Kalia Davis has had rotten luck in his NFL journey to this point.
The former UCF defensive tackle entered the league on the back of an ACL injury in his final college season and did not play as a sixth-round rookie in 2022. In fact, his 49er debut did not come until the Week 13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles last season, a game in which he had a fourth-quarter sack of Jalen Hurts.
After promising signs in that game and in two subsequent appearances, Davis missed the rest of the season with another setback, this time in the form of an ankle injury .
On his return to action in Saturday's preseason opener, Davis was impressive, consistently breaking into the backfield and looking explosive, registering two defensive stops and a sack.
But more frustration came in the aftermath of the game for Davis, with Kyle Shanahan revealing on Monday that he had suffered a knee injury that will require surgery.
"He’s going to get surgery on Thursday. He’ll be some, he’ll be back sometime halfway through the year," said Shanahan.
"I thought it was one of his best games. It was really unfortunate. He played awesome throughout the whole game. That’s why he, and us, were real surprised that he had such a tough injury. Found out after the game, yesterday morning, and it’s a setback. But he’s had such a good camp, such a good game. He’s in a good spot to bounce back.”
While Shanahan did not confirm whether Davis would be placed on injured reserve with a designation to return, he added: "We plan on Kalia being around here and we plan on him coming back and helping us this year."
In the meantime, though, Davis' absence magnifies a lack of depth on the interior defensive line for the 49ers. Starters Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins were both rested for the preseason opener and, though Davis excelled, the 49ers' struggled to stop the run against the Titans.
The 49ers hope that free agent addition Jordan Elliott will help significantly in that regard. Elliott is set to be a key part of the rotation and did not feature versus Tennessee.
However, beyond the clear top three on the defensive interior, the 49ers' options are now slim. Kevin Givens should make the roster, but Davis' injury leaves a clear hole on the depth chart that T.Y. McGill, Evan Anderson and Shakel Brown look ill-equipped to fill. McGill had a couple of offsides penalties against Tennessee and, though rookie undrafted free agent Anderson was more promising, a place on the practice squad may be more likely for him.
As such, the 49ers might be tempted to dip into the free agent ranks at defensive tackle. Teair Tart was added to that pool on Tuesday when he was released by the Miami Dolphins.
Still only 28, Tart had eight tackles for loss last season for the Titans, who waived him in December.
With Hargrave and Collins as starters and Yetur Gross-Matos likely to play some snaps as an interior pass rusher on third down, the 49ers are in a strong spot at defensive tackle with their primary options. However, they are only an injury from looking quite fragile in that area.
With Davis out of the equation for now, it would be wise on the 49ers' part to explore adding a veteran like Tart as the insurance policy they clearly lack.
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