Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Wednesday, May 15th, 2024
“Hubbard’s had an up-and-down career, with two rough first seasons mostly at guard, before three good ones at tackle in Pittsburgh. He had a poor first year in Cleveland in 2019, a resurgent one in 2020, then rarely saw the field for the next two seasons after missing the start of 2021 with a triceps injury.
He offers immediate, solid tackle depth at a position that was in need of it. He’ll be competing with fellow veteran tackle Brandon Parker, along with Jaylon Moore, who is already penciled in as the likely first tackle off the bench, though more familiar on the left side than right.”
Report: 49ers, Saints to hold joint practices, play preseason game
“The Saints will host the 49ers for joint practices at their training site at UC Irvine leading up to the game, according to the report.”
Dominick Puni, Jarrett Kingston and the 49ers’ O-line focus on the short shuttle (paywall)
“Puni registered 4.40 seconds in the short shuttle, the third-fastest time of any offensive lineman at the combine this year. The 49ers’ sixth-round pick, USC offensive lineman Jarrett Kingston, also performed well. He logged a 4.47 short shuttle at the combine, the fifth-fastest at the position.
“And I was running even better in training,” Kingston said last week. “I was running a 4.3.”
There’s a growing bank of data suggesting the short shuttle, a brief back-and-forth sprint that measures a player’s short-area explosiveness and ability to change direction, is strongly correlated to O-line success in the NFL.
Underdog Fantasy’s Josh Norris has studied various combine tests and their predictive power for any given player’s chances in the league. Before the 2023 combine, Norris reported that just 28 offensive linemen had run short shuttle times of 4.47 seconds or faster at the combine and that 24 of them had been drafted. Those 24 players, Norris found, went on to start 84 percent of their NFL games.
Since Norris’ initial study, the 2023 combine yielded just one lineman who ran the short shuttle in under 4.47 seconds and the 2024 combine produced six such linemen — two of whom were Puni and Kingston, drafted by the 49ers.”
49ers will open season vs. Jets and the QB they’ve tormented, Aaron Rodgers (paywall)
“Rodgers, 40, will dominate the game’s national story line. It will be his second start with the Jets, who acquired him in a trade last year with the Packers, Rodgers’ employer for his first 18 seasons. However, the 49ers’ first regular-season opener at home since 2020 also will mark the first time that former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh will face his former team since he became the Jets’ head coach in 2021.
In addition, quarterback Brock Purdy and the 49ers’ offense, which ranked second in the NFL last season, will face a defense that ranked third in the league in 2023 and is overseen by coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. The 49ers and Ulbrich, a former S.F. linebacker and a Bay Area native, had mutual interest in Ulbrich becoming their defensive coordinator in February, but the Jets didn’t allow Ulbrich out of his contract. The 49ers filled the vacancy by promoting Nick Sorensen, a rookie defensive coordinator.”
“The highly anticipated 49ers-Chiefs game will air on FOX with Tom Brady in the booth.”
Watch 49ers QB Purdy throw out first pitch before Giants-Dodgers game
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