Five 49ers players to watch vs. Packers on Thursday night
Matt Maiocco presents his five players to watch against the Packers as the 49ers battle injuries and COVID-19.
The 49ers, who will line up in their Week 9 game, look little like the club that decisively defeated the Green Bay Packers twice last season.
The 49ers did a number last season on the Packers, including a 17-point victory in the NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium.
In that game, running back Raheem Mostert rushed for a franchise-record 220 yards and four touchdowns. Jimmy Garoppolo attempted only eight passes in the game, and All-Pro tight end George Kittle made his mark as a run-blocker.
The 49ers will turn to largely a different cast for their Thursday night game against Green Bay in Santa Clara.
Here are the 49ers to watch in Week 9 against the Packers.
The 49ers are bracing to play the rest of the season without Kittle. Although veteran tight end Jordan Reed might return to action after missing five games with a knee injury, Dwelley will take over as the team’s primary tight end.
Dwelley has just six catches for 70 yards on the season. But he got into the end zone in the fourth quarter last week against Seattle on a 16-yard touchdown pass after Kittle left the game a fractured foot.
Dwelley is an under-the-radar player who might have an opportunity to take advantage of some matchups to keep the chains moving on third downs.
Moseley had a rough game in Week 8 against the overpowering presence of Seattle’s DK Metcalf. He and Verrett will both get their chances on Thursday against the Packers’ top receiver, Davante Adams.
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers targets Adams more than 10 times a game. In five games, Adams has 43 catches for 502 yards and seven touchdowns. He had three touchdown receptions in the Packers’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings last week.
Both Verrett, playing the wide side of the field, and Moseley will see a lot of Parker in man coverage. If Rodgers is able to have more success picking on one of the 49ers’ cornerbacks, you can be sure that he will continue to go after that player.
Mostert, Tevin Coleman and Jeff Wilson are out. Hasty and Jerick McKinnon will likely share the load, with the 49ers planning to elevate Austin Walter from the practice squad.
Hasty is likely to see the most action of any of the running backs, with McKinnon seeing some spot duty as a third-down back.
Hasty, an undrafted rookie from Baylor, has appeared in six games since his promotion from the practice squad. He has 32 rushing attempts for 132 yards and a touchdown. He has caught three passes for 27 games.
Throughout his 25-year NFL career, 49ers running backs coach Bobby Turner has produced 26 different players to rush for 100 yards or more in a game. Could Hasty be No. 27?
The NFL Top 100 of 2020 included five 49ers.
But since the release of that list in July, four of those players -- Nick Bosa, Richard Sherman, Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle -- have sustained injuries and are no longer available. The only one who remains is middle linebacker Fred Warner.
Warner is the best player who will take the field for the 49ers on Thursday night. And this is when the 49ers must turn to their best players to perform like their best players.
The 49ers saw that kind of performance in Week 8, when Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner took over on that side of the ball.
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arner, who ranked 70th among the NFL Top 100, must set the tone early in this game, while also delivering big plays at crucial times in this game.
Mullens will have to find a way to keep the 49ers in this game without the team’s top three wide receivers.
Deebo Samuel has a hamstring injury, and he also joins Kendrick Bourne and Brandon Aiyuk on the COVID-19 list. On Thursday, each tested negative, Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area reported, but all remain ineligible to play.
Mullens’ job became a lot more difficult.
Two years ago, Mullens made a striking NFL debut on a Thursday night against the Raiders.
The stakes are higher now as he takes over for Garoppolo with the 49ers still holding hope of earning a spot in the NFC playoffs.
Currently, the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears (both 5-3) are ahead of the 49ers, who sit at No. 9 in the NFC with a 4-4 record. The top seven teams are scheduled make the playoffs. (Unless, the NFL deems a change is necessary due to any COVID-19 schedule adjustments later in the season.)
Mullens will make his third start of the season. He threw for 343 yards in a win over the New York Giants in Week 3. Then, he struggled and was benched a week later in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Coach Kyle Shanahan has long maintained he likes his group of three quarterbacks. The team believes they can still win games if Garoppolo is out -- either with Mullens or C.J. Beathard.
The team’s dwindling hopes for this season depends on it.
