In the first four weeks of the season, the spotlight was strongly on the rookies. Thursday’s game will be about a different class of players on the 49ers roster: the “young veterans” who are squarely in the NFL’s middle class.
These guys aren’t worried about their spot in the NFL. They know that someone, somewhere, will pay them real money to play professional football, even if it’s “just” the practice squad. They’re NFL lifers, reliable and established.
For the first quarter of the season, they flew under the radar. In some of these guys’ cases, they weren’t even on the active roster. But now, with key injuries on the defensive line and in the receiver room, the stars are aligning for the once-in-a-career opportunity to leap up a class and secure the bag.
On the defensive line, you have Yetur Gross-Matos, Kalia Davis, Jordan Elliot, and Sam Okuayinonu in this category. (Bryce Huff and Mykel Williams are in a different class of better-paid and/or inherently higher-expectation players. Alfred Collins and CJ West are pure rookies, where the expectations are lower as long as those young veterans are in there.) On offense, you have Demarcus Robinson and Kendrick Bourne, with Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges also somewhat in this category.
All these guys share two things in common ahead of Thursday night’s game: the injuries have forced an expansion of their roles, and their roles are made even more crucial against the Rams specifically.
The way to beat the Rams is through their interior offensive line and cornerbacks. Backup guards Beaux Limmer and Justin Dedich have been scuffling, and their entire line has been grading abysmally for pass blocking.
Struggling defensive backs Emmanuel Forbes, Cobie Durant, and Darious Williams are all under 6 feet and 220 pounds. Demarcus Robinson and Kendrick Bourne should be able to use their size advantage and body them. It’s how the Colts lead in the first half, while the Eagles came back on them in the second half.
Now, the 49ers have neither DeForest Buckner nor AJ Brown to throw at them. But if YGM-Davis-Sam O or D-Rob/KB ever want to get paid like those guys, these are the opportunities that come once in a career.
As fearsome as the Rams defense may be in pass-rushing and run-defending, they’re vulnerable in their coverage.
Jake Tonges will have his chances to get open against Nate Landman and Omar Speights. Much has been written about the 49ers’ skill players being bad at run blocking — I recommend Kyle Posey’s YouTube breakdown and Jacob Hutchinson’s Substack — so now they face a defense that tackles better than it moves. D-Rob and KB have a chance to put their dawg on film, to show teams that they can knock down some smaller and weaker CBs.
Mac Jones won’t have a ton of time to throw, and Christian McCaffrey won’t have a lot of space to run in. Jared Verse has been leading a tenacious defensive line, while the Rams linebackers and safeties have been handling business against Saquon Barkley and Jonathan Taylor.
At their best, the remaining 49ers front-line starters will play their respective Rams to a draw. Trent Williams, Fred Warner, and Deommodore Lenoir will have their hands full going against their A-tier star players. But those A-tier star players can’t do their damage if a 49er is always getting open or getting in the backfield.
There’s never a good time to play the Rams, and in many ways, this seems like the worst time possible for the 49ers to play the Rams. But for certain players playing the most crucial match-ups, there might never be a better time. The next time they’ll play the Rams, some of the starters might be back to take advantage of these same vulnerabilities (at least on offense). When that happens, I’ll be a lot more confident that the 49ers can win. But for now, I’ll take being hopeful — hopeful that this team is capable of turning a challenge into an opportunity.
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