- 2 months ago
Tim Kawakami, who covers all Bay Area sports for the San Francisco Standard, joins Willard and Dibs to break down every angle of the 49ers' offseason and training camp ahead of the start of the 2026 regular season.
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00:00All right, let's do this. My goodness, there are a lot of questions to get to.
00:04So many questions.
00:05Whenever that's the case, this is the guy we love to go to.
00:09SF Standard obviously has the TK show, part of the Odyssey family.
00:14He is the great Tim Kawakami joining us on the River Islands Guest Line and on YouTube as well.
00:19So you can look Tim right in the eyes as he delivers these answers to you.
00:23Hi, Tim. Good afternoon. How are you?
00:25I'm doing good, guys. How are you doing?
00:27We're doing great.
00:28Great. Hey, I'm just going to use this one as an example.
00:32I've seen it in many places.
00:34Pro Football Talk did a piece yesterday.
00:37Oh, my favorite website.
00:39Here we go.
00:40And Chris Sims is one of the people having a discussion
00:45and literally seems to be saying things that directly fly in the face of what Kyle Shanahan said
00:50and their great friends.
00:51But they arrived at the conclusion there is a dark cloud hanging over the 49ers organization.
00:57What is your response to that?
01:00I don't know.
01:01Is there one?
01:02I mean, they're deciding this, so I guess they're right.
01:05I mean, you can say whatever you want to say.
01:08There's not some ideal things happening, but that happens to other teams, too.
01:14I don't really care what Mike Florio says.
01:17So, I mean, I'm pretty much on the record about that.
01:19He does it to get you guys mad.
01:21He does it to get fans mad.
01:23He does it to get the 49ers mad.
01:25What?
01:25There's a dark cloud over every – there's a dark cloud over 95.7, guys.
01:28There's a dark cloud.
01:29There's a dark cloud.
01:31So, how do you unprove or prove it?
01:33I don't know.
01:34There's stuff that's happened.
01:35Stuff happens to teams.
01:37So, I don't love talking about that speculation.
01:40Maybe I do it too much sometimes, but there's a dark cloud over me.
01:44There's a dark cloud over San Francisco Standard.
01:45There's a dark cloud over the city of San Francisco.
01:47There's a dark cloud over America.
01:48There's a dark cloud over everything.
01:50Yeah?
01:51Okay.
01:52Next.
01:54So, Tim, how would you put it into words?
01:57Because, yeah, my take is I see the stuff you're talking about.
02:01I don't really think it affects the football.
02:03Like, what's your take right now on the football?
02:07Yeah, I mean, that's the way it's set up.
02:09Now, listen, your owner getting arrested and spending a day or two in jail is a big deal.
02:14We've written about it.
02:15That is no question.
02:17Something that they're going to have to deal with.
02:19It is a huge existential issue about how he's from the team, what will happen in the future.
02:25But it's set up.
02:25He's not calling the plays here, right?
02:27He's not even, you know, involved in the cuts to 53 or what scheme they're going to play.
02:32Now, there's some discussion with him in the offseason, I'm sure, about what their plans are and how it's going
02:37to work.
02:38But for this season, for getting ready to play in Melbourne, Australia, in whatever it is, 15 days, whatever it
02:45is, very little deal with it.
02:47This football team is run by Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch.
02:50Obviously, the Kyle Shanahan accident is thrown into this, which Kyle really enjoys, by the way.
02:55He loves the fact that his name is thrown into this.
02:59Yeah, it's been some stuff they've had to deal with, and maybe there will be effects.
03:04But, you know, I don't know if you guys are deciding that there's a dark cloud over them, but, like,
03:08it's stuff that people deal with.
03:10It's human.
03:11People do stuff.
03:12Sometimes it's good.
03:13Sometimes it's bad.
03:14We'll see if the football team is affected by it.
03:16There's injuries, you know, whatever you want to deal with that.
