Tag: 49ers depth chart

Will 49ers lean less on their offensive MVP in 2024?

Will the 49ers try and ease Christian McCaffrey’s workload at all in 2024?

The 49ers had a clear plan on offense last season: get the ball to Christian McCaffrey. Their running back led the NFL with 339 touches last season despite playing in only 16 games. It begs the question as McCaffrey enters his Age 28 season – will the 49ers use McCaffrey less in 2024?

There are certainly enough weapons on San Francisco’s roster to take some of the playmaking onus off of the reigning Offensive Player of the Year’s plate. Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and presumably Brandon Aiyuk are all capable of generating big plays for the 49ers. Jauan Jennings has even emerged as a threat, particularly on third downs, and now the club will add first-round pick Ricky Pearsall to the mix. Elijah Mitchell has proven to be a starting-caliber NFL RB, and the 49ers selected Isaac Guerendo in the fourth round of this year’s draft.

It doesn’t all have to come down to McCaffrey. In an ideal world he’ll shoulder a lion’s share of the workload, but Mitchell, Guerendo or third-year back Jordan Mason would take on some of the rushing workload. That’s especially true late in games where the runs get tougher between the tackles. This has worked with varying degrees of success in the last couple years where Mitchell and Mason have both taken on a “closer” role for the 49ers.

The problem is that “closer” role has only been utilized in games that aren’t particularly close, and that’s why it’s nigh impossible to see a scenario where the 49ers are utilizing McCaffrey less.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan trusts him more than he trusts any other running back on the roster. McCaffrey’s versatility also forces defenses to account for more things than they’d need to account for with one of the other backs on the field. San Francisco is also an inherently run-first offense where they’re not going to be putting the ball in the air 550 times. Shanahan is going to lean on his run game, and by extension, McCaffrey.

Perhaps the workload comes down by a handful of touches just by virtue of game script. Given the 49ers’ penchant for running the ball and quarterback Brock Purdy’s willingness to find his running back in the passing game, all signs point to another year of the same offensive plan: get the ball to Christian McCaffrey.

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Former 49ers 3rd-round pick a long shot to make roster in 3rd season

The #49ers might have to cut ties early with yet another early-round offensive weapon.

The 49ers receiving corps will be worth keeping a close eye on when the team begins training camp in late July.

Aside from the Brandon Aiyuk situation, which may or may not be resolved by the time the team takes the field, San Francisco also has a handful of receivers who appeared to be in the team’s long-term plans that might now be on the outs.

For the sake of argument here we’ll say Aiyuk is with the club since that appears to be the likeliest outcome regardless of whether he gets an extension done. That leaves this group cemented on the roster:

Deebo Samuel
Brandon Aiyuk
Ricky Pearsall
Jauan Jennings

Even if the team keeps six receivers, that leaves two spots for a group of several players vying for those spots. At least one player is going to be out among Danny Gray, Ronnie Bell and Jacob Cowing. Chris Conley became a trusted option for head coach Kyle Shanahan down the stretch last season, and Trent Taylor returned on a one-year free agent deal.

Even if we remove Conley and Taylor, assuming they can be scooped for the practice squad, that means Cowing, Bell and Gray are three players vying for two roster spots.

It’s hard to imagine the 49ers are going to give up on Cowing, a rookie fourth-round pick, after just one training camp. That leaves one spot for Bell and Gray if the 49ers keep six receivers.

That’s where Bell has the edge over Gray, who spent all of last season on Injured Reserve. Bell was a seventh-round rookie last year and managed to be more productive in his first year than Gray, a former third-round pick. Bell caught six passes for 68 yards and three touchdowns in 183 offensive snaps while also contributing 112 special teams snaps. Gray as a rookie caught one ball for 10 yards in 87 offensive snaps and contributed just 19 special teams snaps.

That leaves a very narrow path to the roster for Gray. He has two options assuming the 49ers receiving corps is fully healthy.

Gray’s first option is the least likely. He’d have to take such a significant leap as a receiver that the 49ers simply couldn’t leave him off the roster. This would put him ahead of Pearsall for offensive snaps, and might even pull him ahead of Jennings.

