Tag: 49ers depth chart

How veteran CB Isaac Yiadom made strong impression with 49ers DC Nick Sorensen

Isaac Yiadom made an impression on the #49ers by doing something DC Nick Sorensen had never seen immediately after signing.

It didn’t take long for veteran cornerback Isaac Yiadom to raise eyebrows in the 49ers’ facility. In fact, it took about as little time as it can possibly take.

Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen spoke with media following Wednesday’s practice and talked about how Yiadom made an immediate impression with the 49ers by getting a workout in right after signing his contract.

“I think with Ike, he came into the league and he kind of bounced around for a while. But everything we had heard about him and you see is what he’s been when he got here,” Sorensen said. “He’s kind of self-made, like he works. He’s very serious. I think when he came to sign, he actually like went and got a workout after he signed. I’ve never seen that, but that’s him. I think that’s what’s kind of shown up with who he is and he’s very meticulous and the stuff that showed up later in the year with him and how he competed against a lot of really good receivers. I think it’s been awesome that we’re seeing that now too.”

While the hard-nosed work ethic caught the eye of the 49ers new DC, it wasn’t going to be enough to earn him a roster spot. However, he’s continued making his mark throughout his time with the club.

“He’s very technical. He’s very strong,” Sorensen said. “I think he’s a guy that’s also, like we talk about Mooney being strong and a tackler, he’s got that in his history as well. He’s a tough guy. He’s physical. He plays with his hands. He’s violent. He communicates. He sees things before they happen and that stuff has shown up.”

Yiadom was a largely unheralded signing by the 49ers late in free agency. His contributions as a pro have largely come on special teams, but he’s coming off his best defensive season which provides some optimism that he may have reached a point in his career where he can be a starting CB on a good defense. He’s also a high-quality special teams player.

It looks like Yiadom has an inside track to a roster spot in a crowded CB room. If he keeps making good impressions though he could wind up earning a starting spot.

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49ers injury update: TE Cameron Latu expected back for training camp

Cameron Latu is expected back for training camp, but the road to a roster spot is steep for the #49ers 2nd-year TE.

The 49ers tight end room is going to be crowded come training camp. Second-year TE Cameron Latu is expected to return for camp after undergoing a procedure on his knee that cost him all of last season. He’ll join recently-signed TE Logan Thomas in the competition for roster spots behind George Kittle.

Latu, who is entering his second season after the 49ers selected him No. 101 overall in last year’s draft, missed his entire rookie season because of a knee injury. San Francisco placed him on IR before final cuts which made Latu ineligible to return even if he’d been healthy enough to.

The expectation was always that he’d be back in time to compete for a roster spot in 2024. Now that he’s gotten through his rehab without any setbacks he is officially on track to return for camp according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. Latu did not participate in OTAs and is not participating in mandatory minicamp.

It’ll be a bit of an uphill climb to a roster spot for Latu. His fellow 2023 draft pick Brayden Willis made enough inroads last season to be active for the Super Bowl. Thomas is probably the frontrunner for the TE2 spot going into camp. Newcomers Mason Pline and Eric Saubert will also be in the mix during camp, along with Jake Tonges who spent most of last year on the 49ers’ practice squad.

Still, the competition behind Kittle is wide open and getting a full training camp should help Latu make some headway in that battle.

Last preseason Latu played in all three games and caught four of his six targets for 55 yards and one touchdown.

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Logan Thomas a perfect fit in 49ers TE depth chart

The 49ers are finally closing in on a pass-catching TE to play alongside George Kittle.

The 49ers might have hit a home run with their latest free agent addition. They’re finalizing terms on a contract with tight end Logan Thomas, giving them a legitimate receiving threat to backup and play alongside George Kittle.

San Francisco has long searched for a pass catching TE to give the club more optionality with their multiple TE sets, but outside of Jordan Reed who only played in 10 games, they’ve not been able to find that real receiving threat. Players like Ross Dwelley and Charlie Woerner were fine blocking options, but neither instilled any kind of fear in a defense that forced them to honor a potential pass out of a multiple TE formation.

