Two months ago we ran a little exercise of projecting the 53-man roster.  Since that time, enough has changed to allow us the chance to revise our projections.  If you've had a chance to check out Mike Sandos NFC West blog, he went through each team and gave roster analysis at all of the units (since updated with some of the 49ers injury and roster moves).  Feel free to throw out any disagreements you have with some of my projections.  I've bolded and underlined additions and will mention subtractions down below.

Offense
QB (3): Alex Smith, Shaun Hill, J.T. O'Sullivan
RB (3): Frank Gore, DeShaun Foster, Michael Robinson
FB (2): Moran Norris, Zak Keasey
WR (5): Isaac Bruce, Bryant Johnson, Arnaz Battle, Jason Hill, Josh Morgan
TE (3): Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker, Billy Bajema
LT (2): Joe Staley, Barry Sims
LG (2): Adam Snyder, Tony Wragge
C (2): Eric Heitmann, Cody Wallace
RG (2): David Baas, Chilo Rachal
RT (1): Jonas Jennings

Defense
DE (4): Isaac Sopoaga, Justin Smith, Kentwan Balmer, Ray McDonald
DT (2): Aubrayo Franklin, Ronald Fields
OLB (3): Manny Lawson, Tully Banta-Cain, Parys Haralson
ILB (5): Patrick Willis, Jeff Ulbrich, Dontarrious Thomas, Takeo Spikes, Larry Grant
CB (6): Nate Clements, Walt Harris, Shawntae Spencer, Tarell Brown, Donald Strickland, Reggie Smith
FS (2): Mark Roman, Dashon Goldson
SS (2): Michael Lewis, Keith Lewis

Special Teams
K: Joe Nedney
P: Andy Lee
LS: Brian Jennings
KR/PR: Allen Rossum

Changes
I made three changes, and only one of them is my own judgment call.  Damane Duckett was placed on injured reserve and Sims is looking like a sure bet to make the team.  Spikes is clearly in to replace Brandon Moore, so no surprises there. 

The only "big change" I made was to plug in Zak Keasey and take off Ashley Lelie.  It sounds like Lelie might miss another week, which puts him that much further behind.  Couple that with the continued emergence of Josh Morgan and Lelie has to be considered on thin ice.  Keasey has received a lot of playing time with the first team offense and got into quite a bit of action on Friday.  The other option is keeping Keasey and dumping Moran Norris.  I'm curious what people think about the fullback situation, even if it isn't the most glamorous of positions.

The Bubble
As roster spots become more secure, the questions becomes who remains on the bubble?  Jay Moore made some plays (including a sack) last Friday and definitely helped himself.  At the same time, Mike Nolan specifically said that while he'd done some positive things, he wasn't going to get bumped up because he still had areas to improve.  While Tully Banta-Cain looked solid, I could certainly see him battling Moore and Roderick Green for a roster spot.  However, I think TBC is the likely winner in that battle.  I'm curious if Moore would eventually find himself on the practice squad.

I think Ashley Lelie is not necessarily on the bubble, so much as in some kind of purgatory.  If he doesn't get healthy I don't see how he doesn't get cut.  Josh Morgan certainly has room to improve, but if he keeps it up at this pace he's certainly not going to lose his spot to Lelie.  A final addition to the bubble would be Louis Holmes.  It sounds like he's been really impressing folks, although it's an uphill battle for him to make the 53-man roster.

Alright, anybody I'm overlooking or over-rating?  I'm pretty sure most of us are praying for a whole lot of answers this Saturday against Green Bay.  While there are bubble players, the questions are more related to the depth chart of the existing roster.  A guy like Moore or Holmes will definitely need to step up their game Saturday night.

courtesy John Burgess Press Democrat

Is anybody else remotely stunned by this image of the Raiders and 49ers scuffling during practice up in Napa yesterday?  According to reports:

The scuffle and ensuing scrum erupted shortly after the morning practice began, and occured even as coaches were warning players to avoid "live" tackling . . .

But Raiders linebacker Edgerton Hartwell didn't get the memo. He leveled 49ers fullback Moran Norris with a shoulder tackle on a 7-on-7 passing drill. Norris got to his feet and immediately went after Hartwell. There were a few punches thrown as players from both sides joined the fun.

Forty Niners coach Mike Nolan, who coached Hartwell with the Ravens, tried to calm him down. Hartwell pleaded his case to Nolan. He told Nolan that Norris came at him.

As long as nobody gets hurt in this kind of thing, I honestly have no problem with things getting heated.  Normally, the 49ers practices usually only get heated when Vernon Davis decides to get in somebody's face (although it's usually justified).  The 49ers seem to have entered the "dog days" of training camp so I think something like this is perfect to get the edge back.

As long as nobody gets hurt, what's the big deal, right?  I'd imagine Hartwell will be looking forward to Friday when he can get another shot at Norris.  Of course, the 49ers offensive linemen may get back at him and put him on his butt.  Just one more thing to look forward to on Friday!

