5 Notable Lineup Changes the 49ers Made in Week 9

These were interesting.

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The San Francisco 49ers came out of the bye week and had a few notable lineup decisions to make. What were some noteworthy differences coming out of the bye week?

San Francisco 49ers Make Notable Changes Coming Out of Bye Week 

Wide Receiver 

Demarcus Robinson returned to the lineup, and was second amongst the wide receivers in snaps. Brandin Cooks went from a starter to the 49ers' number three. Jacob Cowing went from an increasing role to fading out of the picture. Perhaps more notable is that Jordan Watkins still led the team in snaps and receiving production. When Deebo Samuel and Mike Evans come back, there is a chance that Watkins joins them as the top three, and Robinson is a fourth man. 

Defensive Line

The team added DeForest Buckner, and he stepped into a normal starter's workload of snaps. That meant that rookie Gracen Halton was going to play less. He went from getting the bulk of the snaps on the defensive front to being the third man and playing less than 20 snaps. He was already going to play a career-low in snaps, but an injury made that official. Halton left the game on a cart with an air cast on his leg. 

The team was not going to lean on him as much, but now they might not have him for the foreseeable future. James Thompson and Sebastian Valdez went from rotational contributors to being out of the mix. 

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Edge Rusher 

The team got Nick Bosa back. He led the way for the group. Then, the team mostly had Mykel Williams and Romell Height rotate based on down, distance, and personnel. Keion White mixed in for Bosa and also got a few snaps, mixing in with Williams and Height. Bosa finished with 30 snaps; the other three were all under 20.

Safety 

Marques Sigle returned after missing two weeks. However, Malik Mustapha might have been the 49ers' best safety when he was gone. So, the team decided to rotate all three safeties. Mustapha played with Sigle. Mustapha played with Brown. Then, Brown played with Sigle. They rotated all three throughout the game. The 49ers should eventually settle on a pairing, but it's smart to use this time to see what works best. 

Cornerback 

The 49ers saw Renardo Green leave with what could be a serious injury. Rookie Ephesians Prysock stepped in for him now that they had released Jack Jones.