The San Francisco 49ers got lapped by the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday as their defense was simply overmatched.
It begs the question why they are not playing rookie linebacker Nick Martin more given all their injuries.
Martin's lack of playing time has been noticeable all year and has continued, even though the Niners have let him suit up after being a healthy scratch for much of the season. It seems San Francisco just does not trust him out there just yet, which may be a minor admission that it erred in drafting him.
Matt Barrows of The Athletic asked head coach Kyle Shanahan about the possibility that Martin could see time as the strongside linebacker going forward, even though he was primarily thought of as a weakside linebacker.
Shanahan said, "Yeah, there’s discussions about it, and if we think that’s the best thing to do for our team, we’ll do it. But we don’t think that is (the best thing)."
That is a pretty clear admission from Shanahan that Martin is not at a place where coaches trust having him out there on defense. If Luke Gifford, a journeyman linebacker who primarily plays special teams, is beating Martin out for playing time, then it really makes one wonder if the 49ers whiffed on Martin when they drafted him in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Dee Winters is still ahead of Martin on the depth chart at weakside linebacker, which makes sense since he has looked solid at times this year. But he has been banged up, so it would make sense on paper to work Martin in a little more to at least give Winters a bit of a rest.
Of all the seasons for Martin to get opportunities, this would seem like the perfect one. The Niners are banged up everywhere on defense and have lost All-Pro Fred Warner for the year, so it would seem like a great opportunity to see what they have in Martin.
Rookies have gotten chances on the defensive line and in the secondary. But for whatever reason, San Francisco has been really reluctant to throw Martin out at linebacker. He must not be showing enough in practice to warrant putting him out there, which is concerning to say the least.
Maybe he will get worked in more later this season, especially if the Niners are eventually out of the playoff hunt.
But his lack of playing time makes one wonder whether the 49ers messed up on this pick.