SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The first two players new 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks mentioned in his inaugural news conference Friday were Javon Kinlaw and Drake Jackson.
There’s a practical reason for that. Both defensive linemen have trained at the team facility all offseason and were on hand when Wilks was hired in February. That is, he’s already had a lot of exposure to them.
Advertisem*nt
“The day that I came in on my interview, he was here working out,” Wilks said of Kinlaw. “He has not missed a day of offseason training, so I’m excited to see exactly where he’s going to be. The same thing with Drake. Drake has been here all spring working out, doing the things that he needs to do to improve his game. He’s gained a lot of weight.”
The other common denominator is that the team is looking for both to take a big step forward this season. Kinlaw, of course, has been hindered by knee issues the last two seasons and is coming off an NFC Championship Game in which he was shoved around by the Eagles offensive line. The 49ers declined to pick up Kinlaw’s fifth-year option earlier this month, which means he’s scheduled for free agency when the season ends.
Jackson, meanwhile, flashed potential during his rookie season but was a healthy scratch in five of the last six contests and didn’t have a sack after Oct. 16.
The 49ers know Nick Bosa will continue to attract all sorts of attention at one of the defensive end spots, which ought to create an opportunity for the player opposite to shine. The 49ers brought in a pair of free agents in Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant, and they used a fifth-round pick on a speed rusher, Robert Beal.
GO DEEPERAdam Peters on the 49ers' draft class, including a pair of 'gold helmet' playersBut they believe Jackson has the ability to be Bosa’s primary bookend. Observers say he’s stood out in the team’s weight room this offseason and looks noticeably different — more powerful — in the drills the team’s been running early in the offseason program.
Wilks said he saw “a lot of inconsistency” when he watched Jackson’s rookie year film.
“I saw a lot of talent, a lot of skill set, but someone that needs to really get a little stronger, get a little bigger,” he said. “And he’s working hard, so I’m looking forward to him once again taking that sophom*ore leap.”
As he signaled earlier in the day, Steve Wilks is spending practice with the CBs, including fifth rounder Darrell Luter (28) pic.twitter.com/LWO2bdY4g6
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) May 12, 2023
Wilks also spoke about his specialty, the secondary. He was a defensive back at Appalachian State in the late 1980s, started coaching defensive backs in the mid-1990s and was working with the cornerbacks during Friday’s rookie minicamp practice.
The 49ers primarily have used zone coverage in recent years. But they have several cornerbacks, including veteran Charvarius Ward and fifth-round pick Darrell Luter, who specialize in press coverage. Wilks said the 49ers will continue to use a lot of zone concepts while perhaps taking more advantage of the long-armed talent they have at cornerback.
Advertisem*nt
“I feel like we have the skill set and the talent to be able to get in a guy’s face, press man, make the quarterback hold the ball, particularly with our (defensive) front,” he said.
Odds and ends
• The 49ers signed all 21 of their rookies (nine draft picks, 12 undrafted free agents) before Friday’s practice. That includes their top pick, safety Ji’Ayir Brown, who was wearing No. 27 during the session.
The Penn State product will return to Pennsylvania in Week 1 when the 49ers visit the Steelers, and he said he was impressed by Pittsburgh’s coaches when he visited in the run-up to the draft.
Ji’Ayir Brown, the 49ers’ top pick from this draft, signed his contract Friday and participated at rookie minicamp. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
But his connection with the 49ers was particularly intense, especially with Wilks. Brown said he had what felt “almost like a father-son talk” with Wilks and that the defensive coordinator gave him “some words of advice that I’ll forever carry with me.”
Brown declined to reveal what that advice was — “That’s personal,” he said — but it was clear after Brown and Wilks spoke to reporters Friday that they have similarly strong, magnetic personalities.
Wilks said he and Brown hit it off during the safety’s pre-draft visit in April.
“He just started growing on me, the conversation that we were having, his dedication to the game,” Wilks said. “He’s mature, he sees it with a different lens, and I said, ‘This guy right here can be the future for us.’ So I was excited about it and I’m glad we got him.”
