Speaker 1: Now back to Dirty Work. Adam Copeland and Derek Papa
Speaker 1: on KNB R one O four, five and six eighty
Speaker 1: am V Sports Leader.
Speaker 2: Dirty Work, John Dickinson, Derek Popa is football season and
Speaker 2: the forty nine Ers had the first game action last Thursday.
Speaker 2: And for pre im post, Todd Husk on the Sports Leader,
Speaker 2: who'll be with you guys for week two of the
Speaker 2: regular season when the Niners come home from Australia and
Speaker 2: take on the Miami Dolphins. Todd joins us. Now it's
Speaker 2: going on, Todd.
Speaker 3: Way too far away from my liking. I know started
Speaker 3: the season. I'm ready to get back in the booth.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: It's a big break, but hopefully they come back one
Speaker 3: and oh and healthy. That's I think the big concern
Speaker 3: for all forty Niner fans and the team. Let's stay
Speaker 3: healthy and get ready to roll.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean a lot of question marks right now.
Speaker 2: We got the whole reports of Christian McCaffrey and the
Speaker 2: tightness Nick Bosa and the knee tendonitis, and sounds like
Speaker 2: George Kittle's ramping up to maybe play Week one. But
Speaker 2: I want to get your thoughts on de Jean Shribbling
Speaker 2: and his performance seven catches for sixty three sixty three yards.
Speaker 2: What was the most impressive part of Stribling's performance last Thursday,
Speaker 2: Todd Well.
Speaker 3: I think number one, they wanted to see what he
Speaker 3: could do. Clearly, he didn't play much and he got
Speaker 3: eight targets and seven catches, so he was a focus
Speaker 3: for them early in the game, and he delivered. I
Speaker 3: think that Obviously the highlight plays down the sideline making
Speaker 3: the fifty to fifty catch, and that's what they're gonna
Speaker 3: need just from the offense in general, more big plays
Speaker 3: down the field and the fact that he can do
Speaker 3: that and also run those underneath routes and catch and
Speaker 3: run and block and everything you read from him about
Speaker 3: him from his teammates, from the coaches is his strength
Speaker 3: and his toughness and how he blocks. And he seems
Speaker 3: to be a little more mature than a young wide receiver.
Speaker 3: He comes into this league ready to play and deliver
Speaker 3: at a high level, and he showed that ability. And
Speaker 3: I don't think they're counting on him to be It's
Speaker 3: a great situation. They're not counting on him to be
Speaker 3: the number one guy, or maybe even the number two guy.
Speaker 3: Maybe he grows into that role as the season goes along,
Speaker 3: but they're going to put him in situations where he
Speaker 3: can excel, and then when they push the ball down
Speaker 3: the field to him, he has that ability to go
Speaker 3: up high point it. We saw him run after the
Speaker 3: catch and good footwork on the sideline, break tackles, and
Speaker 3: he does. He checks all the boxes of a receiver
Speaker 3: that you want. And he might not have the four
Speaker 3: to three blazing speed, but he's fast enough. And I
Speaker 3: think the more important thing is that he makes those
Speaker 3: catches in traffic. What I like the most, and j
Speaker 3: D and I had talked about it at the game
Speaker 3: his ability to his body control and when he's in
Speaker 3: tight quarters and there's coverage there, his ability to create
Speaker 3: that foot of separation, or that he has big, strong
Speaker 3: hands and he's able to reach out and grab that
Speaker 3: ball in traffic. That is such a I think it's
Speaker 3: a talent rather than a skill, like guys can learn it,
Speaker 3: but some guys just have it and he seems to
Speaker 3: have it, and that goes well for this forty nine
Speaker 3: ers offense and for a young wide receiver who's going
Speaker 3: to get opportunities. I think early in the season.
Speaker 4: Todd if your brock Purty, do you want to see
Speaker 4: do you want to get on the actual field in
Speaker 4: a game, live situation to work with him a little bit,
Speaker 4: or the practices even a joint practice. Is that enough?
