Five Observations From Day 9 of 49ers Training Camp
While at training camp, I was able to go in with absolutely no expectations and watch practice looking to see who stood out on their own from the group.
Running Back Ty Davis-Price
Ty Davis-Price should be running back 2 behind Christian McCaffrey. He looks way more explosive than he did last season. He looks to be in great shape, finally losing his college baby fat and looks to be slimmed down. While watching practice you can see the decisiveness from Davis-Price. Gets the ball and it's one cut hitting the hole at top speed with power behind it. Easily is picking up five to six yards a carry possibly even more. As a route runner during one on ones he looked better than he did last year. Overall, he looks like a much different player. Whatever Kyle Shanahan told him at the end of last season worked, he looks like the second best running back on the team.
Tackle Leroy Watson
Easily looks better than I remember Jaylon Moore looking, who I personally think is a guard not a tackle. Watson was beaten a few times during one on ones, which benefits the defense. Watching him in team drills, he looks like a player who could definitely be the 49ers swing tackle this season. I believe he could eventually become a player that is potentially a starter for the 49ers down the road. Watson was also the first player out of the locker room to warm up and work on his pass sets. Looking at Watson he can probably add strength, I believe he gained weight to transition from tight end to tackle. The strength isn't an issue, but if he adds a bit more he'll be even harder to beat with his lengthy arms and athleticism he possesses. Intriguing player to say the least.
Wide Receiver Danny Gray
I wrote he was a player that fans should pay attention to at the beginning of training camp. Easily was the most impressive of the receivers to me after Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. Gray is finally using his speed to step on the defenders toes and make the defender uncomfortable before making his breaks. His breaks out of the route are much crisper, and he's no longer rounding out his routes or staying tall when breaking. He is sinking his hips and getting out of his breaks without losing much speed. Gray is blowing by defenders on deep routes, and Shanahan finally used him on a reverse which picked up more than 20 yards. Compared to his rookie season, he doesn't look like the same player, he looked like he's learned a route tree and is picking Brandon Aiyuks brain. Watch out, Jauan Jennings -- Gray is coming for your spot on the depth chart.
The Offensive Line
The offensive line looked solid during one on ones from what I saw (again, the defense has the advantage in this drill). However, during team drills at times you'd see a sack immediately, I counted at least 3 times when Colton McKivitz got beaten off the line immediately with one possibly being a safety. The offensive line giving up pressure to a DL with no Bosa or Armstead is a problem, especially when a few of the would be sacks were a second after the snap. They were not coverage sacks, however there were a few of those while a certain quarterback was in, I will talk about that next. The depth of the 49ers offensive line has been tested during camp and on Saturday they didn't look great in pass pro, but in the run game were creating some massive rush lanes for the 49ers running backs. If I was to guess the average yard per carry, I'd say the 49ers were averaging 5-6 yards per carry, against the 49ers DL missing key players of course.
Quarterbacks
Let's start with what I saw immediately prior to talking about their play. I noticed Kyle Shanahan finally not use the bag drill where he has his quarterbacks straddle back and forth and then throw. Finally he used a new rope drill that allowed quarterbacks to work on foot work, a much better drill. I then noticed during team drills that Sam Darnold is a very slow processor, Lance's processing has improved drastically from last season and he no longer hesitates. Darnold just holds the ball way too long, he then gets to his reads late and it leads to under throws on deeper routes. He under threw two deep routes, one by 15 yards, and the other by 5. Watching their heads move from read to read, Darnold was the slowest of the three quarterbacks, seems to lock onto where Kyle wants the ball to go and doesn't come off until he finally realizes that throw won't be there two seconds too late. Processing speed is important in the NFL, which is why Darnold has struggled, not because of the bad teams he's been on.
Their play was reversed today, Darnold started completing most of his passes, nothing was pushed downfield. Darnold started practice 6/7 on the day, and finished after that 2/6 for a total of 8/13. Looking at the numbers you'd think okay, not a bad day. He missed two deep throws which were so wide open I think a high school QB could have made that one to Brandon Aiyuk. The other to Ray Ray Mccloud was under thrown by 5 yards and missed Jauan Jennings wide open for about 5-8 yards. Everything from Darnold seemed short and he had a pass broken up that turned into a tip drill, I counted it as an interception, others didn't. I watched the defense react and the refs never waived incomplete, likely would've gone to booth review. So Darnold finished 8-13 with an interception.
Trey Lance was the opposit. He started super slow -- I had Lance 3/6 to start with a few great plays by the defense and some misses by Lance. He missed and open Deebo Samuel who was open by 2 yards down the right sideline and Lance over shot him. Charvarius Ward made a great PBU on an attempt to Kittle, and on one throw Ronnie Bell slipped where it looked like it was a bad miss, but Bell slipping makes it look worse. He also under threw Jennings running towards the ride sideline, ball could've been thrown to a spot and instead Lance threw it to Jennings who had to go up and win a 50/50 ball and Jennings' effort was meh -- he lost to a smaller defensive back (not his fault, the ball could've been much better). After this, Lance was near perfect -- 5/6 with throws that were important during the move the ball period. He ended practice with a throw to Willie Snead that resulted in a 25-yard touchdown. He threw the ball inside and low as Samuel Womack was draped all over Snead, Snead didn't locate the ball until late and never adjusted as Lance looked to throw it inside on purpose and Snead made a spectacular catch. Lance finished 8/12 with a touchdown.
Overall Lance won the day, but that's not saying much because both quarterbacks were underwhelming. Hopefully they can show more during the Las Vegas Raiders next week.
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