03:20I have covered a lot of football teams.
03:22Football teams do get hurt.
03:23Sometimes they bunch in at a bad time, like they did for the 49ers last season and did two seasons
03:29before that.
03:30You've got to figure out how to deal with that.
03:32So, I don't know.
03:34It gets to be a little bit facetious, I think, on their part.
03:38And I think it gets to be a little overanxious, way overanxious on 49ers fans' part.
03:43Just deal with stuff.
03:44Other teams have stuff to deal with.
03:45This stuff, the two things that have the most focus, which obviously were huge, the Kyle Shanahan accident.
03:53But, you know, we were told from the beginning it looks like he'd be back by the season.
03:56He's back.
03:57You know, we'll see if there's any effects to that.
04:00And the other one is the owner was in jail.
04:02That's not going to affect the season.
04:03It's going to affect everything about them at some point.
04:05No doubt, NFL owners are large figures, but it has nothing to do with this season.
04:13So, if you've got more floral questions from me, I'm going to answer them in a very similar way.
04:17We're not the dark cloud show, Tim.
04:18And I think you know that about me and Mark.
04:20I mean, you know us pretty well.
04:21But I just wonder, being down there, like what are the things that you would say, not that are dark
04:27clouds, but maybe wispy clouds or cumulus clouds?
04:30Like, what are the things that you'd be concerned about?
04:33I'd be concerned about that offensive line.
04:35There's no question.
04:37They went into it with not knowing who's going to start at left guard, wanting to have a competition.
04:42And they don't, they still have a competition.
04:44And maybe they have some guys who've not exactly shown that they deserve that job.
04:48I don't know what they're going to do at left guard.
04:50Dominic Pudi was your set right guard, you know, real solid.
04:55There was no questions.
04:55Now he's been in concussion protocol.
04:57I believe he's back in for the second time this summer.
05:00Well, obviously he won't be playing tomorrow in the preseason finale.
05:03I don't, you know, what they're going to expect for him in Australia.
05:07That's two pretty important things there.
05:09And we know they have not invested in the interior offensive line.
05:14We know they're not layered with super talent.
05:16Certainly don't have first round draft picks except for up for Trent Williams at left tackle.
05:21That would be a big deal.
05:22And, you know, they're playing the Rams, who are really good on defensive front, whether they have Aaron Donald or
05:27not.
05:27We know the interior offensive line is very important.
05:30But we know this is, they don't put a big personnel evaluation on the interior offensive line.
05:35They think they can figure it out with Kyle Shanahan's system, Chris Furster.
05:41It's still a big deal.
05:42You can't just, because they don't put an emphasis on it, doesn't mean that it's not worth wondering what the
05:47hell they're doing there.
05:48So I guess I'll put it, to put it blankly.
05:50I think that's the big one.
05:51And then that's the positional one, I should say.
05:54The big one is they got a bunch of older players who are really good, who are really important, and
05:59I think, frankly, are going to miss some time during the season.
06:02Like, this happens.
06:04It's rare for older players to get through a 17-game season healthy into the playoffs.
06:09Is it going to be a matter of timing?
06:11Is Christian McCaffrey going to miss one game?
06:13Is he going to miss three?
06:14I don't know.
06:14He missed none last season.
06:16We'll see how that works at 30.
06:18You've got George Kill coming off an Achilles tear and has just been activated.
06:22Is he going to play 17?
06:24Is he going to play the first game?
06:25I would think the odds were against that.
06:27Nick Bosa coming off ACL still hasn't really practiced yet.
06:30That we'll see going into this week.
06:32I don't know that they can count on 17 from him.
06:35There's a lot of these guys.
06:37Mike Evans, another one.
06:38These are all very good players.
06:40That's good.
06:41You want good players.
06:42It's also, I think, a list of players that you can't count on to play 17 games.
06:47It's just a matter of do you draw the luck?
06:49Is it 16?
06:50Is it 14 for some of them?
