The 49ers’ 34-7 preseason loss was as preseason-ey as it gets. If you didn’t catch the eyesore performance, here’s what you missed (excluding the quarterbacks, whose performances are graded here).
D’Shawn Jamison is promising
It would be nice to live in a world in which a D’Shawn Jamison return could be free to be. Unfortunately, the 49ers had a holding call on two of Jamison’s three returns on Sunday, which is something of a feat in its own right. The second return actually had multiple holding calls.
What Jamison showed was the same bona fide knack for returning that he had in college, when he had three return touchdowns and was consistently dangerous. The undrafted free agent has also presented some solid form at corner, where Charvarius Ward credited him, saying he’s learned from his backpedal technique. He allowed one catch for six yards on Sunday, and has a real chance to make the team.
Ronnie Bell did a lot of good, then one very bad thing
Bell looked like perhaps the best player on the field until an inexcusable drop. Bell was delivered a ball on the money from Brandon Allen, but turned his head before securing the catch. It bounced through his hands and into the arms of Sam Webb for a near pick-six. The Raiders immediately scored a touchdown.
That’s where so much of the preseason lies, in that grey area between good and bad. Bell had one bad drop in practice on a day the rest of the team was contagious with them, but had been otherwise reliable as a pass-catcher before his drop turned near pick-six.
Before his drop on Sunday, he made an outstanding catch on a ball deep down the right sideline from Sam Darnold and was solid as a returner. He had a team-high three catches for 58 yards and is absolutely in the mix to make the roster at the receiver position.
Ji’Ayir Brown
He didn’t get a chance to show too much of his coverage ability — at least, that we saw, given how hard it is to track safety play without All-22 film — but he absolutely flashed his downhill speed and hitting ability.
When he had the chance, mostly in the first quarter, to get involved, he did, securing three solo tackles. He was convicted in his contact and decisive. Safeties get into trouble when they’re caught in no-man’s land. Brown doesn’t look at risk of that.
Cameron Latu
Yikes. It’s been hard to watch Latu at times. He had a two-drop day in practice last week and hasn’t often been targeted as a receiver. On Sunday, he was called for a hold on a Jamison return, and was potentially involved in a couple illegal formations on the same series. Tay Martin was called for the penalties, but the responsibility to get alignments right often falls on the shoulders of the tight end.
His worst play came after a nice catch and turn upfield. He bobbled, then looked to have secured a Sam Darnold catch, then fumbled badly inside the 20-yard line. Latu keeps making mistakes, and his seventh-round rookie counterpart, Brayden Willis, has been a far more promising receiving option at this point.
Ambry Thomas and Samuel Womack III
Thomas had a couple nice tackles — including one on a fourth-and-one stop — and was involved with tight coverage on an incompletion. He also had a defensive holding call and allowed a 10-yard completion, but looked relatively comfortable.
Womack showed his tackling chops, picking up four, including a stop around the line of scrimmage, and a couple other instinctual tackles. He was beaten badly on a deep ball, but got bailed out by a drop that Kyle Shanahan proved with a challenge.
Both Thomas and Womack showed some of why they’re viewed as potentially promising, but also had a couple moments when their youth was evident. That said, there was more good than bad from them.
Offensive line woes
Trey Lance was under pressure from the get-go, and the 49ers’ backup offensive line looked out of its depth. Nick Zakelj, in particular, had a very rough time on Sunday, allowing at least two singlehanded pressures and sacks.
There has not been much convincing done on the offensive line outside of the starters. Matt Pryor is a great pass blocker at tackle, but doesn’t have the athleticism desired as a run blocker, while Jon Feliciano is the one veteran interior offensive line option the 49ers can feel decent about. Everyone else needs to show something.
Linebacker competition
It’s very difficult to say what the hierarchy is at linebacker right now. Oren Burks is injured and the presumptive No. 3 behind Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, but Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles has been in the system for a while now and is well liked.
Flannigan-Fowles was cooked on one pass play on Sunday for a near touchdown prevented by a nice tackle from Brown, but he also made a fantastic run tackle on the edge.
Marcelino McCrary-Ball is the other name in the mix at that level. He has shown that Greenlaw-like ferocity in triggering downhill with aggression. He had a couple crunching tackles.
Everyone else seems to have a chance, too. Jalen Graham flashed his range and athleticism. Dee Winters showed he’s instinctual in tracking the ball. Curtis Robinson also made a nice tackle from behind. It’s hard to predict how the 49ers view that pecking order right now.
Jake Moody misses twice
It was a good reality check for Jake Moody, who has been fantastic in 49ers practices and in training camp thus far.
He was iced by Josh McDaniels twice on Sunday. He pulled the ball badly left on a 40-yard attempt that should have rewarded an end-of-half drive from Trey Lance. Then, Kyle Shanahan let him go for a 58-yard field goal that Moody sliced right, seemingly over-correcting from his first attempt.
You’d hope he’d get on the board in the second preseason game and settle down.
