Golden Nuggets: It’s the last weekend without football until February

Why Marquez Valdes-Scantling chose the 49ers over old pal Aaron Rodgers (paywall)
“The seven-year veteran noted he spent half of the 2024 season playing under New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, whose younger brother, Klay, has the same job with the 49ers. Which means he can contribute quickly.

“There’s a lot of carryover with the system, being able to come in right away and not have to learn a whole new system,” he said…..Guard Dominick Puni (knee) and defensive tackle Kalia Davis (undisclosed) were running on a side field Thursday and appear on track to practice next week. Puni had no sleeve on his knee like he did last week. If healthy, both are likely to start in Seattle.“

Sources: 49ers add Marquez Valdes-Scantling to practice squad, not 53-man roster
“Gage was among the players released on Tuesday as the 49ers reached the roster limit. He was re-signed on Wednesday, Lynch said.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said he sees no distinction between players on the practice squad and the active roster. After all, any player on the practice squad can be elevated to play in regular-season games and any player on the 53-man roster can be designated as an inactive player.“

Kawakami: All the reasons why the 49ers should be good again this season (paywall)
“So even though the 49ers were clearly wobbly in all areas, they still easily could’ve been 6-2, not 4-4, last season before the total injury implosion came down. They weren’t going to make a Super Bowl sprint or anything, but they really could’ve and should’ve been respectable.

And that was in a season when McCaffrey only carried the ball 50 times, only caught 15 passes, and didn’t score a touchdown.

Sure, the 49ers could be worse in a lot of areas this season. They need production from Mykel Williams and the rest of their talented young defensive linemen, but they all could go through a combined rookie slump or they could get hurt or both. Same for Ricky Pearsall and the wide receivers. Same for almost all the positions.

But if the special teams are better, the 49ers will feel steadier than they did last year. If three or four or seven of the young players are very good, the entire team will rise, just like the 49ers did several years ago.“

Robert Saleh provides updates as 49ers head into Week 1 preparations
“San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh spoke to reporters following Thursday’s practice, as the team begins preparations for their Week 1 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Here’s everything he had to say.“

John Lynch confirms 49ers’ interest in free agent wide receiver Kendrick Bourne
““Kendrick has been hurt in training camp there,” Lynch said. “So (we’re) trying to see exactly where he’s at. Having conversations, but we’ll let that play out and we’ll continue to look into it.

“Any player who can help us improve our roster, we’ll look into, and that’s where that is.”

49ers rookie Marques Sigle: The Sultan of Swarm
“”Last year, you talk analytics and things we look for, we have a metric we call Swarm, which is basically, when the ball’s thrown, how fast do you get to the ball carrier?” Lynch said. “Last year, our analytics department sometimes will give these monikers or names. They said, ‘Okay, we’ve got the Sultan of Swarm,’ and that was [S] Malik Mustapha. Nobody in college football swarmed to the ball faster than Malik Mustapha.

“Well, this year, the Sultan of Swarm was Sigle. I think those things translate really well in our defense. He runs a 4.3 [second 40-yard dash], but I think anyone who’s been watching our games, when you can run a 4.3, and you pack a punch, too, when you’re striking people, which we’ve seen Sigle do—he’s a really good open-field tackler—I think that’s a good combination.”