The 49ers have had their share of solid preseason running backs

Westbrook was released by the Philadelphia Eagles in March, and, over the past couple of months, Washington was considered a likely landing spot. Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan made no secret that he coveted Westbrook, who would have given the team a solid option on third down. The team offered Westbrook a contract.

Westbrook's brother, Byron, is a Washington cornerback, and Brian Westbrook counts Redskins' quarterback Donovan McNabb among his good friends.

Without Westbrook in the fold, Redskins coaches will be paying close Nate Davis attention to both Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams during the next three preseason games to see who emerges as the best third-down option.

Free agent running back Brian Westbrook will not be joining the Washington Redskins. The San Francisco 49ers announced Monday evening that they have signed the former Philadelphia Eagle running back to a one-year contract.

The deal was first reported by the Sacramento Bee.

Is there really any doubt about this choice? Anthony Dixon was a monster out there for the 49ers. His longest rush was 23 yards and while he was stood up at times after short gains, he provided a decent amount of consistency, which is all you can ask for, particularly from a backup running back.

The 49ers have had their share of solid preseason running backs that are no longer with the team in large part because they struggled when it came to blocking. I honestly need to go back and review the tape as far as Dixon's pass protection is concerned. For those who paid particular attention to this facet of his game, could you give us your thoughts in the comments?

There were several players potentially worthy of this honor (and a prestigious one it is!). Safety Alex Smith had the big interception return for a TD that was a game-changer (even if it was after Manning left the game). LB Bruce Davis looked very solid netting 6 total tackles and a sack. Newly acquired defensive end Will Tukuafu  had a sack right off the bat, which was nice. And even though the first string defense had some issues, nose tackle Ricky Jean Francois look solid in his time on the field.

However, given the expectations of some fans, the performance of Michael Crabtree has to inspire some excitement and confidence in 49ers fans. Briggs has generally been impressive in the preseason but has not yet had the opportunity to make a big impact once the regular season starts. With Ahmad Brooks likely out for the very beginning of the regular season, Briggs might get a crack at some regular season playing time. And considering Manny Lawson may not be a member of the 49ers past 2010, it would be nice to see what the team really has in Briggs.

Michael Robinson: Considering Frank Gore  is the primary running back, that backup job only has so much value to it. And yet, Michael Robinson may have coughed up the job in a matter of seconds. That's not to say Anthony Dixon is a lock to now be the #2 running back. However, Robinson's performance combined with Anthony Dixon's performance certainly can't have Robinson feeling all that comfortable heading into week 2 of the preseason.

Alex Smith: I include Smith here in a similar fashion to including Carr in the good. Whereas Carr's numbers appear solid, Smith's were not even pedestrian. Smith was 3 of 9 for 37 yards and an interception. More importantly, you could see some of the rust that appears early in the preseason. The best example of that came when Smith and Vernon Davis apparently miscommunicated on one of their patented seam routes that would have been the biggest offensive play of the day. Personally I'm not yet concerned about that. There's a drastic difference between running that play in practice and running it in front of 70,000 fans in your first game of the season. That play will be there when the season gets going.

Jason Hill: I include him here solely for that ball that bounced right off his hands midway through the game. Dominique Zeigler was outperforming him in practice, and while Zeigler didn't outperform him yesterday, drops like that one will not help Hill.