This Week in Niners Nation: ESPYs, Training Camp & The Death of Boredom

The rookies have reported to training camp today. It serves as the canary in the coal mine. Well, except that it is a portend of fun, not of imminent death. Next week the veterans will arrive and we can all stop talking about Colin Kaepernick's fashion choices. I'd much rather talk about Sammy the Tortoise's choice of clothing. I'm like, "No he didn't just leave the house naked again!" He must of learned that from Kaep. Bada bing!

As for camp, the two battles I'm most intrigued by are wide receiver and cornerback. Both have huge questions to be answered. The wide receiver depth chart looks to be Anquan Boldin followed by A.J. Jenkins, Kyle Williams, Ricardo Lockette & Quinton Patton. The order of those last four is the big mystery. Jenkins looked good in minicamp. Lockette is fast. Patton fell into our laps in the draft and was tabbed by some as a ready and capable No. 2. Williams is coming off of an injury and was never high on the depth chart to begin with. Just jumble the names in a hat and set the depth chart like that.

As for cornerback, that battle got even more interesting today with the addition of former Bucs CB Eric Wright. No, he's not the ex-49er from the glory years, and no he's not Eazy-E. But he's viewed by many as a solid slot cornerback and a solid No. 2. His off the field issues are cause for concern, but the cost was so little that it was a no brainer. Another good deal by Baalke.

It does muddle the CB situation. We kept five CBs last year and added Nnamdi Asomugha in the offseason. Now, with Wright, we have 7 CBs from 53-man rosters last year. Tramaine Brock and Perrish Cox are the farthest down the depth chart. But it's not as easy as just cutting them. A team can't afford to have a No. 5 CB who makes $3 million and doesn't play special teams. Oh, the intrigue going into camp. It will be like Game of Thrones, with less naked people. So long as Kaep and Vernon Davis are on their best behaviour. | Eric Wright scouting report: What to know about the new 49ers cornerback (Fooch)

Colin Kaepernick's Serious Issues

Here's the post announcing the victory that caused Kaepernick to relapse into fashion crime. First he's naked, then he gets made fun of so he wears a Dolphins hat to cover his shame, and now he's dressed like Don Johnson in Miami Vice. Let the cocaine rumors swirl. | 2013 ESPYs results: Colin Kaepernick named Best Breakthrough Athlete (Fooch)

Kaepernick started another controversy by looking fly at the ESPYs. The only thing he could have done worse was dress in a Dolphins jersey. Some people will complain regardless. He's a young guy having fun. Until we actually see some on-field performance issues, we probably should let him enjoy his offseason and not imply repeatedly that success has gotten to him. Fooch explains it better than that in his post. | On Colin Kaepernick, the ESPYs, the sunglasses, the Dolphins hat (Fooch)

90-in-90

So, all of the 49ers CBs were put on notice today. There are two that I feel have guaranteed roster spots. Tarell Brown is one and Chris Culliver is the other. The rest will have to fight for the spots in one of the more brutal camp competitions I can remember. Brown isn't signed past '13. The only current 49er CB you can easily envision on the roster in '14 is Cully. This is a huge year for him. Showing us all that he's the guy would be most excellent. | 49ers Roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: Chris Culliver (Woods)

One player who it was assumed would be on the hot seat this offseason was Jonathan Goodwin. He restructured his deal, and should be safe for 2013. Daniel Kilgore will challenge him for the starting spot, but expect Goodwin to emerge on top. He is the captain of the line, reads the defenses and his experience would be hard to replace. | 49ers Roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: Jonathan Goodwin (Brady)

49ers Roster Turnover

Remember the start of free agency? Everyone panicked when all of our players left and we didn't sign anyone to replace them except Glenn Dorsey. Then the draft happened and we got all excited. So, after all the turnover, are our tight ends better? Vance McDonald may be the secret weapon that Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh have always dreamed of. Can he replace Delanie Walker? | 49ers roster turnover: Have the tight ends improved? (Fooch)

Now for the tricky part of that previous paragraph's implication. Have the safeties gotten better? Dashon Goldson had a great year. Eric Reid has some big shoes to fill. Harbaalke moved up to ensure it got its man. It most know something. Will Reid eventually move to strong safety if and when the team lets Donte Whitner walk after next season? A position group in flux. | 49ers roster turnover: Have the safeties improved? (Fooch)

The third position group that needed some attending to was the defensive line. The lack of depth was exposed after Justin Smith went down late in the year. We've added a lot of bodies, both through the draft and free agency. Are they better? I'm tabbing Glenn Dorsey to have a 2011 Carlos Rogers-type year. | 49ers roster turnover: Has the defensive line improved? (Fooch)

Other Stuff

We discussed the 49ers running backs and Jaws' quarterback rankings. We also discussed the possibility of the 49ers trading for a WR. Many people felt there was no chance. I can't tell if today's Eric Wright trade raises or lowers the chances of trading for one. | Niners Nation #Channel49 Twitter Q&A Mailbag, Vol. 18: 49ers running backs, Jaworski's quarterback rankings, and more (Woods & Malone)

Super computer? Yeah, more like stupor computer. Or stupid computer. So a bunch of eggheads in an ivory tower have said that the Seahawks are more likely to finish ahead of the 49ers. Coach Singletary eats eggheads scrambled for breakfast. Oh, wait, who...oh...Harbaalke employs eggheads to season are team with brains. The article might enrage you, but there's good discussion in the comments about predictions, Vegas lines and their plausibility. | Football Outsiders Almanac 2013 projections: A look at 49ers, Seahawks and the NFC West (Fooch)

Lost in a busy week of news for the 49ers was the announcement that Ahmad Brooks would not face charges for bottling Lamar Divens. It was a more complicated case than what was initially reported. I had previously stated that if it were true, Brooks should expect some sort of suspension. Hard to know what's true. Hard to think Brooks will be suspended at this point. | Ahmad Brooks, Lamar Divens part of complicated case (Fooch)

Liberty_JAC continues his in-depth look at PFF grades and some of the more outrageous single-game performances by our beloved 49ers. In this edition he looks at Donte Whitner vs Green Bay in Week 1. We give Whitner a lot of flack for his poor coverage and he was graded poorly in this one. Was it deserved? | Caught on Tape! Donte Whitner - Week 1 @ Packers (liberty_JAC)

FanPosts

Mighty.joe gives you a deeper look at the 49ers offense and their explosive day against the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. Colin Kaepernick was record-breaking, everyone fired on all cylinders and it was amazing to watch. I can only hope we're in for more of the same this year. | The Colin Kaepernick offense vs The Packers defense (mighty.joe)

Jerryriceisthebest gives us a Youtube catalogue of all the greatest 49ers plays from the 1990s onward. Check out our greatest hits. Thankfully the greatest misses have been omitted. | Greatest 49ers' Plays, From the 90s to Now (jerryriceisthebest)

If you haven't checked this one out already, please do. Fooch has set up a FanPost for people to comment on their fondest memories from Candlestick Park, seeing as it will be its last year in usage. | Candlestick Park memories (Fooch)

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