Tag: 49ers depth chart

49ers defense becoming second nature to 2 key pieces of team’s future

The second-year leap could be happening for a pair of San Francisco 49ers linebackers.

The San Francisco 49ers have been excellent at churning out quality linebacker play since head coach Kyle Shanahan arrived in 2017.

Fred Warner has developed into the NFL’s best off-ball LB, while players like Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair have developed to become to become high-quality starters. In Greenlaw’s case – a star.

As the page starts to turn on this iteration of the 49ers, finding new linebackers is going to be key to maintaining their defensive dominance. Warner is still outstanding and a First-Team All-Pro. Aside from that there’s no sure thing in the pipeline with Greenlaw and LB De’Vondre Campbell both set to hit free agency in 2025.

Two players who do factor into the future of the 49ers’ defense both seem to be coming along in their second seasons. 2023 sixth-round pick Dee Winters and 2023 seventh-round pick Jalen Graham both flashed in the preseason as rookies, but neither made a substantial on-field impact in the regular season.

Both players appear poised to make a leap in Year 2 according to defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen. He told reporters after Wednesday’s practice that San Francisco’s defense is becoming easier for Graham and Winters.

“Absolutely. Dee Winters plays fast. So does Jalen,” Sorensen said in a press conference. “The way to play fast is to know what you’re doing and to feel comfortable in that. And then you’re anticipating it. You have to learn a whole new system. It’s totally different in college. There’s a lot of differences. And then the details of what we do. So it’s understanding the differences in the offenses and then understanding the details of the defense. And once you start to grasp that, it starts to become second nature. Your brain is not slowing you down, then you can see that speed and you can fully cut it loose and that’s where they’re at. They’re taking that jump, both of them. It’s cool.”

Both players could be major factors in the 49ers’ defense in the future. Every step forward they take in this year’s training camp puts them on track to be a factor as early as this season.

There’s a starting SAM LB job open for San Francisco that either one of Winters or Graham could win. The SAM LB is only on the field in base packages, compared to the MIKE and WILL LBs who are on the field for virtually every down. De’Vondre Campbell is slated to start at the WLB spot.

Campbell was an All-Pro in 2021 for the Packers, but has seen his play decline some since then. He’s still a quality player who may regain his All-Pro footing playing alongside Warner. It’s not off the table though that the 31-year-old is on the backside of his prime and simply regressing as a player.

Both Graham and Winters could find their way into the starting lineup in 2024 if the latter of those outcomes comes true for Campbell.

That will all play itself out. The good news for the 49ers is that it looks like Winters and Graham are trending toward being NFL-caliber LBs. If that is the case, it would put San Francisco’s defense in a great position to continue dominating in the second level even as it goes through some changes.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

49ers 2nd-year WR puts together strong practice amid heated battle for roster spot

One young 49ers wide receiver is making the case to stick around on the roster.

The 49ers depth chart at wide receiver looks mostly set.

It’s unclear whether they’ll keep five or six WRs at final cuts, but there are five mostly set in stone. Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall are all locks. Fourth-round pick Jacob Cowing can be penciled in for the fifth spot. That leaves a maximum of one spot left.

Wide receiver Ronnie Bell is one of the players vying for that potential sixth roster spot, and he made a strong case for it with his performance in Wednesday’s practice.

ESPN’s Nick Wagoner detailed on Twitter a couple of the highlights from Bell’s outing:

Bell has had his struggles in this camp but he made a pair of impressive, contested catches, including one from QB Brock Purdy on a deep out to the right sideline in which he climbed the ladder, high pointed the ball and held on even with CB Charvarius Ward right on top of him. Later, he caught a touchdown in red zone work from QB Brandon Allen despite CB Ambry Thomas being draped all over him.

This is good news for Bell, a 2023 seventh-round pick who posted six catches for 68 yards and three touchdowns last season. He can certainly put pressure on the 49ers coaching staff to keep a sixth WR by putting together good performances in the passing game.

