Photo credit: definearevolution.com

By: Joe Lami

The 49ers open up their pre-season on Thursday night against the Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium.

Here are four things to watch out for.

Jimmy Garoppolo
If you have a ticket to the game, be sure to get there early for the 7:00 p.m. kick-off because you will see the starters in action for at least part of the opening quarter. On Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed plans to play all starters, including Jimmy Garoppolo, “We’ll treat him like what we’ve probably done more in the past. He’ll play somewhat into the first quarter. We’ll see how long the opening drive is.”

Going into his first full season as a Niner, all eyes will be on Jimmy G to see if he can return with the magic he closed out last season with. Things look promising too, as Garoppolo appears to be gaining confidence in his receivers in training camp. The connection with Marquise Goodwin appears to be back from last season, as the two have been working on deep routes the last couple of days and look as comfortable as ever.

Pierre Garcon was injured early in the season last year and wasn’t a part of the five straight wins led by Garoppolo as he is beginning to get chemistry with the sophomore starter.

The Secondary
The 49ers’ will be without Richard Sherman on Thursday night and will have to wait until the last pre-season game to see him play at Levi’s Stadium.

Instead, Jimmie Ward will get the start for the 30-year old, who suffered a grade-one hamstring sprain last week. The 49ers’ secondary has improved, but still appears to be the weak spot on the defensive side of the ball. Any progression from last season will be an excellent start for the team that surrendered the 22nd most passing yards in the league last year.

Draft Picks
The rookies have looked pretty good in camp so far for the red and gold, and Thursday night will be their opportunity to show the rest of the Red and Gold faithful.

First-round pick, right tackle, Mike McGlinchey is expected to play the most reps out of the starters to gain confidence and get more looks at the NFL level.

“He’ll be out with the starters to start. Then, we’ll see how it goes, how many reps we get. For the most part, we do it with most rookies. Even if he’s a starter, we might play him a little bit more,” explained Shanahan on Tuesday.

He’s going to have the crucial job of help protecting Garopollo this season after the 49ers’ line gave up sacks on 7.09% of pass attempts last year (19th in the NFL).

49ers’ third-round wide receiver, Dante Pettis has been very noticeable at camp thus far and could become an exciting option for the 49ers’ passing attack. However, the knock seems to be the smaller framed pass catcher doesn’t like going over the middle. Shanahan doesn’t see it that way. Shanahan said, “I think he’s a guy who doesn’t take hits much, and it’s not because he’s avoiding them because he’s scared. It’s because he’s a good athlete and he can control his body and can get himself in good positions.”

The New Helmet Rule
Introducing the “use of helmet” rule, which states, “It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent.”

The rule becomes controversial because of “ejection standards” defined as when “a player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body posture prior to initiating and making contact with the helmet. A player needs to have a player delivering the blow needs to have an unobstructed path to his opponent, and the contact has to be clearly avoidable.”

Based on a video published in June, a play becomes ejectable when the targeting player appears to be the second or third man in trying to deliver a bone-crushing hit to finish off the play on an already wrapped up player.

These rules will take time for not only fans to get used to, but players as well; as the NFL tries to make tackling safer.