Dropping Huard Shows That 49ers Are Willing to Gamble with Their Roster

Yesterday I wrote that 49ers Coach Mike Singletary talks a good game, but on the field, he's been leaning rather conservative.

San Francisco hasn't been mixing in even the most rudimentary blitzes in the preseason games, just to give opposing teams something to think about, and consequently they've had one sack in three contests. They've ranked dead last in pass attempts through three games, but have led the league in rushing.

They declined to take a shot into the end zone with 25 seconds to go in the first half and refused to go for it on fourth-and-inches in the fourth quarter.

It all seems cookie cutter and vanilla to me, a strategy built on looking competitive in the preseason, but not one on actually taking games by the throat and winning them the regular seasons.

For a coach whose most notable soundbite is, "I want winners!" the 49ers sure do have the look of a team playing not to lose, even in preseason.

I expressed my concern that this conservatism could spill over to the roster selections as well and that lazy "chalk" over-reliance on veterans would harm the team. I  suggested that Michael Lewis' place on the team would be a telltale sign of whether or not the coaches care about how their players are playing and practicing this time of year at all or if their minds were made up about guys before camp even started. 

However, word came late this afternoon that the team released quarterback Damon Huard, and that's definitely a positive sign for 49ers fans that the coaches have been paying attention.

The team had two decisions to make at quarterback this summer and they got both right. Shaun Hill was handed the starting reins over the ever-wobbly Alex Smith, and rookie Nate Davis showed enough these past two games to beat out Huard for the third job.

Davis simply played too well to risk being exposed to the waiver wire and apparently Singletary felt that there too many quality guys battling for jobs to have four quarterbacks on the roster.

It's the smart move. If the season ever regresses to the point where the team has to play the third quarterback, it means disaster has struck anyway so they might as well throw Davis out there and get him some experience.

The move is unfortunate for Huard, but the timing of it is a bit odd. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall and asked for an early release, giving him a jump on other guys who'll be cut on Saturday to catch on somewhere else.

Several teams out there don't even have a quality No.2 yet and are in the market for a veteran, with New England and Green Bay at the top of the list. 

For the 49ers, it's a step in the right direction.

Now about Lewis...

Clements On Film

Starting corner Nate Clements has had a rough go of it in preseason and even the non-Raiders scrimmaging portion of training camp, and he was given a handy excuse by Singletary the other day that as a veteran, it might be tough for him to focus on preseason.

Not only did Clements refuse to accept that easy out, but he went on to say that he takes this time of year very seriously and that he's always looking to improve his game.

He said that he'll use the San Diego game coming up—where it's a given that he'll have the night off—"to study how to study" as it were, by looking at film of San Diego's offense. It will get him in the habit of doing so when the games being to count for real.

"I look at concepts," Clements said, adding, "What the offense is trying to get done, the down and distance, the receivers, their splits, how they do against press coverage, and how they do against corners playing off." 

Clements isn't all about business, however. When asked about his week one matchup with Cardinals superstar receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Clements mentioned that he saw him on the cover of some fitness magazine and quipped, "I thought you had to have abs to on one of those."

And to prove that he sees more film than just game tape, Clements replied when asked about the state of his own abs, "You've seen the movie, '300', right?"

Covering Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin won't be quite as challenging as overcoming the Persian army was for 300 Spartans, but it won't be a day at the park Clements and company either.