Even though the San Francisco 49ers enter Week 3 with a perfect record, they have shown numerous cracks in the armor. Nick Bosa will reportedly join the laundry list of injured players and is expected to miss several weeks.
With fellow edge rusher Romello Height also ruled out of the game and Mykel Williams still on the PUP, the Niners will be missing all three of their top outside pass rushers. Now, they will have no choice but to rely on Keion White as their main source of pressure.
To this point, White has played roughly 50.0 percent of the team's snaps on defense, and he has recorded one sack. With Bosa and Height now out of the contest, though, he will be asked to take a much larger piece of the pie, and the 49ers will be watching how he responds closely.
49ers haven't truly seen Keion White as a full-time starter
White is in his fourth year in the league. So far, the highlight of his career has been when he led the New England Patriots in sacks in 2024. The only problem is they were the league's worst pass-rushing team that year. Their 24 total sacks ranked dead last in the NFL.
That being said, when the 49ers traded for him the following season, he didn't come in with lofty expectations. In fact, the meager sixth-round pick the team gave up in exchange implies that they expected very little from the former second-rounder.
Last season as a Niner, White played just one game in which he logged over 63.0 percent of snaps. In that contest, White failed to sack the quarterback, but he did manage to register two QB hits as the red and gold trounced the Tennessee Titans 37-24.
Week 3 will be a test to see if Keion White can take on a larger role
In Week 3, White is primed to be the go-to guy on the outside, and his success (or lack thereof) may determine what the 49ers elect to do next. The three injured pass rushers don't exactly have a return timetable as of now, though Height will likely miss no more than a game or two. Still, the 49ers must see whether they can tread water with White as one of their primary edge rushers.
If he proves he can do the job, GM John Lynch won't feel as much pressure to go out and acquire someone. If he fails, though, Lynch may have his hands tied. In such a competitive division, every week matters. Especially given that San Francisco will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5, time is of the essence.
With two divisional games in the next three weeks, White's play will be a major difference maker one way or another. He'd better hope he seizes his opportunity in Week 3, because he may not get another shot if he can't generate pressure against the lowly Cardinals.
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