San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco/Bay Area region hit the jackpot Tuesday afternoon, as they were voted the host site for Super Bowl 50. Opponents aside, this will be the biggest Super Bowl until Super Bowl 100, which makes for pretty sweet recognition for the region. Throughout this process, Jed York and Super Bowl committee chairman Daniel Lurie have emphasized the importance of regional support. In recent press conferences, the committee has involved a variety of mayors including San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Santa Clara Mayor Matthews and San Jose Mayor Reed. The bid included events in San Francisco, Santa Clara, as well as locations reserved in Oakland and along the Peninsula. The NFL Experience will take place along the Embarcadero to the Moscone Center. The game and media day will take place in Santa Clara at the 49ers stadium. NFL owners will get tee times at Pebble Beach and visit wineries in Napa. All in all, it's all about the region as a whole. After the Bay Area was announced as the host site, York and Lurie emphasized how important it was that they got support from across the region. I asked two members of the bid committee about the interaction between the mayors and they were pleased with how it worked out. Lurie had expected that to be a potential obstacle, but it ended up being no problem at all. This is not particularly surprising given that Ed Lee took office after the 49ers had already figured out their plans for Santa Clara. And with San Francisco likely getting the lion's share of the revenue, I imagine they were more than willing to do whatever was necessary to make this a success. This all got me thinking about where the 49ers are headed in the region. The Raiders have a vocal fan base, but with the 49ers moving down to Santa Clara while likely retaining most if not all of their San Francisco support, they are making strides toward taking over the Bay Area. They had South Bay fans already, but the move down could help boost that fan base even further. This reminds me to some extent what the Giants have been doing. Obviously, the Giants remain in San Francisco, but multiple factors have helped them become a regional giant (pun really not intended!). They have had great success on the field in recent years, they hold South Bay television rights and the Oakland A's own stadium and attendance struggles have created more of a void for the more bandwagon type of Bay area fans. The Oakland Raiders are not nearly at the level of the Oakland A's, and I think they can remain sufficiently popular, but the 49ers are now in a position to take over the bandwagon fans. They could eventually lose these kinds of fans, but the Super Bowl, the new stadium and the team's success and strong football/business model seems to be putting them in a position to climb even further up the ladder. They are back in the hearts of some of the more fickle fans, but the stars are aligning to become a truly dominant presence in the NFL beyond just the on-field product.

By all accounts, Kendall Hunter will return from injury in time from training camp. The injury he suffered -- an Achilles tear -- is a serious one, but it it's not usually a death sentence for the careers of running backs. Hunter is a very tough player, is well ahead of his rehab schedule, and should enter training camp as the No. 2 back behind Frank Gore, the long-time starter for the San Francisco 49ers. Second-year back LaMichael James will be battling Hunter for playing time. In the future, Hunter and James might play in harmony as primary back and change-of-pace back, but for now, with Gore still getting plenty of carries, the two will be competing for carries behind him. Personally, I think it won't be a close competition. Hunter was great value for the 49ers, and was flashing signs of brilliance before he went down with the injury. Last season, he rushed the ball 72 times for 371 yards, good for a per carry average of 5.2 yards. That YPC was higher than Gore, James and every other running back in the NFC West. Does that mean Hunter is better than those players? No, not necessarily, but he's young, with a great burst, a stocky build and he's only going to get better. Everything Hunter has shown leads me to believe he can be a starting running back in the NFL. He may not have finished with 1,000 yards or anything along those lines last season, but I think he was well on his way to big things before his injury. My bold prediction is that Hunter will beat out James for carries, and that he'll have at least 700 yards next season -- rushing. Keep in mind that, were it not for Hunter's injury, we'd probably have kept Brandon Jacobs and given him six or seven more carries over the course of last season, and James would have sat on the sidelines. We'd be asking the same questions about James that we're asking about A.J. Jenkins now. I think James can end up being a quality back in the NFL. He'll be a solid change-of-pace guy and could be used in a lot of different ways, but I'm fully on board with the Hunter hype train and I'm sticking to my prediction. Let's call it 750 yards, a 4.9 YPC and, accordingly, 153 carries. What say you?

