San Francisco 49ers 2009 Training Camp Battles to Watch

With a team like the San Francisco 49ers, one that sees major shifts both in coaching staff as well as player personnel, nearly every training camp is filled with position battles.

A new season is approaching and with it, new strategies are being put into place and many positions are up for grabs. Some we’ve seen before. Some are new.

But all of them are every man for themselves.

On the offensive side of the ball, perhaps the most crucial battle will take place at the quarterback spot.

And yet it’s also one that has been battled for several years to no lasting result.

Many think that fourth year Shaun Hill, the former Maryland signal caller, will get the nod. But offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye says he would rather this battle continues into the preseason games, so it’s probably too early to say.

Hill, entering his third year with the Niners, ran the first team offense at the recent team mini-camp, but it’s too early to say much.

He can scramble well, can throw accurately short but he’s no deep-armed threat. Until last year he protected the ball well, but ended up with eight picks in ten games.

Luckily for him, though perhaps not for the franchise, Alex Smith is coming off another disappointing season.

In Smith’s defense, he was injured in 2008 and he’s seen as many offensive coordinators as he has years in the league. It can be exceedingly difficult to progress as a quarterback when there is a lack of consistency.

Still, he struggled in the team’s pre-draft mini-camp and while he is supposed to throw without restrictions in the coming camp, he still faces a tough uphill climb to the starting job.

Rumor has it that many people within the franchise have lost faith in Smith, despite his extended contract. It may take a huge preseason for Smith to get another shot as starter.

Three other quarterbacks could take the field during training camp this summer.

But Damon Huard, while the most experienced, will remain a stable, veteran backup and Kirby Freeman, a rookie free agent out of Baylor, is a tremendous reach to be more than a practice squad member.

The guy to keep an extra eye on could be Nate Davis. According to Mike Singletary (by way of Matt Barrow’s excellent 49ers blog on Sacbee.com), quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson was a big champion of picking Davis in the draft.

While Davis does have a slight learning disability, clearly Johnson felt he would be able to pick up the offense despite it. Davis has great arm strength, accuracy and touch, can buy time with his feet and is a tough, hard working leader.

It took Davis a long time to get Ball State’s offence—almost a year and a half. He has the tools to compete pretty quickly but may take a year or two to get up to speed. Still, he is a player to watch this summer—and going forward.

Another important battle for position will be at wide receiver, where I think Singletary will look to veteran Isaac Bruce to set the tone for the group.

Bruce has at least a season or two more of productivity left in his body, and could start the season at flanker. 

He’ll have to fend off former Tennessee wideout Brandon Jones.

Jones played well for the Titans in spurts but never compiled huge numbers. He has long term potential though and is getting paid a ton of money, so they might feel compelled to start him.

Another battle within the receiver ranks will be for the split end position. Josh Morgan was expected to start at here at the ‘X’ and many predicted his break out season to be upon us.

But the 49ers saw Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree fall to them and it’s expected he will compete for the spot.

So who will get it? Hard to say. Crabtree is still rehabbing his foot from his pre-Draft surgery and Morgan just had an outstanding mini-camp.

A possible solution? Move one of them to—you guessed it—flanker.

It would likely mean Morgan, as Crabtree might be better suited to beating the jam at the line (something a split end needs to do, since he starts at the line of scrimmage rather than behind the line like a flanker) until he gets his feet wet.

Still, it’s a case of too many receivers for what will likely be very few multiple receiver sets. One of the four could also move to the slot, but then what do you do with Arnaz Battle and Jason Hill?

Whomever ends up on the field opening week, they will have to be dependable and steady. They may have a newly named starter whom they will need to synch up to very quickly.

I think it will be Bruce and Morgan who are the starters with Jones and Crabtree worked in as the year progresses.

The team will want to see if Jones is worth the cash and can replace Bruce down the road, while Crabtree will be given some time to get fully healed and acclimated to the speed of the Pro game.

Despite the confusion at the previous two positions, the most important battle could be at running back.

More to the point: Who backs up feature running back Frank Gore?

If Singletary and Raye are truly committed to producing a running game which can impose it’s will on a game, they need to find a running back to give Gore some respite.

Even though he didn’t top 300 carries for a second season in a row, Gore wore down towards the end of the season and battled numerous injuries.

