The San Francisco 49ers are well out of playoff contention, and the biggest competition they will face as a team the rest of this season is the chase for the number one overall pick. It’s never very fun to root for a team to lose, though, so attention must be shifted towards cheering for accomplishments more positive.
A Look at Some San Francisco 49ers Potential Individual Milestones This Season
Numerous individuals on the 49ers roster are poised to reach major single-season milestones this season. There are six games remaining for the 49ers, and that’s plenty of time for players to continue their quest for individual accolades.
Matt Breida
Matt Breida has had a breakout season thus far, consistently showing off his big-play explosiveness and providing a spark to the run game. Breida is tied for the most rushing attempts over 20 yards this season with eight, effectively igniting a 49ers offense that has been plagued by injuries.
Breida has 632 rushing yards on 113 rushing attempts this year, averaging 5.6 yards per rush, which ranks fourth amongst qualified runnings backs. Amongst the 28 running backs with over 100 carries this season, nobody has averaged more yards per rushing attempt than Breida.
He is tied for 10th in the league in rushing yards and has a decent chance to eclipse 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. If Breida plays in all remaining six games for the 49ers, he would need to average about 62 rushing yards per game to go for over 1,000 yards on the ground.
George Kittle
The most valuable player in the 49ers passing game this season has been George Kittle, who has become one of the elite tight ends in the NFL during his second year in the league. He has 50 catches for 775 yards and is averaging 15.5 yards per reception in 10 games, serving as the top option in this passing attack. Kittle has such tremendous speed for his size and is consistently able to create separation and use his quickness to eat up chunks of yards after the catch.
500 of his 775 receiving yards have come after the catch, which really shows how dangerous he is if he catches the ball in space and is allowed to break free up the field. The only player in the entire league who has accumulated more yards after the catch this season has been Saquon Barkley.
Amongst NFL tight ends, Kittle is first in catches of over 40 yards, third in receiving yards, third in yards per catch, third in first downs, tied for third in catches, and fourth in catches of over 20 yards.
He has undoubtedly been one of the biggest breakout stars this season, and Kittle is well on his way to topping 1,000 receiving yards assuming he stays healthy. If Kittle plays in all remaining six games for the 49ers, he would need to average about 38 receiving yards per game to get over 1,000 yards for the season.
DeForest Buckner
DeForest Buckner has been the best pass rusher on this defensive unit, and he leads the team with six sacks this season. He needs four more sacks to reach double-digit sacks for the first time in his career and needs just half a sack more to reach his career high for a season.
Fred Warner
Fred Warner has had a very solid season for the 49ers and looks like one of the league’s most intriguing rookies. He leads the 49ers with 77 total tackles and ranks fourth amongst rookies in that same category. If he plays in all six remaining games for the 49ers, he would need to average about four tackles per game to eclipse 100 tackles for the season.
Robbie Gould
Robbie Gould has been one of the most dependable players on the roster, and he has nearly become automatic on field goal attempts. Gould is tied for second in the league in field goal percentage, having gone 21 for 22 in his 10 games this season for the 49ers.
Matt Bryant is the only qualified kicker this season who has a better percentage than Gould, as Bryant has gone a perfect 13 for 13 on his attempts. There’s a really good chance that Gould can finish this season with the best field goal percentage in the league, and he has proven to be one of the best in the game these last couple seasons.
