5 lessons SF 49ers can apply vs. NY Jets after Week 1 loss

No. 2: SF 49ers pressure on Sam Darnold will be easier than Kyler Murray

When the Niners played Kyler Murray and the Cardinals last year, the mobile quarterback’s elusiveness prompted then-49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to refer to Murray as “a little squirrel.”

Sam Darnold is nowhere near as elusive as Murray.

True, Darnold rushed 33 times last season for a total of 62 yards and two touchdowns over 13 games played. And in Week 1, he had a scramble for 6 yards, so it’s not as if moving the ball on the ground is completely out of his playbook.

It’s just not anywhere as much a part of his skill set as it is Murray’s. That’s good for San Francisco, which had all sorts of issues last season containing mobile quarterbacks, and those issues surely seeped into Week 1 to the tune of 91 rush yards and a touchdown from Murray.

Because of this, one might expect the SF 49ers to rely heavily on a four-man rush without having to blitz and without having to put a spy on Darnold to guard against any scrambling prowess. In some cases, the same argument applies to Darnold as it would Garoppolo, as the former took an average of 2.69 seconds to deliver the ball, per NextGen Stats, and his passer rating above 2.5 seconds was an abominably low 11.3, per Pro Football Focus.

Like Garoppolo, Darnold also took three sacks in Week 1 against a good Bills defensive front.

Look for the Niners to get home with some excellent pressure as long as Darnold’s tendency to hold onto the ball continues through Week 2.