{"id":132314,"date":"2025-06-15T17:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T17:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/132314\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T17:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T17:11:10","slug":"49ers-notes-farrell-pinnock-huff-lenoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/132314\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers Notes: Farrell, Pinnock, Huff, Lenoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the 49ers managed to work out new deals for QB Brock Purdy<\/a>, LB Fred Warner<\/a>, and TE George Kittle<\/a> well in advance of training camp, the club was forced to part with a number of other talented players over the past several months due to its cap constraints (exacerbated by the impending extension for Purdy). Similarly, San Francisco was unable to make any major splashes in free agency, and its biggest offseason commitment to external talent is the three-year, $15.75MM deal<\/a> it authorized for blocking tight end Luke Farrell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Farrell, a 2021 fifth-rounder who just played out his rookie contract with the Jaguars, has never recorded more than 155 receiving yards in a season. Still, Niners HC Kyle Shanahan\u2019s offense asks its tight ends to do a great deal of blocking, so it is not terribly surprising that the team ponied up a notable pact for a player like Farrell.<\/p>\n

Still, Farrell suggests the Niners were easily the most generous of his prospective suitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Niners wanted to work fast,\u201d Farrell said (via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>). \u201cAnd they were far and away the best opportunity as far as what they were offering. So it was, at the end of the day, kind of a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell\u2019s role may not be as extensive as it appeared when he signed his deal, as the 49ers reunited with<\/a> fullback Kyle Juszczyk<\/a> shortly after bringing Farrell aboard. Nonetheless, the former Jaguar should see considerable playing time, and the hope is that his presence will allow Kittle to spend less time blocking and more time running routes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the defensive side of the ball, rising second-year safety Malik Mustapha<\/a> is unlikely to be on the field for the beginning of the 2025 campaign since he suffered a torn ACL in the Niner\u2019s regular season finale in 2024. As such, free agent addition Jason Pinnock<\/a> is a frontrunner to start at safety (perhaps alongside Ji\u2019Ayir Brown<\/a>), per Matt Barrows of The Athletic (subscription required<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barrows describes Pinnock as the most physically impressive safety San Francisco has rostered in some time, and the former Jets draftee is familiar with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh\u2019s system since Saleh was New York\u2019s head coach when Pinnock entered the league in 2021. Pinnock was waived in advance of the 2022 season, but Saleh said that was not a reflection of the player\u2019s abilities. Pinnock had just converted to safety from corner, and he was simply unable to beat out the Jets\u2019 other safeties at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve always been a fan of his athleticism, his length, his football IQ,\u201d Saleh said. \u201cHe\u2019s a really good football player, and just being with him over the course of the first couple of months, he\u2019s grown significantly from a maturity standpoint, and he\u2019s attacked the heck out of it. He\u2019s going for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another former Jet, Bryce Huff<\/a>, recently came to the Bay Area by way of a trade with the Eagles<\/a>. Though Huff did not live up to expectations after signing a lucrative contract with Philadelphia last March, the Niners will not be taking him out of his comfort zone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While Eagles DC Vic Fangio\u2019s scheme requires a fair amount of versatility from its edge defenders, Huff thrived as a rotational pass rusher as part of Saleh\u2019s Jets defense in 2023. Despite appearing in just 42% of the team\u2019s snaps that year, Huff posted 10 sacks and 21 quarterback hits, which helped create his robust free agent market last offseason. According to Barrows, San Francisco will deploy Huff as a dedicated third-down pass rush specialist, which is how the team utilized Dee Ford in his first season with the 49ers in 2019.<\/p>\n

That usage will mean less snaps for rookie Mykel Williams<\/a>. However, Barrows believes Williams can make up for that loss of reps with more looks as an interior pass rusher.<\/p>\n

Like Purdy, Warner, and Kittle, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir<\/a> is a recent recipient of a healthy new contract, having landed a five-year, $92MM extension<\/a> in November. The 2021 fifth-rounder (taken 27 picks after Farrell) has split time between boundary corner and nickel corner over the past two seasons, but he could be permitted to focus his efforts on the boundaries in 2025.<\/p>\n

As Jerry McDonald of the Santa Cruz Sentinel<\/a> writes, Lenoir primarily lined up outside the numbers during the practice reps that were open to the media this spring. If third-round rookie Upton Stout<\/a> proves capable of manning the slot, Lenoir could continue to operate as an outside corner opposite second-year player Renardo Green<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the 49ers managed to work out new deals for QB Brock Purdy, LB Fred Warner, and TE…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,6731,4822,7,3320,24150,9461,3314,1493,6,4820,1161,252,2624,2623,16582],"class_list":{"0":"post-132314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-bryce-huff","10":"tag-deommodore-lenoir","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-jason-pinnock","13":"tag-jiayir-brown","14":"tag-luke-farrell","15":"tag-malik-mustapha","16":"tag-mykel-williams","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-renardo-green","19":"tag-san-francisco","20":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","21":"tag-sanfrancisco","22":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","23":"tag-upton-stout"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114688497223695916","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}