Welcome to the weekend! While the weekend is always a good thing, it's even better this month because it means we're that much closer to training camp. 49ers rookies and quarterbacks report as early as July 21, while the rest of the team starts to roll in the 23rd, and full team practices begin the 26th. That, my friends, is a good thing.
As we get closer, news will remain a bit light. We'll continue to post whatever links we can find, but I'm also looking to promote some more internal content. In today's case, we had a couple of FanPosts yesterday that I wanted to make sure people had a chance to check out. JoeBeets posted about a charity 5k up at UC Davis. If you live in Northern California and enjoy running, or are looking for a charity to support, check it out.
A second FanPost was NinerRabid's "Choose Your Dream Franchise." It provides a new spin on a sort of quasi-fantasy football when there is no football going on. Check it out as it is a fun little conversation starter.
Matt Maiocco figures Alex Boone will enter training camp as the heavy favorite at right guard. This is not surprising given all the number one reps he has gotten. The real battle likely now becomes the backup offensive line positions. (Maiocco)
The only update on the Aldon Smith stabbing is that he is cooperating with police. I've got to think we'll see few real leads at this point. It's a week later and nobody has come forward with information. Is there really any incentive to come forward at this point? (Maiocco)
Whatever you think of some of his past interactions with players, Grant Cohn put together an interesting post about the importance of Perrish Cox in 2012. It was based off a Greg Cosell post about the evolving chess match we see on the football field. That first game against the Green Bay Packers will be quite interesting when the Packers start spreading out their receivers. (Cohn)
The folks at SI.com are putting together offseason breakdowns of each team. They got to the 49ers yesterday. Their three things to watch included whether the passing game improves, whether Aldon Smith is ready to be an every-down player and whether the defense can stay healthy again. All very pertinent questions. (SI.com)
In case you missed it, Ryan Van Bibber took a look at the linebackers around the league and ranked each team. It should be no surprise the 49ers came in first. We had some discussion about this yesterday. (SB Nation NFL)
Being a Sheep
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