Good morning, all. How has the first week of camp been for all of you? It's been rough on us here at Niners Nation. More links than I can shake a stick at...let alone read. Now we have an off day for the team and the writers and I get a chance to do some pleasure reading in regards to the 49ers. Ah... what a relief.
What are peoples concerns going into the preseason? I was dismayed to read about the offense struggling in the short yardage situations in the red zone the other day. That killed us last year, and we hope it doesn't hurt us this year. We brought in how many new offensive players with one sole purpose, and that is to get the ball in the endzone. David Akers is great and all....but I'd rather not see another record breaking year out of him.
Another thing that caught my alarm was the lack of performance from some of the receivers. As we've noted here in the comments section, it's been a fairly quiet camp for Mario Manningham, Michael Crabtree has missed camp once again, and A.J. Jenkins has been all over the place (not uncommon for a rookie). At least Kyle Williams has been a pleasant surprise. So what are we going to get out of our receivers? I'm expecting Vernon Davis to be the beneficiary of any attention the WRs might get.
To the links......
It was a year ago that Tarell Brown took the starting CB position by the horns. Now he's got his sights set on leading the league in interceptions. Well....I'll just be happy for him to hold down the CB position. | Tarell Brown vows to lead the league in interceptions. (Inman)
Monty Poole has gone and out and compared the career stats of Alex Smith with a few QBs you might have heard of. Bradshaw, Namath, Plunkett, and Stabler. It's not the new law firm in town. What do all of these guys have in common...well, aside from Smith, they've all won a Super Bowl. | Comparing Alex Smith to Bradshaw, Namath, Plunkett, Stabler. (Poole)
Mario Manningham says that as long as the team is winning, all five of our no 1 receivers won't care who is getting the ball more. I'd say we have five no. 3 receivers....but I'd probably get run out of Nuggets-town. | Manningham predicts Niners WRs will put wins above stats. (NBC Sports)
A diehard 49ers fan, Matt Ware, has made a film on Alex Smith which has gotten a bit of attention on the interweb. It follows all the highs and lows of his career with the 49ers and is supposed to be quite the tearjerker. | Film study: Alex Smith's story is a tearjerker. (Branch)
Grant Cohn has his top five performers of the first week of camp. All five are from the defensive side of the ball which is odd considering most observers had Kyle Williams giving a superhuman performance in his bid at redemption. | Top five performers: Week one. (Cohn)
Cohn has some notes on the competition for the backup QB position. It's a tight race, but he has Josh Johnson pulling into the lead toward the end of the first week of camp. He's made some impressive throws that have helped him leapfrog the rest of the field. | Battle for backup QB. (Cohn)
Rock Cartwright is an eleven-year veteran of the NFL. His stats do not jump out at you because they are almost non-existant. He excels at special teams, one of the more thankless jobs in the NFL. Here's a piece detailing his commitment and training. | Cartwright takes his medicine (ball). (Branch)
All the extra attention that Aldon Smith should be getting this year stand to help one person: Ahmad Brooks. You can't double team everyone, so expect Brooks to set a career high in sacks this year. He does. | Brooks poised for breakout year as pass rusher. (CBS Sports)
VIDEO: Brown still not satisfied. (49ers.com)
I told you all what I'm most concerned about after the first week of camp...what are your worries?
Being a Sheep
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