by David Zizmor

San Francisco 49ers update: The way the 49ers offense is going to work at least in the back field anyway it’s going to be a combination of running backs Carlos Hyde and Reggie Bush. Bush’s specialty is receiving which is what he’s most successful at. That’s where he’s made his hay as an NFL running back, he did have a successful year or two in Miami where he ran the ball pretty well. He’s not a bad runner he can carry the ball but his specialty is catching the ball.

Your going to see him more often than not and why he’s a great receiver and Hyde is the bigger stronger receiver he the kind of guy you want to see on first or second down that can go against the tough guards who go and get tackles. Bush is a guy who is not quite as big he can’t get between the tackles quite as well. He’s an outside runner, you got that outside speed that’s where you want to use him. Hyde he can go inside and outside.

He’s the guy whose the first and second down back and Hyde to his credit is actually a pretty good receiver, he might even be there on third down. It’s going to be interesting to see exactly how much they plan to use him. The thing is you always figure when you make the effort to go out and sign a guy like Bush your intention is actually to use him. The 49ers have a very high draft pick on Hyde and last season he got quite a few reps as a rookie that was with Frank Gore who is one of the all time greats.

Oakland Raiders update: The Raiders open up their regular season against Cincinnati and Baltimore and go on the road against Cleveland and Chicago. The two teams to open at home the Bengals and the Ravens that’s a tough way to open the season. Obviously it’s nice for the Raiders to have the home field advantage where Raider Nation can yell their hearts out. It certainly will be amped up after an entire off season dreaming about quarterback Derrek Carr to Amari Cooper and running back Latavius Murray getting more carries.

Michael Crabtree had a stuff it in your face career when he was with the 49ers and looks ready to get started with the Raiders. The Bengals look like a playoff team, the Ravens didn’t make the playoffs last season their always competitive and their tough. The Ravens have a very tough defense year in and year out. Having a bit of a down season the Ravens are going to come in with a bit of chip on their shoulder. These two teams coming in the Bengals and the Ravens are not going to be pushovers and be easy to beat.

The Bengals have offensive coordinator Hue Jackson in there and maybe he’ll want a little revenge after his time with the Raiders and so unceremoniously. The Raiders always have a chance at this stage in July its tough to draw any conclusions. As they say on any given Sunday one team could beat another. So the Raiders aren’t going to necessarily lose these games, given the talent on these two teams and what we’ve seen from them the Raiders are certainly underdogs against the Bengals and the Ravens for week one and two.

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