06:51Are some of them going to be eight?
06:54That's a very thin line to walk.
06:57We saw them walk it quite well last season.
07:01In wins and playoff win.
07:03But also, in the end, you're not going to win a lot of playoff games when you have Fred Warner
07:08and Nick Bosa and George Kittle out.
07:11And Brock Purdy missing nine games.
07:14If Brock Purdy misses eight games again, I think they're in trouble.
07:18All these things are known, but it doesn't mean that they're not extremely important to know about and understand that
07:27they're vulnerable there.
07:29Have they layered in enough talent underneath?
07:31I think they've got more than they've had in the past.
07:34It doesn't mean that it's enough.
07:36It's just going to be almost a luck of the draw of how they play, how they get through it.
07:41But that's by far the biggest issue they're facing.
07:44Tim Calcami, SF Standard, is with us here on Withered and Dibs 95.7 The Game.
07:49Tim, we had someone here at the station who I think was at a practice a couple of weeks ago
07:53and stated that, to his eye, George Kittle was running on the side, but he saw a limp.
07:58Now, I was out there yesterday with you.
08:01He looks good to me.
08:03But I also understand the idea of, like, week one is certainly in doubt.
08:07What are you seeing with George's health?
08:10How do you think the Niners play this?
08:13My co-host on the 49ers Plus Minus show, Matt Barrow, says,
08:16George kind of always walks around and runs with a limp.
08:19Like, he kind of has a swagger to him.
08:24I have noticed at times when, you know, he's been on the sideline,
08:27like he's surprised by a ball coming his direction because he's not in the play.
08:30He's on the sideline.
08:31He doesn't look super adept at that.
08:33But I just think it's kind of the way he moves.
08:36And then when he's in a game, he looks fine.
08:40But I've always said I think week one is a bit much given that they have to fly out there
08:46early.
08:46They're going super early.
08:48It's a long flight.
08:49What's his body going to be like after a long flight out if he plays and then a long flight
08:54back?
08:54Are you going to lose him for week two, week three?
08:56And those are important games, too.
08:59I think they're looking at him, you know, realistically back in week two or three.
09:05And if it all goes well, if everything's great, week one.
09:09But I don't think he's quite ready for that, in my opinion.
09:14He probably will violently disagree with me.
09:16But it's a big injury.
09:19He hasn't gone full speed into practice.
09:22Long flight.
09:24These are all decisions they have to make very early.
09:28Yeah, I would agree with whoever said that.
09:30That sometimes you go, hmm, is this guy going to go full speed, you know, knocking into people?
09:35But also, I've thought that during the regular season sometimes when he's been super healthy.
09:40So just if you're a 49er fan, I think don't expect week one.
09:45And maybe even be cautious about week two.
09:48If he makes it back in week two, all the better for the 49ers.
09:52If he makes it back for week one and is healthy through that, that's a bonus.
09:55That's like a bonus game.
09:57Might be starting to be getting, it's a bonus game if they get Mikel Williams back for that game.
10:02At this point, I don't think he's going to make it back for that game.
10:04I think he's going to stay on Pup.
10:07And then you got Bosa is the last one.
10:10And I think that one's more likely than not that he'll be there for week one.
10:14But I don't think it's a guarantee either.
10:16And speaking of Bosa and also Kittle to the extent of like what is left.
10:21And so you fly to Vegas and you play Thursday and then nothing's Friday.
10:24But what is the rest of the schedule like to where you could actually get these guys one more or
10:29two more practices before you get on the flight?
10:32Yeah, it might be like there's only one more serious one because they got the cuts, right?
10:36So, you know, they might have a walkthrough or something, but they're going to be busy cutting people through from
10:42Friday, Saturday, Sunday, the cut, official cut Sunday.
10:45And then they're flying out Wednesday.
10:47So I don't know exactly if the players need another day off in there somewhere.
