The leaves are ringed with orange. There’s a pumpkin on your neighbor’s front stoop. Receivers are boarding one-way flights to AFC East cities.
Yes, trade season is in the air.
Who might tempt the injury-riddled San Francisco 49ers? We look at some worthy names below in this week’s mailbag and we also thoroughly examine the area that’s become a pressing concern in San Francisco right now — special teams.
Thanks for all the terrific questions, which are consistently good. I edited a few for content.
The situation at special teams seems dire with San Francisco ranking 31st in DVOA on the season. Is it all coaching or what gives? – Cully C.
Kyle Shanahan is on his second special teams coach and the 49ers still have issues there. Does his “just don’t mess it up” attitude toward teams impact the overall mindset of the coach and players on that unit? – Maleake H.
On the personnel side, the 49ers have consistently signed and drafted players who ought to make for good special teams units. They used a fourth-round pick on punter Mitch Wishnowsky in 2019 and a third rounder on kicker Jake Moody last year. They signed players like George Odum, Oren Burks and Isaac Yiadom in recent free agency cycles, players who have stood out on coverage units elsewhere. They collect fast linebackers, the type of player who should excel on special teams.
And yet special teams has been either blah or outright bad under Shanahan. The return game never has any pop, and the kickoff coverage has been reliably porous.
Injuries are part of the problem. When a player is injured, his replacement usually is someone who plays a lot on special teams. That person gets plucked off the unit and a newbie takes his place. It’s hard to get any consistency when you have a roster that’s always banged up.
I was also surprised the 49ers never ran any live scenarios as far as the new kickoff rules this summer. Coaches have been steering away from tackling in training camp for years — and for good reason. Considering how the new rules turned kickoffs upside down, though, it seemed like this should be an exception. That’s especially important for a team that already struggled on kickoff coverage under the old rules.
But the overarching issue appears to be what Maleake pointed out. You can’t say that special teams is a priority when your special teams mantra is, “Just don’t cost us the game.” Under Pete Carroll, special teams were a part of the Seattle Seahawks’ winning formula. They were integral and made to feel such. And they delivered.
If you don’t have that attitude, it’s only natural that your special teams are at best ho-hum and at worst bad. That’s what the 49ers are now. The irony, of course, is that the unit’s blunders have cost San Francisco wins, or at least have been the turning points that allowed opponents to swing momentum and crawl back into contests.
Why not just boot every kickoff out of the end zone? At this point, field position can’t be worth the tradeoff for the injured kickers and special teams mishaps. – Brad K.
Oh, Brad, if only it were that simple. Moody was trying to boot his second-quarter kickoff deep into the end zone in Week 5. He got under the ball too much, it got caught by the wind, landed one yard into the end zone and Moody was flattened on the return.
Only a few kickers can boot the ball deep into the end zone on every try.
Wishnowsky did kickoffs when Robbie Gould was here. Why can’t he do them now? – Edward M.
He handled that task full time in 2019 and 2020 and was alright but not great at it. He doesn’t have the cannon leg that some people think he has. His nickname, the Boomin’ Onion, isn’t quite right. His fortes are accuracy, spin and pinning teams inside their own 20. (Alas, “The Accurate Aussie” and “The Perth Pinner” don’t have the same ring). There was also a sense that having to perform kickoff became taxing and started to affect his punting.
Can kicker Anders Carlson (signed to the practice squad on Tuesday) kick touchbacks? – Frank F.
He had 43 touchbacks in 19 games for the Green Bay Packers last season. By comparison, Moody had 70 in 20 games. So, no, Carlson wasn’t very good on touchbacks last year.
With kickers being more involved in the return game, do you see them potentially bulking up or learning better tackling methods so they don’t get injured? – Martin U.
As it stands now, kickers aren’t taught any tackling methods. Moody told me earlier this year that he’d rely on knowledge gained as a high school freshman safety when it came to tackling.
I agree it would be smart to give them lessons. The 49ers could have their third kicker in as many weeks on Sunday. They obviously are having trouble signing free agents who can boom it to the back of the end zone, which means the season could turn into a cycle of injured kickers.
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Do you see Ricky Pearsall being the primary return player when he’s active? – Rich D.
That’s a possibility. The 49ers like fellow rookie Jacob Cowing in that role, but he’s gotten scant snaps – five, to be exact – on offense so far. The 49ers might be able to get more bang for their buck with Pearsall.