He can ratchet that pressure up immensely by contributing more reliably as a punt returner. Finding a special teams role is going to be key for Bell no matter how many tough catches he makes in practice. Last season he took on some punt return duties, but he had trouble at times fielding kicks and holding on to the ball. Dependability is key for a punt returner and Bell was not that a season ago.

If he improves there while also showing out when given opportunities as a pass catcher, he’ll give San Francisco plenty of reasons to keep him as their sixth receiver.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

49ers draft pick has real chance to solve huge problem in rookie season

One 49ers rookie is standing out above the rest in the early portion of training camp.

The San Francisco 49ers have had some stumbles in building a quality offensive line. Part of that was due to head coach Kyle Shanahan’s team-building philosophy that prioritizes playmakers on offense over quality in the trenches.

As Shanahan sees it, the 49ers just need five NFL-caliber starting offensive linemen to have a great offense. To this point, he’s largely been correct with one small caveat. San Francisco’s two Super Bowl losses and one of their NFC championship game defeats came partly because the interior offensive line struggled.

Third-round pick Dominick Puni may be able to solve that very specific problem right away for San Francisco.

An injury to offensive linemen Spencer Buford and Jon Feliciano has rapidly opened the door for Puni to get reps with the 49ers’ starting offense. Early returns in two padded practices have been promising.

ESPN’s Nick Wagoner had the breakdown of Puni’s Tuesday practice on Twitter:

Too early to say whether Puni will win a starting job but one thing we can comfortably conclude: he handles his business like a veteran. Just never looks uncomfortable and has shown signs of understanding the little details like passing off blitzes and combo blocks in the run game like someone well beyond his years. A strong start.

The ‘too early to say’ caveat is an important one, but the fact Puni has hit the ground running is a great sign for the 49ers given some of their past experiences with first-year offensive linemen under Shanahan.

One example is 2021 second-round pick Aaron Banks, who got off to such a slow start that he wound up as a healthy scratch for seven of the team’s first eight games. He was active for their final nine contests and one of their three playoff games, but he played just five offensive snaps and they all came in the late stages of a 30-10 romp over Jacksonville.

Banks has since transformed his body and adapted to the 49ers’ scheme to become a high-quality starting left guard.

It sounds early on like Puni is skipping the first part of that and trending toward the quality starting guard part.

If Puni can take that leap in Year 1 where he steps in as an upgrade at right guard right away, it would solve a major problem that San Francisco has been trying to maneuver around for Shanahan’s entire tenure. Having a reliable player at that spot with Pro Bowl potential would not only shore up the one position, but it would make life easier on right tackle Colton McKivitz, while also stretching out the club’s depth along the interior by moving Feliciano and/or Burford into reserve roles.

The 49ers will need a handful of their other rookies to contribute in various ways this season. It would be a huge victory though if Puni steps onto the field and into a starting job right away.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Veteran WR hard to ignore for 49ers after strong start to training camp

A familiar face could wind up landing a spot in the #49ers WR corps after returning this offseason.

It looked entering training camp like the 49ers receiving corps would be mostly set. Assuming Brandon Aiyuk returns it would be him, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing, and then one of a handful of players ranging from Danny Gray to Tay Martin.

One player, a veteran free agent signing this offseason, didn’t appear to be heavily in the mix. After a full week of padless practices and one day of practice in pads, Trent Taylor has forced his way into the conversation.

Taylor, a 2017 fifth-round pick of the 49ers, has spent the last three years in Cincinnati and Chicago working primarily as a punt returner. He had only eight catches on 15 targets in 37 games across those three years.

His specialization as a punt returner made it hard to envision him securing a roster spot in a crowded wide receiver room. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday in his post-practice press conference made it sound like there’s a real chance Taylor winds up landing the final WR spot.

“I love having Trent back here,” Shanahan said. “Trent can help out anywhere. Trent’s such a good football player. The moment’s never too big for him. He knows the offense well. He can hop in at all three spots. Competes his ass off in everything he does and he’s very valuable as a returner too. So, especially having a lot of guys in and out, it’s good to have some versatility there with Trent.”

