Tag: 49ers depth chart

49ers breakout star Jordan Mason isn’t satisfied with strong start to 2024

Jordan Mason knows how great Christian McCaffrey is. Now he wants to be better.

There aren’t many stories in the NFL this season better than San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason.

The third-year undrafted rookie RB entered the season with 83 career carries and looked to be in line for another year a seldom-used reserve behind reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey. Now he’s the NFL’s second-leading rusher and San Francisco’s workhorse back while McCaffrey nurses bi-lateral Achilles tendinitis.

Mason isn’t satisfied with simply being a good story, though.

He joined the Candlestick Chronicles podcast with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (launching October 25!), and said even before his new role emerged he was setting goals for himself to be the 49ers’ best running back.

“You gotta have goals within yourself, honestly,” Mason said. “I mean, I know who Christian McCaffrey is, and I wanna be better than him. He’s great, but I wanna be greater. So that’s my motivation in life.  I want to get better as myself. I want to get better — like I see my kids, when they look at me, they look at me like Superman. So I’ve gotta be Superman for them. So just things like that. You’ve gotta be motivated. You’ve gotta have that fire in you.”

While Mason has work to do to surpass McCaffrey, he’s off to a good start in his first stretch as a full-time, No. 1 back. His 5.2 yards per carry are the third-highest among players with at least 100 rushes, and he’s on pace to churn out 1,619 rushing yards — 232 more than McCaffrey’s career-high.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Mason’s strong start is that he’s maintained his productivity despite an unprecedented workload. He had his NFL career-high in carries for a season after only two games. Now he’s 44 carries shy of his career high in carries at Georgia Tech. He had 172 attempts in the 2019 campaign.

Mason said the expanded role hasn’t changed the way he handles himself during the season, save for some body maintenance.

“Honestly, you don’t want to change a lot,” Mason said. “Cuz then you start getting in your head thinking ‘oh you gotta do this. Oh you gotta do that.’ Like Christian even told me. He was like, ‘dude, just do you. What you’ve done has got you here, so just continue to do you.’ And that’s literally what he told me from himself, so I’m just staying the same. Obviously you’ve gotta do more things with maintaining your body. I’ve done acupuncture more times than ever before.”

The star RB admitted he isn’t a fan of needles, but he’s gotten used to the acupuncture treatment.

As the 49ers’ stumble toward their Week 9 Bye, they’re under a microscope with a 3-4 record after entering the season as a Super Bowl favorite.

While there are several ways to parse just what’s wrong with the 49ers this season, their offense is a particular aspect that’s drawn some scrutiny. They’ve made some changes to how they operate on that side of the ball with more downfield passing and fewer short throws that generate yards after the catch.

There’s still a heavy emphasis on the run game, and while Mason didn’t want to talk about some of the larger changes to San Francisco’s offensive approach, he knows exactly what his role is supposed to be when his number is called.

“I’m not gonna say too much about that,” Mason said. “All I know is when Brock Purdy wants to give me the ball, I’m there and I’m ready.”

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Could son of 49ers legend help team replace Brandon Aiyuk?

The San Francisco 49ers can’t close any doors when maneuvering their roster to make up for Brandon Aiyuk’s season-ending knee injury.

Replacing wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk quickly shot up the San Francisco 49ers’ list of priorities when the 2023 All-Pro went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 7.

Aiyuk’s injury, which came just over two weeks before the NFL’s Nov. 5 trade deadline, may push San Francisco into action to acquire a WR on the trade market. There are a handful of options that make sense if that’s the route they want to take.

If they don’t take that route, there’s an intriguing name in the building who could make his way to the roster: undrafted rookie WR Terique Owens, who is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and 49ers legend Terrell Owens.

While the trade route seems to be the most logical one if the team is looking for a direct replacement for Aiyuk, head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday in a conference call told reporters the team will explore the trade market without putting all their eggs in that basket.

“Well, it makes you look into everything,” Shanahan said of Aiyuk’s injury. “We try to look into everything regardless. Obviously with more issues that came up yesterday, you still want to look into everything, but it has to do with what options are out there with stuff that we can pull off that doesn’t totally hurt us, that helps us now and doesn’t hurt us for the future. There’s lots of decisions that go into it. So, we’ll look into everything, but a lot of times that’s just kind of living in hope.”

