SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The sting of January’s NFC Championship loss to the Philadelphia Eagles for the San Francisco 49ers has faded as training camp approaches next week.
“I don’t let it drag on,” George Keitel said with a tight finish. “Because hey, it’s football, it’s life, everything happens and we have to move on to the next stage.”
In the bigger picture, the 49ers have advanced to the NFC title game or better in three of the past four seasons but haven’t reached their ultimate goal: their sixth Lombardy Cup.
With players like Kettle, Christian McCaffrey, tackles Trent Williams, receivers Debo Samuel and Brandon Ayuk, linebackers Fred Warner, defensive ends Nick Bosa, defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Eric Armstead, linebackers Charvarius Ward and safety Talanoa Hovanga, it’s easy to see why this could happen during the year.
For that to happen, the Niners are counting on a handful of young players to take a big step forward. The quarterback position will be the most prominent but for this drill there are five quarterbacks who must appear.
Lenoir was supposed to be the starting nickel last season, but an injury to Emmanuel Mosley at the start of the season moved Lenoir to the outside, where he seemed to be getting better as the season unfolded.
“The game has slowed down a lot for me just with getting the cast all over the last year,” Lenoir said. “So, I think this year it’s time to take the next step and just be one of the best cornerbacks in the league. That’s my goal.”
Lenoir was anchored as a starter opposite Ward. Going into the season, Lenoir is particularly focused on the deep ball. On passes traveling more than 20 air yards last year, Lenoir gave up seven completions in 13 attempts for 254 yards and a touchdown, yielding an opponent passer rating of 124.7. On middle and downfield attempts, Lenoir racked up just 382 yards and 1 score with an interception pass rate of 80.1.
He seemed to improve in the postseason, when he was the team’s most effective coverage angle, giving up just five catches on 12 attempts for 75 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer allowed rating of 23.3.
Teams are still more likely to target Lenoir than Ward until Lenoir proves he can cover deep consistently. With the 49ers not making a major investment in the cornerback, he’s going to have to rise to the challenge.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey was San Francisco’s biggest departure, signing an $87.5 million deal with the Denver Broncos. To replace him, the Niners looked inward, giving McKivitz his first crack at the job.
McKivitz was a fifth round pick in 2020 but bounced between the practice squad and the active roster and was released in 2021. He struggled through it, playing in 28 games with five starts. Seven of those have come in as two starts and mixed results, with a pass block win rate of 68.4% and a run block win rate of 72%. For comparison, the average tackles in the league last year were 88.7% (PBWR) and 74.1% (RBWR), while McGlinchey hit 89.6% and 81.5%, respectively.
It’s a small sample, but the Niners believe McKivitz has shown enough to hit the first right tackle. Much of that confidence comes from a stellar start in the must-win Week 18 game of 2021 against the Los Angeles Rams. Starting at left tackle in place of an injured Williams, McKivitz has a pass block win rate of 90%. He only played 26 times in the regular season at right tackle but earned the trust of his teammates.
“I think it’s well deserved,” said Williams. “And just to see him keep grinding, not to be discouraged, keep letting his talent display play with confidence, he’s got it.”
After drafting Jackson in the second round last year, the Niners hoped he would develop and move up to the starting role in the second year.
Jackson started well enough, with three sacks in his first six games, but his production dropped because his body wasn’t prepared for the rigors of an entire season. Weighing in at about 252 pounds as a junior, he finished with 14 tackles, three sacks, and an interception while averaging 20.1 steals in 15 games. His pass win rate of 8.5% and pressure rate of 3.8% are rated well south of the Niners’ other regular fullbacks.
Jackson eventually became a healthy scratch, and a disappointing finish to his rookie season. But with Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu and Jordan Willis leaving the offseason, the door was opened for Jackson to step into the starting job opposite Bossa. He’s spent the offseason adding around 13 pounds and hopes to play around £260-265 this season.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said, “He’s been amazing this season. Even when it wasn’t voluntary, he was here on his own anyway, just living in the weight room and trying to transform his body.”
In the spring, Williams said he believed Jackson had All-Pro potential. The 49ers don’t need Jackson to be that good, but if he can provide a reliable complement to Bosa, San Francisco should continue their recent defensive dominance.
As a fifth round rookie in 2022, Burford won the right guard job after coming out of training camp. But he also struggled, allowing five sacks and posting a pass block win rate of 88.4% (65th among guards with at least 200 offensive snaps) and a run block win rate of 62.7% (79).
Burford rotated with veteran Daniel Brunskell at right guard, though Burford started 16 games and averaged 44.5 tackles per game. With Bronskill out to the Tennessee Titans in free agency, 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster told his job would be forfeited, even though the Niners brought in veteran John Feliciano for depth.
Like Jackson, Burford has been a regular on the team’s facility and knows the importance of making the leap sophomore year.
“He’s like a different guy, carrying himself differently,” Forster said. “I think this year he’s more prepared with the whole process. He knows what it is. I think he’s ready to take that step.”
The 49ers received solid offensive play in their deep postseason runs but struggled as the competition improved. This puts the onus on Burford to make a huge leap forward and anchor the right side of the line with important questions.
The Niners spent their third round pick Moody to replace veteran Robbie Gould. Gould was the picture of consistency in his six years with the Niners, never missing a kick in 40 post-season attempts. But the 49ers wanted a younger, cheaper kicker.
Moody has a great leg but has had occasional struggles in his time at Michigan, making 82.1% of his field goals, including 17 of 27 between 40 and 49 yards and 4 of 10 from 50 yards. He’s impressed in the spring, but the real test won’t come until the games start.
“He did a good job,” Shanahan said. “He’s got a leg from hell and we’re going to put him through a bunch of situations and continue to challenge him and hopefully he’ll be ready to go by week one.”
Modi will not have a honeymoon period. His ability to produce will instantly help shape the way he goes this season.