Wow, this is awesome to see. Happy for Nate, didnt realize how highly regarded he was!



Matt Maiocco ‏ @MaioccoCSN
49ers rookie minicamp: While all eyes were on WRs A.J. Jenkins and Chris Owusu, I wanted to see Nathan Palmer. http://bit.ly/JzMEQx

Adam Caplan ‏ @caplannfl
I can tell you that Palmer was highly respected in the scouting community prior to the draft, so keep an eye on him in training camp

SANTA CLARA -- First off, it's not as if 49ers first-round draft pick A.J. Jenkins showed up at rookie minicamp with a spare tire around his waist.

Jenkins, the 30th overall pick, thought he was in good physical condition. But the wide receiver from Illinois quickly found out that "good" isn't good enough for what's required for the demands of an NFL camp -- especially when there are only three other receivers to share all of the reps.

Jenkins, Chris Owusu (Stanford), Nathan Palmer (Northern Illinois) and Brian Tyms (Florida Atlantic) are the four receivers at the 49ers' minicamp for rookies and first-year players. And with Jenkins attracting the most eyeballs, it was easy to see that he was suffering the most from fatigue during Friday's two-hour morning workout.

But in the afternoon, Jenkins rebounded nicely and put together a pretty solid showing.

Owusu, wearing No. 81, drew plenty of attention, too. And the speedster responded with a strong first day. There is an element of mystery behind Owusu because he kept a low public profile after his season ended in November with his third concussion in a little more than a year.

Owusu remained out of the spotlight through the draft process. Once viewed as a possible mid-round draft pick, Owusu went undrafted. On Thursday, he answered his first public questions about concussions.

"I don't want to be known as someone surrounded by this topic," he said. "I'm excited to move on with the 49ers. . . . I can't wait to take that first big hit and get right back up."

The rookies wore helmets and no pads during the minicamp practices. Of course, no contact is allowed until training camp opens in late-July.

Owusu ran some nice routes and looked at ease catching passes from "tryout" quarterbacks Jeff Fleming (Sacramento State) and Tavita Pritchard (Stanford). Owusu juked cornerback Gabe Derricks (San Diego, tryout) on a slant to get wide open in the afternoon session. A few moments later, he worked open to catch a pass against Anthony Mosley (Kentucky).

But the wide receiver I most wanted to see was Palmer.

Palmer topped the list of the 49ers' 18 undrafted free agents with a $10,000 signing bonus. Tyms was second at $8,000. Owusu, meanwhile, received $3,000.

Palmer (listed at 5-foot-11, 195 pounds) caught 47 passes for 695 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior. He was not invited to the NFL scouting combine, but he took pre-draft visits to meet with the 49ers, Seattle and Indianapolis.

When he was not among the 253 players drafted, he knew where he wanted to go.

"A lot of teams called," he said, "but I don't think there was any competition. I pretty much knew I was going to come here when they first called. The call from coach (Jim) Harbaugh and Mr. (Trent) Baalke felt very genuine about everything -- the offer and everything. They were up front with me about my chances to make this team and what I'd have to do."

And what Palmer must do is prove that he deserves to stick around. A spot on the 53-man roster appears to be a long shot, but Palmer has a legitimate chance to earn a spot on the practice squad.

"Like anybody else here, I'll get a chance to come out and compete," Palmer said. "Of course, they have Randy Moss, Ted Ginn and (Michael) Crabtree. They have (Mario) Manningham. They got guys who have been here like Kyle Williams. They drafted A.J. Jenkins.

"They told me it's a competition and, 'If you're not scared to compete, this is a good place for you.' It's a great place to come and learn. You can learn from one of the best to ever play, Randy Moss, and a guy who just won a Super Bowl ring, Mario Manningham. You learn from coach (John) Morton, who coached Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. It's a good place for me to learn as a young receiver."

Palmer, who majored in general studies, graduated in December. After this weekend's minicamp, he is not going anywhere. He will join the 49ers' offseason program on Monday, he said.

Palmer has yet to meet Moss, but he said he plans to spend as much time as possible with the 35-year-old veteran. Moss ranks fifth all-time in receiving yards and is tied for second with Terrell Owens, behind Jerry Rice, with 153 touchdown receptions.

"He learned from Cris Carter. I met Cris Carter at our bowl game in Mobile, Alabama, and he was telling me some of the things that he and Randy shared," Palmer said. "Now, it's reverse. Randy is that old, mentor guy that knows a lot about the game. I'm hoping to get in his hip pocket and learn as much as I can and as much as he'll teach me."

Palmer had an impressive opening day on the practice field, including beating cornerback Mosley deep to catch a pass from Fleming in the morning session.

It appears to be a more-talented group of rookie free agents at wide receiver than the 49ers assembled a year ago.

Other notes from the first day of 49ers' rookie minicamp . . .