Now the 49ers might have that player. Thomas, a 32-year-old converted quarterback, has carved out a long career as a TE that includes two seasons in Buffalo, one in Detroit and four in Washington after the Cardinals picked him as a QB in the 2014 draft. He was out of the league for two seasons before catching on with Buffalo in 2017 as a TE.

Since then he’s accumulated 219 catches for 2,002 yards and 16 touchdowns. Last year in Washington he posted 55 catches for 496 yards and four touchdowns in 16 games. By comparison, Dwelley and Woerner have a combined 55 catches for 638 yards and five touchdowns in their careers.

Thomas isn’t the blocker either of that duo are which may limit his playing time in certain instances, but he’s not such a disaster that he’s unplayable.

Instead of going into the 2024 season with a couple of massive question marks behind Kittle on the depth chart the 49ers will instead have a proven veteran with bonafide pass-catching chops. Not only will that give them insurance behind Kittle, but it also opens up a slew of new doors for how the 49ers can operate with more than one TE on the field.

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49ers OL coach would rather draft skill position players than O-linemen

Should the 49ers use early draft picks on OL? Even their OL coach says no.

The 49ers haven’t done much to prioritize the offensive line in the draft since head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch arrived in 2017.

They added right tackle Mike McGlinchey in the first round of the 2018 draft, and in 2021 they used a second-round pick on left guard Aaron Banks. Those are the only two picks in the first two rounds they’ve used on offensive linemen, and offensive line coach Chris Foerster shed some light on that philosophy when he spoke with reporters after Wednesday’s OTA session.

Transcription via the 49ers:

This is my personal opinion, if they ask me, invest in guys that touch the ball, guys that can touch the ball and score touchdowns. And then there’s a range of guys, second, third, fourth round, fifth round even, that we will find starting offensive linemen in. At some point can you draft them? Yeah, you draft Trent Williams. You pick a draft where you’re getting a difference maker. But there’s guys that can make a difference, that touch the ball, well into the second, third, fourth rounds, or second and third rounds, at least. And definitely in the first round. That guy that touches the ball, it makes a huge difference in the game. The right guard makes a difference, we’ve talked about it before, but that’s where we’re able to find fourth and fifth round draft picks. How dominant is the difference between pick 34 versus pick 54, in offensive line play? And that’s what you’re trying to balance all the time. So, will we draft the best available player, all those types of things? Definitely will. And were we possibly ready to draft guys higher in the draft? Yes. But if there’s somebody that can touch the ball and make plays, in my opinion, if you ask me, ‘Chris, do you want him?’ I want the guy that touches the ball, for me. Because I think we can develop those players much more readily and have developed those players through the times because we do have specific things that we’re looking for. We know what we’re looking for through the course of time. That’s the advantage of being together with Kyle for so long that we kind of can pigeonhole these guys. Are we always right? Heck no, we’re not always right and nobody is on anything. Could you put five first rounders across the front? I don’t know that we have to, to have success.

This is a fascinating insight from Foerster that likely reflects part of San Francisco’s team-building philosophy. They’ve invested in free agent centers to try and find stability at that spot, and they replaced Joe Staley with Williams via trade during the 2020 draft. Beyond that they’ve been able to piece together really good offenses by investing in big-time playmakers and then working around deficiencies on the offensive line.

While it’s hard to argue with given their success at putting up points and yards under Shanahan, there’s a counterargument that says their Super Bowl hopes have been derailed by dominant defensive linemen in all five years that they’ve fallen just short of their goal.

Given Williams’ age we may see the 49ers make another big investment on the offensive line soon to shore up the left tackle spot, but beyond that don’t expect San Francisco to suddenly start using premium draft capital up front because even the offensive line coach doesn’t believe in doing so.

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Don’t expect 49ers rookie OL Dominick Puni to compete for starting RT spot

Dominick Puni can play anywhere on the OL, but the #49ers don’t plan on putting him in the mix to compete for the starting right tackle job.

The 49ers may be looking for an upgrade at right tackle, but don’t expect it to be rookie offensive lineman Dominick Puni.