Yesterday I mentioned how Dominique Zeigler had impressed folks in the early part of camp.  While that certainly doesn't meant he'll make the roster, we're always going to get excited when an underdog makes a statement.  As previously stated, every training camp sees some unknown (or just lesser known) player make some plays and makes a name for himself with the media.  This year is no different and I thought I'd take a look at some of the guys who have impressed so far.

Zak Keasey: Zak Keasey is certainly not unknown and may not even qualify as lesser known.  He's spent time on the practice squad over the last couple years and actually made appearances in 13 games, primarily on special teams but also on offense occasionally.  I mention him first because he has clearly impressed the coaching staff.  When the team has used a fullback, Keasey has seen a majority of the first-team action over previous starter Moran Norris.  Also, Mike Martz had some interesting comments when chatting with the media yesterday:

"I think Zak has a real good feel for getting through traffic and getting on linebackers and DBs as a blocker. He's unusual that way. It's kind of a lost art, if you will. He sees things and reacts to things very, very well -- very quickly. He's got such good body control, he can avoid and get into little tiny holes and get to a linebacker. It's hard to find guys who can do that. He does that very well. Mo (Moran Norris) is more of a real powerful, get-on-that-line-and-blow-them-up kind of deal. So they're different kinds of fullbacks, but they're both effective."

Considering the fact that there are not an unlimited number of roster spots, I'm curious if the team would keep both fullbacks.  Keasey brings special teams value, which is certainly a plus for him.  Throw in the fact that the fullback is not exactly the most utilized position in the Martz offense and it leaves me wondering if Moran Norris might see his time with the 49ers coming to an end.

Josh Morgan: Again, not an unknown guy, but somebody I thought was more destined for the practice squad.  I've read nothing but good things about Morgan going back to June OTAs and they continue into minicamp.  MM said about Morgan:

There is competition at the wideout spots. The competition right now is for spots on the team. As Mike Nolan said, the question is who are the five receivers? And, then, do they have a sixth who should make the squad.

My opinion: Josh Morgan makes the team. But Ashley Lelie better back in a hurry or he's going to have a difficult time making the final roster.

Morgan continues to shine. When asked what kind of impression he's making, Morgan answered, "I'm not sure -- hopefully a good ones."

He's getting a lot of reps and -- to the untrained eye -- does not appear to be doing much wrong. Seems like he has a decent grasp of the offense and he's catching most everything in sight.

I can honestly say at this point that I'd rather add Morgan to the roster and cut ties with Lelie.  Realistically, Lelie would be no more than the #4 receiver on this roster behind Bruce, Johnson and Battle and maybe ahead of Jason Hill.  All things considered I'd rather just roll the dice with Morgan as the #5 and give Hill reps as the #4 receiver.  Maybe Hill and/or Morgan don't pan out, but right now I think we all realize the limited upside of Lelie.  Consider me officially on the Morgan over Lelie bandwagon.

When I began this post I was hoping to discuss the likes of Lewis Baker, Louis Holmes and Brian De La Puente among others.  Barrows and Maiocco have pointed out that they're looked good in practice.  Unfortunately there has not been anything beyond that.  If anybody has seen or heard anything about some of the undrafted free agents, we'd all love to hear more.  Holmes and Baker are both practice squad candidates as I think the numbers game would keep them off the 53-man roster.  I'd imagine they'd have to absolutely blow up to make the roster.  And even then, they might need an injury to somebody ahead of them.

I was trying to come up with a clever title and just decided, screw it, and went with the generic title.  While poking around the Internet this morning, I came across another 49ers blog called 49ers Locker.  They're providing "projected grades" for the 2008 season position by position, and over the weekend they addressed fullback.  They projected a C for the season in large part due to the position's lack of use in the Mike Martz offense.

So the question becomes what will happen with the fullback position and how many guys will be kept?  In the initial 53-man projection we did, Moran Norris was the only fullback we kept.  However, the OTAs have me wondering what will end up happening at that position.  I looked back over Matt Maiocco's OTA reports and he had some interesting comments.  During the practices open to the media, Zak Keasey received most of the first-team snaps.  At the same time, when discussing the role of the fullback in Martz's offense, it's clear that some of the FB responsibilities are filled by the tight ends and H-backs.  After OTAs were completed, MM went through the roster and when addressing fullback said:

Fullback: Moran Norris has been the starter. But how much will Martz utilize the fullback? Probably not much. Might the 49ers go with Zak Keasey ahead of Norris? We already know the 49ers plan to use Frank Gore and Michael Robinson together in the backfield some of the time. Other times, they can use tight ends Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker and Billy Bajema out of the backfield. Does that make Norris expendable?

Looking at the 49ers roster as it currently stands, there are plenty of guys to fill the necessary roles.  Vernon Davis lined up in the backfield quite a bit last season and the coaches have stated they'll use Michael Robinson in the same backfield as Frank Gore at times.  While any of those options reduces the power running idea a little bit, it gives the offense more flexibility.  If you've got a non-fullback in the backfield with Frank Gore or DeShaun Foster you're going to have play the team a little more straight up.

Of all the position battles heading into training camp, this will definitely be one that requires some exhibition games to fully flesh out.  I'd be pretty surprised if the team didn't keep a fullback, but I'd also be a little surprised to see them keep more than one.