Snap Counts by Position: Christian McCaffrey gets a much-needed breather

Thursday’s victory over the New York Giants ended how many expected, but the result took a while to form as the Giants hung in the game as long as they could.

Let’s take a look at how the snap shares for each position from Thursday:

Quarterbacks - Brock Purdy 79, Sam Darnold 4

Early in the game, the Giants’ blitz caused some shaky play from Purdy, but he settled in as the game went on to have his best passing day as a pro with over 300 passing yards.

Running Backs - Christian McCaffrey 51, Kyle Juszczyk 42, Elijah Mitchell 28, Jordan Mason 4

The national nightmare is over! Christian McCaffrey didn’t play every single snap and got relief from Elijah Mitchell! With a short week and ten days in between games, this felt like the perfect time to sprinkle back in Mitchell. Once again, it felt like McCaffrey’s usage against the Rams was specific to that game and came down to Kyle Shanahan’s trust factor.

Wide Receivers - Deebo Samuel 68, Ray-Ray McCloud III 38, Ronnie Bell 31, Jauan Jennings 31, Chris Conley 9

With no Brandon Aiyuk on Thursday, Ray-Ray McCloud found himself starting opposite Deebo Samuel. Samuel was excellent, finishing with 129 receiving yards on six catches and a touchdown. Ronnie Bell found the end zone for the first time as a pro.

Tight Ends - George Kittle 69, Charlie Woerner 27, Ross Dwelley 12

George Kittle tends to shine bright on Thursday night games. With 90 receiving yards, that makes four of his last five TNF games with over 75 yards.

Offensive Line - Spencer Burford 83, Aaron Banks 83, Colton McKivitz 79, Trent Williams 79, Jake Brendel 79, Matt Pryor 4, Jaylon Moore 4

In a game in which the Giants relentlessly blitzed on nearly every dropback, PFF gave out the following pass-blocking grades for the starting offensive line: Burford 39.3, Banks 19.9, Brendel 20.3, Williams 90.6, and McKivitz 78.6. Burford finished with the highest run-blocking grade (73.7).

Defense:

Defensive Line - Nick Bosa 39, Arik Armstead 36, Javon Hargrave 34, Drake Jackson 30, Clelin Ferrell 20, Javon Kinlaw 19, Kevin Givens 14, Kerry Hyder, Jr. 11

Nick Bosa and Javon Hargrave combined for 11 total pressures, and Javon Kinlaw continues his solid play through three weeks with four of his own. Hargrave and Bosa finished with the highest defensive grades with 93.0 and 92.8, respectively. Arik Armstead chipped in three pressures.

Linebackers - Fred Warner 50, Dre Greenlaw 42, Oren Burks 21

Opposing team personnel will dictate how much the 49ers will use a third linebacker. Oren Burks finished with a grade of 90.1 in his 21 snaps with four defensive stops. Fred Warner was one of three players to play all 50 snaps on defense and finished with a 78.5 defensive grade.

Secondary - Charvarius Ward 50, Deommodore Lenoir 50, Tashaun Gipson Sr. 49, Talanoa Hufanga 45, Isaiah Oliver 34, George Odum 4, Ji’Ayir Brown 2

Another week, another Talanoa Hufanga interception off a deflection. He’s always around the football. Charvarius Ward finished as the highest-graded secondary member with 78.8. Tashaun Gipson finished second with 74.5, and Hufanga finished at 73.7.