Speaker 3: I think the practices are enough. I think the games
Speaker 3: are oftentimes like we saw it last Thursday, where it's
Speaker 3: ones versus twos or sometimes threes versus ones, with the
Speaker 3: Titans playing a lot of their starters. I think they
Speaker 3: can do enough in practice that that's almost more of
Speaker 3: a game simulation rather than the actual game because of
Speaker 3: the defense you're going against, and by the way they
Speaker 3: keep it so vanilla, nobody's showing in thing. It's very
Speaker 3: basic offense and defense. I think practice is enough. And
Speaker 3: I think the brock Prity discussion is fascinating because he
Speaker 3: is at this point now in his career where he's
Speaker 3: not a young quarterback anymore. He's I mean, he's not
Speaker 3: thirty yet, but this is kind of the prime of
Speaker 3: his career right. Five seasons in the NFL, four seasons
Speaker 3: as a starter, he's started and played enough games to
Speaker 3: where and he sounds like it if you just hear
Speaker 3: him in interviews and the way he handles himself and
Speaker 3: carries himself in the way his teammates talk about him
Speaker 3: like he's coming into that locker room, and new guys
Speaker 3: coming in the locker room recognizing that's the man, like
Speaker 3: this is the guy. And so that's a little bit
Speaker 3: different step in his career, but man does he seem
Speaker 3: poised to take his development to the next level and
Speaker 3: continue to grow as a quarterback, continue to grow Kyle
Speaker 3: Shanahan and understanding the offense, and it gives Shanahan a
Speaker 3: chance to take the next step in all Right, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna throw more at this guy. I've got so many
Speaker 3: ideas and some quarterbacks can't handle it. Brock can. And
Speaker 3: so I think game plans are going to be a
Speaker 3: little bit more sophisticated and it's going to be fun
Speaker 3: to watch this season. I think this young quarterback who
Speaker 3: has so much, he's got so much ability, but also
Speaker 3: still so much potential to get better. I'm excited to
Speaker 3: see what he can do, especially based on how good
Speaker 3: he's looked in camp talking.
Speaker 2: To Todd Husak on the Uma guest line. Anotherwide receive
Speaker 2: that led good on Thursday night, Jordan Walkins with six
Speaker 2: catches for fifty nine yards. This team's probably gonna keep
Speaker 2: six wide receivers. How would you currently see the guys
Speaker 2: right now as far as Christian Kirk, DeMarcus Robinson, and
Speaker 2: Jacob Cowing when you watch them at practice, how they
Speaker 2: line up with the other wide receivers right now?
Speaker 3: Well, I'd love to see more of Kirk and Cawing.
Speaker 3: We just haven't seen him, and I think calling has
Speaker 3: that kind of slot ability to catch and make somebody miss,
Speaker 3: and he's super quick. His ability to get in and
Speaker 3: out of breaks and separate and burst until he gets
Speaker 3: the ball in his hands. Punt return could be a
Speaker 3: special place for him. We just haven't. We haven't seen him,
Speaker 3: and so for them to make decisions, any guys that
Speaker 3: can count on, and he has not been one of
Speaker 3: those guys. I think he has the ability. It's been
Speaker 3: unfortunate with the injuries. Same with Christian Kirk. I was
Speaker 3: excited about that signing based on his production and other stops,
Speaker 3: but without his ability to take reps. See how he
Speaker 3: fits in with the offense, See how he fits in
Speaker 3: with other receivers. What skill set does he bring that
Speaker 3: maybe some of the other receivers don't. And wide receiver
Speaker 3: room in the NFL. It's it's not just six guys
Speaker 3: that are exactly the same, all right. This guy is
Speaker 3: better at running the deep routes, and this guy is
Speaker 3: better at the slot, and this guy is better at
Speaker 3: blocking in the short end and can get off, bump
Speaker 3: and run. There are different kind of skill sets and
Speaker 3: prototypes that you want at each position, and I think
Speaker 3: you need to see how Christian Kirk fits into that room,
Speaker 3: and unfortunately they haven't seen enough of him. I hope
Speaker 3: he is able to come back and show what he
Speaker 3: can do because I think he would be an interesting
Speaker 3: piece to this offense. But without him getting the reps,
Speaker 3: it's hard to gauge that there's some young guys that
Speaker 3: have stepped up. We'll see. There's still enough time to
Speaker 3: where I think you know who the top four and
Speaker 3: maybe five guys are. With Watkins having a good showing,
Speaker 3: and we did like him coming in to this camp
Speaker 3: as being a guy that another guy that we haven't
Speaker 3: seen anything of. But he looks good on paper with
Speaker 3: that four to three speed and the ability to take
Speaker 3: the top off, and he's made some nice plays. I'd
Speaker 3: still like to see more from him, but I think
Speaker 3: those last two spots are still for grabs. Over these
Speaker 3: last couple of weeks of the preseason, it's going to
Speaker 3: be you know, do the Niners take a look at
Speaker 3: they've got seven or eight guys, Maybe they like they're
Speaker 3: a team that needs a fifth wide receivers, they're potential
Speaker 3: trade opportunities where all of a sudden the Niners room
Speaker 3: gets a little bit lighter and they can add a piece.