• Kicker Jake Moody had seven workouts with NFL teams in the run-up to the draft. His session with the 49ers was the only one that involved a long snapper, which made it a bit of an adventure, according to Moody and his holder, punter Brad Robbins.
“There are rules and regulations on who you can have snap,” Robbins said. “And the only (long snapper) who was eligible to come snap at our private workouts was a guy from Ohio State. And coach (Jim) Harbaugh politely declined.”
Advertisem*nt
In the other workouts, Moody either used kicking stix or had Robbins feed him the ball. When the 49ers arrived, however, they brought in one of Michigan’s backup tight ends, who had minimal experience long snapping.
“He’s a great guy. I love him to death,” Moody said. “But he’s terrible at snapping. So he rolled half the snaps back. And the holder was doing the best he could to try and get the ball up and down for me.”
The worst snap may have been the last. San Francisco special teams coach Brian Schneider had the trio stand on the sideline and then run onto the field for a simulated last-second kick from 55 yards out.
“Sure enough, the snap bounced, I think twice, before it got to the holder,” Moody said. “Thankfully, (Robbins) got it up at the last second, didn’t take his hand off and (we) made it.”
• Beal said Friday his NFL role model is Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack because he’s both an excellent pass rusher and is strong against the run. Asked if he was close to Mack in size, Beal said, “Not yet.”
While Mack is listed at 269 pounds, Beal weighs 248 pounds. He said he hopes to get to 255 or 260 pounds by training camp.
“I set my goals high for myself,” he said. “So it’s get in and get my start on special teams, get five or six sacks during the season and keep building off of that.”
Passing the eyeball test at 49ers' rookie camp:
* TE Cameron Latu – bigger, sturdier than expected
* LB Jalen Graham – tall, long limbed, almost looks like a DE
* RT Leroy Watson – one-time TE has bulked up considerably. Well into the 300-pound range.— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) May 12, 2023
• Both quarterbacks who attended the rookie camp had several deep-ball completions. Steven Montez connected twice with seventh-round pick Ronnie Bell, who was prominent in the session. Clayton Thorson, meanwhile, had a 30-yard throw down the right side of the field to wideout Tay Martin and an even longer bomb down the left sideline to Jahcour Pearson, a wideout from Ole Miss who attended the camp on a tryout basis.
Advertisem*nt
Thorson’s arm strength is newsworthy considering he suffered an elbow injury nearly a year ago while playing for the USFL’s Houston Gamblers — in a game against the Philadelphia Stars — and had the same “internal brace” procedure that Brock Purdy had in March. Thorson did not appear to be hindered in Friday’s session.
Kyle Shanahan, meanwhile, said this week that the expectation is for Purdy to be back in practice by training camp.
“He’s doing the same drills all the other quarterbacks are doing, he’s just using a towel to throw,” Shanahan said at the Dwight Clark Legacy event on Wednesday. “But (he’s) still doing violent motions, still moving, he’s just not doing it with a football. … As long as there’s not a setback, we think he’ll be there at training camp.”
• Wilks said free-agent addition Isaiah Oliver will play nickel cornerback for the 49ers. Wilks said there was some question as to whether the team would be able to retain Jimmie Ward in March.
“When that didn’t happen, we wanted to make sure that we sort of got the best nickel in free agency, and that’s what we went out and did,” he said. “So I’m excited about Oliver. He’s long, he’s physical, can tackle, can cover. He’s going to be a good blitzer for us, everything that we do within this defense.”
• Wilks said he’d probably spend game days in the coaching booth. That’s where former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio preferred to be, though the team’s last few coordinators, including Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans, have coached from the sideline. If he does spend Sundays in the booth, Wilks said his point of contact on the field would be linebackers coach Johnny Holland.
(Top photo of Steve Wilks: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
Matt Barrows is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the 49ers. He joined The Athletic in 2018 and has covered the 49ers since 2003. He was a reporter with The Sacramento Bee for 19 years, four of them as a Metro reporter. Before that he spent two years in South Carolina with The Hilton Head Island Packet. Follow Matt on Twitter @MattBarrows
