Good morning to all. How is everyone? I'm well, thanks for asking. Sad news when I read it, in regards to Junior Seau. My dad was from Seau's hometown, Oceanside, CA, which I've only visited once, and I always paid a bit of attention to him for no other reason than that...and his amazing play. Another tragic ending for another great player. We'll get all the details in the next week or so, but it's another suicide for another former player. Sad, really.
Coach Harbaugh played with Seau in San Diego for two years and had this to say about his former teammate. | Harbaugh reacts to Seau death. (Maiacco)
Here's a story about the man. I usually wouldn't include so much info on another team's player but I feel it's pertinent. We prevented him from winning a Super Bowl, plus Coach Harbaugh and him played together. This article from BASG talks about his legacy, the Bounty Gate scandal, and more. | Seau's legacy. (Bay Area Sport Guy)
More on Seau's death. Jerry Rice and Steve Young, who played against Seau in Super Bowl 29 are among a list of Niners, past and present, to pass on condolences. | Niners pass on condolences to Seau family. (Mercury News)
The schedule is set for this years offseason. The coaches can finally supervise the veterans and the rookies will be along on May 11th, when the rookie minicamp begins (assuming they all sign on the dotted line). | Offseason schedule set. (Maiacco)
49ers.com gives a brief summary of the draft picks and gives some video footage on each player to accompany it. Some of the video is college footage, other is interviews. | Meet the rookies. (49ers.com)
Here is an in-depth breakdown of the first four rounds of the draft for the 49ers. They give the player picked, pros and cons of the pick, best player available at that slot, plus best player available in the position group at the time. | Deeper look at the first four rounds of draft for 49ers. (49erswebzone.com)
Mike Sando talks about the NFC West's shift toward a passing division. We dominated on the ground last year but most teams focused on upgrading their passing attack in the draft and free agency. | NFC West focussing on the pass. (Sando)
Matt Maiacco finishes his triple tipple of stories with a good one regarding the competition at running back. Things were already interesting with the signing of Brandon Jacobs. Then we go and draft LaMichael James. Anthony Dixon appears to be on the way out. Kendall Hunter will be in competition with James for change of pace back duties. It will get very interesting. | Competition at running back. (Maiacco)
Grant Cohn takes an early shot at predicting the 53-man roster. He goes over each position, tells who will make the team and who will get cut, sets the depth chart, and gives a little analysis. | Cohn projects the 53-man roster. (Cohn)
The 49ers defense is not resting on last year. Here is a video with some footage of Patrick Willis explaining why next year will be better than last. | 49ers defense is not resting on laurels. (49ers.com)
Video footage from 49ers.com going over the draft. The video discusses the draft and how the new players fit into the roster. | Video on the 49ers draft. (49ers.com)
Replay of live chat with Bruce Miller. (49ers.com)
The Niners linebackers who are not involved in special teams ran the gauntlet drill. For those of you who don't know, it's what the receivers do to showcase their hands. They opened some eyes according to a very modest Patrick Willis. | LBs run the gauntlet. (49ers.com)
Rookie AJ Jenkins will miss the 49ers rookie minicamp in order to walk in his college graduation ceremony. LaMichael James will be able to attend the minicamp, but will miss other offseason time until he graduates from university in June. The league forbids players to attend league work until they finish their school year with the rookie minicamp being the exception. | Jenkins and James to miss some offseason work. (SFGate)
Cam Inman takes a look at how the suspensions in the bounty scandal impact the Niners. They play New Orleans, who are obviously affected, as well as the Green Bay Packers, who lose Anthony Hargrove, an ex-Saint, at the start of the season. | How Saints suspensions affect the 49ers. (Mercury News)
Matt Barrows talks about the offseason schedule and includes a list of new players' numbers. | Offseason schedule and new numbers. (Barrows)
NFL Power rankings from SB Nation has us at #6. I saw that ESPN had us #5, which was a slide down from our end of season rank of #4. Hmmm.... | SB Nation power rankings have us at #6. (Bay Area SB Nation)
Our own James Brady discusses the competition at WR. Kyle Williams will be battling all the way. The battle for playing time will probably only just begin in training camp. Expect it to last well into the regular season. | WR competition will be long. (SB Bay Area Nation)
And finally, the 49ers A-Z. A cheesey article gives each letter of the alphabet a 49ers-based tidbit of info. B is for Baalke for example. Even if the format makes me giggle, the piece has some info in it worth going over. | 49ers A-Z. (Scout.com)
Being a Sheep
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