Day two of 49ers training camp welcomed fans for the first time this summer. Brandon Aiyuk continued his hold-in and Trent Williams was placed on the reserve/did not report list as he continues his hold out.
Absences
Also not involved in practice were Isaac Guerendo, Tay Martin and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. Guerendo suffered a hamstring injury Wednesday. Flannigan-Fowles was also seen limping during Wednesday’s practice.
Aiyuk was seen talking to general manager John Lynch, and rookie Ricky Pearsall (on the non-football injury list) was doing rehab on the side field.
Another Dobbs INT
Josh Dobbs has looked a clear level below Brandon Allen thus far. He has multiple misses, and they are frequently way off. For the second-straight day, he underthrew a go ball that was intercepted.
Malik Mustapha ranged over to pick off Dobbs on a throw intended for Danny Gray Wednesday. This time, with Dobbs launching for Jauan Jennings down that same right sideline, it was Darrell Luter Jr. one-on-one with Jennings to undercut the route and steal the ball out of the air.
Aside from the interception, he had a high ball that Ronnie Bell saved with an outrageous catch, a putrid throw behind a wide open Jake Tonges on a short in route, and an overthrow of Gray on go ball. He also found Gray over the middle wide open.
Cornerback glut
One thing that is evident is that the 49ers have gone from corner being a perpetual point of concern, to a clear strength. As it stands, in nickel packages, Charvarius Ward, Isaac Yiadom and Deommodore Lenoir (in the slot) comprise a likely, impressive starting unit.
Behind them, there’s rookie Renardo Green, who is being worked in the slot but with chops and proof he can play outside corner. There’s Luter Jr., who has impressed, and was raved about last season despite an injury. Luter Jr. was heavily involved Wednesday, and he didn’t always win his competitions, but he was usually close.
There’s the incumbent Ambry Thomas who could well be on his way out. There’s Samuel Womack III, who broke up a pass against Danny Gray that sent the entire defensive sideline into a frenzy. There’s Rock Ya-Sin, the oft-injured former Colts corner who has also flashed, and who the 49ers have long been fond of. There’s also slot corner Chase Lucas, who’s a special teams ace in a year special teams matter more than ever.
In short, you have seemingly four players in Ward, Yiadom, Lenoir and Green who are stone-cold roster locks. Luter Jr. seems exceedingly likely to make the team. That leaves maybe one spot between five corners when you include Kemon Hall, the only clear cut at that position. Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen raved about the group.
“I think, like you said, it's competitive," Sorensen said. "The guys that we brought in, I think it was about guys have played, but it's a mentality thing around here... We want the guys that fit us, right? Good players. They're tough. They're going to play with the violence that we like. They love football. You can see it. And when you hear people that talk about it, if you know people, they all say good things about them. It all checks all these boxes. And then when they come it's like, ‘okay, this guy is us. This guy does fit. He is a Niner.’ You kind of feel like that with pretty much everybody that we've brought in. And that's what's been so exciting is the guys are working."
Other notes: Purdy, Deebo continue to shine, and sacks
Purdy + Deebo: Brock Purdy continues to look every bit like a man set to lead a stellar team to another competitive season, and cash in on a deal worth clearly north of $50 million per year this offseason. His layered ball to Danny Gray highlighted his ability to separate open receivers from coverage over and underneath receivers. Purdy also connected on an excellent seam shot to Brayden Willis over coverage from George Odum.
The wildest play of the day was a ball intended for Chris Conley that Deommodore Lenoir broke up, but which bounced right into the arms of Eric Saubert with a few defenders around him.
He and Samuel connected in a tight window against Luter. Samuel also pulled off another tightly-covered catch against Rock Ya-Sin. Samuel dropped another against tight coverage from Charvarius Ward. He's getting everyone's best.
SACK tracker: It’s partially a guessing game with sacks given that the play continues after would-be sacks, and you can’t always see who gets to the quarterback first. But, from what could be seen today:
Nick Bosa: At least two clear sacks
Maliek Collins: Had one in the first period
Yetur Gross-Matos was everywhere, with pressures and with a backfield stop in tandem with Fred Warner on Jordan Mason
Robert Beal had at least one pressure against Colton McKivitz and looks both bigger and with the same burst he's flashed
Kalia Davis had a run stuff on Patrick Taylor, while nose tackle Evan Anderson got at least one clear pressure against Sebastian Gutierrez
Austin Bryant had a clear sack, beating the breaks off Brandon Parker
Elsewhere, Ronnie Bell caught an outstanding high pass from Josh Dobbs against tight coverage from Luter, but probably would’ve been popped the moment he caught the ball