5 key 49ers are coming off serious injuries from 2022
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: 49ers defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw
Tarvarius Moore might not make the Niners’ 53-man roster based on the numbers game, but San Francisco will reserve a spot for its 2020 first-round NFL Draft pick, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, who appeared in four games his sophomore year before being shut down to undergo season-ending knee surgery.
Kinlaw’s knee issues were and are worrisome, but the hope is he’ll be fully recovered in time for Week 1 and will be capable of providing that serious interior thump for which the 49ers had hoped when he was selected out of South Carolina.
Read More: 49ers need Javon Kinlaw to play massive role in 2022
While any pass-rush prowess from Kinlaw would be a bonus, what the Niners truly need him to do is serve as a gap-eating run-stuffer in the interior of the formation. A prime reason why San Francisco’s run defense was so effective during the second half of 2021 was due to now-Denver Broncos nose tackle D.J. Jones shouldering the load in Kinlaw’s absence.
Considering the wide-9 defensive alignment the 49ers’ D-line uses, Kinlaw will have to be equal to the task if the Niners want to avoid any regression in this underlooked stat.
Besides, year three needs to be the point where San Francisco finally starts getting top-caliber production out of the first-round pick.