Jon Feliciano – Syndication Server

Christian McCaffrey return not the only good injury news for 49ers after Bye week

Good injury news for the 49ers, non-Christian McCaffrey edition:

Health was always going to be a major factor for the San Francisco 49ers repeating as NFC champions, and Monday after their Bye week they took some positive steps in that department.

Not only did running back Christian McCaffrey return to the practice field for the first time since Week 1, wide receiver Jauan Jennings, kicker Jake Moody and offensive lineman Jon Feliciano were all back in action according to reporters on site at the SAP Performance Center.

Jennings suffered a hip injury in Week 6 and missed Weeks 7 and 8. His absence was magnified by the loss of wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk during Week 7. Jennings has 25 catches for 404 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns in six games. He’ll become a big-time target for quarterback Brock Purdy once he’s back in action, but he’ll also provide a boost in the run game thanks to his versatility and blocking ability.

Feliciano joined McCaffrey in having his 21-day practice window opened. He’s been out since undergoing knee surgery in the preseason. He was expected to miss about half the year, so the timeline for his return lines up. It’s unlikely we’ll see Feliciano starting, but he’s a high-quality depth piece on the interior of the offensive line that gives San Francisco some flexibility if they have injury issues or production problems on the OL.

Moody never went on IR after suffering a high ankle sprain while making a tackle on a kick return in Week 5. San Francisco’s kickers, Matthew Wright and Anders Carlson, went a combined eight-for-eight on field goals and six-for-seven on extra points in their three games.

Carlson is still on the practice squad, and the team may utilize him again in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers depending on how Moody responds to his return to action.

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Key 49ers veteran OL to begin season on IR after knee surgery

A key piece of the #49ers OL depth will begin the season on IR.

It looked like depth would be a strength of the San Francisco 49ers offensive line in the 2024 season.

That depth has already taken a hit and now the 49ers have some new questions to answer on the offensive front.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday told reporters offensive lineman Jon Feliciano is undergoing knee surgery that will land him on IR to start the year.

Rules used to dictate that a player had to land on the 53-man roster before going on IR in order to return from the injured list. New rules allow teams to put players on IR before the cut down to 53, then activate them later.

It’s unclear when the club will put Feliciano on IR, but it would make sense to put him there before final cuts so they have an extra roster spot.

Feliciano has been dealing with a knee issue for most of training camp. His timeline for return is unclear, although it sounds like he will be able to return to play in the 2024 season.

This comes as a significant blow for the 49ers since Feliciano entered camp as a favorite to win the right guard job. Rookie Dominick Puni played well enough to earn that spot while Feliciano and Spencer Burford were out, but Feliciano still figures to be a major depth piece who can play all three interior OL spots for San Francisco.

With Feliciano sidelined, it opens the door for a player like Ben Bartch, Nick Zakelj or Burford to either make the roster or take on a more outsized reserve role.

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Are 49ers repeating last year’s mistake on the offensive line?

So far there’s no competition at right guard for the 49ers which is … interesting.

It appears through the first two days of training camp that the 49ers might be repeating a mistake they made last season.

San Francisco in training camp last year handed starting jobs to right guard Spencer Burford and right tackle Colton McKivitz. They both had to play well enough too keep the starting spots, but they were never really pushed with other players rotating in and getting chances with the first team.

In the first two days of camp this year they’ve apparently exercised the same strategy. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner noted on Twitter that Burford has been the lone RG with the first team for both sessions:

If the Niners intend to rotate Spencer Burford and Jon Feliciano at RG, they haven’t yet shown it. It’s been Burford with the starters so far at RG. Feliciano has worked at center (even a few snaps with the 1s) and RG, which tracks because he is the backup center.

As Wagoner notes, the team may have confidence in Feliciano since he finished the year last year as the starting RG. They could be giving Burford extra reps as his initial chance to try and win that spot. Rookie Dominick Puni should also be a factor at RG and they may still be acclimating him to the NFL before launching into first-team reps. That would make sense since offensive line play in camp is hard to judge until pads are on anyway.

What wouldn’t make sense if for the second year in a row they didn’t offer any real competition for Burford. Perhaps he steps in this year and takes a leap. That’s on the table. He’s not a bad player, but his inability to hold a starting job each of his first two years is certainly a concern. The 49ers have to exhaust all options when finding their five best offensive linemen, and rolling into 2024 without at least testing out the right guard competition would be a mistake.

