SB Nation - Joe Jon Finley

49ers Practice Squad 10/14/09

Fooch — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:26:48 -0000

Over the past week the 49ers have made multiple adjustments to their practice squad, leading folks to inquire as to who exactly is on the roster at this point. I'm posting this on the front page so it's easy for people to find via search. Additionally, the 49ers.com roster page usually is updated with the practice squad.

Alex Boone - OL
Diyral Briggs - LB
Martail Burnett - LB
Joe Jon Finley - TE
Brit Miller - FB
Khalif Mitchell - DT/quasi-OL
Dominique Zeigler - WR

First off, I mention quasi-OL for Khalif Mitchell because it sounds like he's been getting some time in as an offensive lineman. Not sure how successful that will be, but it's at least worth noting. Otherwise, any thoughts on the practice squad as a whole, or who will be next to come off the squad? Anybody who could contribute immediately, as opposed to just riding the pine as an inactive player?

Poll

Who will be the next player signed to the 49ers 53-man roster this season?

OL Alex Boone

377 votes

LB Diyral Briggs

97 votes

LB Martail Burnett

7 votes

TE Joe Jon Finley

22 votes

FB Brit Miller

38 votes

DT Khalif Mitchell

28 votes

WR Dominique Zeigler

52 votes

621 votes | Poll has closed

Golden Nuggets: In Davis We...Will Eventually Trust?

Ninjames — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00:20 -0000

Good morning folks, James here with your Nuggets for the day. Sorry for my brief two-day absence but there were some personal issues. Plus, I decided that Fooch didn't pay me enough. Now that we've decided it's three bags of gummy worms, I'm back and ready to provide you some linkage. The regular season is fast approaching and the news isn't necessarily plentiful but there's a good amount of links. Of note today is that we released veteran QB Damon Huard, which, while expected, I didn't see it coming that fast. I suppose we wanted to give him a chance to sign with another team. Either way, he's some links for you.

The team cut QB Damon Huard today--rookie Nate Davis is now slotted to be the third string QB behind Shaun Hill and Alex Smith. (SacBee.com)

A little bit about the readiness of Nate Davis and how he's progressing learning the offense. (SFGate.com)

Nate Davis and ... Mark Roman earned MVP honors for last week's game at Dallas. (49ers.com)

Maiocco has a nice looking projection for the final 53-man roster, not sure I'm completely sold on it however. (PressDemocrat.com)

The starting offensive line is now intact with Adam Snyder and David Baas returning from injuries. (SacBee.com)

Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye is envisioning a 60/40 ratio of running to passing this season. I'm not quite sure we'll make the ratio, but I'm thinking we'll get close. (MercuryNews.com)

So should we be worried about our cornerback situation? No, I don't mean on the left side with Tarell Brown and Dre' Bly--I mean on the right side with Nate Clements. I'm hoping he plays much better in the regular season than he did in the preseason. (SFGate.com)

Got some more links after the jump...

Here's a gem of a quote from Nate Clements about Larry Fitzgerald. Clements is possibly one of my least favorite players on the team, but I wont get into that right now. (MercuryNews.com)

Singletary pushed the 49ers to their limit in training camp. The team suffered a few bumps and bruises, lets hope it prepared them for the regular season. (SacBee.com)

The 49ers (that's the team we're fans of, for you slow folks) are leading the preseason in rushing right now. Awesome. (Yahoo.com)

Road to the Roster: Joe Jon Finley. I gotta say, I'm liking him more and more, but I like the potential of Bear Pascoe.. Or maybe I like the name of Bear Pascoe. I'm not sure which it is. (49ers.com)

Here's a look at some of the injuries the team is recovering from and suffering from. (SFGate.com)

Jimmy Raye is very pleased so far with QB Nate Davis. Now if only another Davis on our team could produce... (SacBee.com)

Does Mike Singletary regret the praise he gave WR Michael Crabtree on draft day? (PressDemocrat.com)

So what are we going to do with our offensive line, or more clearly our right tackle position? I'm unsure but here's a few options. (NFLTouchdown.com)

