49ers roster moves ahead of Seahawks game carry underrated benefit that will be huge for their playoff push
The San Francisco 49ers made a series of roster moves on Saturday ahead of their Week 11 clash with the Seattle Seahawks. San Francisco will have a new punter for potentially the rest of the season after promoting Pat O'Donnell from the practice squad in place of Mitch Wishnowsky, who was placed on injured reserve […]
The San Francisco 49ers made a series of roster moves on Saturday ahead of their Week 11 clash with the Seattle Seahawks.
San Francisco will have a new punter for potentially the rest of the season after promoting Pat O'Donnell from the practice squad in place of Mitch Wishnowsky, who was placed on injured reserve with a back issue.
Safety Tashuan Gipson and cornerback Nick McCloud have been elevated from the practice squad for the game, with corner Darrell Luter Jr. also headed to IR.
But it is the return of defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, taking Luter's place on the roster, which is likely to the move most significant for the 49ers in Week 11 and down the stretch.
Gross-Matos has dealt with a knee injury since suffering it in the preseason finale with the Las Vegas Raiders. The former Carolina Panther, whom the 49ers signed to a two-year, $18 million deal this offseason, was expected to play a substantial part in San Francisco's defensive line rotation. Instead, he has featured in just three games and had been on injured reserve since the Week 4 win over the New England Patriots.
However, with the 49ers activating him back to the 53, Gross-Matos gives San Francisco important extra depth on the D-Line in the form of a player who has all the athletic gifts the Niners look for at the position and can rush the passer from the edge and the interior.
Beyond that, though, Gross-Matos also provides the 49ers with a much-needed edge setting presence against the run.
The Niners were largely improved against the run in last week's win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with the interior of the defensive line holding up well, yet the edges struggled in that regard. Nick Bosa was hindered by a hip pointer, while Leonard Floyd was far too easily blocked by tight end Cade Otton on a Bucky Irving touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Sam Okuayinonu has played a dual role in taking snaps on the edge and the interior, but the 49ers would clearly benefit from having another defensive end who can take the burden off Bosa and Floyd.
Gross-Matos can do just that. The former second-round pick has already shown some promise as a run defender this season and, in 2023, he ranked 40th among 200 front seven defenders with at least 10 tackles in points saved per play against the run, per Sports Info Solutions.
In other words, Gross-Matos is somebody the 49ers can rely on to provide an impact against both the run and the pass as a true end on base downs and a player who has the flexibility to kick inside on true pass rush downs and make an impact.
At a point in the season where the Niners need their starters to be as fresh as possible as they plot a surge down the stretch, the infusion of Gross-Matos into the trenches as somebody who can eat up a high number of snaps could not be better timed.
San Francisco hasn't gone as much pass rush production as they would like this season, but it is Gross-Matos' underrated play against the run that could have the biggest influence on the Niners' hopes of another deep postseason run.
NFL hits Fred Warner and Kyle Juszczyk with bad news ahead of 49ers’ crucial Week 11 clash with Seahawks
They can’t afford the same errors on Sunday.
