Injury attrition has hurt the San Francisco 49ers in many areas, and one particular position which has drawn some focus is the defensive line.
The Niners lost defensive end Ronald Blair to a season-ending ACL tear earlier this season. Then before the 49ers' Week 15 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the team was forced to place standout nose tackle D.J. Jones on injured reserve, too, his season coming to an end because of an ankle injury. EDGE Dee Ford has been in and out of the lineup with various ailments, too, including his recent hamstring injury.
As a result, the 49ers up-front defenders have seen a notable increase in the number of snaps they've been required to take in a game-to-game basis. It's something the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's Grant Cohn culminated before Week 15:
Arik Armstead's snap counts by week:
— Indiana Cohn (@grantcohn) December 12, 2019
46, 32, 41, 34, 40, 40, 37, 36, 68, 48, 49, 61, 63.
DeForest Buckner's snap counts by week:
— Indiana Cohn (@grantcohn) December 12, 2019
52, 33, 47, 40, 48, 43, 44, 44, 69, 51, 48, 54, 64.
Nick Bosa's snap counts by week:
— Indiana Cohn (@grantcohn) December 12, 2019
38, 30, 39, 37, 43, 41, 41, 41, 60, 56, 53, 55, 68.
One could question whether or not the thinned-out depth is affecting San Francisco. After all, the 49ers managed just two sacks against a mostly immobile Falcons quarterback, Matt Ryan, hitting him just six times in the 29-22 lackluster, uninspiring loss.
When asked if the strains on the depth chart, and subsequent increase in snap counts was affecting the Niners D-line, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner didn't seem to think so.
"Not really," Buckner responded when asked if the high number was having an effect. "I've taken a lot more snap counts before in the previous years, and the coaches look at it closely throughout the game. Sometimes you lose track, who has more snap counts and all that. But if you're not fresh, you've got to sub yourself out."
Buckner's linemate, rookie EDGE Nick Bosa, recently crested the highest number of in-season snaps he ever had in college at Ohio State. And while he was one of the two players to sack Ryan in Week 15, the other being defensive tackle Sheldon Day, Bosa hadn't recorded a sack since Week 12 against the Green Bay Packers. Before that, Bosa hadn't managed a sack since Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers.
Granted, there are more important numbers than mere quarterback takedowns. But given the final result of Sunday's contest versus Atlanta, one can wonder if the outcome would have been vastly different if San Francisco's pass rush was more effective.