KFFL 49ers notes

The San Francisco 49ers started their two-day mandatory minicamp, holding the first practice on Tuesday. Reporters were allowed to observe the session, and there were several noteworthy takeaways. QB competition? Not yet Trey Lance and Sam Darnold are rotating first-team reps during practices. Tuesday was Darnold's turn. Wednesday will be Lance's opportunity. First practice of minicamp is in the books. In 11-11s, I had …First-team QB Sam Darnold 4-7Second-team QB Trey Lance 6-9Third-team QB Brandon Allen 4-4— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows)

As the sun rose over the horizon, fans of the San Francisco 49ers came from all over, with great anticipation, as General Manager, John Lynch, slowly trudged his way upon the hill, disappearing into the fog for just a moment, and reappearing with Kyle Shanahan, to proclaim Brock Purdy the heir to the 49ers' QB throne. (Cue the "Circle of Life" track!) Alright, so it wasn't exactly like that. But the 49ers' brass has made it a point this offseason to ensure everyone knows Purdy is the team's starting quarterback, once he's healthy. And while it may have lacked the drama of a scene from The Lion King, the declaration was just as impactful. (You know, if we could have had Lynch look out over the kingdom, and then hold young Purdy up in front of the team's cheering

The San Francisco 49ers have compiled one of the NFL's best rosters, hence their overall success over the last four seasons, which includes a Super Bowl appearance and three trips to the NFC Championship. A big portion of that success? The developed talent along the defensive line, which has been the core of the team ever since head coach Kyle Shanahan took over in 2017. After a down, but still fairly strong year from the defensive line in 2022, San Francisco added defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who had 11 sacks on the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, to bolster the interior alongside Arik Armstead. Hargrave joins defensive end Nick Bosa, who led the team with 18.5 sacks en route to winning the Defensive Player of the Year award in

You've heard stories about San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan installing a play and breaking down exactly how he expects the defense to react. Then, when the players execute the play, everything occurs as the coach explained, as if he had a crystal ball to predict the outcome. Shanahan is a confident play-caller, emphasizing execution by his players to ensure everything goes as planned. The 49ers acquired a big-time playmaker last season, trading for star running back Christian McCaffrey, who had already established himself as one of the most versatile players in the league. Even McCaffrey marvels at the things his play-caller comes up