Latest / Guy Football Focus with Guy Haberman / Reacting To An Emerging WR Battle For the 49ers + Day 2 Practice Reactions

Transcript

Reacting To An Emerging WR Battle For the 49ers + Day 2 Practice Reactions · Guy Football Focus with Guy Haberman

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Day two and 49ers practice in the books back from Santa Clara.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: They'll have a close to practice on Tuesday.
• 0:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so I was driving home thinking about, is that a going play by play, blow by blow?
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: How's the left guard rotation going?
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's important stuff.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: What's the returner game?
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Look like that's important stuff.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just took a step back and thought, what do I, what do I, it's really kind of think, I'm thinking about right now.
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And there's one thing that I'm thinking about right now.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not a take yet.
• 0:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it's, I'm watering this take a little bit.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thinking, could the John's dribbling be a more impactful receiver for the 49ers this year, then Ricky Pierce all?
• 0:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, they haven't been in pads yet.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: That schedule to be on Friday.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's when things change.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: The experience of being a rookie, versus the experience of being an elite, and if you miss some time like Ricky has twice, now you're third time through a camp, you're third time into a season.
• 0:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just, there's no comparing those two things.
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I have to say, through two days, Desjohn's dribbling looks like he belongs.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I talked about it yesterday.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: It matters that coaches talk about him like he's in the right place, that he understands what's supposed to be happening, that he understands his role, that he understands where he fits in.
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I do think if you think about Ricky Pierce all the last two years coming to this year, there are questions about where he fits in.
• 1:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: nine games last year right if he has the same year this year that he had last year they're not picking up his fifth year option so he's got a year where he's got to go prove it the 49ers a lot of familiar faces but Mike Evans isn't one of them he's new a true number one the numbers have had really good receivers before you know I thought iyuk was like a one b not a
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Plenty good enough to help you in a championship as long as he's not the only, you know, guy you're throwing the ball to and on this team with Kittle at some point, Christian who will take up a ton of targets, you know, he doesn't have to be Mike Evans doesn't have to be then I've won guy, but he just brings something a little bit different and you would thank.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: If Evans is healthy, when kiddo comes back with McAfrey, that there will be opportunities for Ricky Pierce ought to be open, that Kyle Shanahan will find ways for him to get open.
• 2:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I just think it's undeniable right now if you see Dave John Strippling, you ran a faster 40.
• 2:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: then Ricky was bigger than Ricky.
• 2:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when you see how smooth and comfortable he is making catches, you know, the questions about him coming out will drop the ball so far two days.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, he's look good in that regard.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just for me, it's impossible to watch dribbling and not think could this guy not only make an instant impact, but make a bigger impact.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean,
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: with Kyle Shanahan, but there are definitely rookies that have had immediate success when he feeds in the ball, Debo at 81 targets.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: His rookie year, you could 96 targets, his rookie year.
• 3:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then Ricky Pierce all 46 targets, his rookie year, that's that's third most of the Shanahan era is day shots dribbling going to get 46 targets.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: That feels a little high, but I just, I'm not putting a cap on him right now.
• 3:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's my takeaway after two days.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not putting a cap on the Asian dribbling.
• 3:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think you look at what you lose with John Jennings and just assume, well, all that goes to Mike Evans.
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But there's no rule that says, you can only have one tall receiver that can catch the ball in contested situations.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you can only have one big receiver that can catch the ball in the red zone, you know, John Jennings was so impactful in the red zone, the Niners were so bad in the red zone in 2024 without Christian McCaffrey.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: and Christian comes back and it just opened things up last year and they got so much better.
• 3:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: They weren't in the red zone the most.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were 11th in the league and in red zone trips last year.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: But they were really efficient, right?
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were efficiency last year was off the charts.
• 4:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were eighth scoring touchdowns inside the 20 where they really thrived was in the tight red zone.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Inside the 10.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: The 40 dinners scored a touchdown almost 80% of the time when they were inside the 10 yard line, 10 yards and then that's third best in the league.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were almost 80% the league average was almost 70%.
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so when you're replacing Juan Jennings and you go, well, Mike Evans can do a lot of that stuff.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then I'm watching days out dribbling maybe because he's wearing 15.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: But you're watching days out dribbling and I'm thinking, well, I think you can do
• 4:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: The catch radius looks big, because it feels to me like he's gonna play bigger than his height.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: As I mentioned yesterday, his arms are the same length as Joans, which, you know, they're 50th percentile or whatever, so it's not that.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he just looks comfortable.
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Joans Jennings last year, inside the five yard line, the four-and-a-s through the ball, 28 times inside the five.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Joan got eight of those targets.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's more than Christian got.
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he didn't, he was like, he only caught like half of his red zone balls drawn, but he, um, but he caught him for touchdowns.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, uh, for those of you watching on YouTube, I'm going to show you a graphic, which is last year's red zone production.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hope you can read it.