(Jack Gruber/USA Today Sports) With the way the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans have played over the last two seasons, there’s a good chance these two teams will have the opportunity to host and play in the Super Bowl a few years from now. San Francisco selected to host Super Bowl L in 2016 — Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) May 21, 2013 Houston to host Super Bowl LI in 2017 — Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) May 21, 2013 The NFL announced on Tuesday that San Francisco was awarded as the winner to host Super Bowl L in 2016 while Houston will host Super Bowl LI the following year. Over the last two seasons, the 49ers and Texans have emerged as two of the top teams in the NFL that seem capable of being contenders for years to come–so it will certainly be interesting to see if either if these squads will have what it takes to make history by becoming the first team to play in the Super Bowl their city is hosting. It’s good to see the NFL reward these two cities with the opportunity to host the Super Bowl in 2016 and 2017 considering all of the recent controversy surrounding New York (or New Jersey if you want the real place) hosting this year’s big game. Everybody is worried about cold weather playing a factor in February with the way New York gets from a temperature perspective that time of year, but with the way the weather is in San Francisco and Houston this time of year–it most likely won’t be an issue. Either way, it will be exciting to see if the 49ers and Texans can remain contenders over the next couple of years for the chance to make history. “Like” Dan Parzych on Facebook Be sure to follow Dan on Twitter @DanParzych

San Francisco Committee Chairman Daniel Lurie expresses his excitement for the 49ers and the city to host Super Bowl L.

The San Francisco 49ers have won the bid to host the Super Bowl on it’s 50th anniversary in 2016.  The decision was made by the NFL owners, who chose San Francisco over Miami. The city of Miami was recently denied 350 million dollars in stadium improvements by the state legislature which greatly diminished their chances. The 49ers, on the other hand, are set to move into their new 1.2 billion dollar stadium in 2014. Levi’s Stadium, which began construction in April of 2012, was the center piece of the 49ers’ bid to host the game. The Stadium’s construction is nearly half way done as all of steel work  is complete. The venue, which was planned to hold 68,500 people, is being built to accommodate additional seating up to 75,000. The NFL requires stadiums to have a capacity of 70,000 or greater in order to host the Super Bowl. The league was provided with a map that included the added seats. The NFL owners have shown a tendency to select new stadiums as the venue for the Super Bowl. This year’s game will take place at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. Recent games have also taken place at newer stadiums in Indianapolis and Dallas. Securing the Super Bowl is another step forward for the franchise that returned to prominence in 2011. The 49ers continue to take steps forward not only on the field, but as an organization. Kudos to Jed York and the San Francisco 49ers. -Al Sacco @ninerscommunity

The 50th anniversary of the most prestigious game in professional sports will take place in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In a result that should surprise nobody, the San Francisco Bay Area has been named the host site for Super Bowl 50. The region beat out Miami/South Florida in a vote that was likely in the bag two weeks ago after the Florida legislature elected not to vote on a financing bill for renovations to Sun Life Stadium. The NFL talks about how San Francisco presented the more exceptional bid, and how it is not about requiring teams improve their stadiums. But at the end of the day, a big part of the process is having a shiny facility for the game. Miami did not have it, San Francisco did have it. The San Francisco committee overwhelmed the owners with their proposal and that means the region gets the historic 50th Super Bowl. This will mark the second Bay Area Super Bowl. Stanford Stadium was the host site for Super Bowl XIX, in which the 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins 38-16. I think it's safe to say the highlight of all this would be if the 49ers managed to advance to Super Bowl 50 not only in their home region, but in their home stadium. Even though Super Bowl tickets are hard to come by, I have a hunch such a Super Bowl would draw a slightly partisan crowd. This announcement is an exclamation mark on a process that really began 15+ years ago when Eddie DeBartolo began efforts to get the 49ers a new stadium. The effort stalled out, but his nephew, current 49ers CEO Jed York, took the ball and ran with it over the last five or so years. York worked with Santa Clara to get a stadium deal done, and it was done in a manner that opened the door for hosting arguably the most historic Super Bowl to date. Now, let's just make sure the 49ers are playing that day!

