The San Francisco 49ers are hoping for a better effort than the 6-11 campaign a year ago, and the foundation is a return to their roots. The 49ers will have a new defensive coordinator for the third straight season, but it’s a familiar face in Robert Saleh. San Francisco also spent most of the offseason bolstering their pass rush, using a first-round pick on Mykel Williams and adding edge rusher Bryce Huff via trade.
These moves should help a defense that ranked 23rd in sacks (37) and 24th in pressure rate (20.5%) last season, but it also puts some of the incumbents on notice. That includes one pass rusher who may be playing for a job in the final preseason game and could wind up on the wrong side of the blade after Tuesday’s deadline.
49ers EDGE Robert Beal Jr. Will Be Handing in His Playbook Nex Teek
One of the areas the 49ers will have to sort out during roster cuts is the defensive line. The 49ers currently have 18 defensive linemen on the 40-man roster, although some sat out Saturday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders due to injury. Still, there isn’t room to bring everyone on the plane for the Sept. 7 opener against the Seattle Seahawks, and that means bad things for Robert Beal Jr.
Beal was a fifth-round pick by the 49ers in the 2023 draft and had a strong pedigree coming out of Georgia. A two-time national champion, Beal racked up 9.5 total sacks in his two years as a starter and figured to be a key rotational piece along the 49ers' defensive line. But as the 49ers' pass-rushing stats from last season proved, that didn’t happen.
The rookie season didn’t go well for Beal as he suffered a hamstring injury shortly after being drafted. While he was able to appear in five games, he never made an impact before appearing in 14 games last season with 17 total tackles and no sacks.
With little production, the 49ers pivoted and bolstered their defensive line this offseason. While Beal may have benefited from a change at defensive coordinator, that possibility went out the window when he suffered a hamstring injury during training camp.
As the roster deadline approaches, Beal will be running home to grab his playbook and potentially be looking for a new team by this time next week.