Rookie/Voluntary Veteran Mini-camp Day 1: Reggie Smith at strong safety

by Fooch on May 2, 2009 8:00 AM PDT in News Comment 12 comments

Well, day one with all your new San Francisco 49ers is officially done. All the rookies were in camp, and there were some veterans in on a voluntary basis as well. Apparently the coaching staff let some veterans know they would like to see them in camp, schedule permitting. According to Barrows, the veterans included:

FS Dashon Goldson, DE Kentwan Balmer, WR Josh Morgan, S Lewis Baker, OT Jacob Bender, WR Mark Bradford LB Ahmad Brooks, LB Marques Harris, WR Jason Hill, QB Shaun Hill, CB Marcus Hudson, FB Zak Keasey, LB Jay Moore, WR Maurice Price, G Chilo Rachal, LB Justin Roland, QB Alex Smith, CB Reggie Smith, WR Michael Spurlock, OT Joe Toledo, TE Delanie Walker, C Cody Wallace, LB Mark Washington, S Jimmy Williams, WR Dominique Zeigler

The rookies usually get a lion's share of the practice time, but we had a mix of folks on the field yesterday. No particularly shocking news came out of it, but we got a look at some interesting lineups. Some interesting aspects of the lineups? One was Marques Harris lining up as the strongside OLB, with Jay Moore backing him up.

The other one I found interesting was Reggie Smith starting at strong safety, and not at cornerback. I realize there has been plenty of discussion about Reggie Smith moving to safety eventually, but it remains interesting to me. Michael Lewis is obviously the starter at strong safety at this point. He made some solid plays for the 49ers last season, and at 29 he still has some tread left on his tired.

However, in looking back at draft day scouting reports, you could see the potential move to strong safety coming:

An instinctive defender who plays with physicality and loves to hit, Smith is an assignment-true cornerback who has the versatility to play safety, a position that might be his home in the pros because of his lack of deep speed to run with the quicker wideouts . . . His skill set may be best suited to safety in the pros, but his success at cornerback in college will earn him a look at that position with the 49ers.

I had thought about posting a poll on this topic, but I couldn't think of particularly clear answers. So, I'll just propose it as a topic for discussion. Do you see Reggie Smith eventually supplanting Michael Lewis as the starting strong safety? If so, how long do you think it will take?

At this point, it's probably too soon to tell, but I definitely would like to see it happen possibly in 2010. Obviously if he did it sooner that would be a good thing, but I don't think I see it happening this year. Given that he was a college corner and they tried getting him reps as a corner last year, it will probably take some time for him to truly learn the position. At the same time, if he's a fast learner, who knows how quickly he could take over.

0 recs | Comment 12 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

considering M. Lewis is an out of position, overpriced linebacker...

I’d say hopefully sooner than later

If you had a lineup of 9 Jack Custs who hit(Cust career average) .239 AVG, .382 OBP, and .475 SLG, then your team would score 6.12 runs per game-totalling to 991runs a season.The 08 rangers lead the majors in runs score with 901.

by 9Custs on May 2, 2009 9:11 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

do you mean...

hopefully we can add “out of work” sooner than later?

In Singletary we trust.

by grantmp on May 2, 2009 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

From the aspect of what our defense is.....

and comparison to other 3-4 defenses that have been successful Our safety play and is key in the pass rush and pass d. Not as much for OLB’s in the pass rush, but an effective blitz when the SS goes is much needed in the arsenal. So who knows, if he can hit and read the run well, he’d be an upgrade we need INT’s in the secondary.

And I know they need help up front but, if Brown can give your more Int’s or sacks then of course it’s the move but IMO, the FS position needs a playmaker a lot more than Lewis’s spot!!!

M. S. #50

by rlott#42 on May 2, 2009 9:26 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think M.Lewis has a few years left...

