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Sunday’s NFL preseason slate included just two games. It started with the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants throwing their backups into the mix in what was a pretty ugly game.
Then in Southern California, the San Francisco 49ers were able to take out the Los Angeles Chargers. It’s a game that saw Jimmy Garoppolo struggle big time before rookie Trey Lance picked things up. Below, we look at the five biggest takeaways from Sunday’s NFL preseason action.
Cleveland Browns’ Greedy Williams injury impact
Entering his third season, Williams had been making progress during the summer for Cleveland. The hope was that the 2019 second-round pick had finally overcome the injuries that cost him his entire sophomore campaign and was ready to start opposite Denzel Ward.
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That’s not going to be the case come Week 1. Williams pulled up lame with a groin injury in Cleveland’s 17-13 win over the New York Giants Sunday afternoon. He did not return to the field — opening the door for rookie first-round pick Greg Newsome II to start. While Williams’ injury isn’t said to be serious, this will have an impact on his ability to make an impact come Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
San Francisco 49ers’ wide receiver issues
Both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo (more on them later), threw interceptions in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Each pass was high. The quarterbacks were to blame. Even then, starting wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk got their hands on the ball before the interceptions.
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San Francisco largely ignored wide receiver during free agency and completely avoided this position in the 2021 NFL Draft. There’s depth issues. In fact, it says a lot that the recently-signed Trent Sherfield has been the 49ers’ top receiver this preseason. Regardless of who is under center, this unit must step up moving forward.
New York Giants might have found something in castoffs
Without their starters taking to the field Sunday against Cleveland, a bunch of unheralded young receivers had an opportunity to show out for the Giants. That’s exactly what we saw from the likes of David Sills and Dante Pettis. The two combined for 56 yards on six catches while hauling in 60% of their targets.
Meanwhile, young tight end Rysen John could have put himself in competition to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. The Simon Fraser grad (that’s a thing) hauled in all three of his targets for 58 yards in the narrow loss before exiting with a leg injury. The Giants have Sterling Shepard and Kenny Golladay as their starting receivers for Daniel Jones. However, depth has been a concern. If Sunday’s game is any indication, said concerns might have been overblown.
Asante Samuel Jr. might be NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate
We’ve seen it throughout training camp and the preseason. This rookie second-round pick from Florida State looks every bit the part of a seasoned veteran. That came out in droves early in the Chargers’ game against San Francisco Sunday evening. Samuel Jr. recorded his first career interception after picking off 49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo.
Reports from Southern California this summer have painted the young corner in a great light. Samuel Jr. was seen as a first-round product heading into the draft. He’s looked every bit the part of that for Los Angeles, and it could lead to NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Mixed bag for San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks
Once Garoppolo threw that interception to the aforementioned Samuel Jr., fans were calling for him to be benched in favor of Trey Lance. After Lance himself was picked off later in the first half, it became clear that things were getting ugly under center for the 49ers.
Lance changed that narrative in a big way, leading San Francisco to a 75-yard touchdown-scoring drive in 45 seconds to end the first half. He then led the team to another 63-yard scoring drive, throwing his second touchdown of the game in the process. By all accounts, Lance looked better than Garoppolo for the second consecutive preseason game. Whether that’s enough for the rookie No. 3 pick to be San Francisco’s Week 1 starter against the Detroit Lions remains to be seen.