The Good and Not So Good from Day 10 of 49ers Training Camp: Trey Lance has a Learning Experience
SANTA CLARA -- Here's who stood out on Day 10 of 49ers training camp. Keep in mind, the following players did not participate in team scrimmages: Trent Williams, Mike McGlinchey, George Kittle, Nick Bosa and Emmanuel Moseley.
THE GOOD
1. Linebacker Fred Warner
Intercepted Trey Lance (more on him in a minute). Lance was throwing a long pass to tight end Tyler Kroft and Warner read the throw, so he backpedalled extremely quickly and made the interception 20 yards downfield. Phenomenal play by a phenomenal linebacker.
2. Safety Jimmie Ward
Broke up a well thrown pass from Trey Lance that was intended for Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk ran a dig route and beat the cornerback who was covering him, but Ward swooped in, slapped the ball out of Aiyuk's hands and knocked him on his back. Ward is having the best training camp of his career.
3. Cornerback Charvarius Ward
Bounced back after a lackluster practice on Saturday and played well. Gave up a 20-yard catch to Brandon Aiyuk early in practice, but broke up a short pass intended for Aiyuk later on 3rd and 4. Aiyuk seemed to think Ward interfered with him, but the official didn't throw a flag.
4. Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw
Threw Aaron Banks to the side and sacked Trey Lancetuh. Kinlaw took all the reps with the first-string defense. Halfway through practice, he walked by me and said, "You writing all this down?" So I showed him my notebook. He seemed pleased.
5. Nickelback Sam Womack
Played with the second-team defense, broke up a pass intended for Ray-Ray McCloud, and then had perfect coverage on an incomplete pass intended for Jauan Jennings (more on him in a minute). Womack clearly is the best nickelback on the roster. It's only a matter of time before he plays with the first-stringers.
6. Running back Jeff Wilson Jr.
Had the longest run of the day -- a 30-yarder through the teeth of the defense. It would have been a 10-yarder, but Wilson juked safety Tayler Hawkins to the ground and kept running. Wilson looks to have regained the explosion he didn't have last season.
7. Wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud
Made a diving 40-yard catch up the right sideline after beating cornerback Ka'Dar Hollman. McCloud makes one excellent play every day.
8. Wide receiver Danny Gray
Caught a 25-yard pass with his hands near the sideline after beating Deommodore Lenoir with a back-shoulder fade route. Also beat Lenoir with a slant to make a 6-yard catch with his chest.
9. Safety George Odum
Recognized a reverse to Deebo Samuel as it was developing and tagged him for no gain.
THE NOT SO GOOD
1. Quarterback Trey Lance
Completed just 4 of 12 passes and threw an interception. Two of his passes were dropped, and he was missing three key starters on offense. Still, he wasn't good, and is struggling in training camp. To be fair, most quarterbacks struggle against the 49ers defense. Dak Prescott completed 53 percent of his passes and threw one touchdown pass and one interception against the 49ers in the playoffs. And Jimmy Garoppolo threw 11 picks in training camp last year, and the 49ers still won lots of games. Garoppolo also completed 63 percent of his throws in camp,uy but that's because he almost never threw deep or outside the numbers. He only throws high-percentage passes, and his complete unwillingness to throw downfield is a big reason he throws so many picks and no one wants him as a starting quarterback anymore. Conversely, Lance has completed roughly 50 percent of his passes in camp, but he's throwing much farther downfield. Today, he completed two passes over the middle that traveled at least 20 yards in the air. He also threw three passes to receivers running deep out routes and completed none of them (one was well thrown and dropped). That's a difficult throw which requires arm strength, timing and accuracy, and it's good that Lance is practicing it. That's what practice is for. Practicing. Garoppolo almost never tried this throw. He worked only on the things he does well, which is why he never grew or improved. We'll see if Lance improves. Right now, he still gives the 49ers a better chance to win than Garoppolo, which is why Lance plays with the first-string offense while Garoppolo throws 10-yard passes to ball boys on a side field.
2. Quarterback Nate Sudfeld
Got intercepted by linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball.
3. Quarterback Brock Purdy
Got intercepted by linebacker Segun Olubi. Why do 49ers quarterbacks throw so many picks to linebackers?
4. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings
Almost caught a pass during team drills, but didn't.
5. Cornerback Ambry Thomas
Almost broke up a pass during team drills, but didn't.
6. Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley
Sat out practice entirely. Spent the first half running while under the supervision of a trainer, which might mean Moseley injured himself. We'll find out when Kyle Shanahan speaks on Tuesday.
