Your daily San Francisco 49ers links for Friday, August 6, 2021
The 49ers return to the practice field on Friday, before Dwight Clark day takes place inside Levi’s Stadium. Speaking of, the 49ers unveiled a brand new club space inside of the stadium that’s driven by their partnership with Cache Creek Casino resort and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.
It’s a 1,400 square foot club that’s located between the visiting locker room and the field entrance. There’s a full bar inside with a nice lounge feel to it. Check it out the next time you’re at the stadium.
I joked the other day that Anthony Zettel should’ve retired after he beat Trent Williams during 1-on-1’s with a spin move. Well, Zettel did just that:
49ers training camp: Ho hum — another one-incompletion outing for Trey Lance
Garoppolo uncorked only one deep attempt Wednesday, one to Kittle that he was late in delivering and that landed perhaps three yards out of bounds. Garoppolo was 6 of 11 in 11-on-11 situations, mostly on short attempts. His best throw may have been an on-the-move dart to Kittle in the red zone that the tight end caught in stride and carried into the near corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
The comparison of 49ers quarterbacks through seven practices has a bit of an apples-to-oranges dynamic. Because Garoppolo is working with the first-team offense, he also mainly goes against the likes of Fred Warner, Jason Verrett and Jimmie Ward and the first-string defense.
Longtime 49ers reporter asked if he’s ever seen a rookie QB as special as Trey Lance
“And yes, I do want to pump the brakes,” Maiocco continued. “Let’s not get too carried away with it because they’ve only practiced in pads two days. But it’s everything. He just has the right touch. He acts like a seasoned pro. He stands up there at the press conference and answers your questions. And then you go back and look at what he said, and you realize, ‘Wow, he didn’t say anything,’ which is exactly what a quarterback should be. Look good, speak well, but really don’t say a whole lot.
“The way he’s been so deferential toward Jimmy Garoppolo, from what I understand, just all the work he’s put in those 40 days he left the facility, he came back a better football player.”
Comparing the 49ers’ position-by-position spending habits to the rest of the NFL
Offensive line
Players on roster: 17
Cap hit (rank): $34.7 million (No. 12)
NFL average: $33.4 million
The 49ers’ level of investment in their offensive line has steadily increased through Kyle Shanahan’s tenure. In 2020, the franchise spent 15.8 percent of its budget on the front — nearly four points below the NFL mean.
After a spending spree that saw left tackle Trent Williams sign for record money on the same night that star center Alex Mack agreed to terms with the team, the 49ers are up to No. 12 in the league year (or about 18 percent).
That’s a bit above league average, but it’s still nowhere near the 25 percent share that heavy spenders like Indianapolis, Cleveland and Tennessee have poured into their fronts.
“Nah I don’t think it’s a competition yet,” Williams told Murph & Mac on Thursday. “Jimmy is playing lights out, I know that. A lot of people won’t say that but, I mean Jimmy has been balling. He’s got the offense moving, so I don’t really see a quarterback competition at this time.”
“Just seeing what Trey has to offer and knowing if something happened to Jimmy that’s who’s coming up, everybody can just sleep good at night because everybody knows what happened last year when Jimmy went down. That kind of had us dead in the water for a second. Knowing that we won’t run into that same problem, it’s a very comforting feeling.”
12th Man Rising: Heading into the season and after offseason changes, how confident are you that San Francisco can get back to a 2019 level in 2021 and why?
Peter Panacy: I don’t think the 2019 level is quite there just yet, although the Niners do project to be a playoff-caliber team, provided they stay healthy. Depth in the secondary is still a massive concern, particularly at cornerback, which was already thin coming into the season and could be tested to the extreme if one of the many oft-injured corners goes down again. A reinvigorated pass rush with both Nick Bosa and Dee Ford back could help matters, but I think San Francisco is a year away from legitimate Super Bowl contention.
Especially if Lance proves to be the X-factor.