With the 49ers dominating the Giants on Thursday Night Football, I think it’s time to go over my observations from the first 3 weeks of the 49ers season.
- QB Brock Purdy is for real, he’s 61/91, for 736 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, but more importantly, no turnovers, he looks like he’s the right guy to lead this 49ers team to their 6th Lombardi Trophy.
- RB Christian McCaffrey is a beast, currently leading the NFL in rushing yards with 353 yards on 60 rushes, along with 70 receiving yards on 11 catches, but he’s being used too much, which I think Kyle has admitted, since he played Elijah Mitchell much more in week 3’s win over the Giants.
- WR Deebo Samuel is BACK, and back with a vengeance, leading the 49ers with 247 receiving yards on 17 catches, a touchdown, while also have a rushing touchdown, with 48 yards on 8 carries, but he’s making defenders miss, and running over defenders, so Deebo is B-A-C-K.
- WR Brandon Aiyuk is a legit #1 WR in this league, he has 2 receiving touchdowns, 172 receiving yards on 11 catches, he did miss the Giants game, but if that was a playoff game, he would have played in my opinion.
- WR Jauan Jennings is a stud in the making, with 82 yards on just 4 catches, he’s going to get paid in 2025 when he’s a UFA, and unfortunately it won’t be as a 49er, as I see them extending Aiyuk in 2024, letting Jauan walk, and getting a comp pick.
- WR Ronnie Bell looks like the steal of the 2023 NFL draft, having a nice season thus far, with a very very nice 9-yard touchdown catch, and some good plays on special teams as a gunner.
- TE George Kittle still has it, he’s 3rd on the team in receiving yards, with 139 on 13 catches, and he’s making great catches, & great blocks out there.
- The offensive line as a whole, C Jake Brendel, LG Aaron Banks, RG Spencer Burford, LT Trent Williams, & RT Colton McKivitz look so much better than they did in 2022, with the only changes being no more RG by committee with Daniel Brunskill now with the Titans, and Mike McGlinchey with the Broncos, they’ve only allowed 6 sacks, and 3 of them came in week 1 to T.J. Watt, when he did abuse McKivitz, but the line has been stable, and looking good.
- DE Nick Bosa is a BAD man, the first 2 games he didn’t have a sack, but Thursday night, he had his first sack, he blasted by Daniel Bellinger to sack Daniel Jones, but he’s also been pressuring the QB at a high rate, higher than any other defender in the NFL.
- DE Drake Jackson has been very very good, with 3 sacks in week 1, none since, but he’s pressuring the QB, and getting into the backfield, he may just be the EDGE the 49ers need opposite Bosa long term.
- DT Arik Armstead doesn’t have a sack, yet, he’ll get one, but he’s constantly double teamed, he’s a force in the middle of the d-line, and he’s just a great all around defensive tackle.
- DT Javon Kinlaw has been much better than his first 3 seasons, combined, he’s wrecking o-lineman, and he’s getting pressure, he really looks like he’s healthy, and finally the player the 49ers thought they had when they took him 14th-overall in 2020.
- NT Javon Hargrave has looked like what we all expected him to be, with 2 sacks, pressuring the QB, collapsing the pocket on damn near every rep he’s in for, he’s so good, he will only get better as the year goes on.
- MLB Fred Warner has been so good, with 23 combined tackles, and a sack, he’s just been a force in the middle of the defense, as the heart & soul of this squad, that hit he made on Najee Harris week 1 rattled Harris so much, that Harris hasn’t looked the same since.
- WLB Dre Greenlaw has been good, with 22 combined tackles, but he’s made a few boneheaded mistakes, with late penalties, the 15-yard, unnecessary roughness kind, but I have faith he’ll get those under control, and be a force with Warner at LB.
- SLB Oren Burks has been really good, he had 2 TFLs this past Thursday night, he’s a great special teams player, along with George Odum, and he’s proven to be a good linebacker for the 49ers.
- The defensive backfield has been so good in my eyes, with Deommodore Lenoir leading the team with 25 combined tackles, he did have a bad penalty week 1 that led to the Steelers lone TD, but he seems to have been way more disciplined since then, while Charvarius Ward has been a shutdown cornerback for the 49ers, and Tashaun Gipson Sr., & Talanoa Hufanga have been great out there, Hufanga leads the team with 2 INTs.
- On special teams, the coverage unit has gotten better each week, week 1 they looked bad, especially the coverage unit, giving up chunk plays to the Steelers return man, but since then, they’ve been so much better since then, getting down field, and making big plays, but they have had a few mental errors, like the kick catch interference call.
- PK Jake Moody looks legit, 9/9 on field goals, 9/9 on extra points, he’s making the 49ers look smart for taking him in the 3rd-round, but he’ll miss a kick or 2 this season, but he’ll have a very good rookie year.
- P Mitch Wishnowsky has been go thus far, with 10 punts, and 7 being inside the 20-yard line, he’s really earning that new deal he signed last year.
Well there you have it, 20 observations from the first 3 weeks/games of the 2023 regular season for the 49ers, thank you for reading, and follow me on X/Twitter @49erscap.
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