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Ranking the 49ers’ six most important players in Super Bowl

The 6 most important #49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl:

The 49ers’ star power is apparent. They enter Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Chiefs boasting perhaps the best roster in the NFL.

While the top-to-bottom talent for San Francisco is strong, there are a handful of players who jump out as particularly essential for them against a red-hot Kansas City squad. These are the 49ers’ six most important players for securing a win and a sixth Lombardi Trophy:

[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]

Super Bowl 58: Bills connections on Chiefs, 49ers

Super Bowl 58: #Bills connections on #Chiefs, #49ers:

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers will do battle in Super Bowl 58.

The Chiefs edged out the Buffalo Bills en route to the Big Game. As if you need any more reason to root against them, some former faces that played for Buffalo in the past are on the 49ers.

For those curious, here’s the list of Bills connections taking part in this year’s Super Bowl:

Ex-Giant unsurprised by Brian Daboll-Wink Martindale fallout

Former New York Giants OL Jon Feliciano is not at all surprised by the fallout between Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale.

Jon Feliciano, who was the New York Giants starting center last season, isn’t at all shocked by the breakup of his former head coach, Brian Daboll, and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.

“I think it was unfortunate how that Wink and Dabes thing ended up,” Feliciano told reporters this week, via the New York Post.

Feliciano will be the starting right guard for the San Francisco 49ers in this Sunday’s Super Bowl showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs. His time with the Giants was short but he forged bonds with both men.

“I love both of them as coaches. I mean, once you get to know Wink and once you get to know Dabes it could be magic or it could end up how it ended up,” he said.

How it ended up was the fodder of many a media post across the league. Martindale and Daboll had a final blowout after the Giants fired two of Martindale’s closest confidants and coaches — brothers Drew and Kevin Wilkens — prompting Martindale to storm out of the facility and eventually leave the Giants’ organization.

“I think they’re both strong personalities and as you’ve seen, Dabes can explode,” Feliciano added. “As a guy that knows him, I know what you’re gonna get, and it’s not like a personal thing, it’s not anything but Dabes wants to win real, real bad. Even in Buffalo, he has more weight on his shoulders now that he’s the head coach. What did he do wrong that’s messing up the moment? And Wink is a strong dude. That’s probably what happened.”

In retrospect, Feliciano — a Long Island native — looks back on his time with the Giants favorably. He was a huge part of the first Giants team to reach the postseason in six years.

“To go with them to a new spot where there’s no expectations, they haven’t played well in a number of years,” Feliciano said. “Going there and being a leader and helping them turn it around, get into the playoffs, we had a playoff win, and doing it in New York it meant a lot more.”

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10 49ers free agents who could follow Klint Kubiak to the Saints

Jon Feliciano, Jauan Jennings, and Sam Darnold are some of the San Francisco 49ers free agents who could follow Klint Kubiak to the New Orleans Saints:

All signs point to Klint Kubiak putting pen to paper and being hired as the next New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator after his San Francisco 49ers are finished competing in Super Bowl LVIII — but he might not be the only new addition coming to New Orleans from San Francisco.

Beyond possible pickups from the 49ers coaching staff, there are several pending free agents who could intrigue the Saints. Here are 10 players on offense whose contracts are up in the spring, and who might follow Kubiak to New Orleans in free agency:

Former Raiders on Conference Championship teams

Sunday four teams will vie to raise their respective trophies for each conference and head to the Super Bowl. Among the players who have a shot at a ring one suited up for the Raiders while their former team sits at home watching.

AFC Championship game

12pm (3pm ET)

Chiefs

DT Neil Farrell
S Tyree Gillespie (PS)

Ravens

WR Nelson Agholor
QB Josh Johnson*
OG John Simpson
CB Rock Ya-Sin
CB Daryl Worley (IR)
CB Trayvon Mullen (NFI)

NFC Championship game

3:30pm (6:30pm ET)

Lions

FB Jason Cabinda (PS)
DL Chris Smith (PS)

49ers

G Jon Feliciano
DE Clelin Ferrell (IR)
S Erik Harris (PS)
WR Willie Snead IV (PS)

*Raiders offseason roster or practice squad
Bold demotes former Raiders draft pick

Some of these players are starters while others won’t be active for the game. But if they contributed at all to the season for their team, they could get a ring for their efforts and be part of the celebration just the same.

