San Francisco 49ers: Takeaways after the first two preseason games

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HOUSTON, TX – AUGUST 18: Joe Williams #32 of the San Francisco 49ers is tackled by Dylan Cole #51 of the Houston Texans and Brandon Dunn #92 during a preseason game at NRG Stadium on August 18, 2018, in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

Offensive Line/Running Game

Without a doubt, the biggest concern offensively has been the production from the run game. The 49ers have rushed for 182 yards in their first two preseason games.

Granted, they have been without their top two running backs in Jerick McKinnon and Matt Breida, but the line has gotten little to no push off the ball.

Joe Williams took over the workload in week one and averaged 2.5 yards per carry on 11 rushes. Jeremy McNichols got the largest workload on Saturday with ten carries, yet also averaged 2.8 YPC.

San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

After two preseason games, the combination of Raheem Mostert (eight-57 yards, 7.1 YPC), Joe Williams (19-45 yards, 2.4 YPC), Jeremy McNichols (13-43 yards, 3.3 YPC), and Jeff Wilson (five- 20 yards, 4.0 YPC)) have combined for 165 rushing yards on 45 carries.

With the third running back being one of the most competitive position battles coming into the preseason, you would have expected some *ahem* Joe Williams, to emerge from the pack and win the roster spot.

The injuries to McKinnon and Breida and now production led to Shanahan bringing in familiar face Alfred Morris. Don’t be surprised if Morris starts week three against the Colts and even beats out the competition for the third running back.

Morris has had career years under Shanahan’s offense and provides reliability for a team that is relying heavily on two smaller backs to split the workload.

The reason why the offensive line is also categorized with the running backs is that their problems are correlated together, and the line needs time to play together.

Everyone often makes a big deal about it taking a full season for a quarterback to fully understand the complexity of Shanahan’s offense. However, the reality is, the same could be said about offensive lines.

Shanahan’s offense includes a lot of zone-run blocking, man-zone reads, and several formations. It is great that the offensive line has not allowed a sack yet in two games, but that might have a lot to do with Garoppolo’s quick release.

The fact that Joe Staley is the returning starter on the line this season shows that there are going to be some growing pains. As Brian Baldinger of NFL Network points out, the line has a lot of potential, but they need to get all their assignments squared away.