The #49ers elevated a pair of veterans for Saturday’s wild card game, though only 1 is up for injury reasons.
The 49ers on Friday announced a pair of roster moves before their wild card game against the Seahawks on Saturday. A pair of veterans, running back Tevin Coleman and cornerback Janoris Jenkins, were elevated off the practice squad.
Coleman could conceivably be active if the coaching staff trusts him more than the rookie RBs Tyrion Davis-Price and Jordan Mason. However, given their lack of injuries and both rookies playing well down the stretch, Coleman could also be inactive and the 49ers brought him up so he could pocket a full game check.
Jenkins is the likely replacement for injured CB Ambry Thomas, who was ruled out with an ankle injury. The 49ers are lacking experience and depth at CB behind Charvarius Ward, so Jenkins gives them a player they can turn to in the event they need to bring in a corner off the bench. He played 31 defensive snaps in two games for the 49ers this year, including 14 in Seattle when he debuted in Week 15. Ward went down in that game and opened the door for Jenkins to play. Jenkins also saw action in the season finale when the 49ers pulled Ward from the game to preserve his health.
The 49ers on Saturday added some veteran depth to both backfields with a couple roster moves.
The 49ers on Saturday announced a pair of roster moves ahead of their Week 14 matchup against the Buccaneers. San Francisco added depth to their backfields on both sides of the ball by elevating running back Tevin Coleman and cornerback Dontae Johnson off the practice squad.
Coleman and Johnson were both brought up via standard elevation, so they’ll each revert back to the practice squad following Sunday’s game and won’t count against the 53-man roster.
The Coleman elevation could signal that the 49ers are leaning toward a run-heavy game plan in Brock Purdy’s first NFL start. Coleman has played in two games for the 49ers this season and had a pair of touchdowns in Week 5 against the Panthers. Undrafted rookie Jordan Mason got the RB touches that didn’t go to Christian McCaffrey last week. With a Thursday game against the Seahawks looming and McCaffrey dealing with a knee injury, the 49ers may look to distribute the carries a little more evenly in their backfield while taking some of the pass catching onus off of McCaffrey.
Johnson figures to fill in on special teams with DB Tarvarius Moore sidelined by a knee injury. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he plays some nickel as well with Jimmie Ward playing more of a safety role against Tom Brady and the Bucs.
Kickoff from Levi’s Stadium on Sunday is set for 1:25pm PT.
Heading into Week 13, the teams that remain in contention get smaller and smaller in the NFL and in fantasy. This is the time top fantasy teams hope they can coast into their playoffs while the contenders have to fret over picking a defense or kicker because every point may count.
There is still transition on NFL teams though most of it is still related to the injury impacts. Starting now, teams slide into the “next year” mentality and will try out new players to evaluate their rosters.
Hopefully your still in the thick of the playoff race. Even if you aren’t, there’s always something to learn for next year.
Six items for this weekend:
1.) The Jets backfield – It was a surprise to see that James Robinson was inactive last week and that Zonovan “Pardon me?” Knight took his place. It was even more surprising to see Knight lead the offense with 14 carries for 69 yards. And no one was more surprised than James Robinson. Ty Johnson was given five carries and gained 62 yards that included a 32-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Robinson spoke with his RB coach and was told that the backfield will always be a committee approach and could change week to week.
HC Robert Saleh said that Knight had earned a spot in the rotation as the undrafted rookie was on the practice squad up until last weekend. He said that Robinson was still learning the system. Also notable, the trade for Robinson was for a sixth-round pick that could become a fifth-round pick if he gained 600 rushing yards. Robinson is currently at 415 yards.
What makes this even more interesting is that Michael Carter injured his ankle and hasn’t practiced yet. He may miss this game depending on what happens (or doesn’t) in Friday practice. The beauty of Breece Hall was that he handled around 20 touches per game and was a lock for a full-time workload. The Jets backfield is getting very hard to rely on right when fantasy playoffs are coming into focus.
