This Week in Niners Nation: Rookie Minicamp Edition (5/17)

Ever since the 2013 NFL draft ended we've been dying to get a look at our incoming rookie class. We want to see them in our uniform. We want to see how they perform now that they're not mollycoddled college players. We want to see what they're made of. Regardless of your teams finish the previous season, there are always question marks and excitement surrounding your rookie class and what impact they'll have on the teams fortunes going forward. By all accounts, the 49ers killed it in the draft and now we're finally getting the chance to see our new toys.

Rookies

Tre looks at which 49ers rookies are most likely to make the roster for 2013. If you're looking for news on Eric Reid or Tank Carradine, look elsewhere. This is a piece discussing the Carter Bykowski's of the team. Reid, Carradine and Vance McDonald are pretty much locks, what about Quinton Dial? | Which 49ers rookies have best chance at 53-man roster? (Tre9er)

On Day One of rookie minicamp we learned that Quinton Patton needs to work on route-running, but looks good in number 11. Fooch dissects what crisp route-running can mean to a receiver, especially one without blazing speed, such as Patton. There is also a slideshow here of the rookies. | Quinton Patton has to work on route-running and airplanes (Fooch)

Day Two saw Vance McDonald's name called out, in a more positive light. He has the speed and hands to outproduce Delanie Walker, but his blocking is of concern. We need 9 Niners to block on every run play. Blocking is mostly technique and our guys know how to block. He'll learn. | Vance McDonald among the more noticeable players two days into minicamp (Fooch)

One rookie to watch is linebacker Nick Moody. He's a special teams ace and could push any number of veterans for a roster spot. We take a closer look at him and his biggest pros and cons. He's a hard hitter but will switching position for the second time in as many years cost him a chance to make the 53-man roster? | 49ers draft picks: A closer look at Nick Moody (Chiamardas)

We know how much Harbaugh and the rest of the coaching staff values versatility. We saw Anthony Dixon, Will Tukuafu and DeMarcus Dobbs all make the roster last season due to their varied skill sets. Each was considered a bubble player going in. How about the rookies? | 49ers rookies: How much will versatility help them? (Fooch)

90-in-90 Series

Here's the new series that takes a look at each and every member of the 90-man roster over the next 90 days. It should help you get a better idea of each of our players, their strengths and weaknesses and their chances of making the roster. It's just a little something to help us fill the time until training camp. Beats talking about the weather, which, by the way, is darn right cold here in Melbourne!

Quinton Patton is the first Niner we'll look at in the 90-in-90 series. Many people are intrigued by his potential and with production from the wide receiver position a must-improve area for the team, someone needs to step up and fill the void. The third wide receiver spot is up for grabs, take it Quinton. | 49ers roster 90-in-90 breakdowns: Quinton Patton (Tre9er)

LaMichael James is the next item up for bid. I'm hoping for big things from him this season. He failed to score during the regular season after getting a late start on the action. I'd love to see some of his big play ability taking advantage of by our Mad Scientist, Greg Roman. LaMichael + Space = Touchdown. | 49ers roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: LaMichael James (Fooch)

Patrick Willis is discussed at length. What are his chances of making the roster? What are the areas he could improve in? Umm...it's a bit silly discussing greatness like this. We don't ask how Leonardo DaVinci could have improved the Mona Lisa, do we? We should just discuss what his favorite color is. | 49ers roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: Patrick Willis (Fooch)

We take a look at a player on the bubble, Parys Haralson. Ahmad Brooks and Aldon Smith are firmly entrenched as the starters. Haralson was the starter in 2011 and missed all of 2012, a campaign in which he was demoted in favor of Smith before camp even began. With Corey Lemonier drafted to add pass rush and a near certain lock, plus a whole series of practice squad players and UDFAs fighting to make the roster, he'll be in the crosshairs until final cuts are announced. | 49ers roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: Parys Haralson (Fooch)

NaVorro Bowman is the final player we'll look at this week. He's the other half of our otherworldly inside linebacking duo and is coming off of an All-Pro season. Not much to criticize here, people, read the article and move along. | 49ers roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: NaVorro Bowman (Tre9er)

Frank Gore

Frank Gore turned 30 during the week. That's an important age for running backs, as it is well documented how drastically production tends to fall off once these workhorses hit that magic number. It's probably easier running behind the best line in football than it is running in Arizona. What does the future hold for Mr. Gore? | Frank Gore's future (Hanson)

Fooch takes a loot at how Gore stacks up against the rest of the backs in the league. NFL.com recently released rankings for the position and had Frank at 8th. Back to back 1,200 yard seasons for the 49ers all-time leading rusher plus an increase in yards per carry over each of those seasons indicates that Gore is still going strong. | Where does Frank Gore rank among current NFL running backs? (Fooch)

Other Stories

#Channel49 tackled all questions this last week, including Justin Smith's future. What will happen with Cowboy after this season is a mystery. Lets win a title and then discuss it. We also looked at UDFA's, veteran cuts and the defensive line pecking order. | Niners Nation #Channel49 Twitter Q&A Mailbag, Vol. 9: Justin Smith's future, UDFAs & more (Malone)

FanPosts

Not much happening on the FanPost front people. The upside to all of this is that anyone who writes a FanPost has a good chance to sneak into the top three and all the rewards that go along with it. The winning post this week comes from jtwade, a diehard Falcons fan. What, you ask. He just happened to go to high school with Quinton Dial and was his roommate at Alabama for the last four years. He has some insight into the man that we and all the beat writers combined may never glean. Thanks for the post. | Quinton Dial scouting report, courtesy of Dial's Alabama roommate (jtwade)

Brother Girth could have won the accolades, but once Fooch put him on the front page it gets to be a bit unfair. Front page placement is far greater praise than a woo hoo from me. The post takes a three year outlook for the team, looking at who we might lose when their contract expires and who we have on the roster who may replace them. | 49ers 3 year outlook (Brother Girth)

And finally, a post on Colin Kaepernick and how great he is. It has a link to YouTube and ESPN's Sports Science. It's not the episode with him from university, but does feature some of that footage. It's a follow up piece after his record setting performance in the playoffs against Green Bay. | On the greatness of Colin Kaepernick (Jerryriceisthebest)

Sorry there was no TWiNN last week. I was extremely occupied and had to make a choice between TWiNN and #Channel49. Tough call, but I axed TWiNN. All apologies. Why am I so busy? Because my wife is pregnant and we'll be having a baby in November and so duty called. I already mentioned it in Thursday's Nuggets and so I won't harp on it after this. I appreciate your understanding. Until next week.

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