Between Aiyuk’s hold-in and injuries to WRs Tay Martin, Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing, snaps have been easy to come by in the receiving corps. Taylor’s snaps at receiver haven’t come solely because of injury, though. Shanahan said the plan wasn’t to strictly bring in Taylor to return kicks.

“No, you always want a group of receivers in camp,” Shanahan said. “And you know you’re going to get a few in the draft, possibly a free agency after the draft. You have the guys that you already have on the roster and you want to add harder competition. I always love getting some veterans in here who know how to play. Who the game is not too big for, that hopefully can add competition to possibly make your team, or make guys better who have to be very good to beat out some guys like that. And you always like guys like that as possible practice squad players too, because when they have experience and something happens on a Friday or Saturday, the game is never too big for them. You can get them up and they don’t blink.”

For now it looks like the practice squad is the much more likely outcome for Taylor. He’s perfect in that role as a reliable veteran option who can plug a bunch of holes in the 49ers’ receiving corps as needed, while also offering reliability as a punt returner.

This is something worth watching closely throughout camp. The 49ers don’t have a true slot receiver and Taylor showed when he first got to San Francisco some pass-catching chops. That was eight seasons and a couple injuries ago for him, but it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out if he develops any kind of rapport with quarterback Brock Purdy.

It might’ve been easy to overlook Taylor to start camp. Now he’s making sure he’s at least in the mix to make the team.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

49ers rookie could be facing steep climb to roster spot after injury

Another 49ers mid-round pick at RB is off to a rough start in his first training camp.

Another 49ers mid-round running back could be in trouble.

San Francisco under head coach Kyle Shanahan has made a dubious habit of selecting running backs in the middle rounds of the NFL draft only to have them flame out spectacularly.

Fourth-round pick Joe Williams in the 2017 draft never played a regular season snap for the 49ers. In 2021 they selected Trey Sermon in the third round only to cut him after one subpar year. They followed that up with Ty Davis-Price in Round 3 of the 2022 draft. He wound up getting released during his second season. That trio combined for 81 rushes and 287 rushing yards with one touchdown.

They went back to the well in this year’s draft when they selected RB Isaac Guerendo out of Louisville. He checks a ton of boxes for the 49ers’ offense with his vision and home run speed. Raheem Mostert was a name invoked regularly after the pick. As with other mid-round RBs in Shanahan’s tenure, Guerendo’s rookie campaign hasn’t gotten off to a great start.

He’s one of three 49ers sidelined with a hamstring injury, but his is the only one that’s going to force him out for significant time.

“No, Isaac was worse. That’s going to be a few weeks,” Shanahan told reporters after Monday’s practice. “(WR) Jake (Cowing) is in a similar boat as (WR) Tay (Martin). I think it was a 10 day guess, whenever that started. So hopefully sometime next week.”

Missing any training camp time is brutal for rookies looking to get up to speed in the NFL. They’re not only missing valuable reps against NFL competition, but they’re also missing time where they’re learning the offense in controlled practice setting.

By sitting for multiple weeks Guerendo could fall way behind the pack in a crowded running back room. Assuming San Francisco keeps four at the position, we can pencil in Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell. That leaves one spot for Guerendo, undrafted rookie Cody Schrader, and veteran special teams contributor Patrick Taylor.

Perhaps Guerendo gets on the field and lights it up the way it looked like he might when his NFL productivity was a series of workout numbers, advanced stats and projections. Now those projections aren’t nearly as rosy with the team churning toward their potential Super Bowl run and Guerendo sidelined by a balky hamstring. It’s hard when faced with those facts to not have flashbacks to previous failed mid-round RBs.

There’s still time for Guerendo to climb out of that hole and into a roster spot, but the hole gets deeper each day he’s out.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

49ers officially have a running back competition behind their superstar RB

The 49ers RB depth chart could get a shakeup with Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason battling for the backup job.

The 49ers have a competition happening at running back.

While nobody is going to push Christian McCaffrey for the starting job, the spot behind him on the depth chart is certainly up for grabs.

