The San Francisco 49ers made an interesting decision on Thursday. In the fourth quarter, they decided to give first round pick Joshua Garnett his first regular season snaps at right guard. He played 18 snaps, coming on for Andrew Tiller after the Cardinals took a 31-14 lead.
On Friday, Chip Kelly said it was not an injury decision. He said, “we had talked about trying to, he’s getting better and he’s progressing each week so trying to get him some snaps out there and see what he can do.”
I decided to go through all of Garnett’s plays to see how he did. On Friday, when asked how Garnett played, Chip Kelly said, “Josh was OK. I think his first significant snaps. I think we had him in for 18 plays. He did some nice things at times and then some other things that I’m sure he wants back, but that’ll come with time with him.”
I think OK is an apt description of Garnett’s day. I have listed every play (copied/pasted the description from the ESPN play-by-play log), and then the result involving Garnett. I added “positive” or “negative” to describe them. I’m not a scout and don’t really have a better way to describe them.
I gave Garnett 4 negatives, 13 positives, and 1 play that included positives and negatives. Two of the negatives involve questionable play-making by Garnett and another lineman (one was Kilgore, one was Brown). And of course, we have to note, we don’t know the specific assignment of each player on a given play.
Touchdown drive
1st and 10 at SF 25 (4:44 - 4TH) (SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS SHORT LEFT TO C.HYDE TO SF 31 FOR 6 YARDS (D.BUCANNON). CAUGHT AT SF 29. 2-YDS YA
Result: Xavier Williams pushed him back, but Blaine Gabbert stepped up to the left of Garnett, while Daniel Kilgore got a block in on Williams to keep him off Gabbert. - Negative
2nd and 4 at SF 31 (4:21 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT SACKED AT SF 31 FOR 0 YARDS (D.SWEARINGER)
Result: Cardinals ran stunt at Garnett/Brown. DT Xavier Williams cut outside, OLB Markus Golden cut inside. Kilgore was moving toward them to help but did not get over in time and Golden got pressure on Gabbert who scrambled left and out of bounds for a sack. Garnett and Brown were able to double-team Williams. - Positive
3rd and 4 at SF 31 (4:14 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT SACKED AT SF 31 FOR 0 YARDS (K.MINTER)
Result: Kevin Minter lined up standing up in front of Garnett. Minter dropped off and toward the left side of the line. Kilgore pushed Xavier Williams to his right, Garnett picked up the block. - Positive
4th and 4 at SF 31 (4:07 - 4TH) (SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS SHORT MIDDLE TO Q.PATTON TO SF 38 FOR 7 YARDS (G.MARTIN). CAUGHT AT SF 38. 0-YDS YA
Result: Kareem Martin lined up opposite Garnett, an OLB (I believe Alex Okafor) lined up to the outside of Brown. Martin went at Garnett’s right shoulder, while Okafor initially went at Brown. It would appear to have been a stunt, as once Martin hit Garnett’s right shoulder, Okafor cut back around to Garnett’s left side. It resulted in Garnett and Brown almost running into each other. Gabbert threw before Okafor got through to him. - Negative
1st and 10 at SF 38 (3:43 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS SHORT RIGHT TO C.HYDE TO SF 46 FOR 8 YARDS (D.BUCANNON). CAUGHT AT SF 42. 4-YDS YA
Result: Kareem Martin lined up opposite Garnett. Martin came at him straight, Garnett pushed him to the left. Gave him a couple extra shoves after Gabbert had already passed the ball. - Positive
2nd and 2 at SF 46 (3:21 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS INCOMPLETE SHORT MIDDLE TO G.CELEK [CH.JONES]
Result: Kareem Martin lined up opposite Garnett, Alex Okafor on outside of Brown. Cardinals ran another stunt, but Garnett and Brown picked it up. Okafor was starting to muscle past Garnett when Gabbert threw the ball, under pressure from someone coming from the left side. - Some positive, some negative
3rd and 2 at SF 46 (3:15 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT SACKED AT SF 45 FOR -1 YARDS (CH.JONES). PENALTY ON ARZ-T.MATHIEU, DEFENSIVE HOLDING, 5 YARDS, ENFORCED AT SF 46 - NO PLAY