Four backs on the current roster will vie for the No. 2 role behind Gore.

However, veterans Michael Robinson and Thomas Clayton are actually less likely to win it than third round pick Glenn Coffee and street free agent Kory Sheets.

Robinson is now a special teams captain, so it could be his main focus and Clayton never got many carries before. Given that the 49ers went and pulled two rookies this spring, it doesn’t strike me that Clayton is looked upon with a ton of faith.

Former Alabama back Coffee is adding weight to his body and is a solid one cut runner who has great vision and aggressively attacks the hole. He’s a powerful runner who could help the short yardage game, something that occasionally struggled, especially when Gore was out.

Sheets is a very intriguing pick who has great acceleration and burst. He’s a great receiver out of the backfield, is elusive and shows patience behind the line and good vision and instincts.

He also can work on special teams but what if they worked him into the game as a compliment to Gore? Gore or Coffee pounding the rock through the middle while Sheets splits outside or works the screen?

Who wins a job—and how the staff uses them—will have a tremendous impact on the 49ers run game and therefore their hopes for the season.

As important as the offensive position battles are, there are several defensive positions up for grab as well.

Along the defensive line, Ray McDonald underwent knee surgery after the season ended and it was the same knee that was a problem when he was drafted in 2007.

How bad the surgery was and how long it will take to recover are both questions without answers right now.

More than likely he’ll end up behind Justin Smith on the right side, but he isn’t even a lock to do that.

This could cause a depth problem, but with McDonald a big question mark, the folks behind him might find a little better chance to stick.

LSU defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois caught the eye of the scouting department when they were watching film of his teammate Tyson Jackson. Apparently he just kept making plays on tape.

He could be a huge talent but attitude has been an issue in the past, and he’ll have to watch it both with Singletary and the team if he wants to last. He’ll also have to overcome some durability issues which were a problem in college.

But he is quick to read and react, can find the ball quickly, is a solid tackler with an occasional violent streak. He needs to polish his pass defense moves and rely less on his athleticism and more on overall technique but he has a lot of upside for little risk.

Two more rookies were brought in to potentially help shore up the defensive line. Pannel Egboh and Khalif Mitchell were both signed as rookie free agents. Egboh has already looked good in the recent mini-camp, playing left end, while Jean-Francois took the right.

Mitchell worked at nose tackle.

Another intriguing player is Demetric Evans, a former Redskin signed early march to a two year, $3.8 million contract.

While not a superstar, Evans is a solid worker and will likely push Kentwan Balmer for time.

Balmer didn’t start his rookie season and in fact only played in six games. While Evans was a part timer in Washington, Balmer didn’t exactly lock a spot up last season.

More than likely most of these players will work in some sort of rotation. The idea here is to get better pressure on the quarterback than they did in 2008.

30 sacks isn’t bad, but they want to go from middling to exceptional and they need the line to push if they are going to do it.

There are other camp battles that will be noteworthy as well.

Keep an eye on:
Scott McKillop is one day expected to take over for Takeo Spikes at the ‘Ted’, if he can cut the mustard. He’ll be fighting Jeff Ulbrich for time initially and how he does could make a huge difference to his future.

At tight end, Vernon Davis will have to continue to be a good citizen while he stays ahead of the awesomely named Bear Pascoe. Yes, Pascoe will take over Billy Bajema’s blocking role, but Pascoe can also catch the ball and is an incredibly hard worker. He’s a perfect Singletary guy.

At first Pascoe will probably work in short yardage and red zone situations. And then Delanie Walker will probably see less time, as he will be pushed harder by Pascoe than Bajema ever did.

I'm not saying Davis is in serious danger, but his contract is coming up and he has not produced as he was expected to. While new OC Jimmy Raye wants to utilize him more, he will have to finally excel or he might find himself in Singletary’s doghouse again.

Just something to watch over the season as well as the summer.

Finally watch the Safeties this summer. Curtis Taylor was a late pick in the draft, but he does give the 49ers something to think about. Dashon Goldson, who started been the starter at free safety, lacks experience and is prone to injury.

Taylor could switch to corner if he struggles, but has good speed, range ball skills and isn’t afraid to lay the wood against a ball carrier. If Goldson struggles, the former LSU safety may be able to buy himself more playing time.