© Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
The 49ers’ group of second-year defensive players has endured a rough start to the 2018 season.
That list most prominently includes Solomon Thomas, Reuben Foster, Ahkello Witherspoon, and Adrian Colbert. All have either regressed or failed to improve upon their rookie seasons through six weeks.
And the 49ers coaching staff has recently turned to other options.
Witherspoon was demoted from starter to third-string in San Francisco’s 33-30 loss at Green Bay Monday night. Jimmie Ward started, and backup Greg Mabin entered the game late and struggled. Witherspoon has been wildly inconsistent in four starts this year. Opponents have regularly found success targeting his side, avoiding Richard Sherman completely.
Witherspoon took scout-team reps last week behind Ward and Mabin. Shanahan partly did this as a way of challenging Witherspoon, and the 49ers head coach said Witherspoon responded well. When Shanahan was asked Wednesday why the second-year cornerback has struggled so far this season, however, he said he is not sure.
“That’s something we’re working through with him,” Shanahan said. “I do think he had his best week of practice last week, which I had a good talk with Ahkello about that before the game. It was the most encouraged we had been with him, last week through practice. I think Ahkello will be there, exactly where he was at last year. I expect him to get better from that. It hasn’t happened right away, but he’s going in the right direction now and I expect it to continue.”
The second-year player under the most scrutiny is Thomas, who has not lived up the lofty standards attached to a No. 3 overall draft pick. Thomas has played well in run situations. But he has hardly affected opposing offenses on passing downs, yielding just three sacks in 20 career games with none this season.
Thomas’ workload had steadily increased as the season progressed, but his snaps tailspun Monday night. He played just 26 plays, fewer than Sheldon Day (45), Cassius Marsh (43), Ronald Blair (42), Earl Mitchell (34), and Arik Armstead (31) — another disappointing first-round pick. Thomas played just 36.6 percent of the defensive snaps after playing 70.6 percent and 72.1 percent in the previous two weeks. He was productive in limited playing time, however, producing one quarterback hit and two hurries.
The 49ers rotate their slew of defensive linemen situationally, but Thomas’ workload does not reflect that of a typical top-three draft pick.
“We’re challenging our guys week-in and week-out,” Shanahan said. “We don’t just stick with the status quo. We’re trying to get better each week. We’re trying to create competition. We’re trying to challenge guys. We have a certain rotation on the D-Line and Armstead got the majority of those in our pass situations.”
Shanahan added that Day deserved an opportunity to play more in Week 6 because of his production in limited reps throughout the season.
These types of personnel moves have made the clear message that the 49ers are most concerned with putting the best players on the field, regardless of draft standing. The heightened expectations of the 2018 season, even with all the injuries, has upped the urgency to win now.
When Colbert sat in Week 4 with a hamstring injury, rookie D.J. Reed filled in his place. The following week, Shanahan talked about the competition as if Reed had partially closed the gap.
“Whoever has a better week of practice (will start),” Shanahan said. “We’d always lean towards Colbert because it was his job to start with and he played at an extremely high level last year and started out this year doing that.”
The following game, Colbert badly misjudged Arizona Cardinals receiver Christian Kirk’s route. Kirk ran behind Colbert, caught the pass, and scored a 75-yard touchdown on Arizona’s first play of the game.
These are the types of mistakes that have riddled the 49ers’ season. Many of the second-year defensive players are to blame.
For now, the 49ers coaching staff has to find the balance of developing its coveted players by giving them necessary playing time, while fielding the best team giving them a chance to win.