His second, more likely option, is to find ways to make a special teams impact. That’s another place he’d need to take a significant leap, but it’s an easier leap to make than the one on offense.

Realistic math says Gray is the odd man out going into camp. Even if the 49ers may be wary of cutting a third-round pick before his third NFL season, history says they’ll do it if they don’t think that player is going to contribute (see: running backs Trey Sermon and Tyrion Davis-Price). That makes Gray one of the most interesting players to watch in camp. He’ll either make the club and have an impact, or be on the hunt for a new team.

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One area 49ers roster falls short compared to rest of NFL

The 49ers have the NFL’s best roster, but one group stands out as a weak point.

The 49ers own the NFL’s best roster. As a result of that they’re typically well-represented in various top-10 player rankings at each position. There’s a very clear weak spot on their roster though, and that’s reflected in their lack of even a mention in the ESPN top-10 interior offensive lineman rankings.

It wasn’t a huge surprise that zero 49ers were in the top 10 of interior linemen. They don’t invest heavily in that spot and while the play from that group has typically been okay, it hasn’t been Earth-shattering.

However, none of Aaron Banks, Jake Brendel, Jon Feliciano nor Spencer Burford were an honorable mention, and none of that quartet even received votes in a poll of league executives, scouts and coaches.

It’s not that it’s unfair or wrong that the 49ers didn’t have a player mentioned in ESPN’s write-up. It does underscore where the weakness lies with San Francisco’s roster.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan has done an outstanding job of putting together an offense that allows his interior linemen to have success, particularly in the run game. That group is typically good enough throughout the course of a 17-game season. They’re even fine against early playoff foes.

Where the 49ers get hung up, and the reason that group needs to improve, is in big moments against the NFL’s top interior defensive linemen. Whether it was Aaron Donald or Chris Jones, San Francisco has seen their offense wrecked in big moments by interior defensive linemen multiple times.

For now the 49ers interior offensive line is okay, although the hope is that third-round pick Dominick Puni will be an upgrade at right guard. They do need to be able to win more matchups when game-planning goes out the window and they just need to win a rep. If they start doing that with more frequency, we may see the interior OL start to catch up to the rest of the roster.

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4 training camp questions for 49ers new-look LB corps

The #49ers LB corps could look a little different this year, leading to some big questions in training camp.

The 49ers linebacking corps has been a pretty substantial key to their defensive dominance over the last few seasons. Fred Warner is the consensus best LB in the NFL and Dre Greenlaw’s ascension into the upper tier at the position has allowed San Francisco to control the middle of the field as well as any team in the league.

2024 comes with a new set of challenges though as the club looks to integrate some new depth and replace Greenlaw who is recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered in the Super Bowl. We’ll learn plenty about how things shake out with that group in training camp, and these are the questions we’ll be looking to have answered:

1. Can De’Vondre Campbell still play?

Campbell was an All-Pro just three seasons ago. Since then his overall production has dipped, but it could be a product of the personnel or scheme in Green Bay. He’s an undeniably talented veteran who should be able to fill in for Greenlaw even if it is past time for Campbell to be that level of player. Playing next to Warner should elevate the 31-year-old. How much it elevates his play is something we’ll be intrigued to see in camp.

2. Will Dre Greenlaw participate at all?

It sounds like Greenlaw is destined for the PUP list which would hold him out of camp and the first few weeks of the regular season. General manager John Lynch said Greenlaw wants to return by Week 1, although the GM did indicate that timeline was probably too ambitious. If Greenlaw participates in any camp though it would be a good sign that he’s tracking toward returning early in the year. If he spends all of camp on PUP, which is the most likely scenario, we can expect a mid-to-late season return if he’s able to suit up in 2024 at all.

3. Who’s the third LB?

While the Greenlaw saga plays out we’ll also need to keep an eye on which player steps in as the Sam LB in base packages. Last year the role belonged to Oren Burks who jumped up to the WLB spot when Greenlaw went down. The SLB isn’t on the field very often given how often defenses run in sub packages against modern offenses, but the winner of that job would likely be the first player up in the event that one of Campbell or Warner are unavailable. There’s a relative lack of experience behind the two starters, which makes SLB a pretty significant question mark and position battle in camp.

