The San Francisco 49ers are utilizing their rookies.
That was a theme in Sunday’s win over the New England Patriots with seven rookie players combining 181 snaps on offense and defense.
That’s largely out of necessity, of course. The plan probably wasn’t for undrafted rookie defensive tackle Evan Anderson, who was called up from the practice squad for the game, to get 19 snaps Sunday. But he was needed in the middle after Jordan Elliott left the game with a knee issue.
The 49ers won the time-of-possession battle for the fourth time this season, but not dramatically. They held the ball for 31:35 and had 63 offensive snaps versus 64 for the Patriots. At 3:10, Sunday’s game was the 49ers’ longest of the season.
Here’s how the individual snaps were divided. (We listed the rookies in italics this week):
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Brock Purdy touts his wheels, flashes deep ball as 49ers’ stabilizing force against Patriots
Quarterback: Brock Purdy 63
It was the second straight game in which Purdy held onto the ball for long periods of time. After four weeks, in fact, Purdy’s 3.14-second time-to-throw stat — the amount of time between snap and releasing the ball — is the longest in the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.
There are several things that go into that, including a quarterback’s protection and his ability to scramble and buy time, something at which Purdy excelled on Sunday. But it also speaks to defenses dropping into coverages that the quarterback is not accustomed to seeing.
Purdy certainly went through such an adjustment period against the Patriots, one he solved in the second half when he started throwing deep more often. Per Pro Football Focus, his average depth of target, 14.7 yards, was his highest of the season and the highest of any quarterback so far in Week 4.
Purdy’s 1,130 passing yards lead the NFL and puts him on pace for 4,803 yards. Last season, he set the franchise single-season record with 4,280 yards.
Well, that was fun 😏
Hey momma Purdy!
Brock mic coming 🔜 pic.twitter.com/oL0zxuV4IC
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 30, 2024
Running back: Jordan Mason 47, Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 38, Isaac Guerendo 5, Deebo Samuel Sr. 3, George Kittle 3, Jake Tonges 2
Mason had another big workload (24 carries), hit the 100-yard mark (123 yards) for the third time this season and is in second place in rushing yards (447) behind the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry (480).
A big difference between him and injured Christian McCaffrey, however, is in their involvement in the passing game.
Per Fantasy Points Data, among running backs with at least 50 routes this season, none has been targeted less on a per-route basis than Mason (0.08 TPRR). That’s despite him having the fourth-highest route share among runners. He caught two of his three targets Sunday for 37 yards.
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Wide receiver: Brandon Aiyuk 50, Samuel 45, Jauan Jennings 36, Chris Conley 5, Jacob Cowing 4
The 49ers had an excellent response to the Patriots’ first — and only — touchdown, which happened early in the third quarter and cut San Francisco’s lead to 20-10. On the first play following the kickoff, Purdy hit Samuel on a 53-yard deep ball, the 49ers’ longest play of the season and one that helped set up Mason’s 4-yard touchdown.
Why was Samuel open? Because the Patriots’ safety, Jaylinn Hawkins, had stepped forward to cover Aiyuk on a crossing route. That’s how New England chose to defend the 49ers on Sunday — by taking away the over-the-middle crossers, which often go to Aiyuk, and daring Purdy to beat them deep.
Maybe it wasn’t as dramatic as last week’s over-the-opponent catch, but Jauan Jennings’ deep snag Sunday was a one hander initially while at full stride with a defender on his back and a hand tugging his facemask. Degree of difficulty: 9.6. pic.twitter.com/FPV49r6Cb5
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) September 30, 2024
Jennings, meanwhile, led the 49ers in receiving for the second straight week. The 2020 seventh-round pick currently ranks third in the NFL with 364 yards.
Cowing got his first offensive snaps of the season but wasn’t targeted. The 49ers needed a few snaps out of him because Ronnie Bell, coming off a multi-drop outing in Los Angeles, was inactive and because Conley was dealing with the bug that hit other players like Trent Williams and Cowing during the week.
Tight end: Kittle 56, Eric Saubert 18, Tonges 2
In his first game back from a hamstring strain, Kittle caught four of his five targets for 40 yards. He wasn’t used much as a pass blocker, running routes on 23 of his 28 passing snaps, per Fantasy Points Data.
He also didn’t have many yards after the catch, a theme for the 49ers this season. That, of course, has a lot to do with the recent absences of three of their most prominent YAC Bros. — McCaffrey, Samuel and Kittle — and because the 49ers were so reliant on the deep ball.
49ers’ yards after catch per reception
- 2021: 6.95 (1st)
- 2022: 6.81 (2nd)
- 2023: 6.62 (1st)
- 2024: 3.69 (31st)
Offensive line: Williams 63, Aaron Banks 63, Jake Brendel 63, Colton McKivitz 63, Dominick Puni 62, Spencer Burford 1
Williams missed Friday’s practice with a toe injury, but he said his availability for the game was never in doubt and he moved around well — very well — against the Patriots. He led the way on Mason’s longest run of the game, a 25-yard gain down the left sideline late in the fourth quarter.
How was Trent Williams’ sore toe on Sunday? Here he is in the fourth quarter leading a convoy of blockers 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Jordan Mason picked up 25 yards on the play. pic.twitter.com/HdgCX3JYeJ
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) September 30, 2024
Williams, who admitted last week that the start of the season was tougher than expected after he missed all of training camp, had his best PFF grade of the season against the Patriots, 87.9. He did not allow any pass-rush pressures.