2.) Deshaun Watson (CLE) – Needless to say, all everyone will watch Watson’s debut for the Browns against his old team. Maybe it won’t be much more than a rusty quarterback in new system that likes to run and he does starts slowly. Maybe having a playbook and some practice time is all he needed. Maybe the media, Houston fans, and potential protesters will make this all into a circus. At 4-7, the Browns have fallen from contention but there is every reason to want to end on a high note. This feels like a messy way to start.
It looks like Watson will be without David Njoku, so beware of assuming patterns to persist from his first game. It will also be interesting to see how much he runs.
3.) WR Rashid Shaheed (NO) – Speaking of teams that are no longer in contention, the 4-8 Saints are sticking (at least for now) with Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback. But they have ramped up the use of undrafted rookie wideout Shaheed. The ex-Weber State receiver played there for five years as a kick and punt returner and totaled 146 receptions. His small school and lack of production left him out of the NFL draft but he’s become the No. 3 wideout in New Orleans.
He played almost as many snaps as Chris Olave (38) or Jarvis Landry (32) last week and had 28 in Week 11. The Saints are giving him a chance to be more than just a returner. He ran in a 44-yard touchdown in Week 6 and then caught a 53-yard score in Week 7. He’s been sparsely used but last Sunday, he ran once for six yards and caught passes of 35- and 18-yards as the Saints started to explore their roster more. He’s done well in abbreviated use and they are looking to involve him more. He’s 6-0 and is estimated to run between 4.3 and 4.4 40-time.
4.) Houston offense – The Texans once again spent their season trying to get their offense to stop sputtering and gain some consistent firepower. That happened in part with Dameon Pierce, who exceeded all expectations with six games of 100+ total yards and four scores in the first nine games. But Week 11 versus the Commanders was just ten runs for eight yards. Week 12 saw the same eight yards on five rushes in the loss to Miami. The Texans lost almost all their previous games, so why stop handing off to the only thing that used to work?
HC Lovie Smith, no doubt feeling the weight of losing, said that the change in workload was related to the ground game not showing enough to warrant forcing the carries in the backfield. They are at that part of a season gone bad where the fans and owners need to see there is still an attempt to find something that works better, hence the change to Kyle Allen at quarterback. The Texans may continue to focus on the pass at the expense of Pierce. Allen threw 39 passes in his debut, while Davis Mills only turned in one of his ten starts with that many passes. It hasn’t changed much for Brandin Cooks or Nico Collins yet, but at least Jordan Akins had a season-high game last week.
5.) 49ers backfield – For a unit that has so much fantasy potential, it is just getting to be a bigger headache to expect reliable results. Elijah Mitchell is out again with a <just pick something> for the next six or eight weeks, which is another way to say “maybe the playoffs.” Deebo Samuel contributes as a running back but was held out of practice yesterday which was a downgrade from his limited work on Wednesday. Friday practice and the injury report will disclose his status, but he is not trending in the right direction. That leaves just Christian McCaffrey from the A-Team.
He left last week complaining about knee irritation and then missed practice on Wednesday. According to HC Kyle Shanahan, the problem was caused by his knee brace. McCaffrey said he would play this week, but he has made it deeper into this season than he did in 2020 or 2021. Just saying.
Even with McCaffrey there, the 49ers need to mix in one or two other backs. That should fall on Jordan Mason, Tyrion Price-Davis or even Tevin Coleman who is on the practice squad after being released earlier this season. The 49ers need at least one of them to assume the role for Elijah Mitchell. They may regret trading Jeff Wilson. If one of the three is allowed a significant amount of touches (compared to the other two backs), then he could offer surprising fantasy value and if McCaffrey was to miss time or be rested, it could allow one of the three to become a rarity – a new primary back in a great offense with good blocking in the final month of the season.
6.) WR DeSean Jackson (BAL) – Sure, he is 36 years old. He changed teams six times and hasn’t scored more than twice in a season since 2018. He’s played in just two games as a Raven, but last week his two catches for 74 yards included a 62-yard gain in the fourth quarter of the loss to the Jaguars. Rashod Bateman left in Week 9 and Devin Duvernay is locked under 25 yards per game. Demarcus Robinson had one good showing in Week 11 but only one catch last week.
