49ers news: Will the Niners need to make a midseason move for a DL?

The San Francisco 49ers had an embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Rams this weekend, dropping a 27-24 game after leading by 14 to fall to 1-2 on the year.

To make matters worse, head coach Kyle Shanahan dropped a bevy of injury news on Monday, with the biggest issue being defensive lineman Javon Hargrave’s triceps injury that will likely cost him the entire 2024 season.

Hargrave, the major acquisition from an offseason ago, was hoping for a major year and had really played well against the Rams, recording five pressures, while being a constant disruptor as a pass-rusher, which is what San Francisco needed up the middle.

He was especially effective in the first half, but his effort was there throughout the game until he sustained the triceps injury, which appeared to be bothering him on numerous occasions late in the fourth quarter.

With Hargrave likely out for the year, will the 49ers need to make a midseason move for a defensive lineman?

Current Roster

When you look at the current roster, San Francisco’s depth takes a big hit with Hargrave out. Not only was he their most productive defensive tackle on Saturday, but he played 104 snaps through three games, which is right on par with fellow starter Maliek Collins.

You could see the vision that the 49ers had when pairing Collins and Hargrave this offseason, as both players were productive as pass-rushers, forcing a number of pressures, while sometimes even working off each other up the middle.

But, with Hargrave out, it’ll prompt San Francisco to rely more on Jordan Elliott, their other free agent signing, while Kevin Givens could be in line for an uptick in snaps as well.

Elliott could help with the 49ers’ run defense issues. Collins hasn’t been great in the run game, getting moved around too much, which has allowed for teams to see success up the middle, especially on duo runs in this past game.

Hargrave wasn’t an ideal run defender either, which led to some issues up front in the run game, but the pass-rushing aspect was key on Sunday. With Elliott, that element isn’t there to nearly the same effect, as the defensive tackle has one pressure on 36 pass-rushing snaps to start the year.

There could be more balance, but it also allows for teams to throw more double teams at Collins, as Hargrave was already seeing a good number of doubles even with the players around him on the defensive line.

Givens has been more of a pass-rushing specialist during his time with the 49ers. He gets moved too easily off blocks in the run game, and that happened again on Sunday when he was in the game.

However, the defensive tackle spot isn’t the only area where San Francisco is lacking production. The 49ers got virtually nothing from the other edge spot in Week 3 opposite of Nick Bosa.

After recording four pressures in Week 1 (albeit with only a 10.5 percent win rate), Leonard Floyd has just one pressure over the last two games on 34 pass-rushing reps, with his win rate standing at an ugly 5.9 percent currently.

Yetur Gross-Matos, known more for his run defense, has just three pressures on the year with an 8.3 percent win rate. To make matters worse, teams seem to also be focusing their run game concepts towards that side as well, seeing success when running at that defensive end rather than at Bosa.

So, there are some clear issues with the team at the moment.

Midseason move

If the 49ers want to be as competitive as possible in 2024, they’ll need to make a midseason move once again along the defensive line, and they may even need two.

The depth at defensive end is a major issue, with the 49ers mainly just playing Bosa, Floyd, and Gross-Matos. Add in the production concerns with the spot opposite of Bosa and there’s definitely room to upgrade.

At defensive tackle, San Francisco is in wait-and-see mode as Hargrave clearly is a major blow, but the 49ers do have some bodies to fill in with Elliott stepping up and Kalia Davis scheduled to return from Injured Reserve at some point this year.

But, it’s very possible that the 49ers look for options at both spots and the positive note is that they have all of their draft capital this year, including another compensatory third-round pick from the DeMeco Ryans hire.

San Francisco is also projected a fourth-round compensatory pick for losing Chase Young, who signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the New Orleans Saints.

As for options available, many have floated the possibility of a D.J. Jones return on social media, and he would definitely be inserted as a starter if he was traded to the 49ers.

Jones is on the final year of a three-year, $30 million contract and the Denver Broncos don’t figure to make the playoffs this year, so they could sell expiring contracts at the deadline. San Francisco does have ample cap space to take on a contract like Jones’s at the midseason mark, so all options are on the table.

Overall, though, the 49ers are going to need some upgrades along the defensive line if they want to field an elite-level defense. The trade deadline may come in handy to them once again in 2024.