The San Francisco 49ers have moved to a stage of training camp where team drills are closed to the media. However, the team is providing some highlights from these closed practices, and the videos are offering some intriguing nuggets.
On Wednesday evening, the 49ers posted this video to social media, showing some of the top offensive plays of the day. The headline gives away the surprise, but Matt Maiocco was doing some watching, and he spotted UDFA lineman Erik Magnuson getting first team work.
Start your day with some highlights! Here are the top offensive plays from yesterday's practice. pic.twitter.com/wDHjKC3l72
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 24, 2017
Magnuson has been playing a mix of center and guard with the 49ers after playing tackle in college. He has slowly worked his way up the depth chart, but as Maiocco pointed out, this is his first time working with the first team.
We know it’s the first team unit because Joe Staley and Trent Brown are on the field. However, we also see Tim Barnes. The former Rams center has been getting work at both center and guard, and was able to convince the team to release Jeremy Zuttah. As Maiocco tweeted, we don’t know who the fifth offensive lineman was in this particularly play. Brandon Fusco and Zane Beadles are currently starting at the two guard positions, with Joshua Garnett sidelined due to a knee injury. Was it Kilgore and so we saw Magnuson and Barnes at the two guard positions? Or was Kilgore playing guard with Magnuson or Barnes at center?
This Sunday is the team’s dress rehearsal game, and it will be intriguing to see what the offensive line snap totals look like for the first team unit. The team has some tough decisions to make for the line reserves, and getting Magnuson and/or Barnes some first team work could help clarify that to a certain degree.