The Good and Not So Good from Week 2 of 49ers OTAs

Another good day for the rookie wide receivers.

May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jacob Cowing (83) runs drills during the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Kupbens-USA TODAY Sports

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just wrapped up Week 2 of OTAs. Here's who stood out. Keep in mind the players didn't wear pads.

THE GOOD

1. LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. He's the starting middle linebacker while Fred Warner sits out because he's too important to participate in OTAs apparently. Today, Flannigan-Fowles read Brock Purdy's eyes while playing zone coverage and intercepted a pass Purdy threw over the middle that was intended for Jacob Cowing. Flannigan-Fowles has been with the 49ers since 2019, which means he has been coached by Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans, and he clearly is the best linebacker on the team other than Warner and Dre Greenlaw.

2. CB Darrell Luter Jr. He intercepted a pass that Brandon Allen airmailed way beyond the intended receiver, Terique Owens. Luter hasn't given up any big catches so far and he is beginning to make some plays when they come to him. His stock is up.

3. WR Ricky Pearsall. He wore the blue non-contact jersey, which means he's slightly injured, but he participated in team drills anyway, and he caught two passes while being covered by Isaac Yiadom (more on him in a minute). Pearsall seems like a good no. 3 receiver for the 49ers because opposing defenses will be focused on covering everyone but him.

4. WR Jacob Cowing. Played significant snaps with the starters and made a difficult contested catch 20 yards downfield running a dig route in front of strong safety George Odum. Cowing is a very small target, but he's fearless and he plays bigger than his frame plus Brock Purdy already seems to trust him.

5. WR Jauan Jennings. Didn't participate in team drills, but finally showed up to OTAs because he signed a one-year contract extension through 2025. Now it's even more difficult to figure out why the 49ers drafted a wide receiver in Round 1.

5. WR Deebo Samuel. Caught only one pass in team drills, but at least he actually participated in them for the second week in a row unlike every other captain on the team besides Purdy. So either Samuel is incredibly motivated to prove the 49ers wrong for drafting Pearsall in Round 1 or he's preparing to get traded after June 1 and he's showing his next team that he's in shape and ready to play.

6. WR Tay Martin. The only wide receiver on the team who beat Deommodore Lenoir during team drills. Martin beat him with a quick out route from the slot and talked trash after making the catch. Martin is making a push to be the no. 6 receiver on the depth chart. He's competing with Ronnie Bell and Danny Gray.

7. CB Renardo Green. Played nickelback for the second-team defense and broke up a pass over the middle intended for Ronnie Bell. Green covered him man-to-man with ease. It's still early, but he appears to be the third-best cornerback on the team after Charvarius Ward and Lenoir.

8. RB Jordan Mason. Made three difficult catches away from his frame during team drills, as opposed to Elijah Mitchell who couldn't make a difficult catch if his career depended on it. Mason is better than Mitchell in every way.

9. QB Joshua Dobbs. Completed a 30-yard deep pass up the sideline to Kyle Juszczyk, who was wide open, so this pass wasn't that great. In fact, it was underthrown. But at least it was complete. Jimmy Garoppolo would have sailed it out of bounds.

THE NOT SO GOOD

1. QB Brock Purdy. He's a good quarterback and he made some nice throws today as he does every time he takes the practice field. He's decisive, accurate and he throws with anticipation. But he also has weaknesses that he could improve, one of which is throwing deep passes near the sideline. Today, he threw a deep pass to Jacob Cowing who had a step on Deommodore Lenoir up the left sideline, but Purdy's pass landed out of bounds. Purdy also has a tendency to force passes over the middle, which he did today when he got intercepted by Flannigan-Fowles. It will be interesting to see if Purdy can turn these weaknesses into strengths this offseason.

2. DE Nick Bosa. Showed up to practice but didn't actually participate. Which makes me feel silly for praising him for practicing last week. Congrats on doing the bare minimum, Nick.

3. CB Isaac Yiadom. Gave every receiver he faced a ridiculously big cushion and then got torched repeatedly. Yiadom might be even worse than Ambry Thomas, which is saying something.

4. CB Ambry Thomas. Lined up 10 yards off Trent Taylor, who's slow, and then conceded an easy 10-yard catch to him. Taylor probably won't even make the team, which means Thomas might not, either.

5. CB Samuel Womack. Gave up a 15-yard catch over the middle to Ronnie Bell and then on the next play committed a pass interference penalty trying to cover a fade route by Terique Owens. The 49ers sure have lots of bad cornerbacks.

6. RB Elijah Mitchell. Tried to catch a pass that was thrown slightly over his head while running wide open up the seam and dropped it. Mitchell is a terrible receiver who's not nearly the runner he used to be.

7. RB Isaac Guerendo. Had the worst run of the day when he slipped at the line of scrimmage and fell face-first into the back of his offensive linemen. Guerendo clearly is big and fast, but he seems indecisive, he doesn't seem to find daylight consistently and he doesn't appear to be a natural receiver. He's a project.