The San Francisco 49ers have been ravaged by injuries throughout the season. Their 6-3 record has been a testament to the excellent coaching job that Kyle Shanahan has done, alongside the spectacular role Mac Jones has had as the backup quarterback for the team.
For the majority of the season, though, the injuries, while coming in bunches, were predominantly on the offensive side of the football. However, more recently, the team has faced major setbacks on the offensive line, with Fred Warner and Nick Bosa both suffering significant injuries. With both ruled out for the season, one analyst wants the organization to try to add a lethal threat to the front of their defense.
San Francisco 49ers Could Try to Minimize Defensive Injuries
Over the course of the year, the defense for San Francisco has been underwhelming, ranking 20th in the league on PFSN’s Defense Impact. But with the blows to the defensive line, it is hard to imagine the situation improving.
First, it was Bosa, who suffered a torn right ACL that effectively ended his season, before Warner went down with a gruesome dislocated and fractured ankle that was immediately guaranteed to keep him out for the year.
As a result, the defensive line is in shambles at the moment, and the 49ers need some backup, or the season could get out of hand in a hurry. For Josh Weil of PFSN, that presents an opportunity for the franchise to make a trade to acquire Jaelan Phillips.
“In his last full season, Jaelan Phillips was the top-rated edge rusher, per our PFSN EDGEi Rankings, and the sixth-most impactful player in the entire league. I think he still can make this impact if the whole offensive line isn’t geared up to stop him.”
With four years of experience under his belt, the biggest hurdle for Phillips to overcome is the injury bug. Over the last two years, he has played in a total of just 12 games. This year, though, he’s back to peak health, suiting up in every game for Miami.
Although his production hasn’t been the same as in the first two seasons of his career, this is a player with 177 total tackles and 26 sacks to his credit in just 55 games. As Weil put it, “Look for Jaelan Phillips to be the move that everyone looks back and says was a bargain for the impact that he makes.”
The focus for the 49ers team, which has made two Super Bowl appearances this decade, was to return to the promised land. But the injuries on the roster make it seem like an impossibility at this point.
Even though they have been able to trudge forward as the parts fall off one by one, the playoffs are a different animal altogether. They could fall short in the postseason unless they make some significant personnel changes to the roster.