• 5:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But in the blue box in the upper left, we've got the top red zone.
• 5:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: past catchers last year.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Christian caught 20.
• 5:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jennings caught 11 and Kittle caught 12 passes in the red zone.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it's not just Evans.
• 5:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's also Kittle early in the year in all likelihood.
• 5:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: George not practicing yet.
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Long trip to Australia.
• 5:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: You think that's not the trip you want to make necessarily, but you know, don't count George out.
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: But there's just a lot of targets that got to go somewhere.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, Todd just got six.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: To me, you fold those into Kittle of Kittle's healthy.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: But there's a place down here for days on dribbling so far in two years there has not been a place in the money zone in the red zone for Ricky Pierce all Ricky had four red zone targets last year and that one target was from outside the ten yard line when the field gets even tighter I think dribbling's physicality or potential physicality again will come into play
• 6:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, inside the five yard line, he had three catches or he had two catches, and they were both touchdowns.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: George had three catches inside the five.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were all touchdowns.
• 6:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: McAfrey had three catches inside the five.
• 6:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were touchdowns.
• 6:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, it wasn't just about the run game.
• 6:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Christian opened other things up for these guys.
• 6:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: But when it came time to throw the ball, they were just so money.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: when they got down inside the five yard line.
• 6:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I just, like, that doesn't have to be Ricky's role because you got Christian and you got Kittle and you got my Kevin's.
• 6:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if Ricky Pierce all doesn't do it, that's fine.
• 6:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if the HMS dribbling is gonna do it in addition to being reliable and other parts of the field,
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then to me, it's possible that it just becomes harder for Ricky Pierce all to find the ball.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ricky was kind of an explosive play guy last year.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: You think about the left-side line ball, he caught he was good against Seattle, big play.
• 7:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: The fourth down conversion down the right-side line against Arizona, big play.
• 7:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, Mike Evans, Mike Evans might be getting some of those.
• 7:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was, and by the way, Ricky was on the field in the red zone.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was on the field for,
• 7:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: 70% of the nighter's goal line snaps.
• 7:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was on the field for 76% of their inside the ten yard snaps.
• 7:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he had zero catches inside the ten yard line.
• 7:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had two targets inside the ten yard line.
• 7:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he was on the field.
• 7:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was not an option.
• 7:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: 23 goal line snaps, zero targets inside the five.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: All four of his red zone targets came from outside of the 10 yard lines.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, why guess two came from inside and two came from outside?
• 8:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, I'm just on alert right now.
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like to me, that is one of my early thoughts.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Is I think it's possible.
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I know it's always the thing we say with Kyle Shanna and it doesn't happen.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it's not that it never happens.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: It just rarely happens.
• 8:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think on this team, it's not gonna be 81 targets for Debo or 96 targets for IUG.
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: But they could be high leverage targets.
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Important targets.
• 8:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: We'll see, you know, pads gotta come on long way to go.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: But there's one of my early camp, two practices in.
• 8:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think during walk, yeah, there's also the rear of your mirror.
• 8:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, during Watkins, he's behind, because he didn't get the chance.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't play last year, really.
• 9:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Righty got hurt in that first preseason game.
• 9:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he was having a good camp.
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's also like, I look smooth.
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was having a good camp.
• 9:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I also think with him, he may need to be a returner.
• 9:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jacob Cowling, watching Punt Drills is the most natural at it.
• 9:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: it feels like to me just watching them catch punts.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm no brand boy here.
• 9:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm though I'm though a bone's a bone's fossil, but it feels like cowing and wagons look more comfortable catching punts than the other guys.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it's cowing going to be able to get on the field.
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: like can you play offensive snaps you're just going to carry him maybe i mean i i i didn't think to look up mic uh intern mic is behind the scenes today welcome him to the show uh how many offensive
• 9:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: targets.
• 9:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't even have it on the list.
• 9:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we went through a few of them for Skymore.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, obviously Skymore is on the field for some big plays.
• 9:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I guess you could do that with counting.
• 10:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you felt like you have a group of like three or four receivers, they're just going to all the snaps.
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you can carry another receiver on game day just for returns.
• 10:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you could do that.
• 10:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: But
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think Watkins is going to have a shot because he's another guy that I just think you have to remember, he looked good in camp last year, he translated that first preseason game before he got hurt.
• 10:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's just a, you know, that doesn't prove anything yet, but to me, it wasn't nothing.
• 10:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I just think Pierce all is in a battle right now.
• 10:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's in a battle with multiple guys.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, it could turn out to be a positive for Ricky, like if Ricky can establish, I'm this I'm the number two receiver on this team.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And diameter of the north said, yeah, my Kevin still got it.
