49er QB Hill ready for first start of season

SANTA CLARA — Shaun Hill’s offensive coordinator is not quite sure what to expect Monday night. That’s because Mike Martz says he has not seen enough of Hill to form much of an opinion.

So when the 49ers offensive coordinator is asked how the offense will change with Hill on the field in place of J.T. O’Sullivan, he gets a little tongue-tied.

“(I’m) not sure because I don’t know quite enough about Shaun yet,” Martz said. “There are a lot of pieces around Shaun, or whoever’s playing quarterback, that we’re trying to get settled to. There are a lot of factors involved. I’m not sure how — I don’t quite know how to answer that.

“Let him get into the flow of the game, give him some things and see how he does with it and go from there, really.”

Hill is scheduled to make his first start of the season against the Arizona Cardinals in a nationally televised game. He will be one of a few new pieces of the 49ers’ offensive puzzle.

Rookie Josh Morgan has taken over as the starting split end, replacing Bryant Johnson. Jason Hill gets his first shot at the No. 3 receiver because of an injury to Arnaz Battle. David Baas starts his second game at left guard, while Adam Snyder takes over at right tackle.

All that moving around gives Martz reason to pause when asked to consider the prospects for his new quarterback. Hill will make the third start of his seven-year professional career.

The past two weeks — the 49ers are coming off a bye week — have been the first time since the opening week of training camp that Hill got extended practice with the first-team offense. It is also the first time in which Hill has been the recipient of all of Martz’s attention.

“It is helpful to have that one-on-one contact with Coach Martz, to be able to know exactly what he wants and what he’s looking for out of each play,” Hill said. “It has been beneficial. Like I said, having the two weeks has benefitted me.”

While Martz still firmly believes erstwhile starter O’Sullivan is “going to be an outstanding player,” he seems less certain of Hill’s prospects. He certainly has never made any grand proclamations about Hill’s future.

Hill was earmarked as the 49ers’ No. 3 quarterback after O’Sullivan beat Alex Smith for the team’s starting job. Smith subsequently sustained a fracture of a small bone in his throwing shoulder and was lost for the season.

O’Sullivan had an up-and-down first half of the season that concluded with a dramatic drop in performance. O’Sullivan threw 11 interceptions and lost six fumbles, not counting another fumble that resulted in a safety.

Interim coach Mike Singletary made his first bold move when he benched O’Sullivan just moments before halftime of the 49ers’ 34-13 loss to Seattle on Oct. 26. Hill then had a bye week to aide him in preparations for his first start of the season.

O’Sullivan was a quarterback Martz picked specifically for his system, based on watching game film of him from NFL Europe in the spring of 2007. Hill was matched with Martz after signing a three-year, $6 million contract extension in the offseason.

Many believe Hill is better-suited to the Bill Walsh system, which relies more on ball-control passing, as opposed to throws down the field. Hill is lauded for his leadership, decision-making and quick release. However, he is not known for his arm strength.

“I’m not sure the arm strength is that big of a deal,” Martz said. “I think that if you look at a lot of guys, and guys that I’ve coached in the past don’t have remarkable arms. Accuracy and timing and anticipation and just kind of seeing things is way more important than any of that.”

Running back Frank Gore, who leads the 49ers with 32 receptions for 311 yards, said he expects a lot more passes to come his way because of Hill’s willingness to eschew the deeper pass in order to “check down” to his running back.

When Hill entered against the Seahawks, his first two drives consisted of the 49ers’ longest possessions in time elapsed (7 minutes, 22 seconds) and number of plays (15) this season.

With O’Sullivan, the 49ers were seen as possessing a high-risk, high-reward offense. Some believe with Hill, it might be more low-risk, low-reward. But Hill said the offense does not have to change — other than reducing the numbers of sacks and turnovers.

“It’s the same offense, so the mentality is going to be the same,” Hill said. “I don’t think that the mindset changes.”

For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at 521-5492 or matt.maiocco@pressdemocrat.com.