Jackson is more of a Daily Fantasy play. The Ravens need the help in the passing offense and there are a few soft secondaries looming that he could potentially exploit – Steelers twice and the Falcons with their No. 32 ranked pass defense. Again – no one has gotten rich off Jackson in many years, but he could help the Ravens while offering a cheap Daily play with upside.
The #49ers released RB Tevin Coleman, but didn’t fill his roster spot yet.
The 49ers on Tuesday announced the release of running back Tevin Coleman. There was no corresponding move to fill his roster spot.
It’s not a huge surprise to see Coleman let go. His days on the club were numbered following the acquisition of RB Christian McCaffrey from the Panthers. McCaffrey went to the top of the depth chart, moving Jeff Wilson Jr. to No. 2, which left special teams roles open for the other active RBs on game days. Coleman doesn’t contribute on any special teams units so his release was a logical step for San Francisco.
Coleman suited up in four games for the 49ers, but he didn’t play a snap Sunday against Kansas City. In his four games he had 12 carries for 26 yards and a touchdown. He also had three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown – all in Week 5 vs. the Panthers.
There’s a good chance he returns to their practice squad since RB Marlon Mack left San Francisco’s practice squad to join the Broncos’ active roster.
How they fill his roster spot will be interesting. The team has to make a decision on cornerback Jason Verrett by Wednesday. They’ll either add him to the active roster off the PUP list or leave him deactivated for the entire season. There’s no word on other returns from IR, but a player like Elijah Mitchell could conceivably have his practice window opened this week.
The 49ers have signed RB Tevin Coleman to the active roster and added RB Marlon Mack and K Sam Sloman to the practice squad.
The San Francisco 49ers have announced several roster moves ahead of their Week 6 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
The 49ers have promoted running back Tevin Coleman to the active roster from the team’s practice squad. San Francisco has also signed running back Marlon Mack and kicker Sam Sloman to the practice squad. They released quarterback Kurt Benkert in a corresponding move.
Coleman has appeared in two games this season, where he’s rushed for 23 yards on eight carries with a touchdown and added three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.
The 49ers released Mack on Tuesday to make room for Coleman. But they wasted no time signing Mack to the practice squad. He appeared in two games this season, where he only played five snaps on special teams, including recovering a fumble.
Sloman, a seventh-round pick in 2020, appeared in seven games with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020, where he connected on eight of 11 field goals (72.8%) and 18 of 21 extra points (85.7%).
Last season, Sloman appeared in one game with the Tennessee Titans and also was on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad.
Tevin Coleman looked like he might be following a path plenty of running backs have followed where he put together a handful of good years before tailing off and unceremoniously exiting football. Then the 49ers called and Sunday Coleman gave a loud answer.
Coleman was good for San Francisco during their Super Bowl run in 2019 after he signed a two-year deal with them prior to that season. He posted 544 yards on the ground and seven total touchdowns, and put together a terrific playoff game against the Vikings to get the 49ers to the NFC championship.
The two years after that didn’t go so well though. In 19 games with the 49ers and Jets, Coleman ran it 112 times for 409 yards. He didn’t score a touchdown. His longest run in that stretch was 20 yards. The Jets cut him this offseason and he entered the regular season as a free agent.
“I was at home,” Coleman told reporters after Sunday’s game. “I was at home spending time with my family. Getting my family time in.”
Then a couple of injuries forced the 49ers to dip into the free agent pool and they added the always-reliable Coleman. He needed just two weeks to make an impact. Sunday in Carolina, Coleman had 67 yards and two touchdowns on 11 touches.
“It felt real good,” Coleman told reporters after the game. “It felt so good just going out there and getting touches and proving that I still have it.”
Perhaps the play of the game though was Coleman’s leaping 30-yard grab over the top of a Panthers defensive back on a third-and-long to extend a 49ers drive early in the game. The first time Jimmy Garoppolo made that throw to Coleman was Sunday.
“It was a catch that I was doing all week in practice,” Coleman said. “At practice, Jimmy actually didn’t throw it to me at practice when he was supposed to. So he was like, ‘in the game we going to get it. In the game, we going to get it. In the game, we going to get it.’ I was just ready for that play. I knew he was going to throw it.”