• 10:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still got the Jews.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then there's going to be a lot for him because if he's out there with the the weapons that the night has had when they're healthy.
• 10:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, they can't just focus on Ricky Pierce all and and so he'll have opportunity.
• 10:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he's going to have to earn that because I think Striveling is going to give him and look if they can both be productive.
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's great too.
• 11:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, if they're both on the field together, and that's even better for everybody.
• 11:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: This isn't an either or thing, but it's just something I'm on alert for.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: A couple other things, I think when I think about what matters that week one game, I watched a machon McVay talk today, the Rams, the week one opponent.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was today yesterday I watched it today.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Aaron Donald is working to see if he can then decide whether or not he's going to come back.
• 11:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: McVay was at, I think one thing was interesting.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: McVay was asked, could Aaron Donald come back we gate or, you know, kind of a stretch run thing?
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, Aaron's just going through his regular workout, his regular routine, his preseason routine to see like, how's my body react?
• 11:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, um,
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's a world where he goes, I reacted well, but we're not gonna try this for 17 weeks, but let's try it for 10, let's do the last, let's do crunch time, second half of the season, be ready for the playoffs.
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Rams we know are not opposed, just like the Niners aren't, to managing things for veteran players.
• 12:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: It sounds like, if I understood him right, then Matthew Stafford is basically practicing two out of four days.
• 12:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, one of those days is like a walkthrough,
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, Stetson Bennett and Ty Simpson, the rookie, they're going to do a lot of chant.
• 12:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: What make face it, last year managing staffers are, I think they feel like they figured out a way to kind of protect them and definitely with a rookie quarterback give him opportunities.
• 12:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the Rams are interesting, man.
• 12:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Allerick Jackson's got trouble, although it sounds like he's not going to get charged after a domestic violence arrest in June, but it is just a thing they got out there's a legal process then there's the league and then there's the Rams and at this point I wouldn't predict I don't know that either one of them gets suspended, but again, when you play them week one.
• 13:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: You just gotta be, you gotta be on a high alert for what's going on with the Niners.
• 13:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: A couple of other things from the day, I thought Ramello height.
• 13:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some of you may have seen it by now.
• 13:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe if you didn't see it, then you're getting all the news at once.
• 13:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he got carded off.
• 13:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, watching him in the moment, it was near the end of practice.
• 13:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: It looked, I'm like, I think it's a cramp just because they were working on both of his calves and the good news for them and for him.
• 13:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I said it.
• 13:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: It turned out to just be a cramp for a remellal height.
• 13:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I thought, again, just like on Sunday, Drake Greenlaw just, he's got juice.
• 13:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just watching him and Fred, Drake Greenlaw, by the way,
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: left handed.
• 13:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'd forgotten about this.
• 13:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's left handed because him and Fred, a lot of times there's just the two of them because maybe some other linebackers are often in some special teams or some other thing.
• 14:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so just be the two of them and maybe they'll be playing some catch and you know, if we got to the emergency quarterback situation, I'm telling you, I don't know where he is on the list.
• 14:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: But drag your luck and throw it like it's it really looks natural when drag green lot throws the football.
• 14:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, he wouldn't be your first choice, I guess we know the Christian McAfrey is kind of the next choice, but I mean, the next choice after all of the choices have been exhausted.
• 14:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully, you know, we're not in that situation again.
• 14:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the other another really interesting story line is is run art over in, right, given all the noise at the end of last year about whether he'd fallen out of favor and they were upset with him and whatever.
• 14:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I thought, diameter of the nor today.
• 14:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: or a Monday talking about him was interesting that he feels like he's got some poise, some confidence, and that he is, and that he's shown up, because, you know, there's a couple of the guys making plays.
• 15:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you got to earn it, you got to prove it.
• 15:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if we're an auto green could take a step, not just in playmaking, but maybe in reliability, that would be a major impact for this team.
• 15:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: All right, I'm just looking down at any notes that I want to mention.
• 15:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But no, I'm not going to do it.
• 15:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a full practice recap.
• 15:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's that.
• 15:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I'm watching for.
• 15:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you got a punter competition to watch for that.
• 15:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, when I think about how am I, what lens do I want to watch practice through in this next month?
• 15:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Today I decided one of them is going to be, you know, and everyone's going to be watching Stripling no doubt, but that's definitely a big one.
• 15:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a big one.
• 15:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I just, I think he's got a shot.
• 15:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think he's got a real shot.
• 15:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's it for this.
• 15:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Good to be back in, and in the groove of things or get getting back into the groove of things.
• 16:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: to be back down there again, what I guess it's Thursday, when, no, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday.
• 16:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, we'll get after it.
• 16:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I'll hit that like button.
• 16:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some sub, sub, subscribe to the channel.
• 16:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you have not already, appreciate that helps a lot.
• 16:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'll talk to you all soon, later.