If a trade doesn’t materialize, the 49ers are likely to simply push Jauan Jennings into a more prominent role while backfilling the WR3 snaps with rookies Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing, and veterans Chris Conley and Ronnie Bell.

They may want to keep another WR on the roster for depth purposes even if they don’t need to replace Aiyuk on a snap-to-snap basis. And that’s where Owens emerges as an internal option. Shanahan said without a trade, they’ll rely on who they have in the building.

“Those answers aren’t always out there,” Shanahan said. “You’ve got to be ready to get people better in your building and deal with what you’ve got in your building. And if you ever find something that makes sense, we will never hesitate on it but it’s not always available like you hope it is.”

Owens is one of two wide receivers on the practice squad, along with veteran and former 49ers fifth-round pick Trent Taylor. Taylor has primarily been a punt returner over the last few seasons, which may open the door for Owens to step in and contribute on more special teams units.

There’s no guarantee either Taylor or Owens are promoted from the practice squad. San Francisco, when healthy, is still working with six receivers who have roles in the offense and on special teams. The likelihood a practice squad receiver is anything more than a special teams contributor is something south of miniscule.

With injuries to Conley, Jennings and Samuel entering Week 8, however, there’s a chance we could see Owens elevated from the practice squad when the 49ers host the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.

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49ers roster moves: WR Ricky Pearsall officially activated

Some 49ers roster moves!

The San Francisco 49ers officially activated first-round pick Ricky Pearsall off the Non-Football Injury list as part of a flurry of roster moves ahead of their Week 7 bout with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Pearsall has been on the NFI since suffering a gunshot wound to the chest during an attempted robbery in San Francisco the week before the regular season began.

The No. 31 overall pick in this year’s draft had his 21-day practice window opened Monday before the team’s bonus practice. They didn’t need more than a week of practice to decide to activate the rookie receiver. He was a full participant Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and was officially listed as questionable on the injury report.

His activation makes it appear he’ll suit up for the first time as a pro Sunday.

In a corresponding move, kicker Matthew Wright was placed on Injured Reserve after suffering shoulder and back injuries while trying to make a tackle on a kickoff in Week 6. He was with the club because kicker Jake Moody was hurt the week prior, also while making a tackle on a kickoff.

With no kicker on the active roster, former Packers kicker Anders Carlson was elevated from the practice squad after signing early in the week. Carlson, 26, connected on 27-of-33 field goals last season with Green Bay in his only NFL season.

Undrafted rookie safety Jaylen Mahoney was also elevated from the practice squad to provide depth at safety and special teams contributions.

The 49ers and Chiefs kick off at 1:25pm Pacific Time from Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.

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Christian McCaffrey return shouldn’t erase 49ers breakout star on offense

Christian McCaffrey should be back at some point, but that shouldn’t mean Jordan Mason disappears.

At some point this season running back Christian McCaffrey is expected to get back on the field for the San Francisco 49ers.

McCaffrey is battling Achilles tendinitis that first cropped up in Week 17 last season. There was some hope he’d return for the season opener, but he missed that game before landing on the injured list where he’s been since Week 2 with no firm timetable for his return.

His absence opened the door for third-year undrafted RB Jordan Mason to enter the fold, and Mason burst through it the same way he’s burst through defenses for 609 rushing yards this season. That’s the second-highest total in the league and a whopping 145 more yards than he had through his first two season combined.

There were some questions about whether he could contribute as an every-down player after his first two seasons. Mason has answered those questions authoritatively in the affirmative through six weeks this season.

While Mason’s role will undoubtedly shrink once the reigning Offensive Player of the Year returns, it can’t be diminished to what it was a season ago when Mason was largely an afterthought in any scenario that wasn’t a blowout while McCaffrey was healthy.

To be clear, McCaffrey should still hold a substantial role in the offense. His presence will cure some of what ails them on that side of the ball with yards-after-catch and scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

However, Mason has proven valuable to the 49ers’ offense with his ability to create yards after contact. That alone is worth having him on the field, but it becomes even more important considering what San Francisco is going to need to accomplish with managing McCaffrey’s tendinitis.