Result: Xavier Williams lined up opposite Garnett. Another stunt Markus Golden inside on him. Garnett picked up Golden, then got some help from Kilgore. - Positive
1st and 10 at ARI 49 (3:08 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT SACKED AT SF 40 FOR -11 YARDS (CH.JONES). PENALTY ON ARZ-CH.JONES, FACE MASK (15 YARDS), 15 YARDS, ENFORCED AT ARZ 49 - NO PLAY
Result: Gabe Martin lined up between Garnett and Kilgore, Deonne Bucannon lined up between Garnett and Brown. Garnett picked up Martin, while Bucannon looped around to the left side of the line. - Positive
1st and 10 at ARI 34 (3:01 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS SHORT LEFT TO J.KERLEY RAN OB AT ARZ 23 FOR 11 YARDS. CAUGHT AT ARZ 34. 11-YDS YA
Result: Nobody on Garnett, Xavier Williams lined up immediately over Daniel Kilgore. Garnett helped on Williams. Gabe Martin blitzed through Garnett’s previous spot, Carlos Hyde picked him up. - Positive
1st and 10 at ARI 23 (2:57 - 4TH) (SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS SHORT LEFT TO G.CELEK TO ARZ 19 FOR 4 YARDS (T.JEFFERSON). CAUGHT AT ARZ 19. 0-YDS YA
Result: Alex Okafor lined up between Garnett and Brown, Markus Golden lined up to Brown’s far right. Ran another stunt. Garnett got Okafor pushed to Brown. As Golden came across behind Okafor, Garnett turned to block him. Garnett’s footwork didn’t look good and Golden was going to get past him, but Gabbert got the throw off. - Negative
2nd and 6 at ARI 19 (2:30 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS SHORT RIGHT TO J.KERLEY PUSHED OB AT ARZ 12 FOR 7 YARDS (T.MATHIEU). CAUGHT AT ARZ 15. 3-YDS YA
Result: Alex Okafor lined up opposite Garnett. Straight pass rush at him, Garnett held him off. Gabbert threw the ball in just under 2 seconds, so not a lot of work needed. - Positive
1st and 10 at ARI 12 (2:24 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS INCOMPLETE SHORT LEFT TO J.KERLEY
Result: Xavier Williams lined up opposite Garnett. Deonne Bucannon blitzed off left side between Joe Staley and Zane Beadles so Gabbert had to throw quickly. Garnett blocked his guy fine for the short time. - Positive
2nd and 10 at ARI 12 (2:21 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS INCOMPLETE SHORT MIDDLE TO B.BELL (D.SWEARINGER)
Result: Xavier Williams lined up opposite Garnett. Williams rushed straight at him and Garnett held him off for a little over three seconds until Gabbert threw the ball. His best play of the game. - Positive
3rd and 10 at ARI 12 (2:17 - 4TH) (NO HUDDLE, SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS SHORT LEFT TO B.BELL TO ARZ 8 FOR 4 YARDS (D.BUCANNON). CAUGHT AT ARZ 9. 1-YD YA
Result: Kareem Martin lined up opposite Garnett. Pretty basic play, quick pass from Gabbert, and Garnett kept his guy from getting through. - Positive
4th and 6 at ARI 8 (2:00 - 4TH) (SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS INCOMPLETE SHORT RIGHT TO J.KERLEY [T.JEFFERSON]. PENALTY ON ARZ-T.MATHIEU, DEFENSIVE PASS INTERFERENCE, 7 YARDS, ENFORCED AT ARZ 8 - NO PLAY
Result: Frostee Rucker lined up between Garnett and Kilgore. They doubled Rucker. Deone Bucannon and Tony Jefferson both blitzed through where Garnett would have been. Garrett Celek picked up Bucannon well. Jefferson got through but Gabbert threw to Jeremy Kerley in the end zone (DPI flag). - Positive
1st and Goal at ARI 1 (1:52 - 4TH) BLAINE GABBERT 1 YARD RUSH P.DAWSON EXTRA POINT IS GOOD
Result: Frostee Rucker lined up opposite Garnett. He blocked him into the ground on Hyde fake run up the middle. - Positive
Second drive
1st and 10 at SF 1 (1:26 - 4TH) (SHOTGUN) B.GABBERT PASS INCOMPLETE SHORT MIDDLE TO G.CELEK
Result: Either Kareem Martin or Corey Peters lined up opposite Garnett. No chance of getting around Garnett. - Positive
2nd and 10 at SF 1 (1:17 - 4TH) CALAIS CAMPBELL SAFETY
Result: One DT (#1) lined up over Garnett, one DT (#2) lined up over Beadles. They both cut inside between the two guards and Kilgore. #1 pushed in on Garnett and Kilgore and pushed them backwards. #2 disengaged and cut behind #1 and around to get the sack. - Negative