The college season starts the week before as well I think. Ah American Football heaven for 6 glorious months. My poor poor girlfriend.
Any 49ers fans on here? Worried for the coming season? I would be!
Not sure if worried is the right term as I don't think we're under any illusions as to what to expect this year. Our D has been decimated for various reasons (age: Justin Smith, injury: Patrick Willis, concerns: Chris Borland and stupidity: Aldon Smith). Thankfully Bowman is back and really hoping he is fully recovered from his knee injury. He hasn't rushed back from it, so hope it is fully behind him. He looked v good in the 3 snaps he played last night - 3 snaps, 3 tackles (2 for loss).
So I think our D will be solid overall, but we won't be able to rely on it to keep us close, which is what we have been doing.
I hope our offense starts to click a bit more. Last season was extremely disappointing - if it had gone to a doctor it would have been diagnosed as schizophrenic. We had no real identity, and appeared to want to switch from a running team to a 3 wide passing team and random (and often inopportune) moments during games.
I love watching Kaepernick play. He can be frustrating, but can also be very exciting. Kap is never going to be a pocket passer, so hopefully the O will play to his strengths more this year - and that he can get more protection from the O line.
I think the additions we have made on the offense are good ones - Torrey Smith is a good upgrade over Crabtree (I liked Crabtree, but we have missed having top level speed in that position for a while). Smith should be able to stretch the field a bit more, and Kap need to be more accurate on his deep throws. We also need to get Vernon Davis more involved in the passing game this year - he was almost absent last year. I think he is going to have a great year personally. The other change is that I hope we throw to our RBs more. That has traditionally been a large component of the 49ers, and would be good to get back to that - particularly with having Reggie Bush on the team. Having that option will help Kaepernick I think.
Finally, am loving seeing the impact Jarryd Hayne is having. Having played both sports myself, I was intrigued to see how he would handle the transition, but he seems to be doing very well so far. Of course, it is early days - and preseason days at that. But he is a serious athlete and will make plays in the open field. I really hope he makes the team - I think his performances on special teams should ensure this. His punt returns have been excellent so far - particularly his over the shoulder catch and return against the Cowboys last night, and he is also the first player downfield on our kickoffs.