The San Francisco 49ers are getting to the point where they cannot field a true defensive line. The injury hit them again, and hit them at the edge rusher position again, a spot that they cannot afford to miss.
Sam Okuayinonu suffered an ankle injury, and Kyle Shanahan confirmed after practice that he is expected to miss a couple of weeks.
The San Francisco 49ers are getting drastically thin at edge rusher
Before the season, the 49ers’ edge rusher depth was Nick Bosa, Mykel Williams, Bryce Huff, Yetur Gross-Matos and then Okuayinonu was a fifth rusher who barely worked in. Bosa, Williams and Gross-Matos are on the IR, while Okuayinonu joins them with his injury.
Even Bryce Huff missed time, but now he is the only one of the top five edge rushers who will be healthy when the team faces off with the Cleveland Browns in Week 13.
San Francisco has Bryce Huff playing more snaps than expected already. He played over 70% of the teams snaps in the past two weeks, both season highs. Still, they were able to get him off of the field on obvious run downs with Keion White, Clelin Ferrell and Okuayinonu rushing on the outside. Okuayinonu took the lead in snaps while the other two new additions worked in.
Now, the 49ers will have Huff, who they try to keep as a pass rusher only, and two additions they made right before the trade deadline. Robert Beal returned from the concussion protocol and is expected to be the fourth rusher, and the team may even call up William Bradley-King to take a depth spot this week.
Still, the team may also be wise to see if there are any veteran free agents willing to sign for a late-season playoff run, or if there are any other practice squad players that they could nab from another team. A group of Huff, Ferrell, White, and Beal is not scaring many teams.
This is disappointing for Okuayinonu as well. This is a player who fought from a UDFA and a cast off to leading the 49ers in snaps at his position. He was improved in both the run and as a pass rusher this year and was one of the few threads holding this unit together.
The hope is that he can get back before the end of the season and continue to build on a career-high in snaps played.
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