starters is worth keeping a watch on as the preseason and regular season kick in to full swing.