Editor's note: Clark Judge, Pete Prisco and Mike Freeman are traveling to every NFL training camp and filing daily reports and analysis. Next camp report from Freeman: Cowboys
Niners: Five things to know | 
Freeman
NAPA, Calif. -- After his San Francisco 49ers worked against the Oakland Raiders in a series of drills, offensive coordinator Mike Martz was jokingly asked if Brett Favre was joining the team. Martz didn't really take the bait and rightfully blew off the questioner. Even the quarterback-starved 49ers are probably sick of hearing about Favre.
Quarterback-starved. That's a polite way of putting it. If the 49ers' quarterbacks were countries they would be Latvia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In other words, semi-insignificant and wholly ignored.
| Out of Nowhere Man |
 Quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan is the classic N.M. and has a chance to make the N.H. Hall of Fame. You know you are true N.M. material when you have a realistic chance of beating out the former top pick in the draft. O'Sullivan just might do it. In true N.M. fashion, he has been all over the NFL, including New Orleans, Green Bay, Chicago, Minnesota, New England, Carolina and Detroit. Despite playing in all those places, O'Sullivan's career totals are six games played, 148 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. |
| Who is your Out of Nowhere Man? |
Quarterbacks Alex Smith, J.T. O'Sullivan and Shaun Hill equal frick, frack and freckles.
Somewhere Joe Montana is suiting his old ass up. He's wrapping tape around his wrists, putting on the eye black and throwing passes through the tire in the backyard. I'm fairly certain he could beat out Hill. So could Y.A. Tittle, and he's older than Levi Strauss.
While the 49ers organization has made some solid draft picks in recent years and while, despite his critics, Mike Nolan is still a solid coach, the 49ers have royally bungled their quarterback position. That's mostly why San Francisco is 16-32 over the past three seasons.
Indeed, San Francisco's quarterback situation might be the screwiest in the league. That's due to an absolute rarity in the NFL: a three-way competition. Normally, three-ways are reserved for celebrity sex tapes, not quarterback competitions.
There's an old saying in football. If you have two players rotating at quarterback, you have none. So what does it mean if you have three? Negative one?
"Well, I like all the quarterbacks," said offensive lineman Cody Wallace, doing his best United Nations imitation. "When there's a competition it brings out the best in everyone."
| Community Focus | |
 One man vs. One fan | |
thumper2002: "With the addition of Martz as the OC I'd see the niners winning at least 7 to 8 games this year with Smith having a half way decent year as well as Gore. " |
It's musical chairs, and there is too much music and too many chairs.
"I had no expectations about when my reps would come," O'Sullivan told the media this week. "It's strictly about me being ready. If they would have said 'the first day jump in there', I would have been ready. If they say it a month from now, I'm going to be ready. It's my job to be ready."
The core problem is that San Francisco vastly overrated the ability of Smith. Remember, he was the first overall pick in the 2005 draft and he might lose his starting job to O'Sullivan, a career backup for New Orleans, Green Bay, Minnesota and Detroit. If O'Sullivan beats out Smith, it would be thoroughly humiliating for Smith and in some ways the 49ers as a whole.
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Positives: With Mike Martz taking over as coordinator, you can count on the passing game to improve. Remember, Martz turned Jon Kitna into a quality quarterback, so he should be able to do the same with Alex Smith or Shaun Hill. And with no legitimate No. 1 wide receiver (Isaac Bruce, Bryant Johnson and Arnaz Battle are the leading candidates), expect Martz to depend on Davis. He finished last season strong when Hill took over and closed the year with 26 catches for 252 yards and three touchdowns in his final seven games. Negatives: There are plenty of reasons to be concerned. In two seasons, Davis has yet to play 16 games. He's not exactly fragile yet, but he might miss a couple of games due to injury. Martz also has never had a dynamic tight end. He depends on receivers and running backs to catch passes. And if Smith starts over Hill, he and Davis haven't had the best rapport on the field. It's not like Smith would ignore Davis, but he doesn't always look for his talented tight end. Outlook: Don't be afraid to draft Davis as your No. 1 tight end. He is projected to catch 55 passes for 633 yards and six touchdowns, but he could easily join the group of Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow and Jason Witten as tight ends who play like wide receivers. With Martz at the helm, don't be surprised to see Davis line up outside a lot. This, hopefully, will be his breakout year. -- Jamey Eisenberg RB: Frank Gore (8th overall) QB: Alex Smith (195th overall) WR: Bryant Johnson (134th overall) TE: Vernon Davis (76th overall) |
| 2008 Fantasy Draft Prep |
There is hope, and it's in the form of a brilliant/wacky offensive genius/nutcase in Martz.
If the 49ers get the Martz who engineered the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl and helped turn a former grocery store clerk into a great thrower, then the 49ers might, just might, escape from this quarterback mess. If they get the Martz who ignored the running game while coordinator last season in Detroit, the 49ers are in trouble.
Martz isn't worried about the quarterback situation.
"They're doing a good job," said Martz of his gang of three. "They're still learning. I'm pleased with what they're doing."
Are they up to speed yet?
"No," said Martz, "but everything will fall into place." He later added: "Someone will emerge and we'll see."
O'Sullivan has one distinct advantage. When in Detroit last year he worked under Martz and understands his system. That's why when O'Sullivan gets his various shots to run the offense in training camp he has looked markedly better than Smith and Hill.
There is another piece of decent news. Nolan and Smith have seemed to mostly mend the acid-coated rift they suffered last year. Smith accused Nolan of backstabbing him to teammates by intimating that Smith's damaged shoulder wasn't as bad as Smith was claiming.
At camp, following the 49ers' joint practice with the Raiders, quarterback JaMarcus Russell was asked if he felt for Smith, you know, one top pick to another. Russell didn't quite know how to answer.
"He's got a lot on his plate," Russell said.
One plate.
Three quarterbacks.