It turns out the 49ers QB wasn’t even supposed to put the ball up to his running back in that spot, but Garoppolo had faith in the familiar veteran RB to make a play.
“And there was a DB on me. He wasn’t supposed to throw it, but he definitely trusted me,” Coleman said. “If a linebacker come out there on me then yeah. But a DB come out there on me, then he wasn’t supposed to throw it. But he trusted me so it was good.”
Coleman got rolling with a nine-yard touchdown catch a screen in the red zone on the 49ers’ first drive. He capped his day with a five-yard scamper around the left end with just over three minutes left Sunday to give the 49ers a 37-15 lead and put the game fully out of reach for Carolina.
The 49ers have needed a wrinkle at RB with Elijah Mitchell and Tyrion Davis-Price both out with injuries. Neither undrafted rookie Jordan Mason nor veteran Marlon Mack were carving out any kind of roll though, leaving the door open for a veteran like Coleman to burst in and make his mark.
Sunday was his first opportunity of the season, and given how he played, it’s hard to believe that’ll be his last. He may just be the second RB the 49ers have so desperately needed.
The 49ers defense got a stop late against the Panthers that gave their offense the ball inside the Carolina 5. Two plays later it was RB Tevin Coleman cruising around the left side for his second touchdown of the game to put the 49ers up 37-15 with just over three minutes to play. It was a nice breakout game for Coleman who had 11 touches for 67 yards and two touchdowns.
Tevin Coleman didn’t play much in Week 4 during his first game with the 49ers. He played just one offensive snap. Week 5 saw him make an impact right away though when he caught a screen pass from Jimmy Garoppolo on a second-and-goal from the 9. Coleman followed blockers and plowed his way into the end zone for a 49ers touchdown and an early lead over the Panthers.
Tevin Coleman, Malik Turner and Willie Snead IV were all brought up off the #49ers practice squad for Monday’s game vs. the Rams.
With injuries hitting their roster hard, the 49ers made a handful of additions via their practice squad ahead of Monday night’s game against the Rams. They also placed linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair on injured reserve with a knee injury.
San Francisco announced wide receivers Willie Snead IV and Malik Turner, along with running back Tevin Coleman were all elevated from the practice squad. It’ll be standard elevations for Coleman and Turner, they’ll revert back to the practice squad after the game.
Snead was officially added to the roster to replace the spot vacated by Al-Shaair going to IR. The LB is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, so Snead will give the 49ers some WR depth in the meantime. He could play a role Monday with rookie Danny Gray sidelined by a hip injury.
Turner will provide special teams assistance thanks to a slew of injuries thinning out their special teams contributors.
Coleman could actually see some real action on offense depending on how head coach Kyle Shanahan feels about the readiness of veteran RB Marlon Mack and undrafted rookie Jordan Mason. Jeff Wilson Jr. shouldered a brunt of the running back load in Week 3 with Mason earning one carry. Mack didn’t make an appearance. WR Deebo Samuel will also contribute in the run game.
The #49ers could see a new, familiar face at running back Monday night.
The 49ers backfield could include a new, familiar face Monday night against the Rams. With injuries hitting the roster hard, San Francisco will likely dip into its practice squad to fill out their active players on game day. One player who could come up Monday night is former 49ers running back Tevin Coleman.
While it’s typically unlikely a practice squad player steps in and has a sizable role, Coleman is a unique case given his relative familiarity with the offense compared to Marlon Mack and Jordan Mason.
Coleman was in Kyle Shanahan’s offense for two years in Atlanta and two more years in San Francisco. A significant factor in playing time for RBs for Shanahan is how they impact games without the ball in their hands. If Mack is still getting up to speed and Mason is still struggling to take care of the nuances of the offense, Shanahan could certainly turn to a RB he trusted to start 11 of his 14 games in 2019.
Playing time for RBs alongside Jeff Wilson Jr. has been hard to come by, and the 49ers need to shake up their run game. That could mean taking some of the onus off Wilson, and if Coleman is up, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Shanahan turn to him as the offense tries to get itself back on track.
