Day 5 of the San Francisco 49ers training camp is officially over, as head coach Kyle Shanahan conducted an intense, scrimmage-filled practice that involved both team drills and move-the-ball periods on the first day of padded practices.
The offense and defense each had their moments, with quarterback Trey Lance having his best practice, while the defense accumulated six sacks on the day.
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Offense
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey returned to practice for the first day of pads, and looked smooth in limited opportunities, with his vision, cutback skills, and knowledge of the offense on display, working with Brock Purdy as his quarterback.
McCaffrey even saw some work in the receiving game, getting some short passes and turning them into solid plays, as he did during the regular season last year.
Elijah Mitchell continues to flourish with the top offensive team, and really impressed on a run where he immediately found the hole to the left side of the offensive line, running downhill and bursting out for an easy first down.
At the moment, Mitchell has been the most consistent of the backups, paving the way for him to have an early lead for the No. 2 running back spot.
After initial flashes, Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price haven't stood out necessarily yet, and will be players to watch as the run game takes a bigger emphasis with pads on.
Additionally, they could see competition from undrafted free agent Khalan Laborn, who has been the main standout of the third-team group of backs, although it's unlikely that Mason and Davis-Price lose out on a roster spot after a strong rookie season from the former and a good second offseason from the latter.
Wide Receivers
Today was a day more for the reserves as wideouts Chris Conley, Ronnie Bell, and Ray-Ray McCloud each had good days with the backup groups, flashing for the first time this offseason.
Conley had two catches, a 20-yard completion to the outside on a well-anticipated ball from Trey Lance, as well as a shorter completion from Brock Purdy, working on a good Sunday where he caught a 20-25 yard touchdown pass from Lance.
McCloud was featured in three catches, earning a spot on my "standouts" list on Day 5, with two of the plays going for 15+ yards.
Bell, who hadn't seen much opportunity until today, was a featured target of Sam Darnold, catching three passes from the backup quarterback: a good throw over the middle, a 5-yard out-route that got a few extra yards after the catch, and a short pass on a play-action rollout.
In addition, Danny Gray got featured more on Monday, earning three passes on the day, all from Trey Lance, on a productive day for the 2022 third-rounder.
Tight Ends
While the wide receivers flourished, the tight ends were very quiet on Monday, as the competition behind George Kittle has yet to truly unravel with flash plays.
In the few 1-on-1 plays I watched of the skill-position players, Cameron Latu dropped a pass after a nice route on Ji'Ayir Brown, while Ross Dwelley had a drop and struggled to separate on another route.
Expected to be one of the bigger camp battles of the offseason, the tight ends have been a little disappointing to start training camp.
Offensive Line
After a solid day of pass protection on Sunday, the offensive line struggled on Monday, giving up at least six sacks, although not all of them were their fault.
However, in good news, Colton McKivitz enjoyed a solid start to padded practices, winning several one-on-one reps, which earned him a spot on my "standouts" list for Monday.
But, during yet another practice where Trent Williams didn't play in team drills, it wasn't a great day for the offensive line, as Spencer Burford struggled in 1-on-1s, and the unit wasn't able to hold up very well in pass protection.
As for the running game, there were a few nice holes created by the first-team offensive line on the left side, ironically without Williams, leading to some big gains.
But, there needs to be more consistency from the three units in order for the offense to consistently see success against a tough defensive opponent in the 49ers' defense.