49ers minicamp 2014: Day 3 recap

The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up minicamp yesterday, and I figured one last recap is worth a look. I was on hand and have a few thoughts, but I've also linked to the other writers who put together some content. The practice was scheduled for an hour and a half, but it was cut short at 55 minutes. Several NFL teams cancelled their third day entirely, but the 49ers went with an abbreviated session.

The biggest piece of information to come out of minicap and the entire offseason workout program is that there were no serious injuries. There were some bumps and bruises, and some people did not take part in a lot of minicamp work while recovering from earlier injuries, but for the most part, the 49ers came out of minicamp generally healthy. The next step is training camp, but for now, things are OK.

Vance McDonald is a guy people were talking about quite a bit this week. Generally the talk was about him dropping passes, but he did not appear to drop any passes on Thursday. He made a couple really nice catches during the session. It's not something that means he's ready to go in training camp, but it's a positive step. It's nice to leave minicamp with some momentum.

Joe Looney continued to get right guard work. The 49ers have given Adam Snyder some time there as well, but Looney got the lion's share of the work. Snyder got some center work on Wednesday, and we saw it again on Friday. Daniel Kilgore and Marcus Martin remain the first and second string centers, but the team would seem to be keeping themselves ready in case of emergency. But for now, Joe Looney is getting the opportunity to stake his claim to a prime backup role.

As everyone has mentioned at one time or another, Tank Carradine remains a guy to watch. He was an active participant in minicamp, particularly showing up in Justin Smith's defensive tackle role in the 49ers nickel. I did not see JIm Tomsula or Vic Fangio yelling at him for being in the wrong spot, or doing the wrong thing. Given that there is no contact, that and the fact that he was a healthy, full participant are the only things we can really take from his minicamp. But those are also very good things.

One thing that was somewhat interesting to note was the fact that the 49ers rotated pretty much all the inside linebackers in next to Patrick Willis. Michael Wilhoite would seemingly be the early favorite for the starting role next to Willis, but Chris Borland, Nick Moody and Shayne Skov all seemed to get some work next to him. It's going to be interesting to see how the 49ers rotate it through the first couple of preseason games. I wouldn't be surprised if Wilhoite got the start Week 1 of the preseason, then Borland got the start in Week 2. And Moody could still work his way in as well. It's hard to tell how this situation will settle itself.

Day 3 minicamp reports
Bay Area Sports Guy
Chris Biderman
Cam Inman
Matt Barrows
Grant Cohn
49ers.com