Wednesday closed out the second block of 49ers training camp practices. They gave us a resurgent Brock Purdy, the best look yet at Ricky Pearsall, and some young linebackers flying around.
Brock Purdy rebounds from INT-heavy days
One reminder for these reports is that you'll get a lot of information from people clamoring to describe Brock Purdy (or anyone else) as either succeeding or failing, thriving or sucking. There are, in fact, areas between great and terrible, despite what some may tell you.
Training camp is the exact time for quarterbacks to make mistakes and see what they can get away with. Purdy came off a four-interception day Tuesday and excelled down the stretch Wednesday.
His first pass of the day was well behind Ricky Pearsall, who beat Charvarius Ward. It was more on the throw than Pearsall's drop. His next throw was another bad ball, but it was irrelevant after a sack from Kevin Givens on Ben Bartch.
Against pressure, Purdy got a couple quick completions, then had a bad throwaway to Chris Conley with Pearsall open on the other side. He made up for it by finding Pearsall open against Isaac Yiadom on the next series.
From there, he had a near interception by Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who sniffed out a screen. But Purdy came right back with a great connection to Ronnie Bell, who made a leaping grab against Ward.
He took a would-be sack on his next series when Renardo Green locked up Deebo Samuel, but things improved in the red zone. Purdy opened with a quickfire touchdown to Samuel against Deommodore Lenoir. Two plays later, Pearsall cooked Isaac Yiadom and was wide open slanting into the back of the end zone. Purdy threw a perfectly weighted ball over the linebackers to find Pearsall.
On his last series, Purdy took a would-be sack with no one open, then finished with a quick-hitter touchdown to George Kittle.
Ricky Pearsall can play
This is all coming from someone who was very high on Pearsall going into the draft, and who believes he is an immediate impact player. He is polished, physical, athletic, and with a skillset that projects well at every receiver spot.
Pearsall has dropped a couple balls over the last two days. His drop Tuesday was far more concerning than the couple of opportunities that didn't connect on Wednesday. It just looked like he hung in the air too long on a high pass and turned away too early.
But Wednesday was a breakout for him. Even that first drop on that ball behind him, Pearsall won outright on an in-breaker against an elite corner in Ward. He also had a great block against slot corner Chase Lucas on a run the next series.
From there, he didn't get the ball the next Purdy set, but he beat George Odum clean to get wide open without the ball coming his way. The following Purdy set was similar, when Purdy tried to target Chris Conley on an ugly throwaway after what might have been a sack. Pearsall was wide open on the other side of the field (that's not a criticism of Purdy not knowing his progression, just a note while specifically watching Pearsall).
Pearsall's worst rep of the day came on a quick out against Dee Winters. Winters was tight to his inside hip and forced a bobble. Pearsall nearly came down with the ball after a couple bobbles, but was out of bounds by the time he did.
He got wide open on the next series on a play that went to Ronnie Bell, who made a leaping grab against Ward.
But the crowning jewel of the day and final play of note for Pearsall was the touchdown. He faced Yiadom again, gave him a shimmy and broke free to the back of the end zone where Purdy's throw was waiting for him. It is abundantly clear he is the best route runner the 49ers have participating in camp.
Other notes: Young LBs surging, Ronnie Bell recovers
Dee Winters was described by Fred Warner as the "best player" at OTAs for the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan joined him in that praise recently. He and Jalen Graham impressed Wednesday.
Winters is the first to almost every short pass. He just about locked up Pearsall on that aforementioned rep that was maybe Pearsall's only clear poor one of the day.
Graham nearly laid out Jake Tonges on a short pass, and he and Winters combined on the ensuing play to absolutely stuff Elijah Mitchell on a run. Winters later demolished a Chris Conley block to blow up another Mitchell run in the backfield.
Graham had a moment he'll want back towards the very end of practice, when the offensive line had a nice red zone run, and Graham was tied up late with Ben Bartch. He shoved him off late, and threw a hand in the chest of Drake Nugent who came over to calm things down. It didn't go further than that.
Nugent, by the way, is very intriguing. He can fire off the line of scrimmage and pack quite a bit of a punch. His anchor is a question mark.
Ronnie Bell is a guy that simply has to be reliable. He's not elite in any area, so if he doesn't have glue on his gloves, he's probably heading for a cut. He looked iffy returning punts, and had some drops in previous days.
But he was resurgent Wednesday, beating Ward for a stellar, leaping grab, and then beating Ambry Thomas -- who held him -- for a touchdown in the back of the end zone. It was a needed day for him.