Good morning Niners Nation. If you're wondering about the title, it's just something I've observed since we drafted the guy. Mostly just on Twitter, he's my favorite rookie thus far and a really cool dude, so if you're not following him, his Twitter is right here, @IamAnthonyDavis. His tweets are protected, but follow him and you should be good. The 49ers wrapped up this stretch of organized team activities yesterday and I've got plenty of links for you on those. There were a couple of fights yesterday, which you never like to hear, but I'm relieved to see that Singletary is handling it better than previous head coach Mike Nolan used to--I think a competitive spirit is good, but these guys need to understand it's practice. Either way, here's your Nuggets for the day!
Lynch has some thoughts on this week, OTAs and the like. (SFGate.com)
Coach Singletary is demanding better special teams play. I hope we get it, I don't know how confident I am in the new ST coordinator, but we need to get it done or it won't matter how much Smith progresses or how good the line plays. (PressDemocrat.com)
Younger players are taking advantage of some of the veterans' absences from OTAs. (Yahoo.com)
There was a scuffle at practice, or more appropriately, a couple of them. Plus some notes. (Examiner.com)
Here's some notes from yesterday's OTAs from Barber. (PressDemocrat.com)
And Maiocco has his notes as well, with a focus on the fighting that went down. (CSNBayArea.com)
More speculation about the 49ers and Raiders sharing a stadium, rumors of the NFL making the team an offer too good to refuse. Please no. I won't renew my season tickets if we share a stadium with the Raiders. Look at that website. Look at the video. Now throw a Raiders logo in there. Ugh. (NBCBayArea.com)
Speaking of the website, (for the new stadium) it's getting a very large volume of traffic. Cool. (49ers.com)
The ticket to making the 53-man roster may lie in special teams, as Singletary wants to include more players as backups for special teams on it. (SacBee.com)
Greg Manusky just about lost his voice yesterday while yelling at the defense. Coincidentally, the offense did well yesterday. (PressDemocrat.com)
Willis and Bowman had themselves a little race. I asked Willis about it on Twitter and he said that he (himself) won, that he's still got a bit of speed left. I should hope so. (SacBee.com)
Ricky Jean-Francois has a nose for learning. Oh-ho-ho. You're hilarious, Maiocco. (CSNBayArea.com)
I stopped reading this article when they noted that their team insiders noted that people should possibly maybe consider being concerned about the 49ers secondary. Really? I hope you're not paying those insiders, because we all knew this in 2009. (ProFootballWeekly.com)
Rod Woodson thinks Patrick Willis will become a vocal leader of the team. I should hope so, but then again I'm fine with Willis being who he is. If he wants to do it, he can. (MercuryNews.com)
Beat Writer Twitter Roundup (My comments in italics and parenthesis)
Barber: RT @AnaMayShun7: Which KR/PR looks the best now that they're not using the Juggs Machine? >> All they're doing is catching; no tacklers (So it seems pretty even at this point as far as fielding them goes)
Barber: RT @jpl04002: Just me or am I hearing about A. Davis getting beat by a defender every day? >> Doesn't seem so dramatic when you're watching
Barber: RT @mateusgpereira: Which CB looks to be playing better overall in OTAs? >> I think K Smith is looking pretty good... and Vann has surprised (Follow up below this)
Barber: RT @mateusgpereira: Which CB looks to be playing better overall in OTA's? >> Course, Smith did get booted out of play for covering wrong guy
Barber: RT @baraiza: @Skinny_Post So Ginn Jr is catching the ball better? >> Still not perfect hands, but making more standout catches (Sorry, 49ers fans but that's how it's probably going to be throughout his career. Drop, drop, drop, big catch, drop, drop, etc)
Maiocco: Ex-49ers fan favorite goes to NE to compete for roster spot. RT @MikeReiss Patriots announce that they've signed RB Thomas Clayton. (Noooooooooo)
Barber: Singletary says 49ers could hold 3 or 4 roster spots for pure special-teams players; it's a real emphasis this year
Barrows: Takeo Spikes just broke up a pass to Glen Coffee then celebrates with what looked like an Irish jig. Defensive mates loved it. (Yessssssss)
Rival Blog Buzz ROTB has their question of the day and their Flock of Links. They keep going about Golden Tate at Field Gulls. At Turf Show Times, they have their Random Ramsdom.
Yesterday On Niners Nation The Golden Nuggets kicked us off, Howie started a tournament to see which 49ers Super Bowl was the best, Andrew had another fantasy football post, Josh had the latest Know Thy Enemy post, and I posted part one of the questions the 49ers need answered by preseason.
Today On Niners Nation (All times pacific and subject to change)
7:00 AM - We'll have a post about Ricky Jean-Francois and Aubrayo Franklin, as per some comments from Greg Manusky.
11:00 AM - More questions that need to be answered by preseason, I'll be looking over them.
2:00 PM - I should, by all means, have a player profile at this point today.
49ers Tweet Of The Day "I wish i could walk around w/ #ninernation like the verizon guy. I love our fans." from Anthony Davis, whose Twitter is here. I know he isn't talking specifically about us but man, I love this guy already. Cool dude, and apparently was signing autographs the other day.
Yesterday's Best Comment "And we will soon have at least 1-2 pro bowlers on our line..Iupati and Heitmann" from ItBurnzWhenIP. I completely agree with this, Iupati is going to be a beast, and Eric Heitmann has consistently played like one of the league's top centers. But when the rest of the line is bringing down the average, it's hard to make the pro bowl. I hope he gets one.