Speaker 3: But the good news is that all talent it uh,
Speaker 3: it's just how does that room fit together? And is
Speaker 3: there that sixth guy is going to be very interesting
Speaker 3: in what role does he fell and is he inexperienced
Speaker 3: with upside or is the experience in somebody that can
Speaker 3: they can count on if needed if somebody goes down
Speaker 3: or in spot play.
Speaker 4: How concerned are you about the left guard spot considering
Speaker 4: nobody is seemingly stepping up to take it at this
Speaker 4: point and new options are being introduced into the conversation.
Speaker 3: Not great. You could be a little more settled with
Speaker 3: the first game coming up in less than a month.
Speaker 3: And I don't think anybody showed well on Thursday night
Speaker 3: at left guard and the coaches that talked about it,
Speaker 3: when when there's a competition at a certain spot. I
Speaker 3: think it does both guys a little bit of the
Speaker 3: service because they're not getting the same mental like, they're
Speaker 3: not getting a ton of reps. They're splitting reps and
Speaker 3: maybe it's three guys split, so all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: there's a little less work, a little less confidence or
Speaker 3: comfort level with how they feel with not just the
Speaker 3: rest of the offense, but with the offensive system, with
Speaker 3: their their left tackle and center and how they're working together.
Speaker 3: So I think it does the offense a little bit
Speaker 3: of a the service that they don't have that spot filled.
Speaker 3: Are you better off going with the guy and saying
Speaker 3: you're the guy and we're going to put you in
Speaker 3: that position and you're gonna take all the first team
Speaker 3: reps for the next six weeks and if you're not
Speaker 3: the guy, then will replace you with somebody who can
Speaker 3: fill that spot. But it's an open competition. Again, it's
Speaker 3: a spot that is critical. How that season finished against
Speaker 3: the Seahawks, it was clear that they did not have
Speaker 3: the interior line that could handle that pass rush in
Speaker 3: RUNB sense, So how do they fill that spot and
Speaker 3: get a guy that they can count on, but also
Speaker 3: a guy that becomes a not just a good player, sorry,
Speaker 3: not just a fill in a guy that is not bad,
Speaker 3: but somebody becomes a good player and a solid piece
Speaker 3: of an offensive line that needs to be really good
Speaker 3: because the Rams are going to come out of the
Speaker 3: gates in Week one as a team that can bring
Speaker 3: it and both in the pass rush and the run game,
Speaker 3: and so you've got to be solid. You can't be
Speaker 3: just okay at that left guard spot because they defenses
Speaker 3: will find a way to focus on that and make
Speaker 3: it a weakness. And so the Niners are faced with
Speaker 3: they got to get somebody up and running at that spot.
Speaker 3: That not just right, We feel okay about that guy.
Speaker 3: This is somebody that we can put a lot on
Speaker 3: his shoulders and he's going to deliver.
Speaker 2: Talking to Todd Husak on the UMA guest line, Grayson Halton,
Speaker 2: the rookie from Oklahoma made his presence felt on Thursday.
Speaker 2: How do you how do you view their defensive tackle
Speaker 2: depth right now? Tod, with the young players they have
Speaker 2: and al Ford Collins, the CJ. West and now Halton,
Speaker 2: I like it.