--Center Chase Beeler (Stanford), who is eligible to participate because he has spent no time on the 53-man roster last season, recently sustained a fractured right hand and underwent surgery. He is expected to resume football activity in a couple of weeks, Harbaugh said.

--Five players lined up to handle kickoff returns: Jenkins, Owusu, running backs LaMichael James (Oregon) and Jewel Hampton (Southern Illinois), and cornerback Deante' Purvis (UNLV). Kickers Giorgio Tavecchio (Cal) and Nate Whitaker (Stanford, tryout) supplied the kickoffs, and the returnmen were outfitted with flags that cover men on each side tried to snare as they hustled down the field.

--Undrafted rookie Joe Holland (Purdue) was stationed at inside linebacker, and he had the most impressive defensive play of the day. He picked up the speedy James out of the backfield and ran with him along the left sideline. Holland turned to find the ball while it was in the air and broke up the pass on the final play of the morning session.

--Mosley made a nice play in the afternoon session when he hung with several Jenkins moves along the right sideline to break up a pass intended for the first-round pick.

--Fifth-round draft pick Darius Fleming (Notre Dame), an outside linebacker, said on Thursday that he was in great shape and ready for the minicamp. On Friday morning, he sustained a hamstring strain and sat out the afternoon session. It was unknown whether he'd be able to participate in the Saturday or Sunday practices.

--Undrafted linebacker Kourtnei Brown (Clemson) also was pulled from the morning practice due to an apparent hamstring tweak but returned in uniform for the afternoon.

--Seventh-round draft pick Cam Johnson (Virginia) and Eric Bakhtiari (San Diego, tryout) worked primarily at outside linebacker with Fleming and Brown out.

--Holland and Michael Wilhoite (Washborn) worked at inside linebacker with Clinton Synder (Stanford, tryout) rotating in.

--The defensive line consisted of left end Matt Masifilo (Stanford), nose tackle Andrew Iupati (Humboldt State, tryout) and right end Patrick Butrym (Wisconsn). Tony Jerod-Eddie (Texas A&M) rotated at left end, with Ekom Udofia (Stanford, tryout) working at nose tackle.

--Purvis and Manu Ngatikaura (San Jose State, tryout) worked at left cornerback, while Mosley, Ben Hannula (San Diego, tryout) and Chris Boudreaux (Nevada, tryout) shared time at right cornerback.

--Cory Nelms (Miami), signed as an undrafted rookie a year ago, and draft pick Trenton Robinson (Michigan State) worked at the safety positions with the first unit. Michael Thomas (Stanford), Mark LeGree (Appalachian State) and Gabe Derricks (San Diego, tryout) rotated in at safety.

--The offensive line consisted of left tackle Al Netter (Northwestern), left guard Garrett Chisolm (South Carolina), center Jason Slowey (Western Oregon), right guard Derek Hall (Stanford) and Kenny Wiggins (Fresno State) at right tackle. Hall rotated in at center, and David Gonzales (Washington State) played right guard.

--Slowey and Pritchard struggled mightily on executing snaps from center. The problem seemed to be more with Pritchard's receiving than Slowey's snaps.

--Fullback Cameron Bell (Northern Illinois) sustained a right hamstring strain early in the Friday morning session. He was the only fullback on the field. So the 49ers used two tight ends for every snap, starting with Konrad Reuland (Stanford) and Garrett Celek (Michigan State), and rotating in Kyle Nelson (New Mexico State) and Luke Nawrocki (Penn, tryout).

--The 49ers' workouts Saturday and Sunday are closed to the media, so there will not be any more reports from the practice field.

http://www.csnbayarea.com/football-san-f...eedID=5936

Go NaPalm! The Hard Way!

Not to say he should have taken the easy way out, but why would you sign with a team with 7 WRs ahead of him on the depth chart, why not sign somewhere that you have a chance of making the NFL roster?

(05-12-2012 02:28 PM)BleedsHuskieRed Wrote:  Not to say he should have taken the easy way out, but why would you sign with a team with 7 WRs ahead of him on the depth chart, why not sign somewhere that you have a chance of making the NFL roster?

Do undrafted free agents ever just make the NFL roster though? He would have to compete anywhere. Why not join a good team like the 49ers instead of Seattle?

Schiller at Falcons camp

(05-12-2012 02:35 PM)timxlydon Wrote:  

(05-12-2012 02:28 PM)BleedsHuskieRed Wrote:  Not to say he should have taken the easy way out, but why would you sign with a team with 7 WRs ahead of him on the depth chart, why not sign somewhere that you have a chance of making the NFL roster?

Do undrafted free agents ever just make the NFL roster though? He would have to compete anywhere. Why not join a good team like the 49ers instead of Seattle?

Because being in the NFL on a bad team is probably better (pay wise, exposure wise, experience wise) than being on a good team's practice squad? I would rather go somewhere and fight for the 4th or 5th spot than fight to catch on with the practice squad.