This player is the 49ers worst nightmare post Fred Warner

Robert Saleh must already have a headache.

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The San Francisco 49ers' run defense has been very good this season, and while they are without Fred Warner now, Tatum Bethune looked good in run defense during his time filling in.

Still, while the 49ers may feel good about their ability to slow down Bijan Robinson on the ground, he still may find ways to beat them. 

Can the San Francisco 49ers contain Bijan Robinson?

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One of the ways that Robinson can match Christian McCaffrey as one of the top weapons in the NFL is his ability to kill teams in the passing game. Robinson has 338 yards receiving this season, which is second behind only McCaffrey. Since McCaffrey is the 49ers' most trusted receiver as well, Robinson is in great territory. 

Robinson is also averaging 2.5 yards per route run, which is a bit better than McCaffrey at 2.05, showing that while McCaffrey is used more in this area, Robinson is as efficient as it gets.

With the third most receiving yards from a running back being 195, it is clear that the 49ers have not seen a running back like Robinson this season, other than when they see McCaffrey at practice. 

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The 49ers have been excellent at defending passes to the running back, but when they faced an offense that works the ball to their running back often, Kyren Williams found a way to haul in eight passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns. That was with Fred Warner. 

The Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree so you know that he is going to use this tape to test the 49ers with Robinson this week. 

Bethune looked good against the run, but the middle of the field became wide open for passing lanes once Warner went down. Some of that has to do with the communication changing on the fly, and now Bethune has a chance to work through that. Still, the Falcons are going to throw junk at him and make him work through it to make plays on their star running back. 

They are going to have to communicate well pre-snap and pass things off post-snap to hang with Robinson.

The 49ers do not need to completely shut him down, but he cannot rip off multiple explosive plays in the passing game. This will be a big test for a 49ers team that is trying to find their footing.