Blogs

Morning Tailgate: Sizing Up the Defense

As the NFL Draft approaches, many are pegging the 49ers to pursue defensive line depth with their league-high 14 picks. Mike Sando of ESPN.com took stock of the d-line and 2013 prospects for Justin Smith, Ray McDonald and free-agent signee Glenn Dorsey.

“McDonald and Justin Smith had both played at least 85 percent of the defensive snaps through Week 15, which was when an arm injury forced Smith to the sideline until the playoffs,” Sando wrote. “Tampa Bay (three) and New Orleans (two) were the only other teams with more than one defensive lineman logging 85-plus percent of his team’s snaps to that point in the season. The Bucs and Saints had a combined seven other defensive linemen logging at least 30 percent of the snaps to that point. The 49ers had none.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks at the 49ers secondary, NFL Draft news and more.

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Morning Tailgate: Kaepernick Hosts Camp

Ever since Colin Kaepernick took over as the 49ers starting quarterback, the NFL has had a hard time keeping up with him. But on Saturday, Kaepernick had a hard time keeping up with the 300 kids who attended his free youth football camp in Pacifica. Deke Farrow of the Modesto Bee was on hand to watch Kaepernick’s camp, which proved to be an entertaining event for all.

“Participants got autographed photographs of Kaepernick, took part in skill contests and games, and posed for pictures with the quarterback,” Farrow wrote. “But the highlight, of course, was the chance to play ball with the former Pitman High School standout who took over the starting quarterback job in the fall and led his team to the Super Bowl.”

Kaepernick has been very involved with youth in Northern California since he has joined the NFL, most notably with Camp Taylor, a central valley organization which benefits children with heart defects.

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks ahead to the NFL Draft and more.

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Morning Tailgate: New Stadium Technology

Among the many unique characteristics of the new Santa Clara Stadium will be the facility’s commitment to be on the cutting edge of technology. To that end, the organization has hired some of Silicon Valley’s brightest minds to turn the future home of the 49ers into one of the world’s most technologically capable buildings.

Jon Brodkin of Ars Technica spoke to 49ers Chief Technology Office Kunal Malik and Senior Director of Technology Dan Williams about their ambition to bring a world-class, large-scale Wi-Fi network to the new Santa Clara Stadium.

“The people building the 49ers’ wireless network do not have conventional sports technology backgrounds,” Brodkin wrote. “Senior IT Director Dan Williams and team CTO Kunal Malik hail from Facebook, where they spent five years building one of the world’s largest and most efficient networks for the website. The same sensibilities that power large Internet businesses and content providers permeate Williams’ and Malik’s plan for Santa Clara Stadium, the 49ers’ nearly half-finished new home.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks at the the possible impact of three compensatory draft picks for 2013 and more.

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Morning Tailgate: New Stadium Sales

The new Santa Clara Stadium site has been humming for nearly 11 months, along with the ticket sales for the inaugural 2014 season. Mike Rosenberg of the Bay Area News Group reported that the future home of the 49ers is roughly 75 percent sold out already.

“Riding high off a Super Bowl run, the San Francisco 49ers have sold three-fourths of the seats at the new Silicon Valley stadium as the team prepares to transfer a huge cash infusion to the public agency building the stadium,” Rosenberg wrote. “Undeterred by huge price increases over Candlestick Park tickets, fans and corporations have bought $403 million worth of seats, — equal to the cost spent to build the stadium so far — and the Niners are well ahead of schedule to sell out before the 2014 opening, the team said Friday.”

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate looks at the new Santa Clara Stadium, upcoming free agency and more.

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Jed York Speaks with Wall Street Journal

49ers CEO Jed York isn’t stopping to smell the roses just yet.

As his team prepares for its second straight playoff run in the Jim Harbaugh era and the new Santa Clara Stadium rises next to 49ers headquarters, York is staying busy to usher in the next chapter of the franchise’s proud history.  Pui-Wing Tam and Amir Efrat of the Wall Street Journal recently spoke to York about the exciting atmosphere surrounding the organization and the bright future ahead.

The Wall Street Journal focused much of the conversation on the new Santa Clara Stadium, which is on schedule to open in time for Week 1 in 2014.

“What we started with was really making sure that the fan experience was as great as it can possibly be,” York told WSJ. “We started with, first, the design of the building and making sure we have the largest lower bowl in the NFL—two-thirds of our seats are in the lower bowl. It’s designed more like a baseball stadium with open concourses. The concessions are in the back so when you’re in the concession line, you can see and feel the game going on behind you.”

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Morning Tailgate: Nov. 21

Randy Moss has become a key veteran presence in the the 49ers locker room since he joined San Francisco this offseason. While he may not have the eye-popping statistics that most fans know him for, those within the organization know how valuable he is to the team.

Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com spoke to Moss earlier this season, who told Maiocco that the best way to get to know him is to take a visit to his hometown. So Maiocco and camera crews visited Rand, W.V., during the the 49ers’ trip to Youngstown, Ohio, to get a better look at what shaped the man in the No. 84 jersey. You can watch videos on CSNBayArea.com and read Maiocco’s background story as well.

The rest of today’s Morning Tailgate rounds up 49ers quarterback headlines, looks at the Kraft Hunger Bowl, which is headed to the new Santa Clara Stadium, and more.

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New Stadium Aerial Photo Gallery

Less than seven months since the historic groundbreaking ceremony in April, the new Santa Clara Stadium steel structure is already nearing completion.

Recent photos taken via helicopter reveal the construction progress on a grand scale. View the photo gallery here.

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Morning Tailgate: Oct. 17

Sacks can be a useful indicator of success for a team’s pass rush, but they aren’t the end all be all. Despite ranking 26th in the league with 9.0 sacks this year, the 49ers rank among the league leaders in pass defense. San Francisco has given up just 6.0 yards per attempt, the lowest in the league, while ranking second in yards allowed per game (183.2).

Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com relayed comments from defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who said that the 49ers pass rush isn’t an issue. “The 49ers must be doing something right with their pass defense,” Maiocco wrote. “They have already faced Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Eli Manning, and the 49ers rank second-best in the league in passing yards allowed.”

Today’s Morning Tailgate also features the latest on the Bay Area’s bid for a Super Bowl, Seahawks vs. 49ers coverage and more.

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Santa Clara Stadium to Bid on Super Bowl L

The future home of the San Francisco 49ers has been selected as a finalist to host Super Bowl L in 2016. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell revealed the news on Tuesday, saying the new Santa Clara Stadium is vying with South Florida to become the site of the NFL’s 50th Super Bowl.

The announcement was well-received by 49ers Chief Executive Officer Jed York, who has spearheaded the team’s effort to open the new Santa Clara Stadium next to team headquarters in time for the 2014 season.

“We are excited to bid for the first Super Bowl in the Bay Area since January of 1985,” York said in a statement. “Nothing brings a region together like a Super Bowl. Now we have to work together to show the new stadium in Santa Clara will put on a great show.”

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Behind the Scenes of Groundbreaking

In less than a week, gold shovels will dig into precious California soil to signify a new beginning. A small plot of land adjacent to California’s Great America Park will give rise to one of the world’s premier entertainment venues.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the New Santa Clara Stadium is a major milestone for the franchise of the San Francisco 49ers. The event will held April 19 at 5 p.m. in a special ceremony that will include the York Family, Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews, the Santa Clara City Council members, community leaders and stadium supporters.

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