49ers Training Camp: Nick Bosa shining, Jalen Hurd scuffling

The 49ers began their training camp on Saturday and numerous rookies have already made an impression in the opening two days.

The San Francisco 49ers will be looking for Nick Bosa to make an instant impact as a rookie after using the second overall pick on the former Ohio State pass rusher and, if the early signs from training camp are any indication, he should be able to satisfy that wish.

Bosa was quick to make his presence felt in the Niners’ opening practice on Saturday, blowing by Joe Staley for a would-be strip sack of Jimmy Garoppolo, earning high praise from the veteran left tackle and a comparison to one of the greatest boxers of all time from defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

Per Matt Barrows of The Athletic, Saleh said:

"“Bosa wins in close quarters. He wants you close to him, as close as possible, then he just has an ability to flip his hips and get skinny in close quarters, where most people need space so they can knock arms down and create angles. Which fighter — was it Mike Tyson? The closer you got, the more trouble you were in. Because he loved to be in there tight. It’s the same thing (with Bosa). He can get in there and work his body, his hand-eye coordination pretty good.”"

The boxing comparisons probably should be saved for wide receiver Jalen Hurd, however, with the wide receiver getting in two fights on the second day of practice, seemingly landing a few body shots on cornerback Dontae Johnson in the first, with both scuffles apparently coming after some aggressive downfield blocking from Hurd.

Hurd was drafted in the third round by the Niners largely for his versatility but head coach Kyle Shanahan appeared to have little problem with the former Tennessee and Baylor player demonstrating his competitive fire.

Asked if he wanted Hurd’s mentality to change, Shanahan replied, per 49ers Webzone:

"“No, I don’t want any of that to change. I mean, that’s why we brought him here. But, I’ve got to see what happened. If he’s just physical and blocking people and physical and people are getting upset with that then shame on them. But, if he’s doing more than he should to his teammates and things like that then I have a problem with it. That’s something that luckily everything’s on tape so instead of guessing what happened, I’ll go watch it and decide and then address it.”"

While it is no surprise to see Bosa and Hurd generating buzz, albeit for different reasons, few would have been expected to be talking about fifth-round pick Dre Greenlaw at this stage.

With Kwon Alexander not ready for 11-on-11 work, Greenlaw has been getting first-team reps at linebacker, and burst into the backfield to meet running back Tevin Coleman on the first play of 11-on-11s on Saturday, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Those reps provide Greenlaw with valuable early experience that should serve him will in the battle for the starting job at SAM backer with Malcolm Smith, Mark Nzeocha and Elijah Lee.

Greenlaw’s abilities as a coverage linebacker could help him win that competition and his apparent upward trajectory is worthy of monitoring as he bids to earn a starting role on a defense looking for a big turnaround after a historically bad 2018 campaign.