The world needs a joke about the over-saturation of mock drafts like the world needs more mock drafts, but just as Tantalus could never stray from low-hanging fruit, it appears that I must indulge myself. Yes, the NFL and the Players Association are discussing the possibility of moving the NFL Draft from mid-to-late April to sometime in May. And this means more precious time to craft the all-important mock drafts. In addition to the potential change in draft scheduling, the NFL and NFLPA might move the start of the new league schedule to before the combine. Free agency might start in early April, which would be after the combine in March. This could have a few consequences for free agency, and it really isn't helpful to speculate what consequences these would be, yet, since the exact starting date of FA under this new schedule is still unknown. If free agency ends up being earlier, due to the earlier start of the league year, then it makes it more difficult on teams to sign big name players without having seen the nascent rookie class at the combine. But, if the start of FA does get pushed back to April I imagine players (and thus the NFLPA) might not be too happy. Generally it seems like players prefer to get signed quickly so that they, you know, have a job and a new place to live. What whiners. Ultimately this news leaves me asking, to what end, NFL? To what end? I just don't understand why this is a priority. The NFL seems incapable of leaving something alone, instead wishing to make the offseason more wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey than a Steven Moffat screenplay (John Hurt, ftw!). Instinctively, though? It's about the money. In my mind, the NFL Draft is the epitome of the NFL's attitude toward making money -- which is, let's do a lot of it. Now, I don't mind that too much. I like the NFL and want it to provide me the best product it can. If having money makes that easier, then great! But, when it comes to the Draft, the NFL doesn't care about being subtle. Not at all. It's one of the most ostentatious celebrations of pulling in money for almost no reason (and I'm guilty, because I watch it and all those commercials are boring their way into my brain). So, I am going to guess that if the NFL moves the date of the draft for any reason, we can probably start looking at their wallets.

Last season, a couple players on the roster "turned the corner," so to speak. One player in particular was wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Everyone has their own opinion of Crabtree -- mine has always been one of slight disappointment, and at the beginning of last year, I was beginning to have my doubts about him in the NFL. But Crabtree came out of the gate running, and though he didn't snare a touchdown reception until Week 5, he made up for it with three multi-touchdown games in the regular season. In the end, Crabtree had nine touchdown grabs, 88 receptions and 1,105 yards, all of which were career highs. Next season, Crabtree will have all the expectations of a player who has turned the corner and joined the NFL's elite. Who could be that player this season? There's plenty of players on the 49ers who are good, or have high potential, or are people we just really want to succeed. But who is likely to turn the corner? I've got a few. CB Chris Culliver I wasn't a HUGE fan of the Chris Culliver pick when it was made, but hey, most of us weren't, to begin with. Culliver has had something of a weird career thus far. A lot of people found a few particular stats from Pro Football Focus and ran with them and Culliver got this weird reputation as being this incredibly good corner on the deep ball, when in actual practice, Culliver showed a pretty big liability when the pressure was on in those situations. That said, he's incredibly quick and a competent cover corner in most situations. Him getting totally lost in the secondary is something that can be worked on, and if he's going to put it all together and become a great starting corner in the NFL, it might just happen this season. I'm a fan of Culliver, despite his flaws (both character and on the field) and though I count myself among his more negative critics, I do believe that he will put it together this year. RT Anthony Davis While the 49ers have the best offensive line in football, right tackle Anthony Davis hasn't necessarily had that career-defining, dominant season on the right side. Alex Boone is already there at right guard, and Davis looked a bit better than he actually was last year. He struggled against the speed rushers on the outside, once again, and that remains his biggest flaw to date. But Davis has already proven a lot of doubters wrong, and has been surprisingly solid given his lack of seasoning since entering the league. We'd like to see him come out of the gate and go post to post without having any major breakdowns, though, and maybe this is the year it all goes right. RB Kendall Hunter I firmly believe this season will be the most important season in recent memory when it comes to the running back position. Provided Marcus Lattimore returns to form, the 49ers have three running backs that I believe can be starters on the roster. LaMichael James was pushed onto the field before the 49ers wanted him there last season, but had Kendall Hunter not been injured, we'd all be sitting here wondering if he'll ever play, much like we do with wide receiver A.J. Jenkins. That's because Hunter looked like he might have been turning the corner last season, before getting injured. He had 371 yards off of 72 attempts, good for a per carry average of 5.2 yards. For reference, that was a higher average than any running back in the NFC West. By all accounts Hunter will be back in time for next season, and I firmly expect him to take over the primary backup duties and, accordingly, wow the rest of the league. Who are your choices?