They can’t expect McCaffrey to step onto the field and average more than 21 touches per game. They also can’t get away from their identity as a run-first offense. That means utilizing Mason more often early in games where he’s taking some of the carries off McCaffrey’s plate. It might even mean at some points using McCaffrey as a de facto third-down back to ensure he’s fully healthy come playoff time. There are also some fun things they can do with McCaffrey and Mason on the field together where they’re utilizing McCaffrey’s skillset as a receiver to tie defenses into knots.

Ultimately the 49ers are in a good spot. They don’t need to rush McCaffrey back thanks to Mason’s success, and once he does return they don’t need him to be the workhorse he was last season.

There’s a sweet spot here for San Francisco where they maintain one of the NFL’s best offenses without overdoing McCaffrey’s workload and eliminating Mason from the picture during his breakout season.

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49ers working out 4 kickers after Jake Moody injury

Here’s how the 49ers are figuring out life without Jake Moody.

The San Francisco 49ers will have to work fast to replace kicker Jake Moody.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday in a conference call told reporters that Moody suffered a high ankle sprain during the team’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Moody stepped in to make a special teams tackle and got his ankle caught underneath him.

Shanahan said the club is working out four kickers, but didn’t know exactly which four players would be coming in for a tryout.

It won’t be easy to replace Moody, who was 13-of-14 on field goals this season with his only miss coming from beyond 50 yards. He’s also a perfect 12-of-12 on extra points.

San Francisco has gone through similar issues a couple times under Shanahan. In 2019 they signed Chase McLaughlin for three games after kicker Robbie Gould got hurt. In 2020 they had to use K Tristan Vizcaino for one game, and in 2021 they had Joey Slye for three games.

This figures to be a longer stint than any of those though. High ankle sprains don’t generally heal quickly, and given the 49ers’ penchant for coming up short in the red zone, whoever they sign will immediately become one of their most important players as they aim to navigate the early-season rut they’ve been unable to climb out of.

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How 49ers are preparing for potentially missing Fred Warner in Week 5

Fred Warner has missed the first two days of practice this week..

The San Francisco 49ers in Week 5 may have to do something they’ve only had to do one other time in the last seven seasons: play without linebacker Fred Warner.

Warner injured his ankle late in the first half of the 49ers’ Week 4 win over the New England Patriots. He didn’t return to action in that game, then missed the first two days of practice leading up to a Week 5 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.

There’s still a chance Warner is able to suit up, but defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen said the team is preparing as though they won’t have their three-time All-Pro roaming the second level.

“Yeah, it’s not really counteract, it’s just next man up,” Sorensen said. “You’ll never fully replace Fred. Not saying we are, it’s just, the next guy’s got to practice and he’s got to operate. We’ve had some injuries. There’s adversity and there’s opportunity. So with that, the next guy gets a chance and they step up and you saw that even losing (DT Javon) Hargrave. We’ve had guys step in and (LB De’Vondre) Campbell play and not having (LB Dre Greenlaw) Law. Like you just asked about Malik Mustapha playing without having (SS Talanoa Hufanga) Huf, Huf’s played one game. So guys get opportunities and we expect them to perform and they expect themselves to, too. So at practice, that’s really where you get those reps and hone your skills. And with Fred and without Fred you’ve got to communicate and guys are doing that.”

It’s unclear exactly how the 49ers will replace Warner if he can’t go.

Campbell may be a factor at the Mike LB spot. LB Dee Winters has also started working in with the starters as a Will LB. He’s a candidate to jump into the lineup even if it is Campbell at MLB. Rookie Tatum Bethune is another option to jump into a starting role. It appears Campbell and Winters would be the two frontrunners to be the three-down players though.

It doesn’t seem likely recently-re-signed second-year LB Jalen Graham will factor in with the starting group, although with veteran Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles dealing with an injury and missing Thursday’s practice, the 49ers may not have a ton of choice with Graham. DaShaun White is the lone practice squad option. He may be elevated for the game, but he won’t likely see the field defensively.