4. How are the 2023 picks coming along?

This one piggybacks off the third LB conversation. San Francisco selected LBs Dee Winters and Jalen Graham late on Day 3 in last year’s draft. Neither player contributed defensively as rookies, but there’s reason for optimism about both given the 49ers’ penchant for finding quality LB talent. This is a wide open door for both to step into a starting role as the third LB. If either of them takes that job this season it bodes well for their future as a contributor for San Francisco’s defense. Watching their progress should be a fun aspect of camp this year.

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4 big questions for 49ers OL heading into training camp

There are a handful of key questions for the #49ers to answer in training camp on the offensive line.

It’s not exactly a secret the 49ers offensive line is one of the biggest weaknesses on the roster. Even with Trent Williams manning the left tackle spot, there are still enough question marks that keep this unit at the bottom of any 49ers position group power rankings.

There weren’t any major changes in this offseason, but there were some interesting moves on the margins that should give us a few questions to answer as the team goes through training camp.

Here are four key questions for San Francisco’s offensive line in camp:

1. Who’s starting at RG?

It isn’t entirely clear what the 49ers’ plan is at right guard. Spencer Burford was handed the spot entering camp last year, but he eventually lost his spot to veteran Jon Feliciano. Feliciano and Burford are both back this season. They both figure to be in the mix at RG. Third-round pick Dominick Puni should also get a real chance to start at that spot. Ben Bartch may also factor in. There are a ton of players who could start at right guard. Who ultimately wins the job will be perhaps the biggest question the 49ers will answer in camp.

2. Is there a real competition at RT?

Colton McKivitz wasn’t bad as a starting right tackle last season. It’s absolutely a spot San Francisco could upgrade though. McKivitz didn’t face any real competition last training camp. This year it’s unclear whether he’ll be handed the starting gig again or if players like Chris Hubbard and Brandon Parker (or Puni) will get chances to wrestle that starting gig away from the incumbent. We should learn early on where McKivitz’s job security is based on which players are rotating in with the starters.

3. Has the depth improved?

While there are questions in the starting unit, depth has also been a concern for San Francisco the last handful of years. They’ve been one injury away from being really up against it on the offensive front. This year with some of the moves they’ve made on the fringes they could give themselves an opportunity to have a deep group where an injury or two doesn’t cost the club much in the way of productivity up front. It’ll be worth watching how the starting group shakes out, but the second and third-team reps will tell us a lot about whether the overall depth at the weakest area of the roster has improved.

4. What position does Puni play?

The third-round pick from Kansas primarily played offensive tackle in college and was very good there. He was stellar at left guard as well, however, and he profiles as a guard in the NFL. Signs point to him competing at right guard. It isn’t out of the realm of possibilities though that he’s just their best option at right tackle. It’ll be interesting to see where he lines up and if he gets any shot at offensive tackle.

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49ers must address this position early in 2025 draft

The #49ers missed their top need in this year’s draft. They can’t do it again in 2025.

The 49ers opted not to address their biggest need in this year’s draft. They needed to figure out what they’re doing long-term at both offensive tackle spots. Instead that need will roll over into the 2025 draft, and at that point they’ll have to go about attacking it with gusto early in the selection process.

This year there wasn’t a player the team deemed worthy of a first-round pick when their choice came around at No. 31 overall. Instead of forcing an offensive tackle they bolstered their short and long-term depth at other key areas.

In the 2024 draft that was fine. They still have Trent Williams playing like the best left tackle in the sport, and right tackle Colton McKivitz wasn’t an abject disaster in his first season as the 49ers’ starting RT. They should be fine this year without a rookie OT.

Beyond 2024 is where things get dicey, and it’s unlikely the 49ers will be able to go another draft without addressing OT early. Williams turns 36 before training camp and McKivitz hasn’t proven to be a long-term option at RT, much less the heir apparent to Williams.

Perhaps McKivitz lights it up in his second full season as a starting tackle and gives the 49ers some added flexibility. Barring a dramatic leap from him though San Francisco is going to be in a spot where finding an upgrade at RT who could conceivably flip to the left side in the post-Williams era. It simply has to be their No. 1 priority, to the point that trading up may be required.

