Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Sunday, January 5th, 2024
Bobby Turner’s knack with 49ers running backs still going strong at 75 (paywall)
“Not long after Mike Shanahan hired Turner, he approached quarterback John Elway with a stack of papers. It was the voluminous test Turner made his running backs take the day before a game. And it wasn’t limited to questions about their position.
“I gave it to Elway and said, ‘John, this is what good coaches do,’” Mike Shanahan said. “‘Look at the detail that he has. And the questions that he’s asking the running backs. It’s got to make you feel pretty comfortable when you’ve got assistant coaches that are asking everybody’s responsibility.’”
Elway, one of the greatest QBs in NFL history who was then deep into his 16-season career, was stunned. And stumped.
“John looked at it and he goes, ‘I couldn’t answer these questions,’” Mike Shanahan said, laughing. “I’m like, ‘I know. If you have a guy like this, he can make you look good.’”
Three decades later, Turner is still administering his tests, which Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk says are typically about “eight pages thick.” The 49ers’ newest running back, Israel Abanikanda, took the test not long after he was claimed off waivers from the Jets on Dec. 3. Abanikanda was understandably “confused” and left many questions blank.
Abanikanda had a legitimate excuse, but Turner has a strict edict: No excuses.
“Coach Bobby told me, ‘Study your iPad, so next time it’s not empty,’” Abanikanda said, smiling. “So I made sure next time it wasn’t empty.”
Said Kyle Shanahan: “I’ll have a running back come up to me the night before a game and say, ‘Can you help me out with one of Bobby’s 200 test questions? ’ I’ll look at question 130 and be like, ‘Dude, this hasn’t been (in a game plan) for three years. Don’t worry that you don’t know this.’ He’ll be like, ‘OK, but don’t tell Bobby.’”
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Wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who moonlights at running back, said Turner is a stickler for having his feet 7½ yards behind the line of scrimmage on certain plays “and it can’t be 7½ yards point two.”
“You do worry about it sometimes,” Shanahan said. “I mean, a guy will know where his toes are (supposed to be) and he doesn’t need to be yelled at every second for it. I guarantee Christian knows. And (Juszczyk). But he doesn’t mind acting crazy and the guys eventually understand this is who Bobby is. And he won’t change for anyone. And it’s guaranteed that he’ll make them better.”
49ers roundtable: Cue up the offseason drama, priorities and predictions (paywall)
“Ann is absolutely right about the pressing need to strengthen the offensive and defensive lines. It’s natural to focus on the marquee positions, but the 49ers built their recent success on running the ball and stopping the run — i.e., controlling the line of scrimmage. That didn’t happen often this season, especially when Trent Williams (who turns 37 in July) and Javon Hargrave (32 next month) went down with injuries. The 49ers need to add capable linemen, as they did in last year’s draft with guard Dominick Puni.”
49ers activate Taylor to face Cardinals, place Burford on IR
“Taylor and undrafted rookie offensive lineman Drake Nugent were flexed up from the practice squad to play on Sunday.
In addition, the 49ers activated defensive lineman Alex Barrett and linebacker DeShaun White from the practice squad.”