49ers snap counts – Syndication Server

Backup RB will be star of the show again for 49ers offense vs. Vikings

Jordan Mason might set a new career-high in carries after two games.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t going to lay bare his plans for running back usage in Sunday’s matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.

After all, he’s probably not even sure whether he’ll have running back Christian McCaffrey at his disposal. McCaffrey was limited in Wednesday’s practice with his calf and Achilles injuries.

If McCaffrey is out again, we can expect another heavy workload for backup RB Jordan Mason.

Mason took 28 carries in the season opener vs. the New York Jets. That’s the most carries any 49er has had under Shanahan. Mason also needs only 16 rushes on Sunday to set a new career-high in carries for a season. He had his high water mark of 43 as a rookie.

It may not be 28 carries again because the game script could dictate otherwise, but a quote from Shanahan in Wednesday’s press conference indicates he won’t hesitate to lean on Mason.

“When I’ve seen him, he hasn’t mentioned anything,” Shanahan said when asked how Mason held up after getting 28 carries. “The trainers haven’t mentioned anything. That’s what I was kind of explaining in training camp that I thought was so impressive. Having so many guys out and how hard he went each day and the way he is, his body really never changed. He ran so hard in that game and he seems good to go.”

If Shanahan believes Mason is ready to shoulder the load, he’s not going to shy away from using the RB. That’s particularly true given the 49ers’ RB depth behind Mason.

Patrick Taylor had 65 career carries in 34 games across three seasons entering 2024. Rookie Isaac Guerendo hasn’t received a regular season touch.

McCaffrey’s return will limit Mason’s workload, although some division of snaps between them may be necessary to keep McCaffrey healthy. Until No. 23 is back on the field, however, we can expect Mason to be the only RB Shanahan turns to no matter how many carries he’s seen.

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49ers RB Christian McCaffrey plays every snap vs. Vikings

Not only did Christian McCaffrey play Monday night. He played every offensive snap:

It’s hard to believe based on Monday night’s game vs. the Vikings that 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was even a little bit banged up.

McCaffrey suffered an oblique injury in San Francisco’s Week 6 loss to the Browns and was listed as questionable on the Week 7 injury report after only practicing one day during the week leading up to the game. The ailment didn’t impact his role at all in Minnesota.

The 49ers played 53 offensive snaps Monday night and McCaffrey was on the field for all 53 of them. He had 18 touches in the game, including 15 of the club’s 22 rushing attempts.

Running back Elijah Mitchell played just four snaps and took one carry. Jordan Mason’s work was limited to 11 special teams snaps.

Perhaps McCaffrey’s injury isn’t bad. He looked mostly normal despite struggling to find running room behind shoddy run blocking from San Francisco’s offensive line.

Perhaps the 49ers don’t believe their offense can function without the star running back so they’re going to roll him out regardless of his injury status.

That he played a full complement of snaps is a good sign for his status in Week 8 against the Bengals though, and then San Francisco gets a week off after that where McCaffrey will get additional time to rest his ailing oblique.

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49ers snap counts vs. Rams: No question who top WRs are

The 49ers snap counts on Sunday Night Football could reflect what we see from them the rest of the year.

The 49ers on Sunday night knocked off the Rams to climb back into the playoff race.

They earned the victory to snap a two-game losing skid by turning into a team that somewhat resembled the 2019 squad that went to the Super Bowl. San Francisco was creative on offense. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was efficient, and the defense looked again like one of the five best units in the NFL.

Their snap counts from Sunday night provide a look at what the 49ers may look like moving forward.

On offense, it appears they’ve found the three receivers they’ll lean on down the stretch now that that unit is healthy.

– Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and Kendrick Bourne all outsnapped the other receivers by a wide margin. That resembles the Samuel, Bourne, Emmanuel Sanders trio from last season. Samuel is all the way back from his pre-season foot injury and played 60 snaps.

– There was more two TE stuff from the 49ers on Sunday. Ross Dwelley and Charlie Woerner had just three combined snaps vs. the Dolphins. Dwelley had 21 snaps Sunday night.

– JaMycal Hasty’s 15 offensive snaps are the most of his career. He did a nice job closing.

– A couple injuries on the offensive line led to two snaps for Justin Skule, and seven for Hroniss Grasu. Grasu finished the game at center with Ben Garland dealing with a calf injury. Skule came in for two snaps when Trent Williams left the game to be evaluated for head/neck injury.

On the other side of the ball, the 49ers needed their defensive leaders to step up, and they did with most of their top players staying on the field for the entire game.

– Five 49ers played 100 percent of the defensive snaps, including cornerback Jason Verrett, who’s now played 231 snaps after playing just 67 the previous three seasons combined.

– There was a chance Jamar Taylor got picked on so bad the 49ers made a change at nickel. The Rams tried to pick on him though and he did a nice job for the most part and played three-quarters of the snaps.

– San Francisco is thin at defensive end, which is why Arik Armstead and Kerry Hyder were both so far ahead of the other DEs in playing time. Expect that trend to continue until DL Ronald Blair comes off the Physically Unable to Perform list.

– 32 snaps were the fewest for Jaquiski Tartt since Week 13 of the 2018 season. He’s dealing with a groin injury and exited early. His replacement, Marcell Harris racked up a season-high 28 snaps.

49ers Week 4 snap counts offer a few positives from loss

The 49ers’ loss to the Eagles wasn’t good, but the snap counts offer a couple positive takeaways.

The 49ers fell to the Eagles on Sunday night, but there are a few silver linings to be found in the snap counts from the loss.

Here are the offensive snap counts via NFL GSIS:

Deebo Samuel got 25 snaps in his first game of the season. He posted three catches for 35 yards and one rush for 10 yards. Samuel looked good in his limited work, and his production on fewer than half the offensive snaps is a sign he’ll pick up where he left off as the team’s No. 1 receiver last season.

Another plus from the receiving corps is Brandon Aiyuk, who led all receivers with 64 snaps. He outsnapped the rest of the receiving corps by a wide margin. It’s clear the team likes the rookie, and he’s earning a ton of snaps very early in his career.

Jerick McKinnon played 92 percent of the offensive snaps. While the 49ers’ run game couldn’t get much going, he did post 54 rushing yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. He added seven receptions for 43 yards. McKinnon is coming off a two-year absence because of knee injuries and worked in as the workhorse running back Sunday night.

Here are the defensive snap counts:

The big key from the defensive side is Jason Verrett, who was playing in his second consecutive game for the first time since the 2016 season. He played 45 snaps last week because the starters got pulled late in the team’s rout of the Giants, but there was no such blowout this week. He had to play the entire game and he only missed one snap. Verrett has battled a ton of injuries in his career, so seeing him get through consecutive games healthy is a great sign.

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