Blogs

LaMichael James on KNBR

Consider LaMichael James a fan of the NFL’s new Nike uniforms.

Coming from a school like Oregon, which became something of a Nike showcase due to its ties with Nike founder Phil Knight, James loves sporting a swoosh on his uniform. In fact, he even crossed off the names of a few potential colleges because they were outfitted by the wrong apparel company.

“I would not go to two or three colleges, just because they were Adidas,” James said in an interview with KNBR on Monday. “Weirdest thing ever.  I wouldn’t go to Arkansas and I wouldn’t go to Mississippi State because they were Adidas schools. No three stripes for me. All Nike.”

Read more »

Kaepernick Eager for First Offseason

Colin Kaepernick is going into his second season in the NFL, but this will be his first offseason.

Because of last year’s work stoppage, many of last year’s rookies were at a disadvantage at the start of training camp, but there are no such limitations this time around.

Monday marked the start of the 49ers “Football School,” meaning players went through non-contact football drills to work on fundamentals and alignments.  And Kaepernick was eager to take advantage of the opportunity.

Read more »

Morning Tailgate: April 30

Now that the 2012 NFL Draft is in the books, several prominent football writers have praised the performance of San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke.

The 49ers GM identified a player, Wake Forest guard Joe Looney, as a prospect worth drafting in the third-round. However, Baalke moved back three times, picking up a sixth-round pick (Michigan State safety Trenton Robinson), and three selections in next year’s draft (Carolina’s third-round pick, Indianapolis’ fifth-round pick and Miami’s sixth-round pick).

When it was all said and done, the 49ers ended up selecting Looney in the fourth-round and had four additional picks to show for it.

The draft day experience for many of the 49ers rookies was unique to say the least. First-round selection A.J. Jenkins’ arrival in the Bay Area was documented exclusively by TV49.

Robinson’s experience was also captured over the weekend by a Michigan television station.

More on Robinson’s draft weekend and other 49ers headlines after the jump.

Read more »

49ers Brass Weighs in on Draft

Jed York didn’t have much of a poker face when the 49ers made their second-round selection on Friday night. Holed up in the team war room, the 49ers CEO pumped his fist in delight as LaMichael James became the newest member of the storied franchise.

With James, the 49ers now have a backfield brimming with talent, as he joins Frank Gore, Brandon Jacobs, Kendall Hunter, Anthony Dixon and Rock Cartwright.

“It’s a full house,” 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said. “It’s a good hand, right? In poker, a full house is a good hand.”

Read more »

Morning Tailgate: April 27

A.J. Jenkins is the newest member of the San Francisco 49ers, and the young wide receiver couldn’t have been happier judging from the series of Tweets he posted from his @Ajjenkins8 account following the selection.

The University of Illinois wide receiver was equally excited in his conference call with local reporters.

The 49ers saw a lot in Jenkins, mostly position versatility, speed, production and competitiveness, all traits that’ll help his production as a wide receiver in Greg Roman’s offense.

Trent Baalke explained the decision to select Jenkins in greater detail after the pick. Baalke added a player he felt very good about, despite receiving calls late in the first round from the Minnesota Vikings who were looking to acquire Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith. The 49ers resisted the urge to move back into the second round and stood firm by selecting Jenkins at pick No. 30.

Turns out, the decision to not move back into round two paid off for the 49ers general manager.

More on Jenkins’ other NFL suitors and additional NFL Draft headlines can be found after the jump.

Read more »

2012 #Draft49 Blog

The 2012 NFL Draft has yet to start and already there’s been a huge trade.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns have swapped the No. 3 and 4 overall picks. Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports the Browns gave up picks in the fourth round (No. 118 overall), fifth round (No. 139 overall) and seventh round (No. 211 overall) to make the trade happen. The Vikings moved down one spot so the Browns could presumably select Alabama running back Trent Richardson.

The draft will begin at 5 p.m. PT.

Make sure you follow our @49ers Twitter account for instant #Draft49 updates and frequently visit our 49ers Draft Central page where you can find our draft room camera.

Currently, the 49ers Faithful are filling up the Santa Clara Convention Center to get the best seats for the team’s annual draft party. Head coach Jim Harbaugh is set to speak to the fans at the start of the draft. Harbaugh was met with a serious ovation from the 49ers Faithful. Fans even chanted his name towards the end of his speech.

Read more »

49ers.com Draft Challenge

With the 2012 NFL Draft just hours away, four San Francisco 49ers beat writers have weighed in on seven rounds worth of 49ers prognostications.

This year, we’re examining the selections from Matt Maiocco of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee, Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle and Cam Inman of The San Jose Mercury News, in our very first 49ers beat writer “Draft Challenge.”

It’s quite simple. The writers will try to predict the correct 49ers draft pick in the correct round, to earn two points. If they pick the correct player in the wrong round, they’ll earn one point. (Fans can play along in the comments section below).

There’s a common thread in the first round forecast as three of the four writers have Midwestern State guard Amini Silatolu as San Francisco’s No. 30 overall selection.

Whether if that selection, or six other rounds of projections, will come true remains to be seen. But we’ll track their picks all weekend long during our #Draft49 coverage. So without further ado, let’s examine the 49ers seven-round draft predictions from the Bay Area football minds.

Read more »

Morning Tailgate: April 26

The day we’ve all been waiting months for is finally here, the 2012 NFL Draft is now upon us. It should be a pretty busy three-day stretch of coverage on 49ers.com, beginning at 5:00 p.m. PT tonight when the draft officially begins.

We’ll have our annual live draft room camera on throughout the weekend which gives fans the ultimate insight into the team’s draft weekend deliberations. Also, make sure to check out our Draft Central throughout the weekend for the latest videos, stories and photos on this year’s draft class.

Before we begin the biggest day of the offseason, let’s take one last look at the latest 49ers draft projections.

Read more »

Morning Tailgate: April 25

The closer we get to the 2012 NFL Draft, now two days away, just about every football analyst under the sun has an opinion on how the first 32 picks will turn out.

In the meantime, 49ers players continue to prepare for the upcoming season through their participation in the team’s offseason strength program. Photos from the first two weeks of the nine-week program show the 49ers strength staff putting the players through a variety of challenging drills.

Soon, a number of rookies will assert themselves into the strength program when they’re officially a part of the organization. But before that happens, let’s take a look at some of the latest draft headlines concerning the 49ers.

Read more »

Photo Blog: Offseason Strength Program

Take one look at San Francisco 49ers five-time Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis and it should come as no surprise that the All-Pro player takes an extreme interest in strength and conditioning.

In fact, Willis said he’s been fascinated with the methods installed by 49ers head strength and conditioning coach Mark Uyeyama.

“He won’t just give you something right out of a book, or give it to you because it’s something he’s seen,” Willis explained to 49ers.com on April 16, the first day of the team’s nine-week offseason strength program. “He actually goes through it and does the workout himself to get a feel for it. He applies it to each guy. He doesn’t force every guy to do the same thing or do it the same exact way.”

Variety is a big part of Uyeyama’s teachings with the 49ers.

Read more »