49ers Sign Former 4th Overall Pick in Another Move to Bolster Pass Rush
Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers added a familiar face to their defense Wednesday.
The San Francisco 49ers‘ ongoing push to upgrade their dormant pass rush continued Wednesday.
The Niners signed Clelin Ferrell to their practice squad while also acquiring fellow EDGE rusher Keion White from the New England Patriots.
The 49ers rank tied for 30th in the NFL in sacks (9), which is part of why they rank 22nd in the NFL in passing-yards against per game (229.3). Ferrell is a familiar face, since he had 3.5 sacks and six tackles for loss while starting all 17 games for the Niners in 2023.
White, a second-round pick of the Patriots in the 2023 draft, does not have a sack this season but had five for New England last season.
San Francisco (5-3) is somehow still sitting just a half-game back of the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams with the tiebreaker over each thanks to its 3-0 record against divisional opposition.
The Niners will take on the New York Giants (2-6) on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Kyle Shanahan ‘Loves’ Having Clelin Ferrell Back On The 49ers
Despite being chosen fourth overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2019 NFL Draft, Ferrell has bounced around throughout his career.
He’s played for five teams, including one game for the Los Angeles Chargers this year, and has not been super-productive. Ferrell has just 17 sacks in 90 NFL games.
Still, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan “loves” having Ferrell back in the mix, especially given San Francisco’s inability to upset opposing passers.
“I love the chance to get [Ferrell] back, having a guy like that be available,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “We loved having Cle here back in ’23, and I’m glad he got back here.”
Bryce Huff (4.0) and Nick Bosa (2.0) are the only players on the 49ers with multiple sacks this season, and Bosa is out for the season after tearing his ACL in the 49ers’ Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The 49ers have just two sacks for minus-10 yards in their past three games, a major reason why they are 1-2 in their past three games while allowing at least 26 points in each of their losses.
The 49ers Added Depth To Their Pass Rushers To Support Their Rookies
Part of signing Ferrell, and trading for White, is to give support to some of San Francisco’s rookies, especially 2025 first-round pick Mykel Williams.
“They’ve kind of exceeded expectations to tell you the truth,” Shanahan said of his rookies on defense, which include Williams, second-round pick Alfred Collins and fourth-round pick C.J. West. “We knew we were going to throw them out there a lot, but we thought we’d have more other guys to help bring them along. Losing some of those guys [to injury] has been tough.”
Shanahan noted Williams’ lost time due to a hyperextended knee in training camp, which further set him back. Yet, the No. 11 pick from Georgia has four tackles for loss, tied for second-most on the team behind Huff.
“For him to battle throughout this whole year and missing training camp has been real impressive,” Shanahan said.
But he credited the rookies for their ability to step up.
“It’s been awesome for those guys to battle each week and be able to show up and play,” Shanahan said. “It’d be really hard without them.”
Broncos Predicted To Trade Corner Despite All-Pro’s Injury
The Denver Broncos took a brutal hit to their secondary last weekend when the team had to rule out current Defensive Player of the Year,
On Monday, reports suggested that Surtain would be out for around 4-6 weeks
Despite this, some have suggested that the team may, irregardless, look to move off certain members of their cornerback group. Indeed, starting members of their CB unit.
Broncos Projected To Potentially Part Ways With Corner
ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, writing on Wednesday – two days after the initial prognosis was made public, suggested that the Broncos could look to offload starting slot and 2022 undrafted free agent,
“Cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian. Coach Sean Payton said last week that he liked the roster just the way it is right now, and that was before reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II left Sunday’s win because of a shoulder injury.”
Legwold notes that prior to Surtain’s injury, Denver may have looked at McMillian as a moveable, fairly high-value piece, given that first round rookie, Jahdae Barron
However, Legwold does subsequently concede that after the injury to the All-Pro boundary cornerback, McMillian’s value to the organization will have certainly increased, reducing the probability of him being traded.
“With rookie Jahdae Barron getting work in the nickel and dime packages, some personnel executives in the league might have thought McMillian — one of the best nickel corners — was a hard-to-find player who the Broncos might think is a surplus. But that’s not the case at the moment, so it would take a lot for the Broncos to move him now.”
What Would The Broncos Need To Trade Ja’Quan McMillian?
It is not totally clear what Denver would need at this point to move off of their starting nickel.
Barron has routinely managed around 20% of defensive snaps per game this season so far, but interestingly he was not the next man up called to cover the boundary in lieu of Surtain. That duty was given to second year pro,
So it could be that Denver keeps Abrams-Draine on the perimeter, opposite
All in all, the price would not have to be excessive, but something in the region of a fifth round pick in 2026 should likely get the job done for a contending team looking to strengthen the nickel spot.