10:51Maybe there's a practice on Tuesday.
10:54So it almost was like yesterday was the final day of training camp.
10:57Willard showed up.
10:58So they said, if Willard's going to show up, forget this.
11:00It's big.
11:01Big deal.
11:01Big deal.
11:02Yeah.
11:03This is it.
11:04We've been to P here.
11:07But, yeah, it's not a lot of more work that can be done.
11:11I think they've done the work.
11:13Now, do they, you know, they're going to want to see those guys at full speed before they feel good
11:18about bringing them to Australia.
11:19I don't know exactly.
11:21You know, they'll be more like 50 to 75 percent speed.
11:25Maybe that's all you want to put them through at this point.
11:27But it's not much.
11:28It really is.
11:28Once they play this game on Thursday, there's not a lot of left of like evaluation time because they're going
11:36to practice.
11:37Their next real practices might be in Australia.
11:40And are those going to be real practices?
11:43You know, the water is going to be spinning the other direction.
11:46And I don't know all these things.
11:47And I think it was a guy from Australia with the Shania Press.
11:51It's like, do you realize it's going to be winter in Australia when you're there?
11:54And Shania's like genuinely surprised.
11:55Like, what?
11:56Like, is it going to be cold?
11:58I think it actually turns to spring while they're in the air.
12:02So, I don't know.
12:04They'll have jackets on before they board the plane for Australia.
12:08I don't know.
12:09But my understanding is the temperature is going to be just fine.
12:13There's all indications in the high 60s, low 70s.
12:16But it's going to be different there.
12:18I don't know if they can expect to have full practices.
12:21They're not going to bring, obviously, all their players there because they're going to cut a lot of them on
12:25Sunday.
12:26It's going to be weird.
12:28But they'll have to adjust to it.
12:30They'll have to plan for it.
12:32I just think dissent would be not to push it because of this weird schedule for a lot of these
12:38guys.
12:38If they're borderline, get them ready to go week two or week three.
12:41Those games count, too.
12:43Tim, it is currently 7 a.m. tomorrow.
12:45Oh, yeah.
12:46In Melbourne.
12:47And apparently it is 46 degrees at this hour.
12:51But we're heading for 60.
12:53We're heading for 60.
12:54Some clouds.
12:55A little wind out of the northwest at four miles an hour.
12:59Okay.
13:00I'm not going, but I'll alert the 49ers.
13:03They are now aware that it is wintertime now.
13:06But we'll be spring when they get off that plane.
13:08So, obviously, everything's figured out there.
13:11It was funny just to see Kyle's face.
13:13I said he went, winter?
13:15It's going to be wintertime?
13:16Eskimos?
13:17Are we going?
13:18Penguins?
13:18What's going on down there?
13:19What are they trying to figure out tomorrow in this game?
13:22Like, if a Niner fan is sitting down to watch this, what should they be looking for?
13:27I don't know.
13:28I can't – who's going to be the third stringers, I think, essentially?
13:33Left guard, they're going to look at.
13:34I don't know if they're really – I mean, Connor Colby, if he really plays – well,
13:38he might be the starting right guard, frankly, because Poonium is going to be out for that game for sure
13:43and it doesn't really matter.
13:44But is he on pace to play in week one?
13:47I don't know.
13:47If he's not, then Connor Colby's all of a sudden your right guard.
13:50And Carver Willis, the rookie who did not play guard in college, is your starting left guard maybe?
13:56They're waiting for Robert Jones.
13:57I think if Robert Jones is healthy, he has not been healthy.
14:00He's your starting left guard.
14:02He's obviously not going to play on Thursday.
14:03So I think maybe you're looking to see those two young guards play if they do.
14:08But almost like you're kind of scared to play him too much because they might get hurt.
14:12Austin Pleasance, I think, was a surprise entry into the left guard battle in the last game.
14:19And then he plays into the fourth quarter and he gets hurt.
14:22And now maybe he's not an option for this.