So what is going to happen at the WR position? I really am at a loss at who is going to win a roster spot. I'm a huge Dominique Zeigler fan, and I'd love it for him to make the team. But right now I'm thinking WR Micheal Spurlock has more to offer this team. (SacBee.com)

Takeo Spikes appreciated every minute of training camp. Somebody's a suuuuck up. (49ers.com)

2009 Roster Projections: Tight End/Special teams wrap up

Fooch — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:00:16 -0000

I realize we've had a lot of discussion about the tight ends lately. We've compared Bear and the Duke. We've discussed the fashion interests of Vernon Davis. Before we get into my first 53-man roster projection, we might as well wrap up the tight end discussion today....or at least enough for our purposes at this point. In case you missed them, we've already addressed linebacker, safeties, wide receivers, cornerbacks, offensive line, running backs, defensive line, and quarterbacks.

Also, as a heads-up, Samuel Lam put together a 49ers positional battle piece on the tight end position if you want to check that out.

Locks
Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker, Bear Pascoe

Slim/No Chance
Joe Jon Finley

I was ready to have a bubble watch between JJ Finley and Bear Pascoe, but let's be honest...how many people actually think someone other than Bear Pascoe gets that third tight end spot? The team won't be keeping 4 tight ends, so there you have it.

A lot of our discussion has centered on Vernon Davis and Bear Pascoe. That would seem to make sense given that Davis is the #1 guy and Pascoe is the new toy. Throughout all this though, Delanie Walker has been ignored for the most part. Walker was a wide receiver converted into a tight end and often times, he reminds me of Thomas Clayton. He's a guy who excels in the preseason but has not been able to do much of anything once the season gets going. Sure, he's a decent kick returner, but it's not much to write home about. He's certainly seen more regular season action than Clayton, but it still has me curious.

I was going back through the 49er's draft history and I noticed something interesting. Just like Bear Pascoe, Delanie Walker was a 6th round draft choice. In my mind, any production from late round picks is a bonus and not expected. So it sort of becomes a comparison between Walker and Pascoe. Pascoe appears to be here to fill the Bajema role, but with some solid hands to boot. Walker on the other hand is supposed to be a great receiving tight end and special teams player, but not much of a blocker.

Given the ability to carry three tight ends, it seems like any shortcomings can be overcome. And yet, I still wonder which one will excel? Or maybe both will? I doubt the latter, but crazier things have happened. There's been a lot of discussion about how Vernon Davis will see more passes his way this season in a tradiitonal tight end role. The question becomes who will step up more behind Davis: Walker or Pascoe?

49ers Practice Squad rounding into shape

Fooch — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:29:47 -0000

I was originally going to include this in the post regarding Dontarrious Thomas's release. However, while related to roster cuts, I wanted to keep comments about the practice squad separate.

The 49ers announced that RB Thomas Clayton, DT Atiyyah Ellison, TE J.J. Finley, LB Larry Grant, DE Louis Holmes and WR Dominique Zeigler all were signed to the practice squad. For those who don't know, any player on the practice squad is similar to a free agent, in that any team can sign the player at any time. However, if a team signs somebody off another practice squad, the player is guaranteed to remain on the 53-man roster for at least three games (and a bye week counts as a game).

One player who did not make it through waivers was Brian De La Puente, the former Cal offensive guard. De La Puente was claimed by the Kansas City Chiefs. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed he didn't make it through waivers. He got a chance to start one game at guard and seemed to play quite well. Had the 49ers suffered an injury on the o-line this season, he would have been perfect to come off the practice squad.

While you want every player to get a chance to play in the NFL, I'm happy that our practice squad players made it through waivers. The 49ers are only carrying 4 running backs, so if one of them went down Clayton gives the team an interesting option in reserve.

Also, assuming the team doesn't sign a wide receiver in the coming days, I would not be surprised to see Dominique Zeigler suiting up at some point this season. The Martz offense really utilizes those wide receivers and the team seemed close to keeping 6 of them. As has already been discussed, there is not much out there to claim, so maybe Zeigler gets a shot sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, the 49ers have two spots left for the practice squad. Ramiro Pruneda is on as part of the International Practice Squad program, but he doesn't count against the eight man limit.