The 49ers snaps in their Week 6 loss to the Browns offered a couple of intriguing insights into where the team stands from a roster standpoint.
San Francisco’s snap counts were thrown a little out of whack in part because of injuries to running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Deebo Samuel, but those injuries also gave us a look at how the 49ers view their depth chart at a couple spots.
Let’s run through what stood out from the team’s official snap counts:
A backup RB change?
It appears Jordan Mason has overtaken Elijah Mitchell as the team’s No. 2 running back. Mason was the first back in the game to spell McCaffrey. He went on to out-snap Mitchell 15-7 overall. Mason was the more effective back Sunday and started his climb up the depth chart last year as an undrafted rookie. He had five carries for 27 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. In the last two games Mason has turned 15 carries into 96 yards and two touchdowns. Mitchell on Sunday had two carries for -3 yards. Mason is the more effective player at this point and he figures to be first in line for additional work if McCaffrey misses time.
Deebo's replacement
With Samuel sidelined by a shoulder injury for all but nine snaps, Ray-Ray McCloud was given a huge uptick in work. In Weeks 4 and 5, McCloud played a combined 26 snaps. Sunday he played a season-high 44. Despite playing a ton, he earned just two targets and caught one for four yards. Rookie WR Ronnie Bell, who saw an uptick in playing time in Week 3 when Brandon Aiyuk was out, only played one snap. If Samuel is going to miss significant time, the 49ers need to find a more reliable pass-catching option.
A TE problem
Sunday would’ve been a good time for the 49ers to start leaning on more multiple tight end sets. The problem this year, as it has been in the past, is that San Francisco doesn’t have TEs capable of threatening defenses as pass catchers so they’re limited in what they can do offensively from that personnel group. In a game where additional big bodies might’ve been helpful against a good Browns defensive front, backup TEs Charlie Woerner and Ross Dwelley played a combined nine snaps. Woerner had five of them, Dwelley had four. The 49ers drafted a pair of TEs this year, but third-round pick Cameron Latu is out for the season with a knee injury, and seventh-round pick Brayden Willis was a healthy scratch. This could be a significant problem for San Francisco down the stretch when they face tough defensive fronts. There are limited fixes for that, and adding TEs isn’t a tool the 49ers have in their belt to solve that problem.
Randy Gregory's debut
Gregory had a nice debut for the 49ers. He had two tackles, a sack and a tackle-for-loss in 26 snaps. The takeaway here is that he already out-snapped second-year DE Drake Jackson. Jackson had three sacks in the season opener and hasn’t had one since. That the 49ers felt the need to add a DE wasn’t a great sign for their depth at the position. Clelin Ferrell is playing a lot and did so again Sunday, but beyond Ferrell and Nick Bosa the 49ers have struggled to find consistent production. Jackson was supposed to be a breakout player for San Francisco, and now he appears to be going backward on the depth chart.