Puni, who played left guard in 2022 at Kansas University before moving to left tackle in 2023, profiled as a guard according to most draft analysts. However, his experience at tackle in college gave some reason to believe he could be in the mix to start at RT if the 49ers put together a competition to try and unseat incumbent starter Colton McKivitz.

49ers offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster told reporters after Wednesday’s practice that he doesn’t foresee Puni pushing for a starting OT spot.

“The only thing, I’m not sure I’m going to rep him at is center, but he’s going to be able to play left guard, left tackle, right guard, right tackle,” Foerster said. “We’ll primarily work him at right guard right now. That’s a place we felt we could get some competition going and work at that spot. But he easily could be the fourth tackle, third. He could work in anywhere there. He’s got ability to play all. He’s best suited to guard though. You never know what happens. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Spencer Burford was handed the starting right guard job last season after holding down that spot in 2022 as a rookie. He wound up losing that job to veteran Jon Feliciano who returned this offseason on a one-year deal. That duo figures to be in the mix again, but Puni is a player who could provide a legitimate upgrade to start consistently at RG. That would push Feliciano and Burford down the depth chart to improve San Francisco’s depth on the interior.

It’s nigh impossible to make any determinations about the depth chart based on OTAs because the pads haven’t come on yet. We’ll learn a lot more about exactly where Puni fits into the guard rotation once training camp begins in late July.

As far as who will win the job, Foerster said consistency will be king.

“We’re just looking for that consistency,” Foerster said. “Maybe it comes from Spencer this year. Obviously, he’s the most talented of the players. I think he’s as talented or more than Puni. Puni will push that from that. And Jon’s just a guy that is a veteran, good player that knows how to get it done. Very savvy, good vet player. But these talented guys, when they figure it out and that’s what you keep hoping. So maybe it comes from Spence, maybe it comes from Puni, maybe it comes from somebody else. I don’t know where it comes from. But we’re hoping we can get just a little more consistent play out of that position.”

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Extending Jauan Jennings was right move for 49ers

The 49ers did the right thing extending Jauan Jennings through the 2025 season.

The 49ers and wide receiver Jauan Jennings agreed to a contract extension that will keep the 2020 seventh-round pick in San Francisco through the 2025 season.

This was a good medium for the 49ers and Jennings where San Francisco wanted to lock in their No. 3 WR for more than one year, while Jennings didn’t want to take a deal that would potentially cost him money in the long-term.

A two-year deal gives Jennings room to operate as the WR3 for the next couple years with a chance for a higher target share depending on how things shake out in the receiving corps. An uptick in production would make him more valuable in the free agent market as a 28-year-old in the 2026 offseason.

Meanwhile the 49ers get to keep a sure thing in their uncertain receiving corps. Brandon Aiyuk isn’t under contract beyond 2024 and it’s unclear what Deebo Samuel’s future with the team is. Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing, both 2024 draft picks, should factor in somewhere in the next couple seasons, but neither player offers the skill set Jennings has. He’s a big, tenacious run blocker who has become a big-time playmaker on third down for San Francisco.

It’s not that Jennings is irreplaceable, but not having him would change the way the 49ers offense can run out of three-plus WR sets.

Getting him at $10.5 million guaranteed over the next two years is probably right about what he would’ve received on the open market this year as a restricted free agent, and it doesn’t break the bank for San Francisco in a way that will tie their hands when it comes to Aiyuk’s extension.

Jennings’ production won’t ever jump off the page, but anyone who follows the 49ers closely knows how valuable he is. Keeping him at least for the next two seasons was a no-brainer move for the 49ers.

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49ers’ CBs have become most underrated part of roster

The 49ers’ pass rush has been the story of their defense recently, but now their CBs are underrated.

Picking a specific player as the “most underrated” on the 49ers isn’t an easy exercise. For one, defining “underrated” is nigh impossible leaving everybody’s selections to come from a different standard. There’s an interesting theme in recent selections of the 49ers’ most underrated player from a couple of different national outlets: San Francisco’s cornerbacks room needs to get more shine.

Pro Football Focus made a list of the most underrated player on each NFL team and chose CB Deommodore Lenoir for the 49ers. Touchdown Wire made their own most underrated list and put down CB Charvarius Ward.