…and I like his game

My concern is our lack of deep speed at the CB position and our continued drafting of slow corners(that don’t end up playing CB!!!). I know they have a place in the NFL and I love the physical nature of our secondary… but teams like Philly really concern me. You can’t jam a guy EVERY play, he will get around you eventually and our corners will be hard pressed to keep up with the likes of K.Curtis, D.Jackson and Maclin. We don’t even have a CB that runs a sub-4.4 – 40! I do realize that we are tooled to match up with AZ and their combo of larger/slower/physical WR, but until we add some speed, I think we will have a hard time getting to the Superbowl given the young offensive unit in Philly.

by 49ersCAN on May 2, 2009 10:56 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm a Michael Lewis fan as well

the guy does a good job, and he’ll do even better than last year if we have a free safety who’s better than Mark Roman so that Lewis isn’t constantly having to try to overcompensate all the time

I’m more worried about CB, specifically Walt Harris, than I am about strong safety at this point

"Those boos really motivate me to make something happen." - Bonds

by Persiflage on May 2, 2009 3:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Question.

Which safety lines up over Harris? I’m hoping it’s the FS, but I’m not 100% sure.

by sfgfan on May 5, 2009 9:26 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Michael Lewis' job is secure.

I’d imagine that Reggie Smith’s presence at strong safety has more to do with the departure of Kieth Lewis – who had been our backup at the position in recent years.

by shlecko on May 2, 2009 12:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Lewis is a pretty good safety. Remember he had Mark Roman with him so that made it harder

In Shaun Hill will trust

by iaalexeeff on May 2, 2009 1:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

At the draft party I asked Reggie Smith if he was going to be starting this year at safety.

He said “I’m working on it.” I forget where I heard it but I heard Reggie Smith and Dashon Goldson were going to get a chance to be our starting safeties this year. Goldson is likely to get his spot but I think Reggie has a little tougher hill to climb. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does start though. They will have to earn their spots but we didn’t exactly get stellar play from our safeties last year. If he shows promise I think we go with the youth of Reggie Smith over Michael Lewis. He’ll learn faster if he’s in the game. I haven’t had a chance to evaluate any of the rookies we brought in at safety yet so one of them could possibly change the dynamics of everything. But as of right now I’m rooting for Reggie Smith.

by TheJoeShow on May 2, 2009 2:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

He was my favorite pick a year ago so I hope he's a starter sooner rather than later

I would think he’d be a free safety given that he’s smaller in size than most strong safeties. However, I think Manusky’s D calls for safeties who can handle both roles. This is an advantage towards Smith because Lewis is really an “In the Box” safety.

Michael Lewis is a pretty solid player but not a special player by any means. If there’s a safety next to him with great range and playmaking ability then he’ll probably look pretty good… like Brian Dawkins. Otherwise he looks very average. His tackling stats have probably benefited from a lack of talent in the front seven and a poor offense that has left the D on the field for a majority of the game.

I really liked Smith coming out of college and would have been happy if he was our 1st rd. pick. When I watched him play at Oklahoma he seemed to be a really smart player who made plays at critical times. I saw him as a safety not a corner. When he was moved to corner last year I was really surprised. My thinking is that the team may have seen some flaws in his coverage so they had him practice there for a year.

Personally I’d like to see Smith take over for Lewis on 3rd down situations that would allow the team to mix more things up. Hopefully he can takeover a safety position by the beginning of 2010.

by abasketballfan on May 3, 2009 3:17 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They are grooming him to eventually take over for M. Lewis

Based on Manusky was saying yesterday, it seems like they want to get Reggie Smith on the field sooner than later, but with the logjam at corner after T. Brown’s emergence there is no room. On the other hand he can come in and play as a sub-package safety (and in passing situations where M. Lewis would be outmatched) and contribute immediately in 2009. This seems to me like a good plan, especially that Smth is a safety who can cover like a corner. I figure they play him in that role for a year or two and then he takes over for Lewis at SS.

I want winners!!

by loudiamond on May 3, 2009 2:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Bring on SMITH!

This sounds like the best case scenario to me. It’s not that i don’t respect what Lewis does for the team. It’s just that I’d rather see Smith take over the position. It’s not like the NFC West is populated by teams that demand an in-the-box safety like Lewis all the time—it’d be a different story if we were constantly running up against the Ravens, Titans, Vikings etc. The only thing better than getting off the field on 3rd-down is having a guy like Smith (who’s got some return ability) come down with an INT.

In Singletary we trust.

by grantmp on May 3, 2009 9:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs