The 49ers did more than just shop for a receiver before the trade deadline. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, San Francisco also took a look at the tight end market, with Denver’s Evan Engram on the radar before the team ultimately moved for wide receiver Keenan Allen.
It’s not clear how far those talks went, or whether the 49ers ever got close to making a deal for Engram. But the fit was obvious enough. San Francisco has been stretched thin at tight end, and the depth chart behind George Kittle has been paper-thin for weeks.
Jake Tonges has been on injured reserve with a knee injury since the preseason, which has left Kittle carrying almost the entire load at the position. Through eight games, Kittle leads the team with 38 catches for 483 yards and five touchdowns. Beyond him, the only other 49ers tight end with a reception is Luke Farrell, who has three catches for 33 yards.
Engram, a former first-round pick by the Giants in 2017, has had a stop-and-start role in Denver. In nine games this season, he has 17 catches on 30 targets for 169 yards and one touchdown.
His biggest game came in Week 6 against the Chargers, when he finished with four catches for 55 yards. He also saw the 49ers in Week 4 and had one catch for six yards in Denver’s 24-14 loss.
The Allen move should help San Francisco’s passing game get healthier as the season goes on. He’ll join Jordan Watkins, Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing and Brandin Cooks in Week 10, while Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel could be back soon as well.
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Dallas, meanwhile, remains the more volatile side of the matchup, good enough to make every week interesting but inconsistent enough to keep the pressure on. Dak Prescott gives the Cowboys a chance in almost any game, but against a 49ers team with so much history and so much current stability, the margin for error feels especially small, and the familiar postseason questions around these franchises are already hovering over this one. [Read more 🡒]
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49ers Defensive Tackle Depth Is About To Face Its Biggest Test
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DeForest Buckners presence matters even more in that kind of setup, not just for what he does on the field but for the guidance he can provide to a younger group being asked to absorb more snaps and responsibility. The 49ers have managed plenty of injury-related shuffling before, but this is the kind of test that can expose whether their interior line depth is sturdy enough to hold up when the rotation gets thin. [Read more 🡒]