14:24So I just would look at some of the younger players, some of the guys who are up for some
14:30of the final spots.
14:31Tatum Bethune versus, you know, Luke Gifford.
14:36Well, I can't even remember.
14:37Luke Gifford.
14:38Luke Gifford might be a linebacker spot.
14:43See, you know, the corners, you know, Priceock, rookie corner.
14:49Is he, you know, who's looking good as a special team?
14:53I know people don't watch special teams.
14:55But I do sometimes in the preseason just to see who's on those teams because sometimes it's a big hint
15:00about who their coaches are hoping to make the team.
15:03But beyond that, I don't think there's going to be a whole lot to see in that because they don't
15:08want these guys that they're going to count on in week one, which we have already said.
15:11It's not it's not everybody.
15:13They don't want to get anyone else hurt because then you're going to have even more injury questions going into
15:18to the Melbourne trip.
15:21I would just say the two guards, whoever's playing a guard, see if they can hold up.
15:27Those might be your starting guards, even if they're third string, quote unquote, third string, second string going into guys
15:34are going to block the Los Angeles Rams and Melbourne on September 10.
15:38I guess bigger picture, like last year they had injuries and they still went 12 and five and won a
15:42road playoff game.
15:43When you look at this team and this roster and a schedule that should be a little bit tougher, how
15:48do you size this year up?
15:49Not in light of a 12 and five year, but when you look at this team, what do you think
15:53about their chances?
15:55Yeah, I think, you know, it's what we kind of thought the end of last year is that this is
15:59a team that could compete, but obviously wasn't as good as the CLT Hawks.
16:03Can they raise their game or hope that the Seahawks drop a little?
16:07I think both things could happen.
16:09I think, you know, Mike Evans is a big step up for them as a wide receiver one.
16:15I think, you know, they've got a rookie class that you can really see getting real snaps, real important snaps,
16:21maybe being good in those snaps.
16:23Deshaun Stribbling is somebody who's been impressive every time he's hit the practice field.
16:27And also, as everyone's seen in the preseason games, I think he's going to get some real plays.
16:31I think he's going to be someone who's going to be important.
16:34Caelan Black, we saw him in the exhibition game.
16:37I think he's going to be important.
16:39Do they get enough from that group and maybe last year's rookies, too, who were solid, to, you know, save
16:48them from a few games when their top guys are out?
16:51And who hold them up maybe while if Kittle and Mikel Williams and Boza aren't playing a weak one?
16:58I don't know that.
16:59I'm not announcing that, but it's very possible.
17:02That's the X factor for them.
17:05Other teams have other X factors.
17:07All could, you know, lift them above the 49ers.
17:10But I just think it's the veterans stay healthy enough, not all the way healthy, healthy enough.
17:17And then do they have this second line, which they haven't really had the last few years, where you can
17:22just count on their backups to make plays, to, you know, stay in there and throw punches with the Rams
17:30and the Seahawks and whoever else they're going to play.
17:32Anyway, they were good enough to be in the mix last season.
17:36If you're good enough in the mix and you haven't lost anybody major and you believe you have some new
17:43additions, I think Osa Adigazua is a major, major piece of this.
17:47Then you got a shot at it.
17:49And then it's stay healthy and it's Brock Purdy.
17:52Can you lift him up?
17:52And he's had a great camp.
17:55I think they can count on him.
17:57And then you take a shot in the playoffs.
18:00I think they're solid.
18:00I don't know that I would put them ahead of the Rams or the Seahawks.
18:04And Las Vegas does not put them ahead of the Rams or the Seahawks.
18:08But you wouldn't have thought they were going to win 12 games last year either, given those injuries.
18:12So I think you put them in there.
18:15Let's see how it plays out.
18:16Let's see who stays healthy.
18:17Let's see if McCaffrey can still be at the top of his game.
18:20Let's see what Raheem Morris' defense is going to look like.
