The summer season is over and the San Francisco 49ers have shifted into regular-season mode.
Where are their strengths and weaknesses? How have they improved from last season? Who are the newcomers to watch?
Here are our observations from the last month of practices and preseason games.
Signs of more passing from the offense
Camp provided several clues the 49ers’ passing rate might increase this season. The biggest sign came in last season’s playoffs, when coach Kyle Shanahan called 109 pass plays and only 77 run plays — an inversion of the 49ers’ run-majority division in the regular season. (It’s worth noting that the 17-point deficit against the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game didn’t cause the 49ers to go pass happy — their run-pass ratio while making up the deficit in the third quarter of that game was essentially even.) Over August, we saw the 49ers employ some aggressive passing sets. One came in the preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders, when the 49ers emptied the backfield and split running back Jordan Mason out wide. They’d gone empty in key situations at camp, too. With quarterback Brock Purdy coming off a statistically superb season and the 49ers’ collection of receiving assets looking even stronger than last season, a trend toward more passing makes a lot of sense.
Leonard Floyd more relentless than flashy
We didn’t see Leonard Flord win many — any? — one-on-one matchups against the team’s offensive tackles during pass-rush drills in training camp. Is that cause for alarm (especially during a camp that didn’t feature Trent Williams)? Probably not. Slick moves are not Floyd’s style. Instead, his game is built on relentlessness and vision, which he combines to get a lot of cleanup-style sacks like the one he had against the Raiders in the preseason finale. That style also ought to serve him well opposite Nick Bosa, who’s adept at disrupting quarterbacks and flushing them from the pocket.
Leonard Floyd’s style ought to be a good match opposite Nick Bosa. (Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images)
Cross-training Renardo Green
The 49ers imparted knowledge on Renardo Green in blocks this offseason. First, they taught him nickelback. Then, they moved him outside. Finally, they began moving the rookie between the slot and the boundary — a reprisal of the adaptable role Deommodore Lenoir brings the team’s secondary. The 49ers are running an interesting balancing act at corner. They’ve loaded up on veteran bodies with Isaac Yiadom and Rock Ya-Sin, but those two additions — along with Lenoir and Charvarius Ward — are all under contract only through this season. So it’s important to set up for the future now. And that’s where training Green to be as versatile as Lenoir comes in. It appears Green is already the first cornerback in line to come off the bench in case Ward, Lenoir or Yiadom is unavailable. So don’t be surprised if the rookie sees an early test in this 2024 season. Green fared very well in games against future first-round receivers — Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr. and Ricky Pearsall — in college.
Malik Mustapha’s ticket to early playing time
It looks like it’ll be hard to keep Mustapha off the field for long. The rookie safety has shown signs of being an effective blitzer in practice, and perhaps that’s how the 49ers can work him in even if they’re happy with play from veteran safeties higher in the depth chart. Remember that Talanoa Hufanga initially broke into the lineup as a third safety in 2021. Perhaps Mustapha can follow a similar trajectory.
A potentially deep rookie class
Pearsall, the 49ers’ first-round pick, will miss at least the first four games on the non-football injury list after he was the victim of a shooting in downtown San Francisco last weekend. He’s out of the hospital, but we’ll await further updates on his status. Early signs among the rest of the rookie class are promising. Green, Dominick Puni, Mustapha, Cowing and Isaac Guerendo are in line to play significant roles this season, which isn’t always the case on a veteran squad that aspires to go to the Super Bowl. And sixth-round pick Jarrett Kingston was swiped off of waivers by the Carolina Panthers.
It’s worth noting the 49ers retained five of their eight undrafted rookies via the practice squad: DT Evan Anderson, C Drake Nugent, QB Tanner Mordecai, TE Mason Pline and S Jaylen Mahoney. A sixth, RB Cody Schrader, was claimed by the Los Angeles Rams — a surprise to the 49ers — and is on the Rams’ active roster. That makes for a solid start for director of player personnel Tariq Ahmad, who replaced Adam Peters as the team’s top college evaluator at the beginning of the year.