With Brock Purdy’s contract coming up, the 49ers will have to shift how their roster is constructed. Finding an OT who is on a rookie scale contract for four years could be paramount to building out a Super Bowl contender with an expensive QB and some of the team’s other high-priced players at other positions.

It’s not going to be easy, to be sure. The 49ers figure to be picking late in the draft where high-quality OTs don’t typically fall. That’s why a trade up may become a necessity. It would certainly be worth it though if they identify a prospect who can fill their needs at both tackle spots. Skipping it this year was fine, but next offseason it will top their list of needs again and next offseason will be the time to go address it.

Do 49ers need to add another starting safety by training camp?

Are the 49ers going to add another safety before training camp?

There may not be a position on the 49ers’ roster with more variance than safety. On the surface they look set with starters and depth, but they may also need to bring in another starter by training camp.

The answer to whether they should bring in another starting-caliber safety comes down to two factors.

First is Talanoa Hufanga’s health. The strong safety tore his ACL in Week 11 and the team sounds confident he’ll be ready to play during training camp. However, it’s unclear at exactly what point he’ll be available to participate in camp. And when he does return there’s no guarantee he’ll be the All-Pro caliber player he was over the last couple seasons. If he’s healthy and contributing at a high level, San Francisco’s depth should be fine.

If Hufanga is not ready to play, the second factor comes into play. Experience is in short supply on the 49ers’ roster at safety. Second-year third-round pick Ji’Ayir Brown started only five games last regular season and was benched for the divisional round of the playoffs before starting the NFC championship game and Super Bowl. He did acquit himself well which explains San Francisco’s optimism about him, but his ability to step in and be a starter is still a question mark.

The next man up behind Brown appears to be rookie fourth-round pick Malik Mustapha. While Mustapha looks the part of a do-everything safety for the 49ers, his ability to play in the NFL is still a sizable question mark. After the Brown-Mustapha pairing the depth gets a lot thinner and features mainly special teams contributors.

It doesn’t sound like San Francisco is interested in bringing in a starter. And that makes sense since they’re optimistic about Hufanga’s availability for the regular season. If Hufanga can play, Brown can start alongside him and the team can bring Mustapha along slowly the same way they did with Brown. If he’s unavailable or if one of Mustapha or Brown don’t look prepared to contribute, then they may look to add another starting-caliber player to the mix.

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49ers No. 1-ranked RB room both top-heavy and deep

Best RB room in the NFL? Look no further than the #49ers thanks to a combination of top-end talent and depth.

The 49ers running back room would be considered one of the NFL’s best regardless of who was behind Christian McCaffrey because McCaffrey is the best player at the position by a pretty significant margin. They easily take the top spot in Pro Football Focus’ running back unit rankings though because of the depth they’ve placed behind the reigning Offensive Player of the Year.

McCaffrey is going to shoulder most of the workload for San Francisco, but the players behind him would be an impressive RB group even if they didn’t have a superstar atop the depth chart.

Elijah Mitchell, Jordan Mason, Patrick Taylor, fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and undrafted rookie Cody Schrader round out the RB room going into training camp. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk, the best player in the NFL at his position, is also included in the assessment by PFF.

Mitchell has dealt with some health issues throughout his three-year NFL career, but when he’s been on the field his production has been very good and certainly worthy of being the No. 1 RB on an NFL team.

Mason hasn’t gotten his footing just yet as an offensive contributor. He only has 83 carries in two seasons. However, he’s averaging 5.6 yards per carry in those attempts. There’s a chance Mason would start on some teams. He’d certainly be a more active contributor in a room that didn’t feature McCaffrey and Mitchell ahead of him.

Taylor, Guerendo and Schrader will all compete for roster spots in camp. Whichever player comes out of that trio will likely make an already very good running back unit even better.

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Replacing Brandon Aiyuk wouldn’t be easy for 49ers

The #49ers would have a hard time replacing Brandon Aiyuk.

One of the moves the 49ers made that set in motion the semi-urgent panic about Brandon Aiyuk’s future in San Francisco was their selection of Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in the first round of this year’s draft. They later spent a fourth-round pick on Arizona WR Jacob Cowing.

