NFC Notes: Marvin Harrison Jr., Jared Verse, 49ers, Cardinals, Rams

49ers

The 49ers built their team with a preference for playmakers over dominant linemen, believing that the system could be tailored to help the lesser talents on the field. San Francisco OL coach and run game coordinator Chris Forester elaborated on this approach and how they use it to produce one of the league’s best offenses.

“This is my personal opinion, if they ask me, invest in guys that touch the ball, guys that can touch the ball and score touchdowns,” Foerster said via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “And then there’s a range of guys, second, third, fourth round, fifth round even, that we will find starting offensive linemen in.”

“Now, there’s a line… there’s a line below which that with offensive line play that if you just drop a little bit below it, it’s a gaping hole. All of a sudden, you’re like, ‘He can’t block anybody.’ And now we got a major problem. But as long as they’re at that line and just above it, you can survive it and you can take care of them.”

“We’ve got ways with our system. We can chip, we can do all sorts of things to help guys. Slide lines, double team, the best rusher on the team. There are so many mechanisms to help alignment. If a guy can’t get open, if a guy can’t catch the ball and run, that’s where we have a problem. But in offensive line play, you have to be careful. You have to have those 6, 7, 8 guys that are just at that line or above. And that’s the challenge.”

• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said TE Cameron Latu experienced no setbacks from his knee procedure and is expected to be ready by the start of training camp. (Matt Maiocco) 

Cardinals

• According to Howard Balzer of the Cards Wire, Cardinals first-round WR Marvin Harrison Jr. does not have a registered agent for his contract, so it’s uncertain who helped in the negotiation. 

Rams

Rams first-round DE Jared Verse has left a strong first impression on DC Chris Shula and the rest of the team’s coaching staff. 

“He’s been great. He’s been great. He’s been as advertised,” Shula said, via Brock Vierra of the Rams Wire. “He loves football. He is a passionate guy. He loves coming in every day. He works really hard. He works really hard in ‘indy’ (individual drills). He wants to learn and he showed that he is extremely coachable. He had a good first week last week and we’ll see the tape today, but it seemed like it was another good day.”