Niners Nation
Even before they lost Nick Bosa to a season-ending injury, the San Francisco 49ers always found a way to rotate their defensive line to ensure players are fresh for the duration of the game.
I’ve been keeping track of the rotations, just to see how they are tweaked and who earns more playing time throughout the game. On the play where Fred Warner dislocated his ankle, the 49ers only had ten players on the field. Before the ball was snapped, it didn’t take somebody with NFL coaching experience to know there was something off with the play:
Everybody is so fixated on their pre-snap keys that they don’t notice there isn’t an edge rusher lined up in front of Dee Winters. Warner is pointing in that direction, but due to his recognizing Tampa Bay’s formation and what was happening next.
Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Monday that the coaching staff didn’t realize there were only ten players on the field until it was too late:
“Because he was out on special teams, we thought he was out there, and he came off the field. We didn’t realize it until the snap and needed 11 out there. Would’ve called a timeout if I saw it, but I didn’t, and it was an unfortunate mistake.”
Shanahan wouldn’t throw the player who was at fault under the bus, saying, “It doesn’t matter, but we should have had another D-End out there.”
Back to the defensive line rotation, to see if we can figure out who that edge player was supposed to be. To start the game, Sam Okuayinonu-Kalia Davis-Jordan Elliott-Mykel Williams all took the field. On the next drive, Alfred Collins subbed in for Davis, but that was the only change.
On the kickoff before Warner’s injury, there was one defensive end on the kickoff team: Trevis Gipson.
There’s your answer. And there’s no guessing game here, as the ten other players on the kickoff team, other than Eddy Pineiro, were:
RB Isaac Guerendo
TE Brayden Willis
DE Trevis Gipson
LB Tatum Bethune
LB Luke Gifford
LB Curtis Robinson
CB Chase Lucas
CB Darrell Luter
S Ji’Ayir Brown
S Siran Neal
That’s not to say, “If Gipson were on the field, Warner would’ve never gotten hurt!”
Nobody knows that. Warner suffered a freak accident. However, it is another incident in which miscommunication and injuries to other players — Gipson’s first snap with the team came in Week 5 — are affecting simple things like who goes out onto the field.
And in this instance, not having enough players on the defensive line cost the 49ers more than a loss on the scoreboard.
