49ers need to play Tarvarius Moore on Defense
In a dreadful season where players go down faster than a basketball dribbling down the steep streets of San Francisco, the 49ers must incorporate their best players on the field in order to maintain some playoff hopes.
The 2020 season only becomes a lost season if:
A: The 49ers don’t make the playoffs
B: The 49ers don’t develop and give opportunities to the guys on rookie contracts.
Right now missing the playoffs is becoming a close reality. One more loss and this team will be hanging on a single thread of lifeline. Meaning the 49ers need to start opening their eyes to current players that could play a role in this franchise moving forward.
But why Tarvarius Moore specifically?
Due to the effects of COVID-19, teams will have a lowered cap in 2021 and will not have much money to spend this offseason, similar to myself after paying my monthly bills. How does that play a part in Moore being on the field? Well, starting strong safety Jaquiski Tartt is set to become a free agent after this season.
With 26 players set to become unrestricted free agents, the 49ers will have to decide which players to extend. Kyle Juszczyk, Trent Williams, Kerry Hyder, Richard Sherman, and Jason Verrett are just a few names on the unrestricted free agent list.
The 49ers already made Jimmie Ward one of the highest-paid safeties in the league. I guess if your name spelled Jimmie or Jimmy the 49ers will look to make you one of the highest-paid at your position.
It is very unlikely Tartt gets re-signed this offseason as the 49ers “reportedly” held Tartt’s name out in trade talks. That’s a sign of a team that is ready to move on.
San Francisco might go into next season with Ward and Moore as the best safeties on their roster. Right now with Tartt expected to miss time again with a turf toe injury, Ward and Moore are the best safeties on this roster that will be available this Sunday.
Yet, the 49ers are more reluctant to put Moore out there on defense than they are to pay a player with one year of production like Ward and Arik Armstead. In five of the past six games, Moore only received five snaps total. In three of those games, Moore received zero defensive snaps. Moore receiving the same amount of defensive snaps as me is not ideal.
San Francisco invested a third-round pick in Moore -- Moore intercepted Patrick freaking Mahomes in the biggest game of the franchise since 2013. It wasn’t a play that just fell into his lap, it was instincts that Moore had to break on and dive for it like if he was Michael Phelps starting a race in the Olympic Finals. How many similar inceptions have we seen Ward make? No need to search -- it’s zero.
If the team wants to use more of the bigger, stronger-bodied Marcel Harris to fill in Tartt’s void, fine, I get that. But similar to taking out the SAM Linebacker (Azeez Al-Shaair) for a nickel corner in obvious non-running situations, the 49ers could get clever and replace Harris for Moore in those same obvious non-running situations allowing your team to have your best coverage safety out on the field instead of the sideline.
Sure, Harris is better than an average backup in the NFL but, when he’s out there, big plays for the offense happen. The next opponent is the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees exploited Harris worse last season than Grant Cohn exploited Armstead for not containing the Quarterback. If San Francisco wants a shot at this game, Moore must be on the field over Harris especially in anything that is longer than third and four.
Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch love Ward, so he is a guarantee to be on this team next season even though a post-June 1, 2021 release would save this team $5.5 million in 2021. If the 49ers refuse to play Moore now, that means Moore will continue to not see the field in 2021 in the final season of his rookie deal. With Tartt on the shelf, it is time to experiment with a Ward-Moore tandem, or else the 49ers will likely have to spend a high draft pick or sign a free agent with money they don’t have.
What do they have to lose?
Typically I would say nothing, but they could lose the opportunity of seeing a Ward-Moore safety tandem and a chance at the playoffs if they don’t play their best coverage safeties against quarterbacks like Brees, Goff, and Allen (who are the next three quarterbacks this team faces).
San Francisco has to avoid this season becoming a lost season in developing Moore. There are plenty of ways Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh can create an opportunity for Moore to see more action. Saleh should be on the head-coach radar this offseason, so this could be an excellent way to show creativity as a defensive coach.
Under the Shanahan regime, the 49ers have proven they can develop undrafted and Day 3 players such as George Kittle, Dre Greenlaw, Kendrick Bourne, Emmanuel Moseley -- the list goes on. It’s time to start investing the time into former third-round pick Moore and get him on the field or else I am going to write an article every week until they finally do so. There’s no better week than against the team that put up 349 passing yards and 5 touchdowns through the air.
Moore has as much range as Steph Curry behind the three point line. Do the right thing Shanahan and play your best deep safety on the roster.
