Training Camp Battle | Demetrius Flannigan Fowles vs Marcelino McCrary Ball

[Music] it's always the 49ers way from off season to game days yeah we talked back it's the 49ers cup [Music] it's 49ers cut back podcast time welcome to the show gonna be talking about a training camp battle that's going to be heating up really quickly when the 49ers get into training camp these guys are an absolute Collision Course and that's Demetrius Flanagan fouls the veteran against Marcelino McCrary ball who's looking to make an impact in his sophomore season with the 49ers of course McCrary ball did not make the 49ers 53-man roster coming out of training camp but he was highly touted and very much so uh the coaching staff talks in a positive manner about marshallina McCrary ball so we got dff versus MMB it's going to be a fun matchup and you might ask me hey why are you putting these two particular players against each other at the linebacker position well if you watched my breakdown of the depth chart Demetrius Flanagan fouls is the 149er that has experience playing Mike linebacker and he has experience playing Mike linebacker for the 49ers Flanagan fouls of course has been with the 49ers Organization for a few years and has developed the ability to play Mike the 49ers lost their normal backup Mike linebacker when azizal Shire went to Tennessee when he went to the Tennessee Titans out went the capable body that could step in in case of an injury to Fred Warner and be able to lead the charge for the 49ers defense that's not what Drake Greenlaw does Greg Greenlaw plays Will linebacker he pretty much plays there all the time he doesn't move a whole lot except for when the 49ers get into sub packages when the 49ers get into a nickel or a dime usually the nickel you'll see uh green Law stay inside and play The Run and play the interior part of the defense while Fred Warner will go out in coverage and cover on the outside a little bit sometimes in the slot picking up a tight end as you've seen in the playoff game picking up CD lamb that's where they kind of switch off but it doesn't change who makes the calls Fred Warner still makes the calls and is still the general of the defense so very green law is not equipped to wearing the helmet he's not somebody that's made the calls in the Huddle or made the the changes on the field could the 49ers ultimately go to that at some point yes they could but that hasn't been what they've done throughout uh green loss career and even in OTAs and mini camp this year of 2023. so the 49ers have a little bit of a conundrum who do you play at the Mike linebacker spot behind Fred Warner that guy is gonna make this football team because right now there could be a battle at the Sam linebacker spot we know Aziz Shire leaves that leaves a vacancy and you have a lot of suitors for that position Flanagan fouls is one of them when you start to hear that OTAs and mini camp showed us that McCrary ball is going to take some reps at Mike linebacker it starts to make you think if the 49ers value Marcelina McCurry ball as a Mike linebacker that will be an Avenue for him to be able to make the team in that case his direct competition for that backup middle linebacker job is Demetrius Flanagan fouls but one of these guys is going to make the roster and one of them may not now there's always the chance both of them could make it with one of them playing the off ball linebacker and not Mike but the reality is both one or both of them will make it so they're in direct competition with each other to see who will be the backup Mike linebacker behind Fred Warner the query ball comes in and he's a guy that was a little undersized in his rookie season but showed a lot of speed showed a quick transition ability to play linebacker coming from safety he was a very highly touted by 49ers coaches enough so that when he came off the practice squad most practice squad players hit a Futures Contract that's not what they did with Marcelino McCurry ball they signed him to a one-year deal they value McCrary ball and for good reason you could see the instincts and the way that he went about playing the game last year in the preseason including having an interception but making plays and tackles that made you think Hmm there's something there and the 49ers didn't shy away from the fact that they really liked him and liked his abilities they liked his intangibles his intelligence those are all good things for the San Francisco 49ers and for Marcelina McCrary ball yet standing in his way as Demetrius Flooding at fouls now Flanagan fouls wasn't tendered a restricted free agent contract and they basically let him go he ended up coming back to the 49ers on a team friendly deal and part of the reason Flanagan fouls is somebody the 49ers won on their rosters number one the ability to play all three linebacker positions no number two he knows exactly what coach Hollins wants from a linebacker he has nice chemistry with Fred Warner and Drake Greenlaw but also he could compete at the Sam backer spot with Oren Burks if that's what's needed you throw in the fact that you got a guy that's really good at special teams and that means you've got a formidable force that has all the abilities you're looking for in a backup linebacker to make the team so what is McCrary ball have to do to beat the veteran Demetrius Flanagan fouls and make this football team I think he just needs to continue to increase his abilities as far as is filling his flow getting downhill shedding tack or shedding blocks to be able to make tackles he's got to show that he's a legitimate Force at linebacker we've seen flatting and fouls improve tremendously over the last year it was not that long ago that he was really struggling to transition to playing linebacker in the NFL he was handling special teams at a high