by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–(49ers update)49ers Head coach Jim Tomsula will have his hands full in camp with filling the openings created by 49er players that retired in the off season. They have a lot of positions to fill, first they have to handle the openings created by linebacker Chris Borland and Patrick Willis.

This task is going to be a really tough task as Willis was unexpected and Borland was even more unexpected, more importantly Borland was going to be a replacement for Willis. Then you have Justin Smith on the defensive line and Anthony Davis right tackle who retired.

Davis might be one of the toughest ones to replace because he did it the latest in the off season. Willis and Borland those guys left before the draft so the 49ers were able to account for that through free agency in the NFL draft.

Justin Smith that was later but at the same time the Niners saw the writing on the wall and he’s been around for about 15 years as his retirement was rumored for the last few years. So Smith’s retirement wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Given the other retirements prior to Smith those were difficult to deal with but the Niners were prepared for the loss of Smith.

Oakland Raiders update: The late Kenny Stabler who passed away this pass week at the age of 69 some said that if he was in today’s game he would not make it because of his smaller size and that he couldn’t run away from today’s defenders in the NFL. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins said that theory was a bunch of baloney and that Stabler would be more like one of the outstanding quarterbacks in the NFL today. He said that the 49ers Colin Kaepernick for example has only ten percent of Stabler’s instincts.

First of all Jenkins is a great writer but with all due respect it’s a little unfair to compare Kaepernick to Stabler they were two very different players in different times. Stabler this is a guy who won on his grit and determination and his intellect. Stabler was super smart, he wasn’t an athlete in the same mold that Kaepernick is.

Their asked to do different things and that’s kind of a weird comparison to be honest but let’s forget about that, Kenny Stabler was a great quarterback the fact that he’s not in the Hall of Fame is a big sticking point for Oakland Raider fans everywhere and they have a good beef there are plenty of other quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame who weren’t as particularl great as Stabler.

Staber was a great quarterback, it was his on field leadership, his connection with his players, whether it was Fred Biletnikoff, Dave Casper, Cliff Branch, Stabler knew where these guys were going to be on the field to make the big play. Anybody whose seen the highlight reel of the glory days of the Raiders from the 70s knew Stabler was involved in almost every critical play.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below