Kaepernick impresses during drills

SANTA CLARA – If you took the 49ers' four quarterbacks to a fair, Colin Kaepernick seems the most likely to go home with a giant teddy bear.

That's based on the fact Kaepernick on Monday out-gunned his three fellow passers in amusing accuracy drills devised by quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst.

From about 10 yards away, the four had to throw 10 footballs into a square pocket – perhaps 2 feet by 2 feet – in the goal post netting. Chryst graded them on accuracy and on how quickly they could fire the footballs.

During the first go-around, Kaepernick and Alex Smith both threw seven balls into the square. Kaepernick, however, did it one second faster. Scott Tolzien was accurate on six balls; Josh Johnson got five in the pocket.

The last drill was the most difficult. There were actually three squares – red, white and blue – in the netting, which descended from the upper left to the lower right. Chryst called out a color before the quarterback would throw. "Red" was the upper left-hand pocket, "white" was the middle square, "blue" the lower right.

Johnson tossed in six balls. Tolzien hit seven. Kaepernick, meanwhile, got on a roll and connected on eight of 10 balls. The session ended before Smith got his final turn.

While Smith is the starter this season, coach Jim Harbaugh said last week there is a three-way tie to be Smith's backup.

Still, Kaepernick has taken the most repetitions as the No. 2 quarterback in training camp, and if the season began today he would be in that position.

Fullback fallback? – Anthony Dixon was the 49ers' No. 3 running back last season, but he's in a much more crowded backfield this year after the offseason additions of Brandon Jacobs and LaMichael James.

So Dixon, who weighs about 235 pounds, asked Harbaugh if he could try out at fullback.

"Great idea by him," Harbaugh said. "We'll take the best idea on the table. He's responding with a great focus. We've seen it all throughout the offseason and he continues to elevate that."

However, it's not as if there are a lot of openings at fullback, either.

The starter is Bruce Miller, who also drew praise from Harbaugh.

"Bruce Miller has done a great job, a remarkable job… and (we) certainly don't think of him as a defensive end (where he played in college)," Harbaugh said. "That's how far we've come in a year with Bruce. I think he's one of the finer fullbacks in this league."

The 49ers also have Cameron Bell, an undrafted rookie, at the position, and they are giving two defensive players, linebacker Michael Wilhoite and defensive end Will Tukuafu, long looks this summer.

Et cetera – Another two-way player, Demarcus Dobbs, made two nice catches during Monday's practice, both on shallow crossing routes. Dobbs, a 285-pound defensive end, also is getting plenty of repetitions at tight end.

• Wide receiver Michael Crabtree (calf) missed his third practice. Another receiver, Joe Hastings (leg), and a cornerback, Curtis Holcomb, were held out. Linebacker Tavares Gooden (illness) was back on the field after missing Sunday's session.

• Harbaugh said undrafted rookie running back Jewel Hampton had a procedure to remove a bone spur from his lower leg. Hampton's recovery likely will carry into the regular season, Harbaugh said.

• Read more articles by Matthew Barrows

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