There are a number of younger players on the 49ers who are not getting as many snaps as they should be. Here we take a look at four of those such players.
The San Francisco 49ers had quite the season-altering game during their Monday Night Football rout of the Los Angeles Rams 31-10.
After a lackluster 3-5 start to the 2021 season, there was a feeling the Niners were trending down. Now they sit at 4-5 are have defeated a team many were picking to be a real Super Bowl contender.
Needless to say, they are now trending up.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan made it a point to play physical football and run the ball right at the Rams’ “feared” defense, which features multiple-time Defensive Player of the Year Award winner Aaron Donald and newly acquired former Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller.
One massive contributor in the game was rookie running back Elijah Mitchell. The sixth-round pick out of Louisiana has started almost every game this season since Week 2, after an injury to starter Raheem Mostert.
Another rookie, safety Talanoa Hufanga, has played well in his last three starts in place of the injured Jaquiski Tartt. The fifth-round pick out of USC can be seen all over the field on defense and has drawn comparisons to his mentor and fellow Trojan alum, Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu.
However, there is a slew of rookies who haven’t gotten a chance to prove themselves as yet on the field. In many of these cases, they have lost potential snaps to veterans.
A few rookies have shown extreme potential and should be given more snaps in the second half of 2021 to help further their development.
Let’s take at four such players who deserve more reps.
No. 4: 49ers Offensive Lineman Jaylon Moore
Jaylon Moore was the fifth-round (155th overall) pick of the 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft. He actually made his first start against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football in place of injured left tackle Trent Williams.
With the season-ending quad injury to starting right tackle Mike McGlinchey, Moore was handed the starting right tackle job for the game against the Rams.
Moore started the game well helping propel the offense of 49ers to an early lead on a scoring drive that lasted over 11 minutes. However, he sustained a knee injury that kept him from returning to the game. Veteran tackle Tom Compton entered the game in relief of Moore.
The prognosis, though, looks positive overall. Moore did not sustain any structural damage to his knee. At the moment his status for Week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars is unclear with him being day-to-day.
However, when he is healthy enough to play he deserves the starting spot back at right tackle. McGlinchey may not be the team’s long-term solution at right tackle seeing as the team opted to pick up his fifth-year option rather than giving him a guaranteed contract.
Getting the starts at right tackle could give Moore the experience he needs to be that solution at right tackle going into the future.
No. 3: Cornerback Ambry Thomas
Cornerback was a huge position of need for the 49ers going into the 2021 NFL Draft. They were in an excellent position to take Asante Samuel Jr. in the second round at pick No. 43 but instead opted to trade down for more draft capital.
Samuel Jr. then got selected at No. 47 right before the 49ers were about to pick at No. 48. They would go ahead and select guard Aaron Banks out of Notre Dame with that pick.
The Niners finally selected a cornerback in the third round. They took Ambry Thomas from Michigan in the third round (102nd overall).
Halfway through the season, though, Thomas has only played a total of nine snaps in the four games he’s appeared in thus far. This seems odd as he was the first defensive back taken by San Francisco in the draft.
General manager John Lynch explained to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco that Thomas was just not ready at the start of the season. This is due to the fact that he opted out of the 2020 college football season due to concerns over COVID-19.
While Thomas might not be ready for a starting role, the 49ers should definitely give him more defensive snaps over the next few games.
For reference, those nine snaps were all in the first game of the season against the Detroit Lions. His other in-game appearances have all been on special teams. The Niners need to get him more experience if he is going to be a long-term option at cornerback.
So, while he may not be ready to be a starting cornerback, he should be slowly worked in with more reps in the upcoming games.
No. 2: Running Back Trey Sermon
While Elijah Mitchell, a fifth-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft has become a solid starter for the 49ers with the injury to Raheem Mostert, a running back drafted ahead of him has barely seen the field.
Running back Trey Sermon was selected by the 49ers in the third round (88th overall) and he looked to have a big role in the offense.
Sermon, however, was a healthy scratch in Week 1, and only got one carry for 8 yards in Week 2.
Sermon got his first start in Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers rushing 10 times for 31 yards, due to an injury to Michell. He started again the following week against the Seattle Seahawks rushing 19 times for 89 yards. That equated to 4.68 yards per attempt, which is a great average.
From Week 5 onwards, though, Mitchell was back as the starter. The plot thickened as Mitchell broke his finger after the Rams game and had surgery on it.
He is currently questionable for Week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. While Jeff Wilson Jr. got the backup duties against the Rams, if Mitchell is out against the Jaguars, Sermon should get the start.
Sermon was a fairly high draft pick as Ambry Thomas was, and he should be given more carries going forward. If Mitchell is out Sermon should get the start, however, if Mitchell gets the start Sermon should still be given a healthy backup workload in the game.
That additional experience is again necessary should Mitchell and Sermon be the future at running back for the 49ers.
No. 1: Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir
The real standout during training camp and the preseason for the 49ers was cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. He was selected in the fifth round (172nd overall) out of Oregon.
Many thought Lenoir would be a Week 1 starter across from Jason Verrett due to the fact that Emmanuel Moseley was out to begin the season.
Lenoir did start the first two weeks of the season, but with the addition of veteran cornerback Josh Norman to the team, he has not seen any defensive snaps since Week 3.
Lenoir was excellent in the games that he did start in. For example in Week 1, in his 62 coverage snaps, he allowed only one catch for 3 yards.
In the current situation with veteran cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick being waived and Norman not exactly playing his best football, Lenoir should be put in a situation to get more snaps in the second half of the 2021 season.