Why should 49ers fans watch the rest of the team’s season? For the same reason they watch preseason – to see if the team’s players can develop.
The first one on the list is cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. The third-round pick looked like he might not even make it out of training camp. He seemed in a deep funk, and real questions about his ability to tackle at the NFL level arose.
Fast-forward to last week and Witherspoon rebounded from yielding a 52-yard pass on the opening offensive play to then shutting off speedster John Brown from making a similar catch later in the game. While he once looked like he was shying away from contact, now Witherspoon comes up and lays hits on big running backs, which he did on Adrian Peterson for no gain in the second quarter.
The 49ers will also see what they have in Adrian Colbert, a rangy, hard-hitting defensive back with good instincts the team took in the seventh round out of Tulsa.
Possible great stories are also emerging like the inspired play of journey-man defensive lineman Leger Douzable. Playing for his sixth team in eight years, Douzable made 12 tackles and two sacks over the last two games as one of the most productive players on the defense. The 49ers released him in training camp, an experience he’s encounter countless times over his career.
Defensive back Leon Hall has already been cut and then re-signed by the 49ers once this season. Only with the team for two weeks, Hall held Cardinals great Larry Fitzgerald to six catches for 70 yards last week, mainly matching Fitzgerald as the 49ers’ newest slot cornerback. Not many people on earth can do that.
And while everyone raved about rookie linebacker Reuben Foster’s breakout game with 14 tackles last week, his fellow linebacker, Brock Coyle, played just as well. Supplanting Ray-Ray Armstrong as a starter, Coyle made eight tackles, including one for a loss. He forced Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton into an incompletion and had a tackle for a loss.
Seen mainly as a special teams player during his time in Seattle, if Coyle maintains that type of production, the 49ers won’t have to make inside linebacker as much of a priority this off-season.
The 49ers are also getting some playing time out of Dexter McCoil a huge safety from Tulsa, who also played with the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena League and the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. When McCoil emerges from the sidelines, you think he’s a defensive lineman or a linebacker. He appears much bigger than his 6-foot, 4-inch, 220-pound listing.
McCoil made one tackle last week after being claimed off waivers when the Chargers released him on Oct. 7. Because of the rampant injuries at safety, McCoil, a former CFL Most Outstanding Rookie, will get more playing time this Sunday against the Giants.
These are the new Niners. And they are here for an extended try out to see if they can be a part of this rebuilding team next season.