49ers @ Chargers
Final Score: 49ers 15, Chargers 10
Writer: Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)
The San Francisco 49ers traveled to Southern California to play the Los Angeles Chargers. This game was missing all the studs on the Chargers side but gave us another opportunity to see Trey Lance play with his starting receivers. George Kittle, Trey Sermon, and Raheem Mostert missed the game for the 49ers. This game showcased Trey Lance as a whole, his weaknesses with his accuracy, his zip on the ball, and Lance’s lack of scrambling. On the flip side, we saw Lance throw another dime to Trent Sherfield and start to feel comfortable throwing the ball at times. The overall result was the 49ers 15, the Chargers 10.
San Francisco 49ers
Quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo: 3/6, 15 yards, INT | 1 carry, 10 yards
Trey Lance: 8/14, 102 yards, 2 TD, INT | 1 carry, 8 yards
Nate Sudfeld: 3/5, 24 yards
Trey Lance MISSILE 🚀
pic.twitter.com/xNdiGK5uzL— PFF (@PFF) August 23, 2021
Jimmy Garoppolo started off this game for the 49ers with a nine-yard pass and catch to Kyle Juszczyk. Garoppolo missed a couple of throws to Brandon Aiyuk, one overthrown and the other resulting in a holding call on the defense. Jimmy G looked good making a quick third-down pass of four yards to Charlie Woerner to get a new set of downs. Garoppolo also had a good scramble for 10 yards, which was impressive considering he battled lower body injuries all of last season. Garoppolo, unfortunately, had a premature end to the drive, slightly overthrowing Aiyuk again this time leading to a tipped ball for the interception.
Trey Lance came in to play with the starters on the 2nd drive and didn’t really get it going for the first few drives. Lance was missing often, either high or behind the receiver. His lone interception on the night came on a high heat-seeking missile of a pass to Mohamed Sanu Sr, which bounced off his hands and into the grasp of Asante Samuel Jr. On the last drive of the half, Lance pulled together a drive that showcased his talents, connecting on a couple passes with Trent Sherfield, including a game-breaking 41-yard catch and run. He then finished it off with a five-yard TD to Sanu. The 49ers went for the two-point conversion and initially converted on a Lance scramble, but got the conversion called back on a penalty. Nonetheless, it’s nice to see him using his mobility when it’s needed.
The second half gave us some more ups and downs for Lance. On his first drive, he took a sack when he had Richie James open to his left. Something for him to work on no doubt is his awareness of check-downs and lanes to take off scrambling. Lance did have another highlight drive where he took the 49ers downfield with his legs and arm. Starting it out with an eight-yard scramble, and following it up with an eight-yard out to Travis Benjamin, then an 11 yarder to Richie James. All this set up a 16 yard TD to Benjamin to cap off Lance’s second preseason game. Still, there are plenty of questions for the 3rd overall pick but he shows great potential.
Running Back
Wayne Gallman: 15 carries, 72 yards
Jamycal Hasty: 19 carries, 58 yards | 3 targets 3 reception, 21 yards
The 49ers once again have proven how good their running back depth chart is. Jamycal Hasty was the starter in this game. Hasty came out and showed he’s been getting stronger during the offseason, taking the ball up the middle more instead of using his shiftiness. While consistently getting about 3-5 yards was Hasty’s bread and butter all game, one play that stood out was a seven-yard run to the outside where he absolutely laid into a defender with a nice stiff arm. Hasty would be a practice squad guy this year, but I fully expect him to get signed elsewhere, He’s too good of a talent to not make a roster, he’s just mixed in with a loaded backfield.
This brings us to his stablemate in this game, Wayne Gallman Jr. Gallman was the big play guy this evening, putting together runs of 15, 11, and 10 yards. His vision was just excellent tonight. He took what the offensive line gave him and used his speed at the 2nd level to get yards. It’s good to see him look like a man among boys out there, just validating that he could be a starter at the NFL level and last year wasn’t a fluke. Gallman should be the RB3 this year, and with the luck that the 49ers have had at that position, he may get a lot of work this upcoming season.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Trent Sherfield: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 50 yards
Travis Benjamin: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 24 yards, TD
Richie James: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
Kyle Juszczyk: 1 target, 1 reception, 9 yards
Deebo Samuel: 2 targets, 1 reception, 9 yards
Mohamed Sanu Sr: 2 targets, 1 reception, 5 yards, TD
Charlie Woerner: 2 targets, 1 reception, 4 yards
Brandon Aiyuk: 3 targets, 1 reception, 3 yards
Trey Lance to Trent Sherfield. 🎯 #49ers pic.twitter.com/GYYwYOEMFc
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) August 23, 2021
This game was full of question marks and exclamation marks for the 49ers. Let’s start off with Trent Sherfield, who is looking like a deep threat option that this team badly needs. In his only effective drive, he caught a nine-yard dig and stretched the field with a 41-yard catch. Sherfield looks like a favorite with Lance and that alone might snag him a roster spot.