Speaker 3: I think that's all of a sudden you look at
Speaker 3: that defensive just the front seven or you know however,
Speaker 3: you however, Remorris tries to fill those spots, whether it's
Speaker 3: defensive line or outside linebackers and inside line like they
Speaker 3: are deep for the first time in a while, and
Speaker 3: I think they're the front guys are talented, and all
Speaker 3: of a sudden you have young players that are taking
Speaker 3: that next step right there. Year two, Okay, you know
Speaker 3: what the NFL is like. You've had an offseason and
Speaker 3: strength and conditioning and the defensive scheme, and now we're
Speaker 3: counting on you to be a disruptor or be a
Speaker 3: guy that makes some plays and gets to the quarterback.
Speaker 3: And Halton looked like a guy that was and he
Speaker 3: was tough in practice against the Titans. I think he
Speaker 3: might have been one of those guys that started a
Speaker 3: couple of the fisticuffs or brujjas. However, you want to
Speaker 3: say that in that practice where the guys are getting
Speaker 3: aftered a little bit, he was a guy that was
Speaker 3: in the middle of those things. And so I think
Speaker 3: that's what you need to see, especially from a young
Speaker 3: guy who's not just fiery, but he's getting into the backfield.
Speaker 3: He's making obviously the offense uncomfortable and the fact that
Speaker 3: they have. I think a handful of those guys. Alpa
Speaker 3: Collins was a guy who I think had a solid
Speaker 3: rookie year. He made the great play against the Rams
Speaker 3: that saved the game. If he can be better and
Speaker 3: more consistent. C J. West, I thought showed up a
Speaker 3: few times last year, and with Osa and all of
Speaker 3: a sudden, that front seven looks pretty good if they're
Speaker 3: all healthy. You throw Bosa and Height and some of
Speaker 3: those guys on the outside that can get in the backfield. Obviously,
Speaker 3: the sack problem was massive last year where they were
Speaker 3: last in the NFL by a wide margin. And Raheem Morris,
Speaker 3: based on what we saw Thursday night, he's gonna be
Speaker 3: a little more aggressive in figuring out schemes and ways
Speaker 3: to get to the quarterback. But it's always helpful when
Speaker 3: you just have a guy that can win one on one,
Speaker 3: right you can when you can bring four and still
Speaker 3: put pressure, it's a lot better on the secondary than
Speaker 3: bringing six. Now I think he Morris will bring six
Speaker 3: and figure out ways to leverage some of that secondary,
Speaker 3: like second level talent like Jordan Duggart made a play
Speaker 3: early in that game and he flashed right. That's what
Speaker 3: you want to see from those young guys. He made
Speaker 3: that play where he covered a lot of ground, made
Speaker 3: the tackle, sure tap going for loss, and he flashed.
Speaker 3: And that's I think for young guys to feel put
Speaker 3: themselves in a position where they're in the open field.
Speaker 3: They make that play and they look good doing it.
Speaker 3: And the Niners are now in a position where they
Speaker 3: have a number of young players hopefully to take some
Speaker 3: of that pressure off the veterans like Warner and Bosa.
Speaker 3: All of a sudden, they're not so leaned on, and
Speaker 3: maybe offenses aren't so keyed in on those guys where
Speaker 3: you've got to be worried about some of these other
Speaker 3: pieces that are getting in the backfield and that's going
Speaker 3: to elevate their play even more.
Speaker 4: Do you feel that most of that talent, though Todd
Speaker 4: is interior talent at this point on the defensive line specifically,
Speaker 4: And where are you at as far as the pass
Speaker 4: rush issue, you know, is it gonna have to be
Speaker 4: like you said, more Raheem Morris really trying to scheme
Speaker 4: up pressure or you know, because they just don't have
Speaker 4: enough even with Bosa back.
Speaker 3: I think we haven't seen this defensive unit that we're
Speaker 3: going to see in week one, so it's a little
Speaker 3: hard to gauge on. All right, what is their strength?
