Top 5 Takeaways from the 49ers' 1st Open Practice of the Offseason
The San Francisco 49ers finally lowered the drawbridge and opened the castle gates Thursday.
For the first time this offseason, the Niners invited the media to watch one of their practices. I attended.
The Niners allowed us to walk around the edges of the practice field. We had terrific views of the action. Sometimes, we stood five feet away from the players as they worked.
After individual drills, we watched seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 team drills. We saw which players stood out in a competitive setting, and we saw hints of changes to the 49ers offense.
In ascending order, here are the five biggest takeaways from the 49ers’ first open practice of the offseason.
5. Carlos Hyde on the Shelf
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“Trust in God’s timing,” Carlos Hyde tweeted roughly a half-hour before practice began.
When the media walked out to the field, Hyde was stretching in a warm-up jacket and shorts. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. When practice started, he mostly watched from the sideline.
“He’s working through the leg,” head coach Jim Tomsula said after practice, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “We want you 100 percent. We’re doing this offseason thing and we’re doing things fast and we’re doing all those things, so we’re not going to push. It’s not the season, so we’re trying to treat that the right way.”
The Niners are handling Hyde the right way. There is no reason to rush his recovery in May. Let this lower-leg injury heal so it doesn’t linger during the season. It's better for this injury to happen now than in Week 1 of the regular season.
The Niners need Hyde healthy and in shape for the fall and winter. He is arguably the most important player on their run-first offense. The Niners can't have a run-first offense without Hyde. His backups are two scatbacks (Reggie Bush and Kendall Hunter) and one rookie fourth-round pick (Mike Davis).
4. Quinton Patton Stands Out During Anquan Boldin’s Absence
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Quinton Patton made the catch of the day.
Deep down the middle of the field, Patton caught a pass from Colin Kaepernick between starting safeties Eric Reid and Antoine Bethea. It was the only deep pass Reid and Bethea gave up during Thursday’s practice.
Anquan Boldin typically makes the top three or four catches of the day during practice, but he didn’t attend Thursday’s voluntary OTA session. With Boldin out of the picture, Patton seemed like the best receiver on the field.
Patton is competing to be the No. 3 receiver, and his biggest competition right now is veteran Jerome Simpson, whom the Niners signed during this offseason.
It makes sense that Patton would outplay Simpson early in the offseason. Simpson is still learning the playbook and building chemistry with Kaepernick. The true test will come during the preseason in August, when they face live action.
3. Reggie Bush Practices Punt Returns
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Reggie Bush hasn’t returned a punt since 2011, but he caught some Thursday afternoon during practice.
“It was my idea,” Bush said after practice, per Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “I told the coaches I wanted to return punts again. And they were excited about it. We’re still working at it, still chipping away.”
Bush looked like a natural, easily tracking the ball as it fluttered through the breeze.
The only other player catching punts Thursday afternoon was Jarryd Hayne, the former Australian National Rugby League star who may not make the final roster. This is only his first year playing football.
Bush might be the front-runner to return punts when the season begins.
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2. Uptempo Offense
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On Thursday, the Niners practiced something I never saw them practice under former head coach Jim Harbaugh—play-clock management.
During regular-season games when Harbaugh was the coach, the Niners would routinely break the huddle with about 22 seconds on the clock and get to the line of scrimmage with 15 seconds or fewer remaining. That was hardly enough time to execute motions and shifts and read the defense.
During Thursday’s practice, the Niners made sure they were getting to the line of scrimmage with more than 20 seconds left on the play clock.
“Sometimes we break the huddle at 30 (seconds),” left tackle Joe Staley said after practice, per Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. “Honestly, last year it was pretty miserable as far as clock management and what we were doing.”
In the past, the Niners offense put pressure on itself by constantly battling the play clock. Its new uptempo approach will put the pressure where it belongs—on the opposing defense.
1. New Blocking Scheme
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From what I could see, they were practicing zone blocking. Their main drill looked just like the one in the video above, which Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group posted April 29.
In the video, you can see the Niners offensive linemen “reach" blocking—running and targeting each defender’s outside shoulder. During Thursday’s practice, new offensive line coach Chris Foerster constantly yelled “outside shoulder!” as a reminder.
Foerster was Mike Shanahan’s offensive line coach for the Washington Redskins. Perhaps the Niners plan on adopting the zone-read offense that the Redskins ran when Robert Griffin III was healthy.
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