San Francisco 49ers: Top 5 Question Marks Heading into 2015 Training Camp
One of the San Francisco 49ers’ biggest question marks heading into the 2015 season is their head coach, Jim Tomsula.
Not only has he never been a head coach for an NFL team (technically, he was an interim head coach for one game in 2010), but he also hasn’t even been an NFL coordinator. He was the 49ers’ defensive line coach. The Niners gave him one serious promotion.
What are the hallmarks of a Tomsula-coached NFL team? We don’t know. He has zero track record in that regard. We’ll find out what kind of head coach he is when the season starts.
Until then, here are the five biggest question marks on the 49ers’ roster.
5. C Daniel Kilgore’s Ankle
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Daniel Kilgore was one of the best centers in the NFL before he broke his ankle in Week 7 last season against the Denver Broncos.
Pro Football Focus gave Kilgore a plus-4.1 grade in 2014. Only 13 centers earned better grades than Kilgore last season, and nine of them played at least 800 snaps. Kilgore played only 463.
Kilgore is an asset to the 49ers when healthy, but he’s still rehabbing. He did not participate in OTAs or minicamp. When a reporter asked Tomsula whether Kilgore will participate in training camp, Tomsula said: “Kilgore is in a process. We think so. But, yeah, again, with Kilgore, we’re just talking about healing.”
If Kilgore isn’t healthy by the start of the season, the 49ers would have to play fourth-year vet Joe Looney at center or move starting right guard Marcus Martin to center and play 2014 third-round pick Brandon Thomas at right guard.
Neither move would be ideal. The Niners need Kilgore to make a full recovery pronto.
4. DT Darnell Dockett’s Knee
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Like Kilgore, Darnell Dockett missed OTAs and minicamp due to injury.
Dockett, 34, tore his ACL during training camp with the Arizona Cardinals last season and hasn’t done any football activities since then.
After a recent practice, a reporter asked Dockett when he expects to return to action. “I’ll be ready when we play when we play Minnesota [Week 1],” Dockett said.
That sounds like he won’t participate in training camp or preseason. If for some reason he isn’t ready to go when the season starts, he might have to start the year on the non-football injury list and miss the first six games.
Losing Dockett would be a blow to the 49ers defense, but his absence would create an opportunity for rookie first-round pick Arik Armstead, who’s stuck at the bottom of the depth chart after missing OTAs and minicamp.
3. DB Jimmie Ward’s Foot
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Jimmie Ward has a bad foot.
It was broken when the 49ers drafted the him in the first round of the 2014 draft. It broke again halfway through the 2014 season, forcing Ward to miss the final seven games. And it's still broken. Ward has spent the entire offseason training program rehabbing.
Which means he hasn’t been able to work on his biggest weakness—man coverage. He’s the 49ers’ starting nickel back, and when quarterbacks targeted him last season, he gave up a passer rating of 138.2, per Pro Football Focus. Not good.
If Ward’s rehab causes him to miss time during training camp, a young cornerback might take his job as the starting nickel back—someone like second-year cornerback Keith Reaser. He was excellent during OTAs and minicamp.
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2. LB NaVorro Bowman’s Knee
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Unlike the three previous players on this list, NaVorro Bowman, who tore his ACL and MCL in February of 2014, actually participated in OTAs and minicamp this offseason.
In that sense, he’s less of a question mark than those three players.
On the other hand, Bowman is much more important than those three. He is a three-time All Pro, one of the best players in the NFL when healthy. And he isn’t fully healthy yet—he’s still wearing a knee brace during the competitive portions of practice.
In that sense, he’s the biggest question mark on the 49ers defense.
Can Bowman recapture his All-Pro form, or will he be just another linebacker after his gruesome knee injury? If Bowman's knee recovers completely, the Niners defense might be special.
1. QB Colin Kaepernick’s Development
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Colin Kaepernick is by far the biggest question mark on the 49ers.
Will he ever become the Pro Bowl quarterback we thought he’d become when Jim Harbaugh handed him the Niners’ starting job midway through the 2012 season?
Is Kaepernick a young quarterback who’s still improving or a veteran quarterback who has plateaued? He turns 28 in November. Alex Smith was 28 when Kaepernick took his job—how much as Smith improved since then? Not much.
But Kaepernick has much more talent than Smith. And Kaepernick is working hard to improve his weaknesses, like footwork, accuracy, touch, anticipation and reading defenses.
He spent the first part of the offseason at EXOS training facility in Phoenix, learning under quarterback guru Dennis Gile and former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. If the training proves helpful, the 49ers might make the playoffs in 2015.
The season depends on Kaepernick’s development.
All quotations and practice observations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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