By: Joe Lami

The Niners opened up their pre-season last weekend losing to the Texans 23-10 in Houston. While disappointed in losing their first game out, they were a lot of bright performances.  The biggest has to be that of former Australian rugby star, Jarryd Hayne.

Hayne was the star of the night, as he broke off the biggest run of the night for 53 yards.  He has definitely brought attention to himself, as his hopes of making the 53-player roster become a little bit better.  On top of getting five touches for 63 yards last week, the 27 year old had two punt returns and one kick return gaining for 57 yards. He was definitely the bright spot in what was a pretty uneventful offensive performance for the 49ers.

Coming into this week against the Cowboys, all eyes are going to be on the race between former Heisman winner, Reggie Bush, and Hayne. They will be competing for the return specialist spot, as well as the number two spot at running back on the depth chart, behind Carlos Hyde. 

Bush did not play last week, as most veterans don’t play in the first week of pre-season. Thus making the next two weeks very exciting, as we will get to see these two duke it out for a spot on the roster.

Eyes will also be on quarterback, Collin Kaepernick, as he will be sure to get more snaps against the Cowboys.  Last week, Kaepernick, played only one series going one for three on his throws.  The lone completion came on a short pass up the middle, where he found Anquan Boldin for 14 yards.  Kaepernick also tried to find chemistry with new wide receiver, Torrey Smith, on a deep ball, but unfortunately overthrew Smith who had gotten behind the Texans secondary.

The Cowboys are coming off a pre-season opening loss to the San Diego Chargers 17-7. Tony Romo has yet to see any game reps as he didn’t participate in the loss.  He will be sure to get snaps on Sunday however.

Like Romo, much of the Cowboys’ first string offense didn’t play either, as new running back Darren McFadden, wide receiver Dez Bryan, and tight end Jason Witten were all among the Cowboys’ starters that didn’t put pads on.

Dallas should be an early test for the Niners in the first part of action on Sunday, as the Cowboys are coming off an impressive 12-4 record last year that led them into the playoffs.  It gives San Francisco a chance early on to see how their team looks against a team looking to make another playoff run.