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After falling 19-16 in the preseason opener, the San Francisco 49ers will look to get back on track in their Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
It was a weird game for both the Chiefs and Niners in Week 1, as neither starting quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Jimmy Garopollo, were able to lead touchdown drives, and the game was relatively low scoring compared to how high the expectations are on each of these teams in 2021.
Both of San Fran's promising young rookies, Trey Lance and Trey Sermon, had their fair share of struggles. Sermon carried the pigskin 9 times for 26 yards, averaging only 2.6 yards per carry, while JaMycal Hasty fared much better, gaining 63 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Lance was only able to complete 5 out of his 14 pass attempts, although he did connect with Trent Sherfield on a beautiful 80-yard TD bomb.
Heading into Week 2, will we see steps forward from these uber-talented Treys? And will we see a true WR3 step up to work behind Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel? Here are 4 bold predictions for what's about to go down on Sunday:
4. JaMycal Hasty makes strong case for RB3 spot
Hasty flashed his upside in 2020, as he filled in admirably for a few weeks early on in the season amidst the mass of injuries the 49ers experienced. Chiefly, the 73 scrimmage yards he gained on 10 touches in Week 6 against the Seattle Seahawks showed his change-of-pace ability.
After averaging 6.3 yards per carry on a team-leading 10 carries in preseason Week 1, he'll continue to impress even against the Chargers' strong front 7, as Hasty possesses a unique combination of power and the agility to take advantage of the 49ers strong zone run scheme. He won't pass Sermon or Raheem Mostert on the depth chart, but if anything were to happen to either of those two, Hasty c0uld find himself getting a lot of touches in front of Wayne Gallman.
3. Fred Warner wrecks the Chargers backfield
Warner has been one of the best linebackers in football over the last two seasons, and it appears he's only improved. Though he'll likely only see one or two series on the field come Sunday, he showed out in practice against the Chargers first team already in practice on Saturday, delivering the boom to Austin Ekeler and Justin Herbert, as well as forcing a fumble.
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Warner will make a splash play or two on Sunday, reminding all of us that, at minimum, he's the 1B to Nick Bosa's 1A as the start on the Niners defense.
2. Trey Sermon rips off a big one
Sermon is simply too good to continue to be bottled up. In his first preseason game, it was evident that Sermon was still getting used to the speed of the game in the NFL, and not making quite as decisive of cuts and slashes to holes as we're used to seeing from him at Ohio State.
However, with a game under his belt, he should be more confident, and more used to his O-line play as he's been able to get reps with the first-team offense in practice. Expect him to rip out a big touchdown run late in the second half.
1. Trey Lance balls out
Though Lance was inefficient with his 35.7% completion rate, he still averaged a healthy 9.1 yards per attempt, thanks in large part to the 80-yard bomb he threw. We expect him to make big plays like that, as he's got arguably the most talented arm in this year's draft class.
However, the 49ers certainly have bigger hopes for his ability to lead drives and consistently put the offense in position to succeed. Lance is capable of that, and, instead of looking for the big splash plays the whole time, he should be able to settle in and make the right play more often now that he's got a game under his belt.
