Over at SBNation.com, Ryan Van Bibber put together a fun look at some of the generic storylines we will see over the course of the next few months in the NFL. Although each team has their own specific stories media will write about and fans will follow, there are some generic storylines that you can cut and paste around the league.
Ryan primarily looked at offseason quotes you'll hear. The 49ers coaching staff is fairly tight-lipped about these kinds of things, but we can still apply what we might hear as it relates to the team on the field.
"He's got a chance to start": For the 49ers this will likely apply primarily to the right guard position. Alex Boone has been moved into the number one spot for now, but he could find himself battling a host of players. Daniel Kilgore looks like he could end up being more of a swing interior lineman, while Joe Looney is simply looking to get cleared for football activities sooner rather than later.
"He was the player we wanted all along": When the 49ers drafted Darius Fleming, the pick immediately followed a rather intense reaction from Trent Baalke when another player went a couple picks before (I believe Terrell Manning). He's gone down with an ACL tear, so it will be interesting to see how much his name comes up between now and the start of the season. He'll likely start the season on the PUP list, so we'll get some comments then, but for now he'll likely remain under the radar.
"He looked great out there": Randy Moss has been getting this quote a whole lot in offseason workouts. Michael Crabtree also has been getting this now that he's healthy and hopefully getting in a full offseason of work. I'm sure we'll get some comments on Alex Smith and Frank Gore looking great, but Moss will probably be the most frequent recipient of this one.
"He Bulked Up Over The Offseason": Last year we heard about 49ers offensive linemen actually slimming down a bit. I'm curious to see if Daniel Kilgore gets the bulking up over the offseason. Beyond that, I'm not expecting to see this one much.
"He's really making the most of a second chance": Once again, this has Randy Moss written all over him. I don't know what exactly we would call this opportunity for Moss, but given his desire for a Super Bowl ring, this is fast approaching one of his last opportunities to get to the big game.
Any other generic quotations you won't to throw out there? Or maybe some more 49ers specific? There's always "Player X Is Our Future!" but anything else?