This year's training camp was understandably different from the previous two years. There was a greater emphasis on conditioning under Singletary. Singletary's practices typically started with a few minutes of player-led stretching then sideline-to-sideline sprints, after which they broke into position drills. Special teams were off on their own little mini-field behind the bleachers.
Not so this year. The practice opened up with Brad Seely getting the special teams unit on the field. There was a variety of drills, including field goals from various ranges and locations (you could hear Brad Seely or an assistant special teams coach yell, "30 LEFT HASH!" or "35 RIGHT!!"), kick-offs and punts (returns as well), and a surprising amount of time on onside kick recovery and onside kick defense. Notably, Vernon Davis was on the field at a few points to scoop up onside kicks on the defensive side of the ball. Like I said in my previous updates, Ronald Johnson muffed his first kickoff return and Kendall Hunter looked like a promising returner. Ronald Johnson also didn't look too impressive as a gunner on punts - granted he was double teamed. He was thrown to the ground by two defenders though. That led to Kyle Williams' decent punt return.
Position based drills were pretty varied as well. Linemen were at one endzone, offensive players closer to the middle of the field, and defensive players across the way on the other side of the facility. The quarterbacks started with a drill that seemed to work on footwork and instincts with one QB hovering another's blindside. Wide receivers came in later and caught passes from coaches on short to medium distances and working out of side-to-side stutter steps or quick outs. Ted Ginn dropped a couple early on, but recovered. All our receivers aside from Morgan and Edwards are pretty small, so naturally they do pretty well on these agility and footwork based exercises. No one really stood out, but Morgan does move well for his size. Braylon Edwards isn't as quick on his feet, but that was to be expected. He's more of a long strider and was never known for his short to intermediate route running.
The quarterbacks and wide receivers then did a few pass route drills. Alex Smith hit more of the passes. Kap didn't look bad for a rookie, but this drill is just to ensure you can hit all the throws uncontested. Smith is a known camp warrior, so take it with a grain of salt. Overall, I like what I see from Kap physically, but he's not mentally ready just yet.
As for 11-on-11s and 7-on-7s, Masoli actually looked pretty good for a third team QB, but his passes still look like those of a college quarterback's. They stay in the air too long. As for Alex Smith versus Kap, Alex Smith looked unquestionably better. Some would criticize him for checking down to Gore, but most of these checkdowns went for 6-7 yard gains on first or second down. That is not a bad way to go when no one else is open (and no one was). You can't really fault Smith for that considering Ginn, Williams and Ronald Johnson were running with the first team for most of the day. Occasionally, they were even in while Morgan was out - not sure what the rationale for that was.
Brock was also a first team CB since Spencer was injured, but Carlos Rogers and the other safeties were on the field. Maragos was first team occasionally. I expect Smith to take more risks when his receivers actually get open. Smith scored a touchdown on his first offensive drive under 11 on 11, but he was sacked on the first play and didn't have his spot moved back. The o-line just broke down on that one. Also, I watched Aldon Smith drop in coverage once or twice. He does not backpedal very well. Hopefully he doesn't have to do it too much.
To be continued....
Keep em coming bro
