4 players Kyle Shanahan, 49ers must rest vs. Rams in regular-season finale

Unless there are some contractual incentive-based stats to chase, these four Niners players should ride the bench on a break in a relatively meaningless Week 18 game against the Rams.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23), quarterback Brock Purdy (13) and left tackle Trent Williams (71) / Michael Zagaris/GettyImages

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49ers should rest Javon Hargrave

Arik Armstead's injury is concerning, but it was magnified a few weeks back when the Niners were short another one of their starting defensive tackles, Javon Hargrave, who was dealing with a hamstring injury.

Without getting too deep into the medical side of things, hamstring issues can linger for lengthy periods of time if they don't heal correctly. And while Hargrave has played since missing time because of the injury, giving him an extra two weeks off to get back to 100 percent would be a wise choice.

Not only has Hargrave contributed with an impressive seven sacks on the season, but he's also been vital in stopping the run, which has been a bit of a weakness for San Francisco down the stretch.

The smart move here would be for the 49ers to rest Hargrave and then deploy both he and Armstead back in full capacity once the playoffs resume.

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