Ideally the 49ers won’t need to rely on their LB depth, but getting by without starters has defined their season on both sides of the ball so far. Sunday they may once again need to lean on their ‘next man up’ mentality.

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Rise of 49ers WR opens door to solve one big offensive question

Maybe more “3 WR” sets is the move for the 49ers.

There’s a minor problem simmering under the surface of one of the San Francisco 49ers’ biggest offensive successes this season.

Running back Jordan Mason is second in the NFL in rushing yards with 447, but his 91 carries far outpace the rest of the league. He’s on pace for a whopping 387 carries, which would be the most in an NFL season since DeMarco Murray had 392 for the Cowboys in 2014.

The 49ers have to figure out a way to lighten his workload. Perhaps RB Christian McCaffrey returns at some point and the sustainability question for Mason is erased completely. It’s tough to bank on McCaffrey at this point though given that we’re still unsure what his timeline for return even looks like.

It doesn’t appear San Francisco has an immediate solution to take some of the carries off of Mason’s plate. Rookie Isaac Guerendo had one rush in the first two weeks, five in Week 3, but then was back to one in Week 4. Patrick Taylor, the other RB on the roster, hasn’t played an offensive snap.

Maybe it’s a lack of trust for head coach Kyle Shanahan, or just an uncertainty about the production those two could provide in comparison to Mason.

That brings us to our proposed solution: Jauan Jennings.

This isn’t to say Jennings should be in the backfield. However, his emergence as a legitimate receiving weapon on a high volume of targets makes it conceivable that he should be playing more.

The 49ers love to lean on their 21 personnel with two running backs, one tight end and two WRs, and Shanahan has indicated they plan to stick with that as their primary personnel grouping despite Jennings’s emergence as a potential star.

A move to some 11 personnel (one RB, one TE, three WRs) may allow San Francisco to both spell Mason and get Jennings on the field thanks to Deebo Samuel’s versatility.

Using Samuel in the backfield isn’t a novel concept, but it’s one the 49ers have gone away from since his breakout All-Pro campaign in 2021. That year he ran it 59 times. In 2022 his carries dipped to 42, and then to 37 last season. His snaps in the backfield also dropped from 116 in 2021 to just 49 in 2023 per Pro Football Focus.

We’ve already seen the 49ers rely on Samuel as a runner in pinch this season. They fed him eight carries in Week 1 when they found out before the game they wouldn’t have McCaffrey for the opener against the New York Jets. By moving him into the backfield to take some of the workload off of Mason, they can either utilize Samuel’s rushing ability or design ways to get the ball in his hands in space to limit some of the damage done by between-the-tackles carries.

Then when the 49ers want to go back to 21, they can bring in Mason for Samuel and allow Samuel to get some plays off while Jennings stays on the field with WR Brandon Aiyuk. It’s tacking some touches onto Samuel’s plate, but it also opens the door to getting him some in-game rest to keep him healthy over the long-term (or at least until McCaffrey is back), while also ensuring Jennings continues getting an opportunity to be impactful.

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Unlikely hero emerging on 49ers’ defensive line

Don’t sleep on the 2022 UDFA.

It’s going to be all hands on deck for the San Francisco 49ers defensive line this season.

Javon Hargrave’s season-ending triceps injury put the 49ers in a bind up front where they’re now missing a major source of their pass rush. Hargrave last season in what was deemed a ‘down’ year still had the second-most pressures on the team with 64, and the third-best pass rush win rate.

While all eyes will inevitably turn to defensive ends Nick Bosa and Leonard Floyd to pick up some of the slack, another unlikely hero is making his way into the spotlight.

Sam Okuayinonu, a 2022 undrafted free agent signing of the Titans, had only six games under his belt as a pro prior to this year. He posted 0.5 sacks in his six contests as a rookie for Tennessee. He had his first full sack against the Rams in Week 3 as a standard practice squad elevation.

Sunday against the Patriots he came up with a forced fumble and caught the eye of head coach Kyle Shanahan.

