Five 49ers to watch in Week 1 showdown vs. Rodgers, Jets

Five 49ers to watch in Week 1 showdown vs. Rodgers, Jets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The storylines are aplenty as the 49ers open the 2024 NFL regular season against the New York Jets on Monday night at Levi’s Stadium.

Although the teams are scheduled to play only once every four seasons, there is plenty of overlap between the organizations.

The Jets have coaches and players who have been in San Francisco, and their defensive systems are practically identical.

Moreover, the 49ers are very familiar with Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers. And vice versa.

Rodgers, the native of Chico who played at Cal many moons ago, faced the 49ers 13 times over his 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. Four seasons ended for Rodgers with postseason losses to the 49ers.

The 49ers open the season confronting the challenges of returning to work after a heartbreaking Super Bowl loss. The Jets have the longest current playoff drought in the NFL after last qualifying for the postseason in 2010.

Here are five 49ers to watch during this prime-time matchup in Week 1:

It looks as if the 49ers found themselves a good one with their third-round selection of Dominick Puni, an offensive lineman who has the versatility to play each of the team’s five spots on the offensive line.

For now, he’s locked in at right guard, where he takes over for Spencer Burford and Jon Feliciano, who shared the position a year ago.

Puni saw it as an advantage to practice daily during the summer against the 49ers’ defense. The Jets run a very similar defensive system under coach Robert Saleh, the former 49ers defensive coordinator.

It certainly will not be an easy opener for Puni. His hands will be full against All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, whom the Jets selected in the 2019 NFL Draft one spot at the 49ers chose Nick Bosa. Williams registered 12 sacks in 2022 but dropped off to 5.5 sacks last year.

Puni will also be matched up against former 49ers defensive tackles Javon Kinlaw and Solomon Thomas throughout the game.

The Jets feature one of the game’s most versatile running backs. The 49ers’ hopes of slowing down Breece Hall will be a team effort, but a lot of the responsibility will fall onto the shoulders of three-time All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner.

“I think he’s one of the best backs in the league, just from watching him,” Warner said of Hall. “I haven’t played against him, yet. He’s so dynamic with his ability to hit the home run with his speed.”

After his rookie season was cut short due to an ACL tear seven games into his career, Hall came back strong last season. He rushed for 994 yards and five touchdowns and caught 76 passes for 591 yards and four touchdowns.

“It’s not going to be a one-guy show,” Warner said. “We’ve got to swarm the football.”

While most of the attention will be on the Jets’ quarterback, the 49ers’ Brock Purdy faces a lot of pressure to come through with another outstanding season. Purdy is in line for a big contract after the season if he can continue to produce at a high level.

Purdy finished in the top five of nearly every statistical category in his first full season as the starter. He led the NFL in passer rating, QBR and yards per pass attempt, while also placing fourth in the league’s MVP voting.

Coach Kyle Shanahan places a lot of trust in Purdy. He bears most of the responsibility for keeping the 49ers’ offense on track through his leadership, decision-making and efficiency of running the offense. The offense was never whole during training camp, so it will not be a simple task to get off to a fast start.

Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir might have the most responsibility of anyone on the 49ers’ defense this season.

And it all starts on Monday night, as he figures to see a lot of Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

Lenoir lines up at cornerback in base situations and will move inside to cover the slot receiver in nickel situations. Wilson does damage from both starting points. He caught 41 passes for 320 yards last season from the slot.

Based on his steadily improved play over his first three NFL seasons and a strong training camp, Lenoir has put himself in a position to experience a breakout season. He can raise his profile Monday night going up against Wilson and Rodgers.

This game could provide a defining moment for Lenoir, who was benched early in his rookie season of 2021 following a particularly difficult Week 3 game against Rodgers and the Packers. Lenoir gave up plays in coverage that allowed the Packers to cover 42 yards on two pass plays in the final 37 seconds to set up the winning field goal as time expired.

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk missed all of training camp before signing his five-year, $134.1 million contract late last week. Running back Christian McCaffrey sat out a month of practices during training camp with a calf and Achilles condition.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Deebo Samuel had one of the more active and impressive summers of his NFL career as he prepared for his sixth season in The NFL.

Samuel might be even more important to the 49ers’ offense early in the season because of his unique ability to pick up the slack for Aiyuk and McCaffrey with his ability to catch passes from Purdy, as well as take handoffs in the running game.

Samuel will be looking to recapture his form of 2021, his All-Pro season, when he caught 77 passes for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns while carrying the ball 59 times for 365 yards and eight scores.

The Jets feature one of the league’s top cornerbacks, Sauce Gardner, who was selected first-team All-Pro in both of his first two seasons. And veteran cornerback D.J. Reed is no slouch on the other side, either.

New York’s defense presents Samuel with, perhaps, the biggest challenge he will face all season.

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