Golden Nuggets: Let the Roster Battles Begin

Organized team activities (OTAs) began on Monday allowing the coaching staff their first real look at each position group, with backup QB, WR, CB, and Safety offering the biggest competitions this offseason. Not much news came out of the first day, but I am most eager to see how the wide receivers fare. Dante Pettis, Deebo Samuel, and Jalen Hurd are probably the only roster locks at this point, with Pettis most likely getting a starting spot. Marquise Goodwin is the only real deep threat on the team, so he’ll probably make it, but who else? My guess is Jordan Matthews and Trent Taylor, but that’s more a gut feeling than anything else. What competitions are you all looking forward to?

These important competitions begin this week for 49ers during OTAs | Matt Maiocco, NBC Sports

Along the cornerback front, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager thinks Richard Sherman is underrated and I agree to a certain extent. He’s obviously got one of the starting spots locked up, but many people think his success last year was because of the inept play opposite him; they think QBs didn’t test him because they didn’t have to. Sherman turned 31 in March and a drop in production is expected, but he says he’s healthy and I choose to believe that means he’ll look more like his elite self this season and get more interceptions than the zero he had last year.

Why NFL Media’s Peter Schrager believes Richard Sherman is underrated | Marcus White, NBC Sports

In other less relevant news, the Golden State Warriors won a rather exciting game in overtime, advancing to their 5th straight finals. You may not care about this on a football site, but I tend to lean towards the “bay area unite” mentality. On to the rest of the links...

Is 49ers Brass Facing A Do-Or-Die 2019 Season? | Vincent Frank, Forbes

3 storylines to watch during 49ers’ 2019 OTAs | Peter Panacy, Niner Noise

San Francisco 49ers’ rookies face battles for playing time as team’s workouts begin | Chris Biderman, The Sacramento Bee

Five things to watch as the 49ers kick off OTAs | David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone

Report: After one play, former 49ers’ LB Reuben Foster suffers season-ending ACL injury | Chris Biderman, The Sacramento Bee