SF 49ers: 5 biggest disappointments over first half of 2020

No. 4: Dee Ford being absent from SF 49ers defense

The loss of Nick Bosa to a season-ending ACL tear in Week 2 completely demolished how the SF 49ers wanted to engineer their defense this season. Yet the loss would have been mitigated somewhat if Dee Ford was able to stay healthy and provide at least some pass-rushing thump.

Ford was beset by various injuries in 2019, which limited him to 11 games played but only a mere 226 (22 percent) of the team’s defensive snaps last season.

This season, Ford has played just one game and saw a mere 46 defensive snaps back in Week 1.

A back injury shelved him on IR, and there’s currently no timetable for his return. Meanwhile, the Niners pass rush has generated just 14 sacks this season. And while the defense has a respectable pressure rate of 24.1 percent, good for seventh best halfway through the year, the lack of quarterback takedowns shows the remaining crop of pass-rushers simply aren’t getting home.

What’s been an even bigger disappointment is the money dished out to Ford over the past year-plus. He earned $64,602 per snap last season, and this year that number has gone to $138,789 because of Ford’s inability to stay on the field.

It’s looking more and more like San Francisco made a mistake trading for Ford last year with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Especially considering the restructured contract will make it much tougher to move on from him without serious dead cap after this season.