It’s clear that while so much of the focus has (rightly) been on the 49ers’ pass rush since their string of deep playoff runs began in 2019, their secondary has now improved significantly and is worth discussing as one of the strengths of San Francisco’s defense instead of a weakness.

While Ward received recognition for his 2023 campaign with a Second-Team All-Pro nod, not many non-49ers fans would likely consider him one of their best players. He very much was a season ago though and allowed the 49ers’ defense to continue thriving despite their pass rush dealing with some inconsistencies. Ward received his best-ever overall grade from PFF last season and allowed a paltry 63.7 passer rating when targeted. He was one of the NFL’s best CBs without question.

Then there was Lenoir who came on strong at the end of 2022 and carried into 2023 where he posted his career-best overall PFF grade while splitting time between outside and in the slot. He also had a career-high six pass breakups to go along with his three interceptions.

A quality one-two punch at CB is not something every team has. And while figuring out the third CB spot will be paramount for San Francisco in training camp, it’s clear at this point they at least have a pair of Pro Bowl caliber corners. If their pass rush rekindles its dominance in 2024 we might see Ward and Lenoir put up numbers that get them out of the realm of the underrated.

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Can 49ers put Leonard Floyd in a Dee Ford type of role?

The 49ers have the blueprint for how to maximize DE Leonard Floyd.

The 49ers may have to reconsider what Leonard Floyd’s role is going to be for them in 2024 if they believe he can be an every-down player for them at this point in his career. The good news is there’s a blueprint of their own they can follow to maximize their veteran defensive lineman.

Floyd last season for the Bills missed a whopping 37 percent of his tackles according to Pro Football Focus. That was by far the highest missed tackle rate of his career.

Buffalo primarily used Floyd on passing downs, which led to him playing a 576 total snaps and 167 snaps against the run. The total snaps were his fewest since 2018, while the run snaps were his fewest ever. This is a pattern the 49ers should be following this season.

It’s true that San Francisco doesn’t have a ton of great edge depth alongside Nick Bosa. Floyd is by most measures their second-best defensive end and he’ll probably start every game. Finding a more reliable tackler and edge setter in the run game to allow Floyd to be more of a pass rush specialist will be crucial.

The 49ers employed this strategy in 2019 with edge rusher Dee Ford. When Ford was healthy he was a sub-package defender in passing situations with Arik Armstead working in as the defensive end in base packages for run downs. Armstead would kick inside for passing downs and Ford would come in and wreak havoc off the edge.

While Floyd is plenty qualified to play the Ford role in this instance, the 49ers don’t have a player the caliber of Armstead to line up on the edge now that Armstead left to join the Jaguars this offseason.

That’s where players like Drake Jackson, Robert Beal Jr. and Yetur Gross-Matos can have their biggest impact. Jackson and Beal are still unproven, but Gross-Matos had good success as a run defender in the second half of last season with the Panthers. That lends some credence to the idea he could line up in the Armstead role where he is outside in base packages with Leonard working as a sub-package rusher.

Of course, there’s a chance the 49ers believe Floyd’s rough tackling year last year was an anomaly. San Francisco is good enough in the second level to provide more support for their defensive line and their range at linebacker takes pressure off their edge rushers to defend a lot in space. San Francisco may see Floyd as an every-down player for them given their lack of proven depth on the roster.

It’s clear at this point though the ideal scenario for the 49ers is one where another DE shines enough as a run defender to play that spot in run situations, allowing Floyd to take on that primary pass rush role. If they’re running into a scenario where Floyd is on the field for all three downs, it means something elsewhere on the roster has gone terribly wrong.

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TD Wire: 49ers have 2 of NFL’s top 10 press cornerbacks

Press coverage is the 49ers’ bag now, and they have two of the NFL’s best press corners:

The 49ers are a defense constructed to dominate up front. Their MO since John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan arrived has been to build a ferocious pass rush that disrupts quarterbacks and makes life easier on the secondary. In that instance the bar for cornerback play was lowered. However, in the last couple years the 49ers have seen an ascension from their CBs that has their secondary in a spot to be extremely effective in 2024. In fact, two of their CBs ranked in the top 10 in Touchdown Wire’s rankings of the best press cornerbacks in football.

