Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Thursday, September 21st, 2023

Kawakami: The significance of Deebo Samuel’s 49ers captaincy (paywall)

“You could sense that Deebo was basically challenging himself by being so self-critical. After saying it publicly, he had to back it up by putting in the offseason work, showing up to training camp in great shape and blasting into the 2023 season. Which is what happened, and led to Shanahan joking at the start of camp: “Never had a grown man send me so many pictures with his shirt off, but it looks good. I can tell he...

The 49ers are heavy favorites after an excellent start to the season.

The San Francisco 49ers have proved to be one of the best teams in the NFL through the first two weeks of the season. Relatively healthy after a pair of comfortable victories, the Niners will have a quick turnaround before facing the New York Giants on Thursday. The Giants have already had a pair of disappointing performances, losing a blowout to the Cowboys before nearly losing to the tanking Arizona Cardinals last week.

Due to our sponsorship with Tallysight, we have to pick every game. But, as usual,...

The New York Giants will be without Saquon Barkley, Andrew Thomas, Azeez Ojulari, and Ben Bredeson.

The New York Giants injury report just came out. We already knew they’d be without running back Saquon Barkley, as he has an ankle injury. But according to New York’s beat reporters, three other starters were ruled out Wednesday afternoon.

Left tackle Andrew Thomas, was a second-team All-Pro selection in 2022, was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Thomas is a stud. So much so that he signed a five-year, $117.5 million contract this past offseason.

Left guard Ben Bredeson was ruled out with...

Daniel Jones has a high interception rate that the 49ers must take advantage of

The San Francisco 49ers open their home schedule with its first of two Thursday night games this season, hosting the 1-1 New York Giants. Both teams are coming off of wins against NFC West opponents, the 49ers defeating the Los Angeles Rams and the Giants needing a comeback to beat the Arizona Cardinals. The G-Men trailed Arizona 28-7 before scoring 24 consecutive points in the game’s final 20 minutes to win 31-28.

Thursday night games can be tricky, but the 49ers will be safe if it...

San Francisco holds the upper hand on a short week

It’s a short week before the home opener on Thursday. Let’s take a look at the New York Giants roster and where the 49ers may find advantages.

SF O SKILL (QB/WR) VS NYG SECONDARY

Advantage: SF

The Giants are one of five teams that have yet to grab an interception on the season. New York is starting a rookie cornerback duo of first round pick Deonte Banks (Maryland) and sixth round pick Tre Hawkins III (ODU). Both players have fared well in the first two weeks of the season, allowing...

McCaffrey attracts multiple defenders, which makes life easy for the quarterback, and opens up the offense for everyone else.

Christian McCaffrey’s value cannot be measured by a position. When No. 23 is on the field and lined up anywhere other than a traditional running back, you can guarantee there are four sets of eyes on him.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has used McCaffrey’s gravitational pull to his advantage. So when we talk about whether McCaffrey’s workload is too much — 42 carries through two games, when he’s sparingly coming off the field — it’s difficult to blame the coaching...

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke about Deion Sanders, Brandon Aiyuk, Brock Purdy, and Thursday night’s opponent, Daniel Jones and the New York Giants.

Kyle Shanahan provided injury updates, spoke about the running back usage, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and the threat he poses, and recapped a few plays from the Rams game.

Opening comments:

[WR Brandon Aiyuk] B.A with the shoulder will be limited and [CB] Ambry Thomas with the knee will be limited. Go ahead.”

Is Aiyuk you trending in the right direction?

“Enough to be limited.”

That’s in the right direction, right?

“Yeah, I think...

Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Wednesday, September 20th, 2023

49ers mailbag: Why hasn’t Eli Mitchell been used more? Realistic trade targets? (paywall)

49ers sign former Cowboys corner to strengthen thin DB room

“Brown (5-11, 196) was originally drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (189th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. Throughout his seven-year career with the Cowboys, he has appeared in 94 games (69 starts) and registered 316 tackles, 4.0 sacks, 59 passes defensed, nine interceptions, five forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He has also appeared in four postseason contests...

The 49ers star wideout has a shoulder injury. Is it worth the risk of playing him?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in San Francisco 49ers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Brandon Aiyuk was laboring through the 49ers Week 2 matchup with the Rams while dealing with a shoulder injury sustained in the early moments of the game. Playing just a shade over 30 snaps, Aiyuk tried to tough out the injury. Adrenaline most...

Anthony Brown was drafted in 2016. He played primarily in the slot for Dallas

The 49ers worked out veteran free agent Bradley Roby on Monday. Evidently, the team was happier with what they saw from another cornerback. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Niners are signing former Dallas Cowboys corner, Anthony Brown.

Brown tore his Achilles with the Cowboys last year. He had been on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad until today. Now, he’s on the Niners active roster.

Primarily a slot cornerback, Brown had an impressive 2021 season, where he ranked ninth among all cornerbacks in pass defense, per...

Some are worried that Christian McCaffrey won’t last if he continues to play this many snaps and log this many touches

After two weeks, Christian McCaffrey has been the definition of a workhorse back for the 49ers. In an era of running backs splitting time, Kyle Shanahan has turned the clock back to when running backs were in on every down with McCaffrey.

McCaffrey leads the NFL in rushing attempts with 42 at the moment. He also is first in rushing yards and yards per game. Heading into TNF, McCaffrey has logged 48 touches. The two-game average is 24 per...

Taking a look at the 49ers personnel usage through two games

The 49ers spent all offseason preparing as if Brock Purdy would be their starting quarterback. Head coach Kyle Shanahan also has the luxury of having one of, if not the best, running backs in the league at his disposal.

On the other side of the ball, the team transitioned from DeMeco Ryans to Steve Wilks as defensive coordinator. Ryans was known for running mostly zone coverage. The 49ers ran zone coverage 64 percent of the time in 2022, which was the fourth-highest in usage rate in the NFL. Compare...