Elijah Mitchell has reliably been the 49ers’ No. 2 RB since McCaffrey arrived in Week 7 of the 2022 season, but injuries have left him in and out of the lineup and paved a road for that spot to get taken. There hasn’t been much in the way of competition for him the last two years, but third-year undrafted RB Jordan Mason is vying for Mitchell’s spot as the No. 2 behind McCaffrey.

“I’d say, nothing against Elijah, there’s been no fall off in Elijah at all, but JP (Mason) runs at a very high level,” Shanahan told reporters Monday. “I see in both of those guys, that if Christian is not in there, not going, I mean we always expect no matter who we’ve had in the past, that number two, number three, sometimes our fourth guy comes in. And if their number is called, we expect them to run like a starting back and just how many reps did they get at it, how long did they last at things like that. JP wasn’t there right away, but he got there pretty quick. He did a hell of a job for us last year. We’ll see how camp plays out. But I love both of those guys and got some depth behind them too.”

ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter noted how much run Mason has been getting with the first team in camp as well. That’s typically an indicator a player is vying for a job where snaps with that group will be a regular occurrence.

It’s not a huge surprise to see Mason finally making a push for a regular offensive role. His improvement as a receiver has been noted by reporters during camp, which only further opens the door for a back who has averaged 5.6 yards per carry on 83 rushes as a pro.

This will be fascinating to watch through the rest of camp because McCaffrey isn’t liable to get much preseason work so there should be a ton of snaps for Mason and Mitchell to decide the RB2 job on the field.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

49ers are not repeating last year’s mistake on offensive line

We wondered if the 49ers were making a familiar mistake on the offensive line. They’re not.

It looked initially like the 49ers might be wandering into a mistake they made last training camp. In 2023 they handed starting jobs to right guard Spencer Burford and right tackle Colton McKivitz without any real competition. Through the first couple days of camp things appeared to be trending a similar direction.

Injuries have opened the door for some reserves to slide into starters reps though, and with that the interior offensive line competition appears to be on.

ESPN’s Nick Wagoner noted some of the changes to the offensive line in Saturday’s session;

Without Burford and Feliciano, it was rookie Dominick Puni getting more run with the starting offense at right guard. 49ers view the interior OL as having competition and if Puni can stay healthy, that alone should help him get the needed reps to potentially earn a role sooner than later.

Burford is dealing with a broken hand that could keep him out a few weeks. It’s unclear why Feliciano is out, but he figures to be in the mix for the starting right guard job after finishing the season there last year.

The 49ers probably would prefer to see Puni, a rookie third-round pick, make a quick enough mark to become a starting right guard. Head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear that the club is holding competitions at all the interior O-line spots.

“And they’re all battling for those inside spots and any time, especially when you lose guys in there, you’re not having Burford, Feliciano has missed a little bit of time, and [OL Jake] Brendel will get some time off,” Shanahan said after Saturday’s practice. “He’s not out there every single day. So guys have to be able to back up. They have to be able to do center, they have to be able to do guard. They have to know all three.”

While starting jobs may be up for grabs, reserve jobs will also be there for the taking. San Francisco has a glut of offensive linemen and their depth was sorely lacking last year. This season they have a handful of options to start, and the best ones who don’t could become key reserves. The musical chairs on the OL will be worth watching closely in camp, particularly once the pads come on.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

49ers offer glimpse of early training camp depth chart

Here’s what the 49ers early training camp depth chart showed us with some starters out of practice.

The 49ers during Friday’s practice offered a peek at what the depth chart looks like in the early portion of training camp.

With a slew of players either sitting out due to injury or rest, several reserves got into action with starters. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner noted tight end Eric Saubert rolled with the first team while George Kittle sat out. Cornerback Charvarius Ward also missed the session, allowing Isaac Yiadom to play with the starting unit. Defensive end Nick Bosa was replaced by Yetur Gross-Matos and defensive tackle Kevin Givens filled in for Maliek Collins.

