On Wednesday, there will be 49ers football. Sure, it’s practice, but with Kyle Shanahan officially anointing Trey Lance as the starter and describing Jimmy Garoppolo in the past tense on Tuesday, well, that makes the start of this camp a bit more interesting.
With the departures of a few key veterans, there are at least three starting jobs wide open and a handful of other spots rife with opportunity. Here’s a look at some of the key battles slated to go down in camp:
The three major battles
Strong safety, maybe not so strong
This is the first time since Jaquiski Tartt was drafted in 2015 that he won’t be manning the 49ers’ secondary. He’s going to make just $1.12 million with the Philadelphia Eagles and the lack of interest from the front office in Santa Clara these last couple years is confounding.
Yes, he dropped a pick. It was egregious. It might have sent the 49ers to the Super Bowl. It might not have. Their quarterback was still Jimmy Garoppolo.
They wouldn’t have been there in the first place had Tartt not run his heart out to stop this would-be Aaron Jones touchdown the game prior.
Tartt was the glue in the secondary. He and Jimmie Ward had relied on each other since high school, to mostly positive results.
So who takes over the position now?
The frontrunner, you’d think, would be Talanoa Hufanga, who didn’t do much convincing last year in coverage. There were myriad examples of him losing his assignment. But was dynamic in the box and impressive on special teams.
Then there’s former Colt George Odum, who got some starting opportunities in Indianapolis, and has made his living as a special teamer.
Tarvarius Moore is in the mix, too, after working back from an Achilles tear. We’ll see if his upper echelon athleticism remains, because even with that athleticism, some of the angles he took when given opportunities produced less than satisfactory results.
The real dark horse here is Leon O’Neal Jr., the undrafted rookie out of Texas A&M. Like most undrafted rookies and safeties the 49ers bring into the system, there are some coverage concerns. But he’s an explosive playmaker who nabbed an impressive interception off Trey Lance in OTAs and was impressive in college.
There are a couple other UDFAs in the mix, too, like Tayler Hawkins and Qwuantrezz Knight, but O’Neal’s the most exciting unknown in the group. While Hufanga is probably the favorite at this stage, that’s nowhere near a lock.
Nickel/slot corner
This spot, too, is up for grabs.
And given the struggles last year, it should be at least a little bit concerning that Tartt and K’Waun Williams will not return. That is a combined decade of experience under a Robert Saleh or DeMeco Ryans defense that is now gone.
This is a defense that has struggled when those two haven’t been out there. Williams signed a two-year, $5.11 million deal that will pay him $2.14 million this season, which, at least is more significant than Tartt’s figure.
But the 49ers still clearly could have afforded to bring both back if they’d wanted to. They declined.
Age and injury concerns, with both over 30, and dinged up their fair share, are reasonable. The team just has to prove what it has on the roster was worth not offering cheap deals to those proven veterans.
The slot competition probably favors rookie fifth-round pick Samuel Womack out of Toledo, but that’s marginal. Dontae Johnson, Darqueze Dennard and Deommodore Lenoir could all compete for the spot.
It’s perhaps the most unknown, wide open battle in camp.
Center (and maybe guard)
This one should be fun. Maybe the best part of training camp is going full caveman and watching the big dudes in one-on-ones. Given the wealth of talent along the 49ers’ defensive front, the interior guys are in for a tough time.
This section could realistically be the entire interior offensive line, but all signs point towards Aaron Banks starting at one of the guard spots (likely left guard) and Daniel Brunskill returning to man the right guard spot.
All of these questions revolve around center. If Brunskill starts at center, maybe Banks goes to right guard, and one of the very many interior options takes over on the left.
But if Brunskill remains at right guard, you’re looking at the likes of veteran Jake Brendel — an athletic, but unproven 29-year-old option who was the team’s backup last season — or two undrafted rookies in Dohnovan West (Arizona State) or Jason Poe (Mercer).
There’s also rookie Nick Zakelj, whose best position is a complete unknown, but who has been considered at center.
That’s the group to watch. And if there’s no one who really distinguishes themself in camp, well, former Browns center J.C. Tretter (who replaced Alex Mack in Cleveland) is still on the market, which John Lynch said Tuesday the 49ers are monitoring.
The depth battles
Defensive line, especially edge
Every year, you hear about how deep the 49ers’ defensive line is. And every year, somehow, it gets deeper.
They currently have eight rostered edge rushers, excluding Dee Ford, whose time will be over with the team in the coming days. Seven of them, at least looking at things today, should make the roster.
That’s Nick Bosa, Samson Ebukam, Drake Jackson, Charles Omenihu, Kerry Hyder Jr., Kemoko Turay and Jordan Willis.
The first three are locks.
Omenihu was outstanding last year, and is exceedingly likely to make the team. Hyder Jr. is familiar with the system and had an 8.5-sack season two years ago in it; he also has the frame to slide inside. Turay is a massive, athletic player coming off a 5.5-sack season, and looked incredible in OTAs. Willis is maybe the weakest link here, but he played a massive role on special teams last season, with the notorious blocked field goal against the Packers.
One of those players might miss out in order for the team to roster four interior players, unless they keep 11 defensive linemen.
That might warrant an end of training camp trade. It’s a wealth of talent, and everyone needs defensive linemen. This, as usual, will be a very entertaining position group.
Running back room
Let’s call Elijah Mitchell a lock. Ty Davis-Price is exceedingly likely to make the team.
Two of the following have gotta go: Trey Sermon, Jeff Wilson Jr., JaMycal Hasty and UDFA Jordan Mason.
Now, if Wilson Jr. still has some residual issues from his meniscus tear, maybe that makes a Sermon/Hasty (was the team’s third-down back last year) choice a bit more clear, but it’s hard to bet against a guy that when healthy, is a touchdown machine.
Hasty’s role as that third-down back gives him a solid chance, but it’s not like he ever looked stellar in that role. His 5-foot-8 stature often puts him in disadvantageous positions as a pass catcher.
If Trey Sermon continues to impress as he did in OTAs — Kyle Shanahan noted Tuesday that he looked like he’d learned from his rookie mistakes — he could take on a decent pass-catching role, and potentially help with some option runs that he had experience with in college.
The point here is, a good running back is getting cut, barring injury. And whoever it is probably doesn’t make it to the 49ers’ practice squad.
Malik Turner/Tay Martin/whoever wants the 6th wide receiver spot
The starters at receiver are clear. Deebo Samuel is the Z or flanker, Brandon Aiyuk is the X, or split end, and Jauan Jennings is the Y or slot receiver. They move everyone around, so nothing is in stone, but that’s the basic hierarchy.
Then there’s Danny Gray, who projects as an outside speed option, and Ray-Ray McCloud, who’s positionally flexible, but with great special teams prowess and success in the slot.
The sixth wide receiver spot is wide the hell open.
Based on how the roster looks, it might not even be filled.
San Francisco’s in a position where it has 11 defensive linemen worth keeping on the roster, and it might want to keep an extra safety or corner for special teams or depth purposes. If you’ve got five solid receivers and at least one (when you roster six) is usually inactive anyway, do you need a sixth?
The likes of Malik Turner, who impressed in OTAs, and Tay Martin, who stood out at Oklahoma State, would seem the most viable options to make the roster if the 49ers keep six.
There’s also Taysir Mack, KeeSean Johnson and Marcus Johnson. But all of those last five names will have to seriously impress to claim a roster spot.
As its currently constructed, that’s a position where someone has to force you to keep them on the roster with an excellent training camp performance. Otherwise, you go into the season with five guys, keep the players you cut on practice squad, and add a veteran during the season as needed.