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- Kirk Larrabee
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Written by:Kirk Larrabee
Kirk Larrabee's Latest Articles
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While the 49ers prepare to honor one of their all-time great defensive players later this year when they induct linebacker Patrick Willis into their franchise Hall of Fame, it's possible they have another linebacker on their hands in Fred Warner who is in the early stages of a career that will eventually earn him the same distinction. The 24-year-old Warner still has a lot of football ahead of him, but if he continues on the same trajectory he's on now (and eventually re-signs with the 49ers on a long-term deal), it's not a stretch to think he could one day join Willis in the 49ers Hall of Fame. Willis spoke about Warner during an...
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One of the most memorable San Francisco 49ers runs of all time was chosen Friday morning by Good Morning Football co-hosts Kyle Brandt and Maurice Jones-Drew as one of their ten favorites the NFL has ever seen. Brandt, who was a running back in college at Princeton, and Jones-Drew, who was a Pro Bowl running back with the Jacksonville Jaguars, decided to include the 96-yard game-winning touchdown gallop by former 49ers running back Garrison Hearst against the New York Jets in 1998 as their second favorite in league history. The run took place in the 1998 season opener on September 6 and sent the 49ers out on top 36-30 in overtime. Hearst's run took place with just over 11 minutes left in overtime, not long after the Jets tied the game with a field goal...
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There are a few candidates for the unfortunate distinction of being the biggest 49ers draft miss of the past 15 years, but none of them have been bigger than defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, according to Pro Football Focus. The statistical analysis website posted its choices for the worst draft pick since 2006 for all 32 NFL teams on Friday morning, with Thomas being the selection for the 49ers. The feature's author, Michael Renner, says Thomas never looked like himself in San Francisco after the 49ers made him the third overall pick in the 2017 draft, due in part to him playing a different position than he was meant to play. "Thomas was drafted as an edge rusher despite never having played there at Stanford," wrote Renner. "While he dominated against the run...
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The NFL has fined the San Francisco 49ers due to a violation of league rules pertaining to Organized Team Activities (OTAs), according to a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN. The 49ers are one of three teams being fined for OTA violations, according to Schefter. The others are the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys. The nature of the 49ers' violation had yet to be disclosed as of 1 p.m. PT, but the team was fined $100,000, while head coach Kyle Shanahan was fined $50,000. The league hit the Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy with identical fines, while the Jaguars and head coach Urban Meyer were fined $200,000 and $100,000, respectively. The 49ers will...
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Former 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia offered a number of thoughts this week on Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, including why he thinks Lance has the right recipe for greatness and why Garoppolo needs to take a step forward this season regardless of where he winds up in the team's pecking order. Garcia joined KNBR's Mark Willard Show on Tuesday (click here to listen) to talk about his upcoming football camp in his hometown of Gilroy, California (https://jeffgarciafootball.com/) and also took a few minutes to discuss what he sees from Lance and what he'd like to see from Garoppolo as the two quarterbacks...
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If there was one consistent theme to come from the 49ers' State of the Franchise event on Wednesday night, it was how much the team and the players are looking forward to getting fans back in the stands after a 2020 season filled with games in empty stadiums. Now that the Bay Area has seen dramatic improvements in the fight against COVID-19, the 49ers will be able to welcome fans back to Levi's Stadium for training camp practices, preseason games, and regular season games. There's no question that everyone across the board in the 49ers' organization is eagerly anticipating having the fans behind them after what everyone went through in 2020. "(It's going to help) immensely," 49ers general manager John Lynch said Wednesday night. The NFL in general...
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The Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame has two new members, and they're both players fans will be excited about. Linebacker Patrick Willis and wide receiver John Taylor were announced Wednesday night by team CEO Jed York as the next members of the 49ers Hall of Fame. The news was revealed during the team's annual State of the Franchise event. "The first thing that comes to my mind is, am I dreaming or what?" Taylor said of his induction. "I came from such a small school. Probably half the people didn't know where Delaware was, let alone Delaware State. For me to be inducted into the Niners Hall of Fame is really... there's no words I can say. I'm just grateful and appreciative." Willis added, "I'm truly honored, grateful. The 49ers have a...