18:23It's going to be different.
18:25It's definitely looked different in camp.
18:27But they have the talent to be right there.
18:29Where we've seen Shanahan pull off wins, like the two ones, the win in Seattle in the regular season, the
18:35win in L.A. in the regular season, when you thought that maybe they didn't have the same kind of
18:39talent level as the other team.
18:41I think they're at the same spot.
18:42And I put them behind those two.
18:44But you can't always count on the ordering in the preseason to tell you how it's going to go.
18:48We couldn't have done that last year with the Seahawks.
18:51You wouldn't have said for sure they're going to the Super Bowl.
18:53I think the 49ers are there with those two teams.
18:56And then it's going to be where the dice roll from there.
18:58But I think they put themselves in a decent situation.
19:01And then these rookies, more so than any class in a lot of years, and I haven't gone through every
19:07single one, but maybe since 2019, where you can go, that's Bosa and Debo, pretty big class, that you can
19:14go, these guys are going to play.
19:16And they're going to be playing not because they have to, but because the coaches want them to, which means
19:22maybe they can make significant play, significant moments.
19:27And, you know, Shriveling, Black, Jaden Duggar, Grayson Halton, these guys have looked really solid, like real NFL players in
19:35camp.
19:35And, again, I have not been able to say that for a lot of years with the 49ers draft class.
19:40Tim Calakami, SF Standard.
19:42Hey, I want to switch gears before you leave, and it's this.
19:46I find you to be really good in terms of understanding the thought process of a team at any given
19:52moment.
19:53So, here's the question.
19:54A year from today, who's more likely to still be with the Giants, Tony Vitello or Rafi Devers?
20:02Oh, I would have said, I'll stick with it.
20:06I think Devers is, just because of that contract.
20:08And now he's starting to hit, and maybe him starting to hit makes him more tradable.
20:13I know I could throw that one out there.
20:15But I think that $31 million a year through 2033 is going to make him very likely to remain on
20:21the Giants, unless they're willing to pay some of it off, even with him hitting like this.
20:25And I don't know how much they're going to be willing to pay off.
20:29And, you know, let's see how the next season goes.
20:32Vitello could be there for five years, but I just think $31 million a year is what I'll go with
20:37more so than on the other side with Vitello.
20:39I don't know how that's going to go.
20:41I think next season, you know, he's going to go into next season.
20:44But then from then on, it's going to be under the microscope.
20:47He starts off, that team starts off slowly.
20:49If there's any issues, maybe there's a chance for a change there where there wasn't going to be this year.
20:57But, you know, let's see it.
20:59I don't really know how good Vitello is as a manager.
21:02I honestly, the way I've said it is, like, I haven't seen any major issues to tell you who he
21:07isn't a good manager, but I sure haven't seen any to tell you that he is a good manager.
21:11By this point, you usually know, right?
21:13You kind of, right?
21:14You kind of know by now or at least have a feeling.
21:16I think you knew for Steven Vogt, you know, in Cleveland.
21:19I think you knew for various other young ones that maybe they didn't have it.
21:24Don't know with him.
21:26I think, you know, if you just throw the two together, who's more important, whose success is more important at
21:33Devers for sure.
21:33He's the most important player on that team because he does have this power.
21:37He's got 29 home runs this season after, you know, being terrible for two months.
21:42It's a hard thing to kind of evaluate.
21:44And I'll keep saying the two months did matter.
21:47Those are the two months that took him out of this.
21:49So him being terrible has to at some point be recorded here.
21:54But the stats since then have been great.
21:56They're paying him so much.
21:57I don't know if they're getting out of him for another year.
21:59And Vitalo, I think, is much more of a question mark.
22:02Tim, you're the best, man.
22:03We always appreciate you.
22:04Thank you so much.
22:06All good, guys.
22:07Good talking to you.
22:07Yep, you too.
22:08Tim Calcami, SF Standard.