Richie James, that guy he’s competing, with has not looked good in his two preseason games. Tonight he caught an out-route that he ran for 11 yards, but that was pretty much it. James is someone the 49ers were hoping would take a step forward this year, but it looks like he has regressed more than he has progressed.
Brandon Aiyuk got some action with the rookie QB and they did not look in sync. Aiyuk caught one of three targets, and while the two uncaught balls were a little overthrown we should expect Aiyuk to catch any pass that touches his fingertips. Aiyuk needs to get used to his new QB’s missile launcher of an arm because he’s going to be getting a lot of targets this year.
Mohamed Sanu looked good catching a five-yard TD, hopefully, we get a lot of him in the red zone this year. Travis Benjamin is battling for a roster spot and helped his case today by hauling in a nice 15 yard TD from Lance. Overall, there’s still a lot of work that Lance needs with his receivers, but once it clicks this offense has serious nuclear potential.
Los Angeles Chargers
Quarterback
Easton Stick: 10/14, 85 yards, TD | 3 carries, 15 yards
Chase Daniel: 13/20, 60 yards, INT | 1 carry, 5 yards
Easton Stick playing like the best QB in this game ⚡️
pic.twitter.com/Di8Jf1fC2c— PFF (@PFF) August 23, 2021
Easton Stick started the game for the Chargers and looked good on his first drive, making some good passes to Tre McKitty and Joshua Kelley for 7 yards each. He also showed his mobility with a running-back esque 11-yard scramble. For most of the game after this drive, Stick was ineffective. On the lone TD drive for the Chargers, Stick was given a break by the defense, who got called for holding and pass interference. This led to a scrambling Stick finding Josh Palmer in the back of the endzone for a three-yard TD. Stick threw a dime on his last drive in the form of a 39-yard deep ball to Jalen Guyton, which helped get the Chargers a field goal. Chase Daniel came in the 2nd half and was absolutely useless. His biggest play of the game was getting sacked for an 18-yard loss.
Running Back
Joshua Kelley: 7 carries, 9 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards
Darius Bradwell: 2 carries, 11 yards | 5 targets, 4 receptions, 9 yards
Larry Rountree III: 8 carries, 12 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards
Reports of Joshua Kelley improved pass blocking appear to be overstated.
Larry Rountree 📈#NFL #NFLTwitter #FantasyFootball pic.twitter.com/6AcDIMpQUL— CHUBZBURG🍔R FANTASY SPORTS (@CHUBZBURGER) August 23, 2021
Joshua Kelley had some good runs up the middle early on and caught a couple of passes for 12 yards. As the game wore on, Kelley got blown up more at the line of scrimmage and started getting multiple two-yard losses. It should be the opposite, Kelley should’ve got better as the backups came in, but this is just the story of Kelley’s career so far. Larry Rountree III was up next and he caught an eight-yard dump-off pass from Stick. This was pretty much it for Rountree, as he and Kelley both got some yards early and then were blown up late. If there is a takeaway from this game, it’s that Austin Ekeler has no competition at RB.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Stephen Anderson: 3 targets, 1 reception, 7 yards
Tyron Johnson: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 11 yards
Jalen Guyton: 1 target, 1 reception, 39 yards
Michael Brandy: 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards
Tre McKitty: 1 target, 1 reception, 7 yards
Josh Palmer: 1 target, 1 reception, 3 yards, TD
John Hurst: 2 targets, 1 reception, 14 yards
KJ Hill Jr: 1 carry, 1 yard | 7 targets, 4 receptions, 18 yards
Nice job by Joshua Palmer to settle and make himself available for the scrambling QB. pic.twitter.com/YEAoLNFeZw
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) August 23, 2021
Not much to dissect here. Josh Palmer stayed in long enough to get a three-yard TD, then came out to let other players get a run. He’s obviously got potential to be the slot guy this year and should see minimal preseason time next week as well. The best play this unit had all game was a 39-yard catch by Jalen Guyton. It was a dime of a throw and Guyton didn’t waste it. He also wasn’t targeted again, so that was discouraging. Overall, I think they have their receiver room figured out and any time you have to deal with Chase Daniel as your QB, you already know there’s going to be no slinging of the rock.
— Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)
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Great read thank you!