San Francisco 49ers

With Mike Martz calling the plays for the Niners this season look for them to use extra WRs instead of a classic fullback often.  That’s bad news for Moran Norris who is a good lead blocker in the running game but that’s about the extent of his skills.  He played in 16 games (5 starts) for the 49ers last season and he carried the ball 7 times for 17 yards (2.4 ypc).  He also caught 6 passes for 38 yards (6.3 avg).  Look for the 49ers to use Norris on more special teams units as they will try to keep him busy this season.  Norris has now played in 92 games (30 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 10 times for 25 yards (2.5 ypc).  He has also caught 23 passes for 131 yards (5.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs in his career.

Converted linebacker Zak Keasey will be the backup at fullback this season.  He has the size for the job at 6′0″, 245 pounds but he will have a lot to learn before he’s ready for the field on Sundays.  Keasey played in 13 games (0 starts) for the 49ers last season and he made 7 tackles.  He has only played in one other game in his career and he didn’t do anything in it.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C

The San Francisco 49ers have claimed undrafted rookie Kyle Wright off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.  Wright is a big guy at 6′4″, 220 pounds but he’s not the toughest guy around as he gets gun shy after taking hits.  He was very hyped coming out of high school but he never lived up to it at Miami (Fla).  Wright played in 33 games (29 starts) at Miami (Fla) and he completed 478 of 807 passes (59.2%) for 5,835 yards with 38 TD passes and 31 interceptions.  Wright has a strong arm but he has a lot to learn about playing QB.  It will be interesting to see how well Wright adusts to the 49ers playbook.