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One year after COVID-19 resulted in empty stadiums and eventually pushed the 49ers to play their late-season games in Arizona, things will look a lot more normal in the months ahead at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. 49ers team president Al Guido spoke Wednesday night about opening Levi's Stadium to fans again in 2021, which has been expected for some time given the easing of COVID-19 restrictions around the United States. Guido said during the team's annual State of the Franchise event that the organization is very much looking forward to bringing fans back after what happened in 2020. "Thank you for hanging in there with us. It wasn't a fun year for anybody," Guido said. "I think that's the understatement of the day. I can't wait to see you." The...
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Raheem Mostert has proven to be a potent option for the 49ers when healthy, but his recent injury history along with the competition for carries he faces this season caused NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew to place him in the bottom third of his new list of the league's top lead running backs. Jones-Drew, who was selected to three Pro Bowls during his years as a running back with the Jacksonville Jaguars, ranked Mostert 25th among the league's "RB1s" in a feature published to NFL.com on Wednesday. "Mostert has been outstanding in Kyle Shanahan's offense, averaging 5.6 yards per carry with the 49ers," wrote Jones-Drew. "He exited after eight games in 2020 with an injury but all signs point to a healthy return in 2021. I realize the 49ers have about 1,000...
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The San Francisco 49ers record book is filled with extraordinary achievements, some of which may never be matched (such as the many jaw-dropping records set by Jerry Rice). But there are a few notable marks that will eventually be broken, especially now that a 17-game schedule is on the way. Let's take a look at five of them here. Four of them are regular season records, while the last one is a career accomplishment that could be in jeopardy of falling within a couple years. * Passing yards, single season (Jeff Garcia, 4,278; 2000) It seems like it's only a matter of time before this mark falls in Kyle Shanahan's offense. Jimmy Garoppolo came within shouting distance of Garcia's record when he threw for 3,978 yards in 2019, which is...
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Longtime beat reporter Matt Maiocco has seen hundreds of players come and go during his many years of covering the San Francisco 49ers, but it sounds like none of them stood out in the way quarterback and first-round pick Trey Lance did during this year's OTAs. Maiocco joined Sports Radio KJR in Seattle on Tuesday to talk about what he's seen from Lance so far and what to expect from him down the road. Maiocco told Seahawks beat reporter Gregg Bell that the improvement he saw from Lance over a short period of time in OTAs may have been at a level he hasn't seen from other 49ers players. "He might be the only person since I've been covering the team, which is about a quarter of a (century), that from one week of OTAs to the next week, you could actually see the...
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Samson Ebukam definitely doesn't skip leg day, as you're about to see. Ebukam, who figures to fill a pass rushing role for the 49ers this season, posted a demonstration of how much he can squat to Instagram on Monday. It's the latest in a number of workout videos Ebukam has shared on Instagram since signing with the 49ers in March after spending the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Rams. A number of players were impressed with Ebukam's latest video, including teammates George Kittle, Trey Lance, Darrion Daniels, and Jeff Wilson, as well as Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin and Rams linebacker Ogbo Okoronkwo. Each of them left brief comments on the video, with Kittle saying, "Sheeeeeeesh." Check it out...
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Where should Kyle Shanahan be ranked among the current crop of NFL head coaches? There's plenty of room for debate when it comes to that question, but one answer from Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports has the 49ers head coach at number 11 heading into the 2021 season. Benjamin's list of the top coaches in the NFL was posted Monday and was compiled based on both past performance and future outlook, with an emphasis on which coaches would be the best choice to run a team in 2021. Shanahan was the lone coach ranked in the top 15 with an overall losing record (29-35). "You might be shocked to see that record, but here's how his 49ers tenure has gone thus far: 6-10, 4-12, 13-3, 6-10," wrote Benjamin. "Contrary to popular belief, he's not invincible, and his...
