The Good and Not So Good from Day 2 of 49ers Minicamp 2025

The 49ers just finished their second and final day of minicamp. Here's who stood out.

Jun 11, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) jokes with fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) during a team OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just finished their second and final day of minicamp. Here's who stood out.

THE GOOD

1. Quarterback Brock Purdy.

He processed coverages extremely well today while getting rid of the ball quicky and not throwing any interceptions. That's all the 49ers need him to do. He didn't try to be a hero or a gun slinger -- he simply took what the defense gave him like a mature franchise quarterback. Bravo.

2. Kicker Greg Joseph.

Made all seven of his field goal attemps a day after Jake Moody made six of seven. It seems pretty obvious that Joseph will be the 49ers kicker this year.

3. Wide receiver Jacob Cowing.

He was the best wide receiver on the field today. Granted, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall didn't practice. Still, Cowing was outstanding. He caught all four of his targets, and one of his catches was a 20-yard gain. He gets open and he catches the ball -- he seems like a good player. And now that he clearly knows the offense, he's producing. The 49ers need speed on the outside to complement Jennings and George Kittle, and Cowing is extremely fast.

4. Nickelback Upton Stout.

He was the first-string nickelback today because Deommodore Lenoir was not at practice (the 49ers didn't say why). And on the final play of practice, Stout broke up a well-thrown deep pass that was intended for undrafted rookie Isaiah Neyor. Stout doesn't give up much separation in coverage. Of all the rookie defensive players, he has been the most impressive so far.

5. Running back Jordan James.

Mac Jones pitched him the ball as he ran to his right, then he quickly bent the run back to the left and exploded for 15 yards. He's clearly more explosive than veteran running back Patrick Taylor Jr. who currently is ahead of him on the depth chart but won't be for long.

6. Tight end Mason Pline.

Caught a 20-yard pass from Mac Jones while running a sail route toward the right sideline. Of all the 49ers' backup tight ends, Pline seems to be the best receiver.

7. Safety Malik Mustapha.

Watched practice while standing next to John Lynch in the end zone. You love to see a young safety gravitate to the Hall of Famer. Talanoa Hufanga used to do the same thing when he was injured.

8. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

Attended practice but didn't watch it. Instead, he stood next to the weight room and listened to a long, passionate speech from Terrell Owens. Frank Gore and Patrick Willis also listened. So that was one Hall of Famer lecturing the highest-paid wide receiver in franchise history while two other Hall of Famers listened respectfully. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I do know that Aiyuk has been a bit disgruntled for the past year, and Owens is arguably the biggest diva wide receiver of all time. If he's now the voice of reason for Aiyuk, what an irony that would be. To Aiyuk's credit, he listened intently.

THE NOT SO GOOD

1, Running back Christian McCaffrey.

He's the only highly-paid veteran who actually participated in team drills during minicamp, and he deserves a ton of credit for that. Fred Warner, George Kittle, Nick Bosa and Trent Williams all showed up to practice, stretched and went through position drills, but none of them risked injury by competing against other players. McCaffrey did. Respect. However, during one play, he ran a wheel route from the backfield and was matched up one on one against a linebacker. In the past, McCaffrey would win this matchup and easily catch the ball down the field. This time, he couldn't get open. The linebacker ran with him stride for stride and Brock Purdy was forced to check the ball down to Jordan Watkins running a shallow cross. If McCaffrey is still as explosive as he was in 2023, he's doing a good job of hiding it.

2. Quarterback Mac Jones.

He called a timeout during practice, something I've never seen one of Kyle Shanahan's quarterbacks do and something I'm not sure Shanahan would allow Jones to do during a real game. Jones also made some terrific deep throws near the sideline -- he has a bigger arm than Purdy. But Jones also got intercepted. He was throwing the ball to Watkins who was running a deep crossing route, but Jones didn't see Jaylen Mahoney sinking from underneath zone coverage and Jones threw the ball right to him. His read was correct, his receiver was open but his pass needed to be lofted over the underneath receiver.

3. Quarterback Tanner Mordecai.

He completed 1 of 4 passes a day after completing 0 of 4. He's just not a particularly good football player, but he supposedly is a scratch golfer. Maybe he's the next Happy Gilmore.

4. Wide receiver Jordan Watkins.

He's still playing with the starters, but during one play, he lined up in a three-receiver bunch and ran the wrong route. Purdy expected him to run a deep comeback -- that's where he threw the ball expecting Watkins to be. Instead, Watkins ran a corner route. After the play, Purdy explained to Watkins what he did wrong.

5. Wide receiver Terique Owens.

Slipped coming out of his break and didn't catch the ball during his only target of the day. He's not an NFL player.

6. Wide receiver Isaiah Neyor.

Made no effort to fight for the ball in the air during his only target of the day and allowed 5'8" nickelback Upton Stout to break up the pass even though Neyor is 6'4". He's a good runner but not a good wide receiver.

Read more

feed