Rookie TE Latu: ‘I’m too slow right now’
After Cameron Latu’s second dropped pass in Tuesday’s practice, the San Francisco 49ers’ rookie tight end clapped his hands in frustration and looked to the sky.
Later, after his forgettable practice ended, he acknowledged the obvious to reporters: This NFL stuff is hard.
“I’m obviously thinking way too much every play,” Latu said. “It’s got to slow down for me and I have to just understand what I’ve got to do on every play and do it at a high speed. That’s my thing: I’m too slow right now.”
Latu, who was selected in the third round, No. 101 overall, was the 49ers’ highest-drafted tight end since Vance McDonald was a second-round pick in 2013. However, Latu’s early trainingcamp struggles aren’t overly surprising considering his background: he was a highly rated high school defensive end, began his college career at Alabama as a linebacker and was not converted to tight end until after his redshirt freshman season.
After playing primarily on special teams for two seasons — not recording a catch in that span — Latu set the school record for touchdowns (eight) by a tight end as a junior and had a career-best 30 catches last season.
His eventual success in college provides optimism as he endures a tough transition.
“Most definitely,” Latu said.
“I was at Alabama for five years and I’ve been here for less than five months. It’s coming faster for me now that I’m understanding the game of football as a tight end.”
Rookie tight end Brayden Willis, a seventh-round pick, has been far more prolific and sure-handed than has Latu as a pass catcher in practices. And both rookies figure to be fighting for roster spots on a team with experienced backups, Charlie Woerner and Ross Dwelley, behind George Kittle.
Still, it’s rare for teams to cut rookie third-round picks. Particularly those who got a late start at their position.
“It’s different than somebody who spent their entire life playing tight end, especially tight end in different schemes,” tight ends coach Brian Fleury said. “You can ask them to make adjustments and it’s something they might be familiar with.
“With (Latu), if you’re asking him to do something different, it’s something he’s never attempted to do before. It takes time to where you’re not thinking about technique and you can think about what the opponent is doing and make those adjustments. He’s still at a point where he’s thinking about everything he’s doing to start the play. That’s where you can tell there’s a little bit of newness to the position.”
Transaction: The 49ers signed well-traveled running back Jeremy McNichols and waived undrafted rookie running back Ronald Awatt to make room on the 90-man roster. McNichols, 27, who briefly played with the 49ers as a rookie in 2017, has had stints with nine teams. He has 364 career rushing yards, averaging 4.0 yards a carry, and has 40 catches for 295 yards.