It appears the 49ers are gearing up for some sort of seismic change in their receiving corps, leading some to believe there’s pessimism from the team about their ability to retain Aiyuk for the long-term.

Let’s explore that space for a moment and try to capture just how absurd it would be if the team’s thought process truly is “Aiyuk is replaceable and therefore won’t be getting a top-of-market deal.”

San Francisco has had success with wide receivers under head coach Kyle Shanahan thanks to the selections of Deebo Samuel in Round 2 of the 2019 draft, their trade up for Aiyuk in the first round in 2020, and the Jauan Jennings pick in Round 7 of that 2020 draft.

Beyond that the position has been a little bit of a mess for the 49ers. Let’s remember some guys:

2017, Round 5: Trent Taylor
2018, Round 2: Dante Pettis
2018, Round 7: Richie James
2019, Round 3: Jalen Hurd
2022, Round 3: Danny Gray
2023, Round 7: Ronnie Bell

Since 2017, and not including players selected this year, this is the group of WRs the 49ers have drafted. In that time they also acquired Emmanuel Sanders for half a season via trade.

The success of this group in San Francisco was a mixed bag, but the common thread between them is that none of them are even close to as impactful as Aiyuk has been for the 49ers. Simply going out and finding another player capable of stacking consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in one of the lowest-volume passing offenses in the NFL isn’t a simple thing. Letting the young, franchise quarterback’s top target walk just in time to throw a bunch of money at that QB puts both the quarterback and the team at risk of cratering.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan is always going to be able to generate some offense, but why purposely make it harder by adding a player who’s unlikely to be as good as Aiyuk, who made his first All-Pro team in 2023 after finishing seventh in the NFL in receiving yards despite ranking No. 36 in targets and No. 32 in receptions.

If the expectation is that Pearsall will step in and be that player right away, it puts a major onus on him to be great with not a ton of runway to get there. There’s a real chance in the next two or three years the team will need to lean on its WRs more with running back Christian McCaffrey crossing the 30-year-old threshold and tight end George Kittle pushing toward his mid-30s.

Maybe the 49ers believe they’re better off building a team without a $30 million per year contract on the books at receiver. That’s a risky proposition though, and all the team has to do to find evidence is look at its own recent history.

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Mitch Wishnowsky should handle kickoffs for 49ers with new NFL rules

The 49ers should have Mitch Wishnowsky take their kickoffs this year.

Part of the reason the 49ers picked Jake Moody No. 99 overall in the 2023 draft was because of his ability to handle kickoffs. He had the leg to launch his kickoffs through the back of the end zone for touchbacks to eliminate potential big kick returns. Now with the new kickoff rules though, it may behoove the 49ers to put punter Mitch Wishnowsky on kickoffs.

The NFL’s new kickoff rules will ostensibly force kick coverage teams to play along a line of scrimmage in a way that could often leave kickers as a last line of defense more often than they used to be. Having a kicker that can’t stick his nose in and tackle will cost some teams points. The new rules also put the receiving team at the 30 for a touchback to incentivize keeping the ball in the landing zone between the 20 and the goal line.

Kansas City is already experimenting with putting safety Justin Reid on kickoffs to ensure they have a tackler on the field who won’t force them to play 10-on-11 on kickoffs. For the 49ers they don’t have to go that far because Wishnowsky, a former Aussie rules football player, can hit.

Exhibit A from his first preseason:

This is the kind of play that might start being required by kickers under the new rules. The coverage team and return team will line up five yards apart, limiting the amount of layers to a coverage team. One seam in that coverage unit could be enough to spring a long return.

If the kicker isn’t an active part of that coverage, those seams may be easier to come by. If the kicker is flying up like Wishnowsky did in the video above, it could shut the faucet off on what would’ve been a big return that puts the kicker against a returner in space.

Perhaps the 49ers are fine with Moody banging touchbacks still. They might also be fine with him launching kicks high in the air to give the coverage team time to get down the field. Wishnowsky should at least get a look though, particularly if kick coverage becomes a problem for San Francisco.

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