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Can the 49ers still win the NFC West in 2021 if they bench Jimmy Garoppolo at some point in favor of first-round draft pick Trey Lance? NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo thinks they can, and he also feels Lance is more ready to play than those on the outside realize. He adds that it would only be a matter of time before the 49ers bench Garoppolo if Lance is performing well enough in practice. Garafolo spoke about Lance and the 49ers during a roundtable discussion about which team will come out on top this season in the NFC West on Monday morning's episode of the NFL Network's Good Morning Football. Garafolo said the 49ers were his choice to win the division as long as they stay healthy, then started to discuss what he's hearing about...
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When the 49ers line up on defense this season under new coordinator DeMeco Ryans, they might be taking more risks than they did over the past four seasons under the guidance of previous coordinator Robert Saleh. Saleh earned a reputation as one of the league's top defensive coordinators during his time with the 49ers, which he turned into his new opportunity as head coach of the New York Jets. But according to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Saleh liked to play it safe as a coordinator, which is something that could change this season now that Ryans is in charge. "I think you'll see DeMeco's personality come out a little bit more," Shanahan told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic...
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Trey Lance won't be automatically relegated to a backup role at quarterback this season just because he's a rookie, but he'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to prove he should be the starter over Jimmy Garoppolo. The widespread assumption is that the veteran Garoppolo will start for the 49ers this season while the first-round pick Lance learns from the sidelines. But 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan won't be approaching the situation from that perspective once training camp gets underway in late July, at least not initially. Shanahan spoke about that and a number of other topics during a conversation with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic on the most recent episode of Kawakami's TK Show...
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The 49ers are mostly set when it comes to how their 90-man roster will look when training camp gets underway in July, but there's at least one unsigned player who looms large as a possible addition the team could make before the players return to Santa Clara. That player of course is cornerback Richard Sherman, who has yet to find a team after playing with the 49ers the past three seasons. Whether the 49ers and Sherman decide to reunite for another go-round remains to be seen. But NFL.com columnist Jeffri Chadia thinks continuing the relationship would make sense for both sides as he listed the 49ers re-signing Sherman as one of five big moves NFL teams should make in the coming months. "As of right now, the best fit for Sherman remains the 49ers,"...
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The San Francisco 49ers have announced the signing of veteran offensive lineman Senio Kelemete, as first reported Friday morning report from Mike Garafolo of NFL Media. Where Kelemete fits in with the 49ers exactly remains to be seen, but they'll at the very least be getting an experienced, versatile veteran (88 games, 42 starts) capable of adding depth at a number of positions. Here's a look at five things to know about Kelemete before he heads to the Bay Area. * He made the move from defense in college: Kelemete was rated as a three-star prospect as a two-way player at Evergreen High School in Seattle and began his career at the University of...
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The San Francisco 49ers added some depth and experience to their offensive line on Friday, signing versatile veteran Senio Kelemete to a one-year deal. News of the signing was first reported by Mike Garafolo of NFL Media on Friday morning. The 49ers officially announced the move later in the day. To make room for Kelemete on the roster, the 49ers waived third-year lineman Justin Skule with an injured designation. Skule will be out for the 2021 season after tearing his ACL at practice earlier this week. Kelemete (6-3, 301) is in his ninth NFL season after being selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of the University of...
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Tarvarius Moore took to social media Thursday night to announce that the surgery he underwent for his recent Achilles injury was a success. Moore sustained the injury at practice on Monday, June 7. He was one of two 49ers players to suffer a serious injury during the Monday practice, along with offensive lineman Justin Skule (torn ACL). According to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Moore's injury was of the non-contact variety and took place with no other players in the vicinity. "T-Moore hurt his Achilles on air. No one was by him, he backpedaled and he went to go break forward and it just gave out," Shanahan told reporters Wednesday. Here's what Moore posted on Instagram regarding his...
Jul 2, 2021 at 6:12 PM • 0 comments