Training camp 2013

[thesack12]

Early news, notes from training camp.

Patrick Willis suffered a fractured hand yesterday. Not good at all. He has broken the same hand twice before, once in college and once in 2010. Reports say he will be fine for week 1, we can only hope. The other stud middle lineback, Navorro Bowman, has already missed a couple practices with various ailments including a groin issue. Sorely Need those back and healhy, not only because they are studs but also because there is little depth behind them.

Chris Culliver went down in practice today, with what appears to be a very serious knee injury. Went down covering a punt, clutching his knee and was down for awhile in which he was reportedly in tears from the pain the entire time. So, that sounds pretty ominous. The secondary was one of the questionable parts of the team, and it might have just got worse.

Quinton Patton has a broken finger, and has yet to be allowed to catch passes so far in camp. Definitely not good for his development, especially for a WR starved team.

AJ Jenkins is reportedly having another bad camp. He apparently has not distinguished himself at all, and has had a couple ZERO reception practices. A couple days ago Maiocco said "the best thing I can say about him is he has stayed healthy." Well he can't even say that anymore, as he hasn't practiced the last couple days due to a hamstring issue.

Vance McDonald continues to be one of the best rookies on the roster. He is reportedly getting great grasps on blocking schemes and refining his route tree. If he continues to develop, it would allow Frisco to run a lot more dangerous 2 TE sets, which allows VD to be more of a receiver. They have always ran a ton of 2 TE sets, but it has been more for blocking purposes. They might be able to run more new England type TE sets this season, which would help mask the poor WR corps. But it all depends on McDonald's development.

Kaep has reporedly been sparkling so far. He and Boldin seem to be building a great rapport already. Speaking of Boldin, he has far and away been the best WR in camp which is no surprise. Kaep and VD also appear to building on the chemistry they started to develop in the playoffs. VD had been the best deep threat in camp, and has been splitting out more and more.

Chad Hall has been the biggest offensive surprise in camp thus far. Outside of Boldin he has been the best WR. Props to him, but thats pretty scary.

Ian Williams has shined thus far, and probably the biggest defensive surprise in camp. Apparently he is ahead of Dorsey at NT right now.

Haven't heard much on Eric Reid. From the little I have seen, he seems to have be up and down.

Nnamdi reportedly had his best day so far yesterday, with a couple of picks and several pass breakups.

I think I heard Kendall Hunter has been cleared for practice, but I'm not sure on that. Marcus Lattimore is on PUP, and its expected he will basically be redshirted this year (assuming RB health as a whole). Kyle Williams has been cleared to practice, but has only been limited thus far. Reports say Manningham is at least a month away from being cleared. Tank Carradine is on the non football injury list, so he isn't doing anything yet. Also havent heard anything about Okoye who was one of the darlings in OTA's. Not hearing anything on him could be good or bad.

[thesack12]

Culliver is done for the year with a torn ACL. A pretty big blow to one of the weakest units on the team. Nnamdi needs to step up, and Frisco may bring Eric Wright back in.

Frisco signed both Austin Collie, and Lavelle Hawkins yesterday. Collie is a superb route runner and has supreme hands. Assuming good health, Collie will likely ascend the depth chart and probably be a week 1 starter. Havent heard the details on his contract, other than it being a 1 year deal. I assume its mostly non-guaranteed and perhaps has a few incentives built in. Hawkins did nothing with the Titans for 3 or 4 years, which is perhaps partially due to Vince Young and Kerry Collins. But he was released by the WR needy Patriots a couple weeks ago. He is likely just a camp body brought in due to so many WR's on the roster currently not being able to practice. Laurent Robinson went home without a contract. He must be showing to not be healthy in the slightest because he has worked out for a handful of WR starved teams in recent weeks, and all of them have decided to go in a different direction.

[WarFan]

Bored, figured I'd take a stab at the final roster.

QB - Kap, McCoy, Daniels (3)
RB - Gore, Hunter, James, Dixon (4)
FB - Miller (1)
TE - Davis, McDonald, Celek (3)
WR - Boldin, Patton, Moore, Williams, Baldwin, Hall (6)
OT - Staley, Davis, Snyder (3)
OG - Iupati, Boone, Looney (3)
C - Goodwin, Kilgore (2)
Total Offense (25)

K - Dawson
P - Lee
LS - Jennings
Total SP (3)

DT - Smith, McDonald, Dobbs, Jerod-Eddie (4)
NT - Williams, Dorsey (2)
OLB - Smith, Brooks, Lemonier, Skuta, Johnson (5)
ILB - Willis, Bowman, Wilhoite, Moody (4)
CB - Rogers, Brown, Assomugha, Cox, Brock (5)
S - Whitner, Reid, Spillman, Dahl, Robinson (5)
Total Defense (25)

Injured lists - Crabtree, Manningham, Culliver, Carradine, Dial, Wright, McBath, Lattimore, Marquardt

Practice Squad - Gray (TE), Bykowski (OT), Cooper (CB), Morris (CB), Hampton (RB), Okoye (DE), Jacobs (WR), OL

I'd really like to see Hampton make the final 53, but there's just no need so I think they'll try and slip him on the PS. I'd prefer Gray over Celek but I think Gray would probably make it to the PS, so they'll go with the better blocker for now. Tukuafu will probably make it week one while Dobbs is suspended but then I think he's gone. Looney's spot could be Wiggins or Tribue and one of the three will make the PS along with Bykowski unless they like a FA cut better.

I picked Hall for the 6th WR since he's been playing so much with the starters, and others have had issues. Patton getting healthy and looking good makes Collie less likely imo, and Hawkins can't keep his sht together. I guess they could keep Osgood just for special teams, but I doubt it. Ventrone is the only other guy who could make it as a special teamer only.

[WarFan]

Something I noticed in the last game was Dixon lining up outside and going in motion a lot pre-snap. About the only place I didn't see him was at tight end but it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up as the heir to Delanie Walker's Swiss Army knife role this year.