QB pressures allowed
- Banks 4
- McKivitz 1
- Brendel 0
- Puni 0
- Williams 0
- Burford 0
Defensive line: Maliek Collins 48, Nick Bosa 45, Leonard Floyd 41, Yetur Gross-Matos 35, Kevin Givens 35, Anderson 19, Sam Okuayinonu 19, Elliott 14, Robert Beal Jr. 5
How would the 49ers pivot after losing Javon Hargrave (tricep) for the season and his replacement, Elliott (knee), early in Sunday’s game? By using Gross-Matos, heretofore a defensive end, a lot at defensive tackle, especially on third downs.
Gross-Matos played 16 snaps on the inside while Collins, Givens and Anderson played a season-high number of snaps overall. Anderson stood out, and not just because he was the first 49ers player to wear a Guardian Cap during a game. The undrafted rookie didn’t seem overmatched and was particularly effective as a pocket-pushing pass rusher from the middle. He finished with two quarterback pressures, including a clean-up sack in the fourth quarter on which he also forced a fumble that Jacoby Brissett recovered.
After the game, Anderson said he wasn’t worried about head injuries and noted that he’s never had a concussion.
“I just wanted to play like I practice — I didn’t want to change anything up,” he said of his unique headwear. “Because in practice we have to wear the Guardian Cap. I wanted to feel exactly how I felt in practice.”
This is the helmet DT Evan Anderson wore today. He told me that because he’d been practicing while wearing a Guardian Cap, he figured it was only natural to wear one in the game. He has no history of concussions, he said. pic.twitter.com/rwEgxbBYJk
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) September 30, 2024
At defensive end, meanwhile, newly promoted Okuayinonu continues to get more snaps and make more plays than Beal, a fifth-round pick last season. Okuayinonu finished with two tackles, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a forced fumble.
“He probably played no more than 15 plays and affected 10 of them,” Bosa said of Okuaynono after the game. “So to have a guy like that to give some of our starters a rest and make an impact like that — it’s huge for us.”
Linebacker: De’Vondre Campbell Sr. 64, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles 46, Fred Warner 28, Dee Winters 7, Tatum Bethune 4
Missed tackles were a problem with Bosa and Campbell leading the way with three — Bosa had trouble bringing Brissett to the ground — and de facto No. 2 linebacker, Flannigan-Fowles, finishing with two.
Missed tackles
Flannigan-Fowles replaced Warner at middle linebacker late in the second quarter. When Flannigan-Fowles left the game late, he was replaced by seventh-round pick Bethune, who got his first defensive snaps of the season. A bright note on the injury front: Winters played well on his seven snaps and did not aggravate the ankle issue that has been problematic so far this season.
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Thompson: 49ers’ Fred Warner — ‘best linebacker in the game’ — delivers again with pick 6
Cornerback: Lenoir 64, Ward 64, Green 23, Isaac Yiadom 16
Green started to overtake Yiadom as the third cornerback Sunday, the first time the rookie has out-snapped the veteran this season.
Yiadom, however, wasn’t picked on like he was in the previous two games. He had a pass breakup the only time he was targeted. Green, meanwhile, also was targeted once — on Brissett’s fourth-down heave down the sideline at game’s end. Rookie Ja’Lynn Polk came down with the ball but was out of bounds.
Safety: Brown 64, Mustapha 64
The 49ers thought Talanoa Hufanga, who sprained his ankle in practice last week, might be able to play against the Patriots. When he was ruled out shortly before kickoff, the 49ers tapped Mustapha, a fourth-round rookie, instead of veteran George Odum, who had started the first two games.
Mustapha had a bad missed tackle on the Patriots’ initial third down. But he settled down and was solid the rest of the way.
Brown, meanwhile, fell into a common trap among defensive backs — going for an interception on fourth down when knocking the ball away would be far wiser. He had excellent position on Brissett’s deep-ball attempt but made an awkward attempt to grab it, which nearly allowed Polk to make a big play late in the contest.
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Special teams: Saubert 20, Odum 17, Conley 14, Bethune 14, Flannigan-Fowles 13, Jake Moody 13, Tonges 12, Guerendo 12, Rock Ya-Sin 11, Beal 11, Green 10, Mitch Wishnowsky 9, Taybor Pepper 9, Patrick Taylor Jr. 8, Jaylen Mahoney 7, Winters 7, Yiadom 7, McKivitz 6, Puni 6, Jaylon Moore 6, Nick Zakelj 6, Spencer Burford 6, Banks 6, Collins 6, Campbell 6, Lenoir 6, Gross-Matos 5, Mustapha 5, Cowing 4, Givens 4, Brown 3, Floyd 3, Bosa 3, Anderson 3, Warner 2, Samuel 2, Juszczyk 1
For the fourth time in three weeks, the 49ers had a special teams blunder that the opponent capitalized on with points. It came when, after a short kick to open the second half, Guerendo ran the ball back and then crashed into his blocker, Saubert, dislodging the ball. Guerendo did not get another chance for a return after that.
“I don’t put it on being a rookie,” Kyle Shanahan said after the game. “It was a big fumble, especially opening up in the third quarter. I think it’s what gave them a chance. They answered right away.”
Juszczyk is the 49ers’ emergency third-down back, emergency holder, emergency kicker and, as it turns out, the emergency punt returner. He got the nod in the third quarter after Cowing injured his shoulder. Juszczyk said his absolute first priority was fielding the punt cleanly. And then?
“Honestly, I was so surprised when I caught it and there was no one there,” he said. “It was like, ‘All right — let’s go!’”
His 8-yard return was the first of his 12-year career.
(Photo of Nick Bosa and Malik Mustapha: Neville E. Guard / Imagn Images)
