49ers 2019 training camp: Mitch Wishnowsky impressing and much more

Niner Noise was on hand for the first padded practice of the San Francisco 49ers training camp. Here are some observations from a solid practice.

When the pads come on, stuff gets real.

That is exactly what happened today, as we got our first true glimpse at what the San Francisco 49ers will look like this season.

It was great to see the Niners finally play in pads, as the coaches were clearly preaching physicality on this special day. The players were clearly excited to respond to their coaches, as they were bringing it all morning.

Here is what I saw in today’s practice.

Mitch Wishnowsky can punt

Mitch Wishnowsky is one of the NFL’s highest drafted punters in recent memory, being selected by the 49ers in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

While many fans thought he was drafted too high, some could tell why.

Wishnowsky can punt the ball extremely well. Since the field right in front of the general admission area only featured Wishnowsky for half of practice, I got to see a lot of his punts. His hang time is pretty insane, and he definitely has a chance to be a Pro Bowler, just like Michael Dickson of the Seattle Seahawks was in his rookie season last year.

However, he shanked about a quarter of his punts. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt, since he was incredible in college, and say that he was just messing around (it is just practice, after all), but I thought it was worth noting.

George Kittle: still good

Tight end George Kittle made what I thought was the best play of today’s practice. In full 11-on-11 drills at the end of practice, Kittle caught a ball over the middle and then proceeded to make magic happen. After catching the ball, he shimmied his way past a couple defenders and then stiff-armed a couple more along the sideline on his way to the end zone.

Kittle looks to be improving every year, and that only spells good news for this team. He just needs to stay healthy. If he does, with all of the additions on both sides of the ball, the 49ers will be a true contender this year.

Oh yeah, and Quality Time may become a big thing this year. The other half of the “Quality Time” duo, wide receiver Trent Taylor, continues to impress and look incredibly smooth and lightning quick on the field.

Jimmy Garoppolo looks to be back on track

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo looks to be at the same level as he was a year ago in training camp, which is honestly great news. Garoppolo had a couple of glaring misfires in last year’s training camp, and he did today as well. However, he also wowed with a deep pass early in practice to fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and later in 11-on-11s with a 70-yard dime to Richie James.

Again, Garoppolo looks like the quarterback he was last year, which means that he is recovering well from his torn ACL. If he puts everything together this year, this team has a chance to be something special.

Run defense looks strong

The 49ers have a great run game under head coach Kyle Shanahan, and especially with their talented stock of backs, including Tevin Coleman and Matt Breida. However, in 11-on-11s, they could not get much going against the stifling run defense, a unit that seemed to shut them down every time they touched the ball.

Everybody is hyped up for the pass rush for this year, but don’t sleep on the run defense. I still have my concerns about the secondary (coach Shanahan served as scout quarterback again this year and diced up the pass defense today), but this defensive unit looks like it will be fairly well-rounded in 2019.

Injuries? What injuries?

Since the 49ers have been one of the most injured teams in the league for quite some time, I’m glad to say that this unit has not caught the bug this year — at least, not yet.

The only notable player with an injury the team currently has is offensive guard Joshua Garnett, who sat out of practice today with a dislocated thumb. Everybody looked fine today — there was a scare when Coleman went down during running back drills and had to be looked at by a trainer, who stretched out his leg for him. However, Coleman got back up looking just fine and practiced the rest of the way.

Cornerback Richard Sherman also did some individual work on the sled near the beginning of practice, which led some in the audience to believe that he was hurt. However, he rejoined the defensive backs later in practice and looked fine.

Injuries will be a key factor in the 49ers’ rate of success this upcoming season. Let’s hope they are kept to an absolute minimum, like they are right now.

Overall Thoughts

Nothing incredibly notable occurred in practice today, which is not a bad thing. It’s good for this team to keep on churning out solid practices day after day with no injuries. I did not see any glaring weaknesses on this team today.

All in all, it was a solid day of practice. And there’s really nothing more you can ask for.