Speaker 3: Is it interior? I think Osa is a difference maker
Speaker 3: in that interior. I think now I say interior, he's
Speaker 3: maybe a three technique, but Alphad Collins is a That
Speaker 3: guy is a monster. I mean, you see that guy
Speaker 3: in person, You're like, oh man, he he is a
Speaker 3: guy that can create some problems on the inside by
Speaker 3: moving that pocket back. I do think it's going to
Speaker 3: be on the I don't see necessarily now if they
Speaker 3: can find a way to create pressure on that interior
Speaker 3: those interior three guys, whether stunts or just flat out
Speaker 3: bull rushing, great, But I still think the pressure is
Speaker 3: gonna come from the outside and the speed guys. We
Speaker 3: haven't talked about Michael Williams. Is he a guy that
Speaker 3: can take that next step because he's such a good athlete.
Speaker 3: Is he healthy? Can he be the player that he
Speaker 3: was when they drafted him in the first round. I mean,
Speaker 3: we've named seven or eight guys that can make plays. Now,
Speaker 3: how does Raheem Morris put all that together? I still
Speaker 3: think their advantage is and the speed on the outside,
Speaker 3: and they need to be much more solid on the
Speaker 3: interior and give those guys a chance to use their
Speaker 3: speed on the If Bosa can come back and be
Speaker 3: ninety percent of the player he was a few years ago,
Speaker 3: this defense has a chance to be special. I really
Speaker 3: believe that because I think they can find a way
Speaker 3: to create some push and some pressure on the quarterback,
Speaker 3: where all of a sudden we're seeing more throws into
Speaker 3: coverage and seeing them more. I think we're going to
Speaker 3: see a much more aggressive secondary that tries to create
Speaker 3: some interceptions. Now that comes with the downside of maybe
Speaker 3: giving up a big play in the past game, but
Speaker 3: the way this team is built on offense, you get
Speaker 3: the ball back for them a couple extra times a
Speaker 3: game with turnovers takeaways. I like the forty nine ers chances.
Speaker 2: Last one for you, Todd, The biggest question mark we
Speaker 2: had with the forty nine ers is injuries every single year.
Speaker 2: And you're not a doctor, but you played in this league.
Speaker 2: When you see and hear that Nick Bosa's week to
Speaker 2: week with knee tendoninis and Christian McCaffrey's dealing with tightness
Speaker 2: right now, what's your concern level?
Speaker 3: It's not great the scenes is around the corner. And
Speaker 3: now the good news is they're veterans enough where if
Speaker 3: McCaffrey and Bosa don't practice one time between now in
Speaker 3: game one, I feel really good about them going into
Speaker 3: play if they're ninety. I think that's where that veteran
Speaker 3: kind of mentality and preparation takes in. It takes hold
Speaker 3: of those guys being able to go in and produce.
Speaker 3: You need the younger guys to play together to improve,
Speaker 3: to learn the system. I'm not as concerned. I mean
Speaker 3: the contracting with McCaffrey, like, is it tightness or does
Speaker 3: he see so of each other guys getting paid? I
Speaker 3: think that's a bigger concern than his actual health. I
Speaker 3: think he's he's been around long enough to know how
Speaker 3: to prepare and get ready for a season, But that
Speaker 3: will almost be a bigger concern. Is there an issue
Speaker 3: with how happy he isn't ready he is to play
Speaker 3: on his current contract. I hope that's not the case.
Speaker 3: I hope it's just tight Enn's and he's back and
Speaker 3: ready to go from Melbourne. But I don't have a
Speaker 3: concern about those veterans and how well they know their
Speaker 3: bodies and how they're going to be ready to go
Speaker 3: in week one.
Speaker 2: He's Todd Husack here. I'm all season long. I'm pre
Speaker 2: impost for the forty nine ers right here on These
Speaker 2: Sports Leader. I know it's a long time until week two, Todd,
Speaker 2: but we'll definitely catch up before then. Can't wait, all right,
Speaker 2: looking forward to it. That's Todd Husak. Catch that interview
Speaker 2: on the sports Leader dot com or These sports Leader
Speaker 2: app Let's put the show to bed. On the other side,
Speaker 2: Larry Kruger coming up with Niners Nightly It's Dirty Work,
Speaker 2: John Dikets and Derek Papa and of course Danny Dunn
Speaker 2: on These sports Leader