Interview with San Francisco Insider Kevin Lynch from the San Francisco Chronicle

  Transcribed 7/25 from Audible Podcast by Andy Hicks

Cecil Lammey: My first question about the 49ers has to be with the fabulous tight end Vernon Davis. If this guy is healthy we are talking about a weapon like no other in the National Football League in my opinion. What do you expert from Vernon this year?

Kevin Lynch: Well he could be their leading receiver. He has that type of ability. I think it might be tough to outpace Darrell Jackson who they're really high on who hasn't really practiced in these OTAs because of a lingering toe injury. Davis has looked great. He looks almost like a different player from last year at this time. He's catching the ball consistently which is something that he didn't last year in practice or games. Everyone's saying that another year in the system has really helped him and he's gone to the next level and he's thinking about what he's doing out there. Instead of thinking, Oh am I supposed to be in this spot? And what route am I supposed to run? Now he is thinking of the defense, is it zone? Is it man? Do I stop? Do I continue? How can I set up the defensive backs? That's the kinds of things that they're really excited about.

Sigmund Bloom: Kevin, let's talk about the guy that's going to be feeding the ball to Vernon Davis for a long time, Alex Smith. He came into the league young and that first season is one that he'd probably rather soon forget. Definitely showed some steps forward, is he ready to make another step forward this year?

KL: Yeah, I think there's no question. No, he is a young quarterback. Coming into this system he was so much farther behind a guy like Matt Leinart for example who came from a pro system and is the type of guy even last year as a rookie he could make adjustments at the line of scrimmage based on what the defense was doing. Alex really couldn't do that yet and I think as he goes into this year he might be able to make those adjustments. Also they're really developing that offense around him. When he first came in under Mike McCarthy, who is now the coach of the Packers, it was a progression west coast style offense and that was so different from he did at Utah. Then came Norv Turner and it was more a seven step drop, throw it down field and he was a little bit more acclimated and used to that offense. Now they're trying to blend both approaches because they were so bad on third down conversions and in the red zone last year. They really in OTAs, every day they were practicing red zone, empty backfield, third down conversion offense. He's really trying to develop that short and intermediate passing game which I think is going to benefit him a lot.

CL: Now Kevin you bring up Norv Turner being gone. A lot of people are wondering what will the effect be on the fabulous running back there Frank Gore. This kid is all heart, all determination and if he stays healthy, knock on wood, he's a superstar back in this league. So I would like you to comment a little bit on Gore and what you expect from him and also the guys behind him who we really like, Michael Robinson, Maurice Hicks and Thomas Clayton a guy that we saw at the Senior Bowl, interviewed him, a great kid, just kind of got lost in the shuffle at Florida State and then at Kansas State. So what do you think of Gore and that running back corps?

KL: Well really that offense is going to run through Gore. They did it last year under Turner and they'll do it this year under Jim Hostler, the new offensive coordinator. Everyone knows that. That's the way it's going to be and they will base everything off of him as a rushing and receiving threat. That's the thing that won't change much at all if anything is that running game. They'll retain the Norv Turner type of system, the sort of straight ahead, drive blocking, lots of running. If they could run and get guaranteed four yards per carry on each play, they'd never pass. That's what they really want. They want to be a tough, hit you in the mouth type of running game and then run everything out of that and they feel they have that now with Gore.

SB: Kev, let's move out wide. You mentioned Darrell Jackson who the team has brought in to be that #1 wide receiver. Let's talk about who is going to lining up across the way from him. They've brought in Ashley Lelie. The start of his 49ers career hasn't gone that well. He's still been banged up. We're very interested in the rookie out of Washington State, Jason Hill. I think that he's got a lot of latent upside, possibly a steal in the third round because of the injuries he battled in 2006. Maybe casting a shadow over the player he was in '04 & '05, when he was really a superstar. How much of a chance does Hill have to beat Lelie for that starting spot?

KL: Oh I don't think a huge chance. They've been bringing along the rookies pretty slowly and Hill in particular has been brought on a little slowly. It's tough for a receiver and I think you saw it last year with Vernon Davis, even though he's a tight end, he's running similar types of routes, to come into this offense and be successful as a rookie. Just because they do so much shifting and it's tough for a receiver just to come out of the huddle and know where to go. So that's going to be the challenge for Hill and I think that he's struggled with that so far in OTAs. He's gotten a little more work towards the end of OTAs. That's going to be tough for him and they've got some pretty good receivers. Arnaz Battle is a pretty darn good receiver. Brandon Williams, a third round pick they got out of Wisconsin last year has really come on and played very well. So Hill, it might even be sort of red shirt year for him, but we'll see what happens. I mean things can change so dramatically when you get into training camp and get the pads on and he gets into his playbook a little bit and he knows what he's doing coming into training camp, then things might change.

CL: My last question for you. Let's jump to the defensive side of the ball. Last year we saw Mario Williams go with the first pick, but I really like his teammate at NC State Manny Lawson there at outside linebacker. What does he do to take the next step, because I see this kid as a star in the league?

KL: He just needs to continue to play. I mean he got a lot of playing time last year. The other thing that he needs to do (and I think this will happen to him naturally) is put on some good weight, because he was little light, at 240 lbs. They thought that he would be a guy who could get them 17 sacks, but that didn't happen for him. I think that he was used much more as a coverage type of linebacker, rather than a rush linebacker. I think they'd like to see him develop into that rush role. That will be a challenge for him and something that he needs to step up and do.

SB: Kevin, my last question for you is about a player that was a lot of fun to watch in the pre season last year. We watched this guy take over a pre season game before he got hurt. Certainly if the 49ers are going to want to establish the run, they're going to want to run a lot of two-tight end sets, this guy fits in as a tight end, an H-Back type. Delanie Walker seemed like a really sensational athlete in the pre season before he got hurt. How big of a role can we expect to see him play this year?

KL: I think he'll be in quite a bit, you know he's going to be sort of that understudy to Vernon Davis and I think they will run quite a bit of two-tights and he wasn't part of the OTAs early because he had a shoulder injury and he was still recovering from that. This week he's played a lot and he was looking really good. He's got that sort of tight end body, but he's got wide receivers moves. He knows how to run a pattern, so he could be a real weapon for them and even a guy who might take on more of a role as the season progresses.

CL: You want to know everything about the San Francisco 49ers, you read everything that Kevin Lynch writes from the San Francisco Chronicle and the Niners turf blog. Kevin thanks for joining the show man.

KL: Thank you guys, I appreciate it.