49ers Gab

There has been debate about if Vernon Davis has been worth it, but today’s Sacramento Bee says that there is no question the team is ready to take the TE to the next level:

If you ask 49ers coaches, they’ll tell you Vernon Davis has been worth the expense. Heck, they say, he’s probably become the best blocking tight end in the league. And did you see how he handled Dolphins sack master Joey Porter last year in Miami?

The truth, however, is that you draft a blocking tight end in the sixth round, not sixth overall. With that selection, you’re looking for a playmaker, someone who leads his team in pass receptions and touchdowns. And in that regard, Davis has been merely mediocre. Which is to say, if Davis’ old coaches were giving new 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye advice, it would be this: Keep it simple and Davis will make you look smart.

The Sacramento Bee reports that rookie LB Scott McKillop could be the future “Ted” LB for the Niners:

The 49ers have been searching for two years for a future “Ted” linebacker to be the Robin to Willis’ Batman. After finding McKillop in the fifth round of the draft, they could hardly contain themselves. Of all the team’s draft picks - a list that includes Michael Crabtree, mind you - team officials were most jazzed about McKillop, perhaps because he projects as the perfect complement to Willis.

Pete Prisco of CBSSportsline.com has come out with his annual list of the Top 50 NFL players, and the Niners have 1 player on the list. Here’s the lone Niner on the list:

28. Patrick Willis, ILB, 49ers: He’s a tackling machine. In two years, he’s established himself as one of the league’s best defensive players.

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that Niners QB Alex Smith is doing a good job making up for lost time, and is ready to challenge Shaun Hill for the starting job:

That 49ers coach Mike Singletary had his players go through two-a-day practices for a stretch earlier this month only bolstered Alex Smith’s confidence. His right arm - finally - had made a triumphant return. General manager Scot McCloughan recently said Smith looked better than he had at any point in his NFL career. He also is in the best situation of his career. Mike Nolan, the coach with whom Smith waged a cold war for the past year and a half, is gone. Smith isn’t being forced into an offense that doesn’t fit his strengths. He reworked his contract earlier this year, and the expectations for him are commensurately more modest.

During a chat with NFL.com’s Gil Brandt on Tuesday, the question came up about how good the 49′ers could be in 2009, and Brandt thinks that San Fran has done enough to win the NFC West this year:

I think they have. The key is to get rookie WR Michael Crabtree healthy — as of yesterday, he was at practice but not running routes — and he won’t do so until training camp starts. And they also have to settle on a QB, and that should happen in the first two weeks of training camp.

A 49ers player who is worth keeping an eye on is OLB Ahmad Brooks, the former top pick in the supplemental draft by the Bengals who we’re told has become sort of a pet project of head coach Mike Singletary. Brooks, by all accounts, has looked consistently good in offseason practices, but daily team observers are already anxious to see whether he can keep the arrow pointing up in training camp.

The SF Chronicle reports that the Niners QB battle is still wide open:

Even when Shaun Hill was winning games for the team last year, he would often struggle mightily in Wednesday’s practice and then pull things together in Friday’s session. It leaves the 49ers coaching staff with a tricky decision if Alex Smith continues to be the better quarterback when training camp opens.

49ers rookie offensive tackle Alex Boone will be making up for lost time in the next six weeks since because of league rules, he was ineligible to join the 49ers’ offseason program until Ohio State held its graduation ceremonies. He attended the team’s post-draft minicamp, but could not do anything else before reporting for the final five days of organized team activities.

“We’re not allowed to take our playbooks home with us,” Boone said. “I wanted to do that so badly because I knew I’d be behind. I tried to write down as much as I could. When I got back out here, they had installed another 200 plays. I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’” Boone will remain in the Bay Area for all but a week leading up to the July 30 opening of training camp where he will work out daily at the team’s practice facility and brush up on all the offense that was installed while he was away.

The Niners have inked long snapper Brian Jennings to a five-year contract extension Saturday, locking up a flawless performer on their solid special teams units through 2014.

Jennings hasn’t made a glaring mistake on Sundays ever since the club drafted him in the seventh round nine years ago. He’s been recognized as one of the NFL’s most consistent long snappers since leaving Arizona State in 2000, even making the Pro Bowl after the 2004 season as a special selection by NFC coach Jim Mora.

“In a position like mine, longevity is one of your only accomplishments,” Jennings said. “I play a don’t-screw-it-up position. It feels good to be loved, to be wanted, to be appreciated for something I put so much time into.”

Jennings’ job is to deliver perfect snaps into the hands of Andy Lee, the 49ers’ former Pro Bowl punter who also holds for kicker Joe Nedney, one of the NFL’s most consistent at his position in recent years. Although he never seemed shaky even as a rookie under coach Steve Mariucci, Jennings acknowledged he didn’t feel completely comfortable in his job until after his second season.

“I was driving back to Arizona, and I was thinking, ‘I can do this,”’ Jennings said.

49′ers cornerback Nate Clements will miss the 49ers’ minicamp this weekend with a case of pneumonia.
The 49ers’ $80 million cornerback missed organized team activities on Monday and Tuesday with the illness, and he won’t be re-evaluated until next week.

Newcomer Dre’ Bly and Tarell Brown lined up with the first-team defense for Tuesday’s practice, with kick returner Allen Rossum helping out.