49ers wrap up rookie minicamp
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2009/05/03/49ers-wrap-up-rookie-minicamp/
The 49ers’ three-day minicamp concludes today with meetings and film study. No practice field stuff – and no press allowed.
That’s OK. There is still plenty of stuff left to talk about from the first two days …
# Rookie tight end Bear Pascoe earned his way to the NFL with his blocking skills, but he quickly demonstrated that he could catch, too. He has a fluid stride, soft hands and – at 6-foot-5, 251 pounds – provides a sizable target. Pascoe averaged 11.6 yards per catch on his 112 grabs at Fresno State. Plus, the dude is strong – and not from comfy 24Hour Fitness workout. Pascoe grew up on a farm in Porterville, where at an early age he was bucking hay, flanking calves and fixing fences.
“Ranch life, it’s a real hard life, so you either grow up tough or you leave, and I wasn’t about to leave that life,’’ he said. “I loved it too much, so I grew up tough.”
# It was hard to get much of a read on running back Glen Coffee (third round). The key with him is when the hitting starts. Coffee loves to cream people. He said one of his favorite things about football is hearing defensive players muttering to themselves after Coffee rumbles over them.
“Definitely,’’ he said. “It’s like, ‘You’re trying to tackle me? You’re trying to hurt me? I’d rather hurt you first.’ So that’s the way I see it.”
# Something about Scott McKillop (fifth round) reminds me of Derek Smith, who closed out his 49ers tenure with five consecutive seasons with at least 100 tackles (by NFL.com’s count). Maybe it’s the way McKillop’s eyes lit up when he start talking about the art of wrapping up.
While at Pittsburgh, missed tackles were treated like a deadly sin. During film room sessions, former Paul Rhodes (now the heat coach at Iowa State) would count up missed tackles and then think of some horrible punishment for the offenders – push-ups, up-downs, etc.
“We’d probably spend at least two or three periods per day just working on proper footwork, proper angles and securing the tackle,’’ McKillop said. A great defense doesn’t miss many tackles.”
Pittsburgh credited McKillop with a 151 tackles in 2007 and 137 in 2008.
# One of the key adjustments for defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois (seventh round) will be in the locker room. He had a reputation for speaking his mind – a lot – at LSU, and 49ers veterans might not put up with such a running commentary from a rookie.
Jean-Francois said he’s willing to “sit back and learn,’’ and he’s happy to be playing for someone like Mike Singletary.
“A lot of teams grilled me on my personality. I’m a straightforward person. If it’s something that needs to be heard, I’m going to say it. I’m not going to bite my tongue.,’’ he said. “And when I saw the San Francisco 49ers drafted me, I knew I ran into a coach that has the same personality as me, straightforward. Not going to tell you things you don’t need to know.”
# Singletary said he sat down with Jean-Francois and running back Kory Sheets (another vocal player) and told them, basically, that he believes in freedom of speech as long as that speech is constructive.
Singletary’s bottom line? ‘”This is the 49ers and I want you to respect yourself and respect the organization, respect the brand going forward. As long as you do that you’ll be fine.’”
# Receiver Michael Crabtree is targeting training camp as his return to the field. He just watched this time around, taking what he called “mental reps.” This camp was voluntary, meaning several veterans took a pass, but Crabtree is eager to get some more mental reps with future Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce.
“Oh yeah. He’s a great player in my eyes,’’ he said. “I can’t wait to learn whatever it is he has (to teach). I’m going to try to call him everyday to learn something.”
# Based on his strong play from last season, I think Shaun Hill has the upper hand in the quarterback competition. And he looked crisp on Saturday, betraying his reputation as a shaky practice player. Mercury News columnis Ann Killion wrote about the QB situation in today’s paper. Over at Tim Kawakami’s blog, there are transcripts of Saturday’s media sessions with Jimmy Raye and Greg Manusky.
# Singletary said the quarterback situation is something he, Raye and Mike Williams discuss every day. They talk about what they saw and about how the team responded. Intangibles count, even in minicamp. “Because for me, it’s (important) that when a quarterback steps in that huddle, magic happens. There’s something that wakes up everybody.”