San Francisco 49ers: Full 2018 training camp primer and preview
By Peter Panacy
Biggest Camp Battles to Watch: Offense
One of the toughest parts of training camp is the coaching staff’s job to whittle down a 90-man offseason roster to 53 players for the regular season.
Plus 10 eligible players destined for the practice squad, if they make it past waivers.
This means competition, of course, and the 49ers have no shortage of interesting camp battles to watch between now and Week 1 of the regular season.
Backup Running Back
Jerick McKinnon will assume No. 1 ball-carrying duties for San Francisco. But the spots behind him are surely up for grabs.
A favorite for the No. 2 job is second-year pro Matt Breida, whose 645 all-purpose yards from scrimmage were third best on the team. He’ll be pushed, though, by fellow second-year pro Joe Williams.
Williams was redshirted his rookie season with an ankle injury and will have to overcome some ball-security issues that plagued him a year ago at this time. If Williams can’t beat out Breida, trying to surpass fellow runner Raheem Mostert on special teams will be his next challenge.
Wide Receiver
San Francisco’s starting crop of wideouts appears pretty much set. Pierre Garçon, Marquise Goodwin and Trent Taylor likely round out the top three, and Kyle Shanahan will look to get rookie second rounder Dante Pettis into the mix as the season moves along.
Those are four spots right there. And if Shanahan keeps six at max, one can see how the depth spots are going to be pretty heated.
Second-year pro Kendrick Bourne has an excellent shot at locking up a roster spot. So, perhaps, just one spot left?
It’s likely a player like rookie Richie James pushes out returning veterans Aldrick Robinson and Victor Bolden Jr. (suspension) once camp is finished.
Offensive Guard
With Laken Tomlinson‘s three-year extension now in the books, it’s all but a guarantee he starts at left guard, where he showed some serious improvement down the 2017 stretch.
The question now is who starts at right guard.
At the top, it’s a battle between former first-round NFL Draft picks Joshua Garnett and Jonathan Cooper. Cooper has missed all of the Niners’ offseason activities while recovering from MCL surgery. And while he might be ready to go for training camp, his prior absences could allow a better chance for Garnett to carve out a role.
It won’t be easy, though. Garnett, a holdover from the 49ers’ prior regime, missed all of 2017 with a knee injury and was asked to slim down to better operate in Kyle Shanahan’s zone-blocking system.
Maybe Garnett takes that next stride in his development, but it’s just as possible he’s on the hot seat entering 2018.