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San Francisco 49ers: Biggest winners and losers from OTAs so far

By Peter Panacy

SANTA CLARA, CA - SEPTEMBER 11: Jarryd Hayne #38 of the San Francisco 49ers is wearing jersey #44 while participating in drill during practice on September 11, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. Hayne was wearing the #44 jersey for the 49ers scout team preparing for Monday nights game against the Minnesota Vikings. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - SEPTEMBER 11: Jarryd Hayne #38 of the San Francisco 49ers is wearing jersey #44 while participating in drill during practice on September 11, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. Hayne was wearing the #44 jersey for the 49ers scout team preparing for Monday nights game against the Minnesota Vikings. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, IL – DECEMBER 03: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 3, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Kena Krutsinger/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – DECEMBER 03: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 3, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Kena Krutsinger/Getty Images) /

With San Francisco 49ers organized team activities (OTAs) freshly underway, Niner Noise explores the biggest winners and losers thus far with the 2018 season on the horizon.

The San Francisco 49ers‘ organized team activities (OTAs) began two days ago, yet yesterday was the first session open to the media.

Needless to say, there were plenty of takeaways.

Cornerback Richard Sherman (Achilles), who hasn’t been medically cleared yet, was nevertheless on the field and serving as a coach to the Niners’ mostly young crop of defensive backs. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had his moments — of course — and there were some solid standouts on both sides of the ball.

OTAs are about preparation and competition, and the hope is the proverbial “cream” starts to rise to the top.

That means winners and losers, and we’ll take a look at some of those here.

Winner: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo

All Garoppolo does is win, right?

It’s refreshing to think Garoppolo now has a full offseason’s worth of understanding head coach Kyle Shanahan’s playbook. And that chemistry appeared to carry over into day two of OTAs.

The San Jose Mercury News‘ Cam Inman broke down some of the quarterback’s actions:

"Garoppolo was front and center from the start of team stretching exercises, and he typically talked with Shanahan in the backfield after throws. After a 20-yard completion to an elevating Marquise Goodwin, Garoppolo gave a mild fist pump, and that’s as demonstrative as the superstar quarterback got."

OK, so this doesn’t quite tell us a lot. But watching the rapport between Garoppolo and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin continuing to develop is always a good thing.