San Francisco 49ers: 3 best training camp battles of 2018 so far
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their first week of 2018 training camp Sunday, and Niner Noise looks at what have been the three best positional battles so far.
It’s still early, but the San Francisco 49ers‘ opening week of 2018 training camp has been pretty exciting, to say the least.
The Niners wrapped up for days of practice Sunday, the final two coming in pads. Early on, the defense managed to get the best of the offense, which isn’t a total surprise. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s unit relies more on instinct and physical ability than it does scheme, whereas head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense is predicated more on complex routes and timing.
So it’s no surprise the defense looked better early on. Yet quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the offense managed to pick up things in the latter stages of Week 1, including some notable performances from rookie wide receivers Dante Pettis and Richie James.
Niner Noise’s own Aaron Tan was on hand for one of the practice sessions, and even he pointed out how James was a standout.
Wide receiver figures to be a pretty hefty competition between now and Week 1 of the regular season. But it’s not the only position battle of note to take shape during the opening week of 49ers practices.
The Niners have a players’ day off on Monday before resuming practices on Tuesday from their facility outside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Based off what we’ve seen so far, let’s take a look at what have been the best three position battles during training camp this opening week.