The San Francisco 49ers have a lot to navigate on both sides of the ball as they look to recover from a 1-2 start.
San Francisco is still without Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey , wide receiver Deebo Samuel and first-round pick Ricky Pearsall on offense, while the defense was hit by a major injury blow on Monday with the news defensive tackle Javon Hargrave had been ruled out for the season with a torn triceps muscle.
The loss of Hargrave leaves the 49ers with a distinct lack of depth on the interior defensive line. He had been starting next to Maliek Collins, with the only players behind them on the depth chart being Jordan Elliott and Kevin Givens.
Though neither Elliott nor Givens has stood out to this point, the former will likely now step into a starting role. Still, the 49ers will need to add more depth to their interior ranks and made a move to do so on Wednesday with an addition to their practice squad.
San Francisco signed defensive tackle Shakel Brown to their practice squad. The 49ers, who hosted a top-30 visit with Brown before the 2023 draft, originally signed him back in May before releasing him as part of roster cuts to cut the team down to 53 players.
His addition means the 49ers have three defensive tackles on the practice squad, with Brown joining veteran T.Y. McGill and rookie undrafted free agent Evan Anderson. One of that trio will likely be promoted for Sunday's Week 4 game with the New England Patriots.
Hargrave's pass rush win rate of 13.3% is tied for 15th among interior defensive linemen with at least 50 pass rush snaps, per Pro Football Focus, highlighting his value to a front that has failed to fire on all cylinders this year.
Asked if the 49ers have enough to get home with four pass rushers without Hargrave or if they now need to make alternative plans, Shanahan replied: "You've got to have plans for that, and we do when Javon is here. I mean, you would love to always get there with front four. That's the goal having getting there with four and having seven guys in coverage makes it a lot harder on the offense.
"But if you can't do that, you got to mix it up. We mixed it up throughout the year. I thought our D-Line last week affected the quarterback the most that they had in their three games. I thought they had one of their better games. But it's a huge loss losing Javon. Guys are going to have to step it up, and when you don't have the rush, then you got to turn other things schematically."
The 49ers have struggled significantly in run defense even with Hargrave on the field, and Shanahan hinted at more schematic changes to help San Francisco combat the impact of his absence in an area of the game that right now is a clear weakness.
"It makes it tougher," Shanahan said of only having three healthy defensive tackles and the knock-on effect on run defense.
"I mean, when you have four inside guys up, and then you go down to three, it always makes it tougher to stop the run. But we've got guys on practice squad that we need. We'll see how that works out as this week goes, and you've got to think of other fronts too."
Last season, one of the different looks the 49ers went to on defense early in the year was the usage of five-man fronts, which can be very effective against the run and also have the advantage of creating five one-on-ones from a pass-rush standpoint.
With Hargrave out of the picture, the 49ers may well need to go to such different pitches to give their D-Line advantages it has often struggled to manufacture this season even with him on the field. More moves to address the void he has left may be to come, but the premature end to Hargrave's season puts a lot of pressure on a defensive coaching staff that has been largely bereft of positive solutions in 2024 to find answers to this significant problem.
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