The San Francisco 49ers are set to take on the Washington Commanders in Week 17, looking to secure a win and get one step closer to clinching the NFC’s No. 1 seed. However, they’ll be doing so without certain key players, as defensive tackle Arik Armstead, safety Ji’Ayir Brown, and receiver Jauan Jennings have all been ruled out ahead of Sunday’s contest. Armstead and Jennings both missed San Francisco’s Week 16 game against the Ravens, but Brown played every defensive snap, and his presence will be missed against the Commanders.
The 49ers are already down one starting safety, as Talanoa Hufanga sustained a torn ACL earlier in the season, which means they’ll be delving into the backend of their depth, as veteran safety Logan Ryan is expected to earn the start. Ryan, who was signed just three weeks ago, will be thrust into the limelight, as the 49ers will roll out a tandem of him and fellow veteran Tashaun Gipson to solidify the backend of their secondary.What provided head coach Kyle Shanahan the confidence to trust Ryan so quickly?
“Just us playing against him,” Shanahan said about Ryan. “He always seemed like such an aware, smart player and a guy that had a lot of experience playing a lot of different defenses. We brought him in here when we had a few injuries. He looked just since he’s been here like what we hoped he was. Now that we’ve had those injuries, he is in that role. He’s looked exactly like we hoped he’d be. He’s very comfortable and knows what he’s doing and the game’s not too big for him.”
Ryan follows the trend of a veteran backup, rather than the role being filled by a younger player, which Shanahan believes can be a huge element to their success.
“I think it’s huge,” Shanahan said about having veterans as depth pieces. “It’s not necessarily that’s the overall philosophy. Our just overall philosophy is in that given day, in that given week, in that given season, what gives you the best chance to succeed? It might be the younger guy. It might be the older guy. I think it’s very wrong when you take an absolute philosophy to anything. Like, ‘hey, you’ve always got to give the younger guy the first shots because he needs that experience and that’s how you develop him.’ That’s great, but not at the expense of the other 52 guys on the team and the organization and losing games.”
A part of why it may be tougher to trust younger players early? There’s a developmental process that goes alongside early playing time, and the 49ers can’t afford to lose games at the expense of providing such opportunities always.
“The first decision always is what helps you win the most or gives you the best chance to win. In a league that it’s very hard to develop guys because when you do anything at a professional level, it’s hard to do it at extremely high level when you’re not working on it year-round.”
“So, those guys who really can play in the NFL are usually guys that have experienced the NFL. They know how to handle those situations,” Shanahan said Friday. “They were fortunate enough to get those so they could go through that and get better. I hate the feeling of there’s one guy left and you believe in that guy a lot, but he’s not quite ready. But there’s no third string and that guy’s got to go. Now he goes in and he plays three games before he is ready and the team gets frustrated with him because he makes some mistakes, he’s not ready. The guy loses his confidence. Sometimes that can kill a guy, but you have no other option.”
Now, every team doesn’t have the option of adding veteran depth that can still provide quality reps, but with the new practice squad rules that allow for six veterans, it has become easier to navigate.
You can’t always have the luxury of bringing vets in because if you always do that, then you never have youth coming up,” Shanahan acknowledged. “But, that’s what’s so cool about the 16 practice squad guys, the six vets we’re allowed. That’s what has allowed us, to me, do some things like that over the last few years that used to be real hard to do.”
