49ers vs. Raiders: The Standard’s 5 fast predictions (paywall)
“Kawakami: 49ers 30, Raiders 17. Kyle Shanahan teams are almost always at their best right after the bye. They’ll only need about 75% of their best to win this one fairly easily.”
Five key players to watch as 49ers return from bye to face Raiders in Week 9
“When the 49ers faced the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3, they had eight different players in coverage on passes intended for tight end Trey McBride.
The 49ers certainly will mix up their
coverages a great deal on Sunday against Raiders star tight end Brock Bowers, who is Kirk Cousins’ favorite target.
Bowers has 41 catches for 547 yards and five touchdowns this season. Brown should have some opportunities to make plays on the football as he looks to lock down a starting job for the remainder of the season.
Brown is the 49ers’ third-leading tackler with 41 stops. He has broken up a couple of passes but has yet to generate a takeaway this season.”
49ers’ ‘Hulk’ was a zero-star recruit. Now he’s manhandling NFL linemen (paywall)
“He didn’t play football until sixth grade. He was a no-star recruit out of Monte Vista High School in Southern California, where he also wrestled for three years and won a California Interscholastic Federation state championship. In fact, Valdez said, “there was a point in high school that I enjoyed wrestling more than football.”
Despite his success on the mat, he earned no collegiate wrestling offers. He did receive one in football, though, so he informed his parents — both Mexican immigrants — of his intentions to attend Montana State on a scholarship. Jesús and Norah Valdez struggled to grasp the concept.
“My parents never even, like — they didn’t even understand how football works,” Valdez said. “They didn’t understand that I was gonna go away for school and that it was free.”
They eventually understood, and Valdez went off to Bozeman for his freshman campaign under a new and unfamiliar coaching staff. He played “pretty solid” as a fill-in defensive tackle as a freshman, he said, yet there was one problem.
In order to play defensive tackle, he needed to add weight. And a lot of it.
Howe instructed Valdez, weighing around 235 pounds at the time, to eat like crazy, but in a controlled manner. “He didn’t want me getting, like, fat,” Valdez deadpanned. So, what did he eat to remain in an extreme caloric surplus as a college student living in the middle of Montana?
“Oh, man,” Valdez said with a chuckle. “It was chicken and rice, chicken and rice. I can’t even eat chicken and rice anymore. … It was just constantly that.
“Even my roommates would see me with a little scale to weigh food, and they were kind of like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I was just like, ‘Man, trust. Like, I got to do this.’ And it worked out. Gained the weight the right way. My speed, my strength got better. … I think my second year I was like 265.”
Nick Bosa back, Christian McCaffrey good to go for Niners
“I feel great,” Bosa said. “Bye week was a good extra week for me and I’m ready to go.”
Kyle Shanahan shares final updates ahead of 49ers-Raiders
“A lot of talk about Aiyuk. What’s going to happen today?
“No clue. Your guess is as good as mine.”
What would you like to see happen?
“Could care less.”
Brandon Aiyuk meets with 49ers, says he’s healthy, ‘looking to get reinstated’
“Obviously, Brandon is here to meet with the team,” Rosenhaus said. “Fortunately, he’s feeling good physically. He’s healthy. He’s ready to get back to work. We don’t really have any comment about where he’s going to play. We’ll keep that between us and the Niners, but obviously, we are here with the right intentions.”
49ers rule out Christian Kirk after he suffered an injury during Thursday’s practice
“Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Kirk hurt his meniscus during Thursday’s practice. The team doesn’t know whether Kirk will need surgery. They are still trying to decide. Shanahan wouldn’t confirm whether Kirk suffered a tear. “I don’t know. It said meniscus.”