Charvarius Ward was No. 8 on TD Wire’s list. Deommodore Lenoir landed at No. 9 on the list following his best season as a pro.

Author Doug Farrar had some impressive numbers for Ward in press:

Last season for the NFC champs, Ward was in press on 231 of his 1,172 snaps, ranking 10th in the NFL. And when targeted in press, Ward allowed 14 catches on 34 reps for 6.0 yards per reception, three explosive plays, one touchdown, and two interceptions.

Like all the NFL’s best press cornerbacks, Ward combines physical dominance at the line of scrimmage with excellent transition skills, and the ability to stay in a receiver’s hip pocket throughout the play.

Ward used his press skills to notch his first All-Pro nod after last season while leading the 49ers with five interceptions and leading the NFL with 23 pass breakups.

Lenoir didn’t enter last season as a surefire starter for San Francisco, but his play over the course of the year was evidence of his growth as a versatile inside/outside CB. Via Farrar:

As for Lenoir, he perfectly complemented Ward both outside and in the slot with 257 press reps in his 1,222 snaps. When in press, Lenoir allowed 17 catches on 39 targets for 7.9 yards per catch, four explosive plays, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Like Ward, Lenoir is a bigger cornerback (5-foot-10, 200 pounds) with the transition skills needed to match and carry every kind of receiver.

It’s clear adding quality press coverage CBs is a priority for San Francisco. They signed Ward in 2022 after he led the NFL in press snaps for three consecutive seasons. Press is also something second-round draft pick Renardo Green thrived at in college at Florida State.

Adapting has been something the 49ers have done well on the offensive side, and now it appears they’re shifting their focus on the other side of the ball as well.

Last year San Francisco’s pass rush struggled to consistently get home and impact opposing quarterbacks. If they can improve there in 2024, combined with the amount of press played by 49ers CBs, we could see a significant uptick in takeaways in the secondary and a jump back to the No. 1 defensive spot for San Francisco.[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]

49ers roster: Most improved position group on defense

The 49ers most improved position group on defense isn’t hard to find.

The 49ers’ defense was good in 2023, but it lacked some of the edge that came to define that unit beginning in the 2019 campaign. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was let go this offseason and replaced with first-time coordinator Nick Sorensen in an effort to get San Francisco’s defense back on track. That wasn’t the only change that needed to be made though.

There was a personnel problem for the 49ers as well that sparked some of their defensive woes, particularly along the defensive line. It was clear they needed upgrades up front and they addressed those needs often during the offseason, making their defensive line the most improved position group.

Defensive end Nick Bosa didn’t put up another Defensive Player of the Year campaign, but despite notching just 10.5 sacks he was still excellent as an edge setter against the run and at pressuring quarterbacks. The pressures just didn’t turn into sacks as often as they had in the previous two seasons where Bosa averaged 17.0 sacks per year.

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave was also good despite not reaching the lofty standards he’d set with a dominant 2022 campaign for the Eagles.

Beyond that the 49ers had a ton of trouble finding production from their defensive line, which spurred a dramatic overhaul up front in the offseason.

DL Arik Armstead was released after not agreeing to a pay cut to stay with the 49ers. Neither DE Chase Young nor DE Randy Gregory were re-signed. DT Javon Kinlaw also exited in free agency.

With glaring needs up front, San Francisco signed Browns free agent DT Jordan Elliott and added DT Maliek Collins in a trade with the Texans. Both players have good track records as run stuffers which should help the 49ers shore up a run defense that got torched in the postseason.

They also secured DEs Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos in free agency to help lead the way in front of unproven players like Drake Jackson and Robert Beal Jr.

Floyd has consistently produced with at least 9.0 sacks in each of the last four seasons, while Gross-Matos offers the same type of versatility and upside that made Charles Omenihu such a valuable player for them in 2021 and 2022.

Adding proven veterans was something the 49ers didn’t do on the defensive front last year and it forced them to try and fix it on the fly mid-season. Now they’ve aimed to fix it in the offseason, and on paper it appears that group will be their most improved in 2024.

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