Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers defense was expected to have its ups and downs this season, as they entered the year with several rookies earning key snaps, including first-round pick Mykel Williams, second-round pick Alfred Collins, third-round pick Upton Stout, and fifth-round pick Marques Sigle.
Things have fizzled out from there, as Williams tore his ACL, ending his rookie season. Sigle was benched in favor of Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown when Mustapha returned from injury. Collins has become a regular, though, after getting eased in to start the season. And Stout might be the team’s most improved defender.
As a Day 1 starting nickel corner for the 49ers, Stout had his learning moments early in the season, getting targeted quite often in the slot as teams looked to try and take advantage of his inexperience. But, the rookie has continued to grow and been one of the team’s better defenders over the last few weeks of the season, both in the run game and in coverage.
Stout, who has been San Francisco’s most-targeted cornerback this season, has especially been good over the last three weeks of the season, not allowing a penalty after allowing eight over the first 15 weeks of the year.
In coverage, he’s been pretty solid, allowing seven catches over the three weeks on 12 targets, for 82 yards. Here were his three stat lines, according to PFF:
Week 16 @ Indianapolis: 4 catches allowed on 8 targets, 45 yards allowed, 3 forced incompletions, 2 pass breakups, 5.9 yards average depth of target, two run stops
Week 17 vs. Chicago: 1 catch allowed on 2 targets, 27 yards allowed, 16 yards average depth of target, got injured during game
Week 18 vs. Seattle: 2 catches allowed on 3 targets, 3 yards allowed, 0 yards average depth of target, 3 run stops
He’s arguably been the most consistent cornerback for San Francisco over the stretch run. What has Robert Saleh seen from his rookie in terms of improvement?
“For Upton, it’s just reps,” Saleh said on Thursday. “Anytime a rookie, especially a guy who plays his play style, the violence at which he plays, it’s more just getting reps and starting to feel the game and understanding where he needs to put his body and all the techniques that we’re asking.
“I’ve always said, a coach’s job is to give a player a three-foot, a little foundation to stand on, something rock solid that he can count on play-in and play-out. It’s a player that’s going to expand that, along with reps and coaching, just bringing more awareness to what he’s being asked out of all his different techniques, how can he expand that foundation so he can stretch the limits of what he’s capable of? And Upton has done that week after week after week.”
Even with the growth Stout has shown, Saleh believes there’s much more to come from the rookie after his best game of the season against the Seattle Seahawks.
“I still don’t even...