He doesn’t have an extensive background as a punt returner. He handed 11 punts last year at Florida, albeit with a strong, 11.5-yard average. He’s also been practicing punt returns with the 49ers since the spring, though he missed most of the summer session and didn’t get any chances in the preseason.
First-round pick Ricky Pearsall might be an option in the return game for the 49ers. (Robert Kupbens/Imagn Images)
What running back will San Francisco add since Jordan Mason isn’t 100 percent, Isaac Guerendo isn’t ready for full-time duty, and Patrick Taylor Jr. is slower than Rich Eisen? – Marvin G.
I don’t know. Maybe give this Eisen guy a shot?
Mason took part in Monday’s practice, which suggests he’ll be able to play Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. If he were out long term, it would be time to give Matt Breida or Jerick McKinnon a call. Breida hasn’t been interested in being on the practice squad but likely would jump at a chance for a rotational role on the 53-man roster.
What are the odds defensive tackle D.J. Jones comes back home to the Bay? – Joe P.
A trade for Jones makes a lot of sense:
- He’s in the final year of his deal.
- He knows the 49ers’ system and wouldn’t need any runway.
- He was well-liked in San Francisco.
- The 49ers have gotten very thin at defensive tackle.
The only hitch as I see it is that the Denver Broncos are 3-3 just like the 49ers. Are they a fire-sale squad? They have three more games before the trade deadline. Maybe they’ll be in a different spot by then.
Haason Reddick is an interesting trade idea but you would have to pay him — that’s why he’s holding out. Can the 49ers afford another $25 million/year contract? – Lars R.
No, but it may not take a multi-year deal. If new agent Drew Rosenhaus can’t get a deal with the New York Jets (and it’s hard to see him getting a better offer from them than Reddick’s previous agent got) and can’t get another team to pony up, Reddick’s best bet would be to play out the rest of the season with a contender, make some splashy plays in January and then hit the market as a free agent in March. Detroit would be a good spot to do that. So would San Francisco.
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What would it cost to trade for Giants pass rusher Azeez Ojulari? – Greg C.
A fourth-round pick? The 49ers got Chase Young last year for a conditional third rounder. Unlike Young, Ojulari is not a starter in New York.
Matt, can you see Calais Campbell from the Dolphins as being a realistic trade possibility given that his current team may not make the playoffs? – Phani T.
Yes, and it would almost be an act of mercy for one of the most well-liked veterans in the league given what’s happening in Miami right now. At 38, Campbell would be the oldest 49er and I’m not sure how much edge-rush heat he’d deliver. But he’s still logging normal snap counts and he plays both defensive end and defensive tackle. The 49ers are light at both.
Where did Eric Saubert go? Four wide-open catches for 67 yards in the first three games, no targets since. – Craig F.
Agreed. Want an easy red-zone score? Line up in 12 personnel, use play action, then throw to Saubert.
If/when Jon Feliciano returns, what position will he be playing? – Lorenzo Y.
The extra offensive linemen in uniform on game days have included Jaylon Moore, Spencer Burford and Nick Zakelj.
Moore has been the backup at tackle, Burford has been the backup at guard (and, in a real pinch, he’s play tackle) and Zakelj has been the backup center. I think Feliciano initially will take Zakelj’s spot. If the 49ers agree with a particularly boisterous segment of the fan base and replace Jake Brendel at center, Feliciano would step in as the starter.
Feliciano took that path at right guard last season. He was a backup in the first half of the season and eventually took over for Burford at right guard in the second half.
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Why promote tight end Brayden Willis of all people? — Zach M.
Zach is referring to the fact that the 49ers signed Willis from the practice squad to the active roster before the Seattle Seahawks game but made him inactive for the game.
I heard another team was angling to sign Willis to their active roster and the 49ers wanted to keep him around. It underscores that they like him and want to continue to develop him.
Did Javon Hargrave already have his surgery and are they still thinking he could be back for the playoffs? – Jake S.
Yes, he had surgery. The recovery for triceps surgery is four to six months. So if he did come back, it might only be deep, deep in the playoffs.
What will the 49ers record be when they reach the bye week? – Matthew S.
They’ll be 4-4. Which is like having a 2.0 GPA, as George Costanza put it: “Right in that meaty part of the curve. Not showing off, not falling behind.”
(Photo: Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)