And you just never know who will step up and be a factor either in this Sunday’s game or the Super Bowl in Las Vegas in two weeks.

49ers starting RG spot uncertain heading into playoffs

The #49ers aren’t sure who’s starting at RG in the playoffs. That may not matter … but it also may matter a lot:

The 49ers are almost fully healthy heading into their divisional playoff matchup vs. the Green Bay Packers, but they’ve not yet decided what their starting offensive line is going to look like.

Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster on Wednesday indicated there’s some uncertainty on the offensive front with who is going to start at right guard.

Spencer Burford was given the job in training camp, but late in the year after veteran Jon Feliciano saw action due to injury, it threw the team’s starting OL into question. It’s something the coaching staff hasn’t resolved yet with a couple days left before kickoff.

“We’re working through that right now,” Foerster told reporters in a press conference. “Jon had some, we were working through some things the last week of the season. I think we’re going to see, probably you’ll see some of both guys in the game as far as who starts and who doesn’t. Although I’m not sure at this point, I think we’re working out through the week and it could be a hot hand thing, could be a let one guy just go with it and see, I don’t know. We’re still, both guys have been working and we have to have flexibility in there.”

There’s a fine line between having flexibility and not knowing who the team’s five best offensive linemen are.

Feliciano saw action in 10 games at both guard spots and center. Of his 478 snaps, 26 came at C, 208 at LG and 244 at RG. He wound up the team’s second-highest graded offensive lineman by Pro Football Focus. Trent Williams was the only regular OL ahead of him. Feliciano surrendered 15 pressures and no sacks in 257 pass blocking snaps.

Burford, meanwhile, was the team’s lowest-graded offensive lineman. He allowed 33 pressures and five sacks in 460 pass blocking snaps according to PFF’s data. The 33 pressures are the seventh-most among starting RGs. It is worth noting four of those pressures and one of the sacks came when he was thrust into playing right tackle against the Ravens.

For now the in-season productivity makes it pretty clear the veteran Feliciano is a better option at RG for the 49ers. Whether the team believes that is not immediately clear, though Foerster’s comments makes it seem as though it’s more of a coin flip.

If the team does deem that competition close enough to go with a rotation, then Feliciano’s versatility might make him more valuable to the 49ers as a reserve who can plug in wherever they need.

“My thing is that [OL Aaron] Banks has had some things this season,” Foerster said. “So the flexibility of Jon being able to work all the positions that’s always going to leave us making sure that Jon’s ready at all the spots. He’s the backup center, he’s the backup left guard. So that always weighs into our equation a little bit. So, we have to keep some flexibility there.”

Most teams roll with a starting five on the offensive line that stays together when healthy. It sounds like the 49ers have other plans heading into the divisional playoffs vs. the Packers, and how well that works out could ultimately decide just how far they go in the postseason.

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Will 49ers start rotation at RG again?

The #49ers could see some changes coming on the offensive line.

The 49ers went a little unconventional on their offensive line last season. Rookie Spencer Burford would start at RG and veteran Daniel Brunskill would rotate in throughout the game. This year they’ve only rolled with Burford at RG, but it sounds like that may be changing soon.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday in a conference call talked about the play of veteran OL Jon Feliciano after he filled in at left guard for the injured Aaron Banks. Feliciano has acquitted himself well in multiple stints at LG for San Francisco this season – well enough that Shanahan said a rotation with Burford could be on the table.

“It had been discussed,” Shanahan said. “Nothing against Spencer, but I wanted to make sure that Jon knew that we were aware of how well we thought he had been doing. So that was something I just had mentioned to him and was planning on doing it. Hadn’t thought how we would do it yet. I just thought he had earned to be out there a little bit and unfortunately Aaron got hurt, but we never looked into anymore after that because we knew he was going to be up this week and this week going forward.”

Banks is dealing with a toe injury he suffered in Week 8. He missed the team’s return from its bye week, and is slated to miss Week 11 as well. That means at least for now Feliciano will man the LG spot, where he was very good against the Jaguars. It’s worth noting Burford also played well in Jacksonville in what was probably his best game of the season.

Once Banks returns though we could see the 49ers switch up how they’re operating at the other guard position. Burford was more or less given the job in camp without much competition. Now Feliciano has created competition through his in-game and practice play and it sounds like we’ll see another rotation at RG again once the rest of the offensive line is healthy.

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