“Guys stepped it up,” Shanahan said Monday in a conference call. “Sam O who got his opportunity, he got it, I think, for the first time two weeks ago, but he’s been a beast in practice. And to watch him carry it over to the games is kind of what I’d like to say we expected because he’s been such a pain in practice and in a good way just for our offense to deal with. And it was cool to see him do it to somebody else here on Sunday.”

Okuayinonu posted three pressures in 10 pass rushes Sunday according to Pro Football Focus. His obscene 44.4 percent pass rush win rate was by far the best on the team.

It’s worth noting the Patriots’ offensive line is putrid and that most of the 49ers’ defensive front cooked against them. However, it’s clear through the last couple of weeks that Okuayinonu has a chance to be a much-needed contributor to the 49ers’ defensive end rotation.

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49ers rookie has officially jumped up depth chart after earning Week 4 start

The 49ers had a new starter on Sunday, an indicator that their depth chart has changed.

The San Francisco 49ers’ blowout win over the New England Patriots in Week 4 began with an interesting wrinkle.

Strong safety Talanoa Hufanga was ruled out of the contest with an ankle injury he suffered in Thursday’s practice. That opened the door for a new starter to jump into that role.

For the first two weeks it was veteran George Odum in the starting spot while Hufanga finished his recovery from an ACL tear he suffered last season. This week was different.

With Hufanga nursing an ankle issue, the 49ers turned to rookie fourth-round pick Malik Mustapha as their starter.

“Yeah, we thought he was ready for it,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said in a press conference after the game. “When him and (Odum) G.O. were going, we started rotating him a little, I think the second week. He’s been doing awesome in practice. We started to mix him in there in game two. I think (Hufanga) Huf came back in game three, so we didn’t need to do it. But when we found out Huf couldn’t play today, we knew he was next man up.”

Mustapha rotated in and actually out-snapped Odum in Week 2, but he didn’t see much action in Week 3.

In Week 4 he was the strong safety, an indicator that he’s eclipsed Odum on the depth chart and has firmly grasped the No. 3 safety spot where the club will turn to him if there’s an injury. They may also start sprinkling in some three-safety looks where Mustapha is on the field with Hufanga and Ji’Ayir Brown.

For now he’s steadily climbing the depth chart. Barring a major injury he’ll be the No. 3 safety the rest of this year, but his rise bodes well for his chances to snag a starting job in 2025.

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49ers rookie RB may cut into rising star’s carries

Is a rookie coming for some of Jordan Mason’s carries?

There aren’t many No. 1, workhorse running backs in the NFL anymore. San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason certainly fits the bill though.

Mason has taken full advantage of his opportunity to be the 49ers’ lead RB with Christian McCaffrey sidelined by Achilles tendinitis, and he’s worked as essentially the 49ers’ lone running back during the first three weeks of the season. That may change soon.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday in his press conference indicated that rookie RB Isaac Guerendo may start becoming a bigger factor in the backfield.

“He showed on film what he has been showing us,” Shanahan said of Guerendo’s five-carry, 19-yard performance in Week 3. “We’ve been encouraged about him for a while. He got off to a late start with his training camp injury, but we were encouraged with his preseason play. Everyone, I think, saw that with his kick return and stuff. He had two runs in that game that were encouraging and always a chance to get more.”

It’s unlikely that Mason suddenly starts splitting carries with Guerendo. He’s been too successful to just remove from the field too often. Mason is up to 342 yards and two touchdowns on a league-high 67 attempts.

However, Guerendo drew a fascinating comparison from 49ers offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster. He compared the rookie fourth-round pick to former 49ers RB Raheem Mostert.

Mostert was known for his downhill style and his home run speed that made him a threat to score a touchdown every time he touched the ball. While Mason has been good, he’s not a home run threat. His longest run of the year is just 24 yards. His longest touchdown of the year is 10.

Guerendo may be able to provide some of the long explosive play ability that Mason doesn’t have. That doesn’t mean he should start seeing 10-12 carries a game, but he had five in Week 3 after getting only one in the first two weeks combined.

It’s reasonable to think Guerendo could start snagging eight or so carries per game to lighten some of the workload on Mason, and to add the big-play element the 49ers’ backfield is missing.

Mason is still RB1, to be sure, but Guerendo appears to be on the verge of becoming more of a factor.

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