San Francisco 49ers' Deebo Samuel (19) gets tackled in the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia Eagle's 31-7 route of the NFC Championship Game, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SANTA CLARA — Long story short, here are quick thoughts, quotes and notes amid the 49ers’ offseason program, and ahead of next week’s rookie minicamp:
— “Most hated team is the Eagles right now — 100 percent,” Deebo Samuel told Complex. “I mean, hey man, we done wiped the Rams so many times. All the trash talk coming from the Eagles fan base and the players, you just get tired of that.”
— Samuel re-iterated his offseason stance that the 49ers lost the NFC Championship Game “because we played with 10 people,” he told Complex in an interview posted Thursday. Samuel then noted that Brock Purdy is “still recovering from his surgery. Trey (Lance) is fully healthy. We went and got another quarterback in Sam Darnold. That was the only piece we were missing. If we had another quarterback, we would’ve been alright.”
— Darnold is suiting up in No. 14, ideally resembling his USC days more than his washed tenures with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. Past 49ers to wear No. 14 include Y.A. Tittle, Ray Wersching, and, through last year’s training camp, Purdy. Oh, and 1997 bust Jim Druckenmiller.
— Darnold, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle raved about the show they saw sitting front row along the baseline at the Warriros’ Thursday’s rout of the Lakers. Aming those they said hi to afterward were Warriors’ 30-point scorer Klay Thompson, as well as new 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who said hi postgame to Steph Curry. Wilks finished last season as interim coach of Curry’s Carolina Panthers:
#Warriors #StephCurry said hello to #49ers new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after Curry dished out 12 scoring passes tonight
Wilks finished last season as interim coach of Curry’s Carolina Panthers
Kittle, CMC, Darnold were happy to see and say hi to Wilks postgame too pic.twitter.com/Xe9Xf1Ja3y
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) May 5, 2023
— McCaffrey’s taken in at least four Warriors’ games this season, and that’s a lot for a Denver Nuggets fan. The Colorado native hopes to return to Chase Center next week to see the Nuggets play in the Western Conference finals, assuming both teams advance there.
— The last two safeties drafted by Pro Football Hall of Famer John Lynch: Talanoa Hufanga (2021 fifth round; 2022 All-Pro), Ji’Ayir Brown (2023 third round; 49ers’ top pick). The previous pair came in 2018: Tarvarius Moore (joined Packers in March), Marcell Harris (free agent).
— Willis, No. 9. That looks awkward, all due respect to seventh-round tight end Brayden Willis and his assigned number. But the name Willis forever will be associated with No. 52, thanks to linebacker Patrick Willis, who will be inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on May 25, with Julie Foudy, Buster Posey, Gary Payton, and Andre Ward.
— Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir switched from No. 38 to No. 2, previously worn (albeit only one game from 2021-22) by Jason Verrett, who tore an ACL in the 2021 opener and ruptured his Achilles last November. “It was a sad moment for the DBs,” Lenoir said after Verrett’s latter injury in practice. “He’s pushed a lot of us to get better, to look at our technique and see the bigger picture in playing DB.”
— Coach Kyle Shanahan, Fred Warner, McCaffrey and former 49ers wide receivers Jerry Rice and John Taylor will be on hand Wednesday night for the Dwight Clark Legacy Series event that at downtown San Jose’s California Theater, with all proceeds going toward the Golden Heart Fund for 49ers alumni.
— Also on Wednesday night, Kittle is co-chair for the Special Olympics NorCal’s Bocce Bash at Campo di Bocce in Los Gatos. Early-bird tickets start at $100.
— The 49ers are seeking back-to-back division titles for the first time since 2011-12. “When we got here (in 2017), Seattle had the upper hand. The Rams then got it. We’ve kind of taken control,” Lynch said Thursday on KNBR 680-AM. “But we know Seattle’s coming. We know the Rams are coming. Arizona had a really good draft.”
“… But yes, we feel the Seahawks coming. They’re really good. They had a really good draft last year. They’ve repeated it this year. But the most important thing is that we continue to focus upon ourselves, and we continue to make our roster better. This draft class will only add to that. And we’re excited about our football team.”
— Not one quarterback was selected in the first round of the Canadian Football League’s draft Tuesday night, and not one was taken in the ensuing seven rounds. The first overall pick: Fresno State offensive tackle Dontae Bull, who’s from Victoria, British Columbia.
— Undrafted running backs to debut with the 49ers under Shanahan: Matt Breida, Jeff Wilson Jr., JaMycal Hasty, Jordan Mason. Is Khalan Laborn next? After redshirting at Florida State in 2017, the five-star recruit dislocated his knee cap in 2018, got dismissed from the Seminoles’ program in 2020, and had nine 100-yard games last year for Marshall (31 carries, 163 yards, one touchdown in an upset at Notre Dame).
— McCaffrey will make as much in salary ($1.08 million) as Wilson and Hasty in 2023. McCaffrey was to make the top salary among running backs ($11.8 million), then the 49ers converted that into a $10.72 million signing bonus to free up nearly $8.5 million in salary cap space.
— Entering the NFL coaching ranks with the 49ers is Cameron Brown, youngest son of Sacramento Kings coach and former Warriors assistant Mike Brown. Before serving the past two years as an outside linebackers coach at Case Western Reserve (Division III), Cameron Brown was a four-year starter there at defensive end, and he and had 15 sacks in 2018.
— None of the 49ers’ nine draft picks – all of which came after the first two rounds – were invited to the NFL Players’ Association “Rookie Premiere” marketing event later this month in Los Angeles. No Steelers or Commanders made the 45-player guest list, either.
— The 49ers’ quarterback room of Purdy, Lance, Darnold and Brandon Allen: 30-43 in career starts, 89 touchdowns, 68 interceptions. Then again, Purdy’s regular-season line is 5-0, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions; he would also be 3-0 in the playoffs if not for an elbow injury that Samuel vows prevented the 49ers from advancing to the Super Bowl.
Originally published at Cam Inman