Dominick Puni, the 49ers’ projected starting right guard, heads what could be an impressive rookie class. (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
A potentially big issue
The 49ers’ biggest potential concern might be the center position. With Jon Feliciano on injured reserve, the only player with real experience there is starter Jake Brendel — and he’s coming off a down year and managing knee tendinitis. The 49ers have been working diligently at practice to familiarize third-year man Nick Zakelj at the position. They like the Fordham product’s mental command of the game. Emergency options beyond Zakelj are Ben Bartch, Puni (who played center at the Senior Bowl) and Nugent. History tells us it is necessary to be familiar with the long list at this position. In 2020, the 49ers found themselves playing a fourth-string center with calamitous results — they struggled mightily to pick up A-gap blitzes and saw their season derailed by the Seattle Seahawks.
How they will use Jacob Cowing
Cowing made a lot of nice plays in practice and in the preseason. The one that really caught the 49ers’ eye? His 19-yard end-around jet-sweep run in the second preseason game. The New Orleans Saints seemed to have the play snuffed out when their defensive end popped directly into Cowing’s path. No matter. The rookie merely went around him, outran the safety to the sideline, then turned upfield for a first down.
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Cowing is doing a lot of the same things Ray-Ray McCloud did for the 49ers the last two seasons, including returning punts. The jet sweep, however, underscored the difference between the two — Cowing is a burner and McCloud was not.
Kyle Shanahan craves speed. Look for him to use Cowing on sweeps, end arounds, screens and the so-called “cheat motion” plays he calls for Deebo Samuel Sr. and the Miami Dolphins call for Tyreek Hill. Cowing ought to make them look a bit more Tyreek-like than Deebo-like.
A better backup for George Kittle?
Eric Saubert isn’t a household name, but he’ll be an upgrade at No. 2 tight end. He’s strong and gritty enough to hold up as an inline tight end, which ought to spare George Kittle some of the trench work he usually handles. And though he’s not a burner, Saubert’s shown up more in the passing game this summer than predecessor Charlie Woerner did. Woerner’s four-year receiving total in San Francisco: 11 catches for 120 yards. Saubert might surpass that this season.
An unheralded defender’s opportunity
Linebacker Curtis Robinson is an unheralded and relatively unknown player who might have a real shot to make a splash this season. The 49ers’ situation at linebacker is as open as it’s been in years, mainly due to Dre Greenlaw’s absence as he continues to recover from his torn Achilles. Free-agent addition De’Vondre Campbell Sr. has plugged into Greenlaw’s role, but Robinson’s play in training camp and the preseason might have him on the inside track for the No. 3 job. He’s a better tackler than Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, and the 49ers probably would entrust a veteran like Robinson over either of their younger options, Dee Winters and Tatum Bethune, at this point (Winters is also recovering from an ankle injury). That spells opportunity for the Stanford product who’s done good work for the 49ers on special teams and whose consistent presence around the ball this camp was a clear sign of an upward trajectory.
Young defensive end might be the least-known 49er
What do the 49ers see in defensive end Sam Okuayinonu, who was briefly on the 53-man roster Tuesday before being moved to the practice squad later in the week? They like that he can hold the edge in the running game. That was a problem last season. The only two defensive ends who did that consistently were Bosa and Clelin Ferrell. And after Ferrell got hurt in the regular-season finale, holding the edge became problematic in the playoffs. Okuayinonu, who entered the league as an undrafted rookie in 2022, is raw and is still learning the 49ers’ style. But the 49ers think they found an ascending player, someone who could see action as early as Week 1 if Yetur Gross-Matos’ knee hasn’t fully healed. If that’s the case, look for Okuayinonu to sub into the game on base downs and for Robert Beal Jr. to be more of a pass rush specialist.