This is all very preliminary, but it does give us some insight into how things are starting out on San Francisco’s depth chart. While Saubert and Givens aren’t liable to snag starting jobs, Yiadom and Gross-Matos are both players who could certainly push their way to the top of the depth chart.

Yiadom is in the mix to snag the third CB spot where he’d be on the field a ton in nickel packages. He could play outside with Ward while Deommodore Lenoir kicked into the slot.

Gross-Matos won’t replace Bosa, but he could emerge as the No. 1 option to start on the opposite edge. Veteran Leonard Floyd figures to be the starter to open camp. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities though that Gross-Matos has a strong enough camp to unseat the nine-year veteran.

We’ll keep a close eye on which reserves are getting starters reps throughout camp. Right now it’s interesting, but it’ll really start to matter more as we get closer to the regular season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Is 49ers RB Jordan Mason set to make a leap in 2024?

We might see more Jordan Mason in 2024 if this area of his game has really improved.

There’s been an intriguing development out of the 49ers’ first couple days of training camp. Running back Jordan Mason appears to have taken a step forward as a pass catcher, which may put him in a unique position in 2024.

Mason, an undrafted rookie in 2023, has struggled to find consistent playing time. Part of that is because of the two running backs ahead of him on the depth chart – Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell. Another issue though has been his inconsistency as a pass catcher. That has improved through the first couple days of camp according to reporters on site at practice. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner had this observation on Twitter:

Jordan Mason is offering more receiving chops than he has in the past. He’s made multiple catches the past couple of days and looked natural doing so.

David Lombardi from the Athletic also noted this exchange from McCaffrey’s press conference:

It’s unlikely McCaffrey is going to come off the field often, but as he enters his age 28 season the 49ers might aim to get him off the field more than they did last year. A prerequisite for that will be having a backup who can impact the game similarly enough that the offense won’t change in any substantial way.

For Mason, who had three catches for 31 yards on four targets last year, it’ll be about diversifying his game enough where his quarterbacks and coach trust him. As a rookie he never lined up as a receiver according to Pro Football Focus. Last year he lined up in the slot twice and split out wide thrice. He had one catch behind the line of scrimmage and two others in the middle of the field with an averaged target depth of 6.5 yards.

Increasing the volume of targets will help. That’s where trust built in camp will come in, so he’ll have to continue shining as a receiver as camp progresses. But reaching a point where he more consistently lines up wide and in the slot will be a key to the third-year RB getting on the field more in 2024. If he can start doing that and being a threat as a pass catcher, we could start seeing more regular Mason snaps this season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

One of 49ers most important offseason position battles is underway

The 49ers have the starting quarterback spot figured out, but what’s happening behind Brock Purdy?

There’s a position battle playing out in 49ers training camp that may fly under the radar, but is extremely important nonetheless.

San Francisco’s backup quarterback position can’t be overlooked given the team’s recent history of needing multiple signal callers in a season. While the 49ers have their starting QB situation hammered out, the backup spot will be a preseason-long battle between Josh Dobbs and Brandon Allen.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday in a press conference indicated the pair will split the second-team reps. In Wednesday’s practice it was Allen who got all the second-team reps according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

Via Wagoner on Twitter:

Brandon Allen got the work with the No. 2 offense while Josh Dobbs worked with the third team. Allen hit a couple of nice throws to WR Jauan Jennings but also was nearly intercepted on a check down to RB Jordan Mason late in practice. Dobbs had less success, including an interception on an under thrown deep ball intended for open WR Danny Gray.

It’s not a huge surprise Allen got the first day of second-team reps. He was with the 49ers all of last season and they re-signed him in the offseason knowing he’d have a shot to be the backup.

Dobbs might be a more talented player overall, but San Francisco’s backup will be the player they’re most confident will go in and operate the offense.

It’s still early in camp so we can’t take too much away from Allen over Dobbs on Day 1. The two are close enough contenders that this battle should wind up taking the entirety of the preseason to figure out. Wednesday was just a signal that the battle is underway.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]