The San Francisco 49ers start up OTAs today, and position battles move one small step closer to resolution. Yesterday, we took a look at the offensive positions up for grabs, and today we are going to take a look at the defensive positions up for grabs. OTAs will probably tell us less for the defensive position battles because offensive players generally have the advantage during these activities. There is no live contact, so we don't get bump-and-run drills or any real physicality. Cornerback Participants: Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown, Chris Culliver, Nnamdi Asomugha, Perrish Cox, Tramaine Brock Aside from Tarell Brown and Chris Culliver, how much do we really know about this group. I would be quite surprised to see Carlos Rogers get the axe, but I suppose anything is possible if Nnamdi or anybody else steps up over the next three months. I list everybody for the cornerback position because we just don't know who will end up where. The last two years, Rogers and Brown have started, and Culliver has come on in nickel situations. Now, a lot of it will be depend on what Nnamdi has left in the tank, and how the team feels Chris Culliver has progressed. Leaders: I am fairly comfortable in the idea that Tarell Brown will be one of the two starting cornerbacks. I could very well see Chris Culliver emerging as the other starter at this point. The second starting cornerback spot is Carlos Rogers' to lose, but he slipped enough last year that I think his role will decrease. Of course, that's where Nnamdi and Perrish Cox come into play. We don't know what Nnamdi has left, so it's hard to project where he will be at in August. As for Cox, he sat out the 2011 season, so this second year back in action will be an interesting one to follow. It sounds like Nnamdi is impressing at this point in the offseason workout program, but we can only take so much from that before we advance to full-padded workouts. Backup outside linebacker Participants: Parys Haralson, Corey Lemonier, Darius Fleming, Cam Johnson Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks will get the lion's share of the work at outside linebacker, but the 49ers need to find a third guy who can spell them more than just in blowouts. The 49ers need to be able to rotate their outside linebackers and have a fresh option to boost their pass rush. Parys Haralson is the veteran coming off a season on injured reserve, but his sack totals were declining as a starter each year from his career year. The 49ers have a lot of unknown quantities after Haralson. Darius Fleming spent last season on the injured list and I know some here have discussed him as an inside linebacker option. Cam Johnson was on the practice squad most of the season, and then inactive late in the season. Corey Lemonier was a third round pick who much like Aldon Smith will be making the transition from college defensive end to NFL outside linebacker. Leader: The real question here is how many outside linebackers the 49ers keep after Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks. If they keep two, it would make sense to keep a veteran like Haralson and then Lemonier. If they keep one, Haralson is more likely to be on the chopping block. The 49ers kept three last year, but I think this year they go with a fourth. I honestly don't know what to make of where Fleming and Johnson end up. I think the team will try and slip one or both to the practice squad. Safety Participants: Eric Reid, C.J. Spillman, Trenton Robinson, Darcel McBath, Michael Thomas This is a mix of the free safety and third safety roles. Eric Reid will have the edge at free safety, but I could see the real battle being for that next role. Spillman has plenty of experience in the 49ers defense. Robinson and Thomas are each entering their second, with Robinson spending most of the season inactive and Thomas spending the season on the practice squad. Darcel McBath was among the team's leading special teamers in 2013, but the team did not tender him as a restricted free agent, before sig