With the conclusion of organized team activities on Wednesday, the 49ers have now made it halfway through the third phase of the voluntary portion of the team’s offseason program. For those keeping score at home, they’ve completed 5 as of now, with Thursday off, and Friday on. They’ll complete the final 4 practices between the 5th and 9th of June.
While thankful for the reports that come out of the OTAs, we didn’t get a chance to learn much from Wednesday’s work. Of the more reassuring reports out, it seems as though the defensive line is starting to look like a presence both on the inside as well as the outside. Some might say “and this is without Solomon!”, and others might say “look at the offensive line they’re going against”. Both of you, chill out, OTAs are non-contact, let’s be reasonable here. Either way, the interior of the line is looking solid, especially with good showings from 3 guys penciled at NT (Chris Jones, Earl Mitchell, D.J. Jones), as well as DeForest Buckner.
Something to keep an eye on is the state of the secondary. Aside from the positive buzz around Rashard Robinson and the repositioning of Jimmie Ward, there seems to be a relative state of flux elsewhere. Whereas earlier in the phase, Keith Reaser was taking a majority of the first team reps, it seems that Dontae Johnson is getting his look. Furthermore, there’s been chatter about the addition of veteran depth at both levels of the secondary. Oddly, there hasn’t been much said about the nickel backs.
Otherwise, Matt Barrows put out a pair of articles painting a picture of the different philosophies and attitudes of the coaches. A somewhat odd celebration by Rashard Robinson led to DC Robert Saleh praising the bombastically confident nature of the young corner, and DL coach Jeff Zgonina shared some insight on his preference to rotate linemen to maximize the motor he can get out of them on a per-play basis.
Good links today -
OTA Analysis & Media
(Click me!) Takeaways from Wednesday’s OTAs | Biderman, Ninerswire
[Video] Players running drills | Biderman, Ninerswire
OTA observations | Barrows, Sac Bee
OTA fast facts | Inman, Mercury
Players & Coaches
49ers worked out veteran DBs Jairus Byrd, Leon Hall | Biderman, Ninerswire
[Transcript] Saleh on OTAs | Biderman, Ninerswire
Kyle Shanahan’s theme for OTAs: Competition | Wagoner, ESPN
Zgonina’s philosophy: rotate the defensive linemen | Barrows, Sac Bee
Defensive staff on secondary, attitude | Barrows, Sac Bee
WR Goodwin on expectations in Kyle Shanahan’s offense | Maiocco, CSN Bay Area
Other
Mike Shanahan on hand for Wednesday’s OTAs | Wagoner, ESPN
Lynch apologizes for questioning Kaepernick’s desire to play | Biderman, Ninerswire
Torrey Smith on Kaepernick | Schultz, Sac Bee
One last though, did anyone else realize we drafted the kid from the “Last Chance U” show?