By Scooter_McG
The season hasn't started yet and already the injury news is starting to break. It has just been reported that Jeff Wilson Jr, who signed a $2.05M fully guaranteed contract this offseason, recently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and will miss 4-6 months as he recovers. As a result he is expected to miss the start of the season (and may miss considerably more than that).
Wilson is coming off his best season in the NFL. In 2020 he led the team with 600 rushing yards at an average of 4.8 yards per carry and 7 TDs. He also added 13 receptions for 133 yards and a further 3 TDs.
It is unclear when Wilson was injured or how at this stage, and whether the team knew of the injury before re-signing him or before drafting two RBs. But it would seem unlikely the team would pay $2.05M fully guaranteed for a RB they knew would miss a large portion of the season, and the decision to sign Gallman just before the draft and then select two RBs suggests the 49ers were aware of the injury ahead of the draft.
Wilson's injury is a blow for the 49ers as he was expected to reprise his role as one of the primary RBs on the roster in 2021. However, the additions of Gallman, Sermon and Mitchell will go a long way to filling the gap left by his absence, and may make Wilson expendable even when he is fully recovered.
***Update: John Lynch has said Wilson injured his knee at the team facility last week... getting up from a chair. The team's freak injury luck is already in mid-season form.
Its a pity that Jeff Wilson Jr won't be available to start the season. Always plays hard and comes up clutch when the team needs him.
ReplyDeleteNow the Gallman signing and 2 Draft picks on RB makes sense.
Wilson out, Gallman back in. Hasty to the practice squad.
ReplyDeleteThe only positive things here is that the injury happened at a position of strength and that it happened early enough for the Niners to (1) stock up / retain RBs optimally, and (2) a good chance for Wilson to be back by mid-October.
ReplyDeleteJack Hammer article today about Julio Jones. A snippet:
ReplyDelete"The addition of Jones could help the 49ers fill out two of the biggest needs in their passing game: a downfield threat opposite Brandon Aiyuk, and the third wide receiver. With Jones, the 49ers could move Deebo Samuel to the third-wide-receiver role."
https://www.si.com/nfl/49ers/news/will-the-san-francisco-49ers-trade-for-julio-jones
Even at 32, adding Jones gives the team two legitimate and elite receivers that teams need to account for in Jones and Kittle. The only thing that prevented Jones from still being one of the best WRs in the NFL last year was his injuries - not a decline in skills.
DeleteAiyuk and Deebo would likely see a lot of single coverage, while Jones and Kittle would probably get their share of soft coverage too as it is hard to take away two elite guys. With an improved (hopefully) OL, it should make the passing game very difficult to defend.
If the plan is to go all in for the next few years, adding Jones makes a lot of sense.
Deebo would likely become the primary slot WR, and he and Aiyuk would probably share snaps. At this stage in their careers that is fine, and both would still get plenty of snaps and plenty of balls thrown their way to take advantage of single coverage.
With that said, I probably wouldn't give up significant resources in a trade for Jones. Maybe a 2nd and a mid-level player, potentially with a day 3 pick thrown in. Multiple day 2 picks would probably be too much for me, or adding a good starter.
The other concern would be how they fit him within the cap and retain sufficient cap space for in season moves. Unfortunately, at this point, their avenues for freeing up space are fairly limited. JG is the obvious route, but other than that it is really Jimmie Ward or Armstead, neither of which I would be too keen on doing.
Man oh man, if the Niners can make a deal for Julio Jones, the 49ERS HYPE METER would be off the scale heading into the season. It's already running HOT!
DeleteThat's really too bad about Wilson. Unbelievable that he did it getting out of a chair. Well, it would be unbelievable if it wasn't so typical for this team over the last decade. The law of averages has to swing in the Niners favor at some point .... doesn't it? Anyways, at least he's able to start the season on the PUP, and won't count against the final roster until he's activated after game six, if they need him. That would potentially make him available for the final 11 regular season games, so that's substantial.
Thanks, Scooter, and for the article too. If they were able to land him, the offensive attack would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteHere's an interview with Jimmy G on 95.7FM from earlier today:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.audacy.com/957thegame/sports/san-francisco-49-ers/jimmy-garoppolo-julio-jones-is-a-hell-of-a-receiver-man
It's too early, but early reports from camp indicate that Lance is in control in the huddle and appears better than the average rookie there. They also indicate he has some accuracy issues. This is all consistent with what we knew about him predraft.
ReplyDeleteIf this stays true then Lance should likely focus on correcting his delivery this year, as it is unlikely he can be depended on as a starter so early.
This would make keeping Jimmy on the team imperative if they hope to remain competitive this year and possibly next. (This would be similar to the how Aaron was developed in GB, refining his delivery until he was ready).
Sadly, it also means SF will not get the benefit of his rookie contract until his 3rd season.