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49ers’ QB Depth Proven in Opener: Excellent Play from the Team’s Quarterbacks, Led by a Stellar Debut from Malik Mustapha, Demonstrates San Francisco’s Strong Depth at the Position

Tennessee’s Nashville Football in the preseason is rarely interesting, but Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers had an especially boring night. During the Tennessee Titans’ 17–13 defeat, he gave one of his offensive assistants, Klay Kubiak, the opportunity to call plays.

“It was one of the more boring things for me personally,” Shanahan said after, chuckling. “That was my first game in 16 years not calling plays. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I got to throw a red flag. I was excited about that.”

After rookie safety Malik Mustapha dived from the secondary to stall Titans running back Hassan Haskins on a fourth down close to the goal line, the toss came following a successful challenge in the first half. Shanahan got a chance to participate because officials misjudged whether Haskins had crossed the line to gain. He was determined not to let a strong play go unnoticed.

“It was awesome, it was huge,” Shanahan said. “We knew (Mustapha) was a hitter, so were excited to see him hit someone else than our own guys in practice.”

For the 49ers, other young defenders were excellent. Among them was Dee Winters, a second-year linebacker, who shook Titans quarterback Will Levis close to the goal line before making a stop for loss against the run. Kalia Davis, a third-year defensive tackle, then recorded two tackles for loss in addition to a sack.

The 49ers’ main learning from their preseason opener was those encouraging performances. Here are an additional four:

The offensive line’s start without Trent Williams

Based on the way training camp has gone through the first three weeks, rookie Dominick Puni appears to have a strong chance of starting at right guard. On Saturday, the 49ers started three of their starting offensive lineman. That was Aaron Banks, the left guard, Puni, and Colton McKivitz, the right tackle.

First-string center Jake Brendel, who is monitoring his effort this preseason due to knee tendinitis, was replaced by Nick Zakelj. Additionally, journeyman Chris Hubbard started in place of standout left tackle Trent Williams because Jaylon Moore did not dress.

Although receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s ongoing contract dispute has overshadowed Williams’ absence, it is still clearly something to keep an eye on. The 49ers are still optimistic that they can work out a new deal that will put an end to Williams’ holdout.

“I feel good about that,” Shanahan said. “I feel optimistic about it, but nothing’s changed there.”

Other than the increasing expense to Williams, nothing has changed.Due to his absence from the first 13 days of training camp, he had already been fined $650,000 (the 49ers are not allowed to waive the charge of $50,000 per day). Because he missed the opening preseason game, he was fined an additional $1.11 million (as per the CBA, missing a preseason game has a mandatory fine of one game check).

Yes, the 49ers and Williams can make up for this lost money in the new contract they’re working on. But the team would still like Williams back in the building sooner rather than later. He’s one of the best players in football.

Nevertheless, in its brief appearance against the Titans, who were starting with most of their starters on Saturday, the 49ers’ first-team lineup fared fairly well. The first snap of the game saw Banks give way in protection, but the defense stayed strong for the remainder of the first touchdown drive, which included a third-and-9 straight-drop scenario in which quarterback Brandon Allen connected with receiver Ronnie Bell to move the chains.

The front’s work was also solid in the run game, as running back Jordan Mason — who grew up about 30 minutes north of Nashville and had about 40 friends and family members in attendance — finished off a string of impressive runs with a rumble into the end zone.

Puni, who the 49ers were charged with pulling from right guard, was a crucial blocker on the play. And once the rookie completed his task, he pursued Mason and assisted in getting him over the goal line.

“Oh, I felt (Puni), 100 percent,” Mason said. “Because I was short until he came and pushed me.”

Shanahan happy with QB play

Starting for the 49ers, Allen completed 7 of 13 passes for 98 yards, but two excellent deep passes from him were intercepted by receivers Tay Martin and Bell. With the exception of one mishandled screen pass, Allen was mostly accurate, especially while making the intermediate throws that form the foundation of this offense.

After handling the second half, Joshua Dobbs produced an incredible score on the run. He eluded a tackle attempt by Titans outside linebacker Thomas Rush and dove under defensive back Eric Garror’s contact to cross the goal line. Downfield, Dobbs was equally accurate, finishing 14 of 20 throws for 146 yards.

Shanahan remarked, “We had several penalties that put us in some tough positions, but Allen overcame a few with some tremendous throws on third down.” Josh entered the game, in my opinion, and gave us a chance to win. Both of them, in my opinion, made some plays, but he missed some really crucial passes.

Next week when the 49ers play the New Orleans Saints, both starter Brock Purdy and fourth-stringer Tanner Mordecai should see at least some action. By the way, Shanahan said that he will return to call plays during that game. On the opposing side, Klay’s brother and current offensive coordinator for the Saints, Klint Kubiak, a former 49ers employee, will call plays.

How the 49ers handled the new kickoff rule

Last season, the 49ers were ranked No. 17 in kick return EPA and No. 30 in anticipated points added (EPA) on kick coverage. Over the past few seasons, they have generally struggled in both areas of the game.

So, it seems sense to wonder if the NFL’s significantly altered kickoff regulations will enable the 49ers to eventually enhance those facets of their play. Given the abundance of playmakers on the offensive end, it makes sense that the 49ers would gain from a special teams configuration more like to scrimmage play.

Because so many important players were out of the starting lineup for Saturday’s game, it was not a complete opportunity to assess the 49ers, but it was a first look at them on kickoff and kick return.

Bell was the deep man on the first return, along with fellow receiver Trent Taylor. Taylor was lead blocker for Bell and only scored a little amount of points. In that lead-blocking role, it seems like the 49ers would prefer a larger player than Bell, who weighs 190 pounds. Kyle Juszczyk, the fullback, might fill in there given how they have set up in practice. And when it matters most, maybe a celebrity like Deebo Samuel Sr. will be the player back.

The 49ers’ debut in coverage was not very promising. Kearis Jackson, a returner with the Titans, returned Jake Moody’s initial kickback 63 yards. He also deflected a crucial tackle attempt by Moody himself, following Tennessee’s successful blocking of many other 49ers.

That may have been an indication that kickers will be given plenty of opportunities to be covered under the new regulations. Teams will need to make appropriate plans, and since the first preseason game is finished, a significant portion of that planning has already taken place.

“It’s big-time curiosity,” Shanahan said about the new play. “I kind of just watched it out there and tried to figure out what the hell I’m looking at. Now, I’m just excited to collect a bunch of tape. Everyone’s done it now, so we can collect a bunch of clips and start studying it.”

The 49ers have a busy week ahead

After the game, the 49ers left for the Bay Area. After taking Sunday off, players will resume training camp drills on Monday and Tuesday. The club will have joint practices with the Saints in Irvine, California, on Thursday and Friday following a travel day on Wednesday.

Ambry Thomas, a cornerback with the 49ers, suffered a broken forearm on Saturday. Shanahan hopes the team does not hear any more terrible injury news on Sunday because he will be out indefinitely.

“Last week, we had 23 guys out of practice last time we practiced,” Shanahan said. “So hopefully we can get more of those guys back so we can have a decent scrimmage (against New Orleans).”

The 49ers’ front line will have its first opportunity to perform against a non-conference opponent thanks to those practices and the Saints game at Levi’s Stadium. The young players were the focus of this preseason game against the Titans, and Shanahan, who intended to examine film on the way home, was heartened by early returns.

“I thought they showed up,” he said. “When you run and hit, that flashes on the sideline. You saw that with Dee, you saw that with Mustapha.”

(Photo of Brandon Allen: Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA Today)

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