level but handling linebacker was a struggle it's not like his stats are really great either most of them come from Special Teams but we did see him make a couple impact plays including a sack last year that's Flanagan fouls we haven't been able to see marcelyn McCrary ball play in a game yet during the regular season but that could be incoming so the 49ers have to decide who can handle making the calls the best who can be able to adjust on the Fly that's going to be interesting you would think that would give Flanagan fouls a little bit of an advantage because he understands the 49er scheme and terminology and has probably seen a lot more from opposing offenses including the ones that they've played before in the NFC West but Marcelina McCrary ball has Demetrius Flanigan fouls in a few categories physically number one he brings more of a boom when he hits he comes in there like a guided missile and makes plays but he hits the instincts to go ahead and get interceptions the ability to cover in space definitely is something the 49ers like also the sideline the sideline abilities there with Marceline and McCrary ball so the question marks is how much has Marcelino McCurry ball improved from last year during training camp I was out there and I saw him improve every day that I was able to watch him just seemed like he was having a steady incline in his abilities and also the ability to take in more knowledge and then be able to apply it to what he was doing on the field I thought he improved rapidly and you saw that rapid Improvement continue through the preseason here's where the problem Lies We don't know how much better he got from the last preseason game all the way till now how much has that practice benefited Marcelina McCrory ball how much of the Playbook has he been able to consume how much has he learned from Fred Warner about being able to determine what an offense is going to do and be able to check your defense in and out to move defensive lineman where you need to move him to make sure you can get the correct strength call called there's a lot of things that go into playing Mike linebacker Flanagan fouls might in fact be a little ahead right now of Marcelina McCurry ball as far as knowing what to do and being able to operate a second unit of linebackers for this 49ers defense but that doesn't mean that Mercury ball can't catch him and pass him like I said physically gifted wise Marcelina McCurry ball is very gifted and he's going to be able to do all the physical things you need him to do the question more so is how quickly can he pick up on what he's supposed to do as far as defensive calls he can handle himself he's going to slide right in there because I know the 49ers would love to have a linebacker that just flashes the way Marcelina McCurry ball does in fact the 49ers would love for all three of their young young linebackers to be able to make an impact at some point with Marceline Mercury ball d-winners and Jalen Graham you have three young guys the 49ers can feel confident may be able to eventually step into the starting lineup if asked to and be able to play at a pretty high level that's why they continue to bring these guys in the one thing we can all say is that coach Hollins and demeko Ryan's have always been able to develop linebackers now with D'Amico on the move and the head coach in Houston it falls on Hollins but we've seen so much success with undrafted free agents of late round draft picks at the linebacker position that you almost see it as a foregone conclusion that it's going to happen coach Hollins is expected to shape Marceline and Mercury ball an undrafted free agent into the next big thing and Demetrius Flanagan fouls another one of those guys is trying to hold on to his roster spot because if flanning and fouls doesn't win the backup Mike linebacker job there's a real chance he doesn't make this 49ers roster that means he's on the practice squad headed to Houston headed to the New York Jets trying to find a place to fit in the NFL with a special team's prowess he could probably end up Landing somewhere but he could end up Just landing on the 49ers practice squad that's how important this battle is going to be in training camp the veteran versus the upstart the athletic ability versus the knowledge and how quickly can that knowledge come to that young player aquarie ball gets it he's going to win this job and he's going to be the backup to Fred Warner at Mike while he's there he might as well compete with Oren Burks potentially win the Sam linebacker job even though I think Galen Graham and D winners are going to have something to say about that so it's going to be lots of battles at the linebacker position some of them just to make this roster others to get a starting job well one thing we do know the 49ers continue to build talent and they continue to develop Talent they got two of the best linebackers in the entire NFL one of them was a third round pick one was the fifth just Talent being developed in San Francisco and I'm excited about Marcelina Mercury ball potentially being developed into a really big time star for the 49ers defense in the future uh the future is just starting from Marceline McCrary ball and the future of this channel is going in a good direction thanks everyone for watching like the video subscribe to the channel if you haven't already on the push for 4K really appreciate everyone coming through and watching you can find episodes of slightly offsides and the Ant Hill show over on patreon and a really good discussion between me and Jay Hill about Debo Samuel and what happens if Devo struggles go check those out over on patreon and and plenty of more content coming right here on YouTube until next time stay safe and remember the right way is always the 49ers way [Music] foreign foreign [Music]