The first half of the 2024 NFL regular season has come to a close for the San Francisco 49ers.
They enter the Bye Week with a 4-4 record at the midway point of their season. While the 49ers enjoy their time off to rest and regroup, it makes for the perfect time to hand out midseason awards. 49ers on Sports Illustrated names the players who are the midseason offensive and defensive most valuable players, surprises, and disappointments.
Offensive MVP
Jose: It has to be George Kittle. How can it be anyone else but him? He’s been their most consistent and dominant player since Week 1. This season has seen Kittle perform arguably better than ever. He’s blocking tremendously in the run game as usual, but most importantly he’s been phenomenal as a receiver. He’s easily been the 49ers’ best receiver this year, especially in the red zone. Kittle has caught 12-of-13 passes for 76 yards and six touchdowns there, per Next Gen Stats. Featuring Kittle more in the second half of the season is one of the keys for the 49ers to score more and return to being a high-level offense again.
Grant: Kittle is the correct answer for all the reasons Jose mentioned, so I’ll give an honorable mention: Jordan Mason. The 49ers would have been in big trouble the first eight games of the season if he hadn’t stepped up. Heading into Week 1, the 49ers thought they’d have Christian McCaffrey for the entire season, but bilateral Achilles tendonitis has kept him off the field. In addition, Elijah Mitchell is on Injured Reserve, and Isaac Guerendo isn’t quite ready to carry the entire load in the running game. Through eight games, Mason is the NFL’s third-leading rusher behind only Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. Not bad.
Defensive MVP
Jose: How about the guy who singlehandedly kept the 49ers alive in Week 2 against the Vikings? I’m referring to none other than Fred Warner. He’s been a monster this season. Much like with Kittle, Warner is arguably having his best season. It’s probably because he knows he has to since he’s the only impactful linebacker the 49ers have. He’s registered four forced fumbles, three pass breakups, and two interceptions. That’s only from one half of the season played. Those numbers will surely increase in the second half. What’s even more impressive is that Pro Football Focus has Warner graded as the best coverage defender in the NFL. A linebacker isn’t supposed to be this elite in pass coverage. Warner continues to be a mind-blowing player.
Grant: Again, Jose is 100 percent correct, so I’ll go with an honorable mention: Deommodore Lenoir. He quietly has become the best player in the 49ers secondary and one of the 10 best cornerbacks in the NFL. Through eight games, he has allowed a quarterback rating of just 63.3 when targeted. That’s because he’s extremely confident and he backs down from no one. And on a team that’s suffering mightily from the Super Bowl hangover, Lenoir is one of the few players who has been locked in all season. No one plays harder than he does.
Offensive Surprise Player
Jose: Brock Purdy has my vote. Never could I have imagined he would be a player who is continuously chucking it to the intermediate part of the field and beyond the sticks. But that’s exactly what he’s been doing this season along with making a ton of plays with his legs. It’s been impressive to see him grow in these areas, which is likely because he doesn’t have Christian McCaffrey. Another aspect that is surprising to see from him is how much pressure he is placing on himself. Purdy is usually mentally strong, but this year seems like he’s in his head to a degree. As great as those plays he’s making with his legs and throwing deep, he’s spamming it a little too much. He needs to find that balance and remember he has amazing teammates who can do the work for him on dump-offs.
Grant: I’m going with Dominick Puni. He’s a rookie third-round pick who played every position except right guard in college, and now he’s one of the top right guards in the league. Go figure. Through eight games, Puni hasn’t given up a sack or even a quarterback hit. He has been so good, suddenly right tackle Colton McKivitz isn’t a complete liability in pass protection anymore. Call that the Puni Effect.
Defensive Surprise Player
Jose: Rookie safety Malik Mustapha wins it for me. I was not high on him when the 49ers drafted him. He has tremendous hard-hitting aggression like an old-school safety, which makes him perfect to play close to the line of scrimmage. It seemed like he would need to develop better coverage skills. However, the 49ers have been using him in coverage mostly and he’s done an excellent job there. The speed and range that Mustapha has displayed was surprising. He’s been targeted 10 times with only two catches allowed for 26 yards. Mustapha has been one of the bright spots on the 49ers’ defense. As NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal once said “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t familiar with your game.”
Grant: I’ve got to go with third-year defensive lineman Sam Okuayinonu. He was on the practice squad until Sept. 28. Now he has 3 sacks and 9 hurries in just 96 pass rush snaps. And he can rush from the edge or the interior. Which means he has emerged as the 49ers’ second-best pass rusher after Nick Bosa. And nobody had heard of this guy until a couple months ago. What an outstanding story. He should start after the bye week.
Offensive Disappointment
Jose: Head coach Kyle Shahanan, come on down and accept this award. How on earth are the 49ers the fifth-worst touchdown-scoring offense in the red zone this year? Not having Christian McCaffrey isn’t a valid excuse at all. The 49ers still have more offensive firepower than more than half of the league. He has all the ingredients to make for an excellent offense. Yet, he is struggling to keep them consistent. Now, some issues are also because of Purdy. But Shanahan needs to get him those easy throws again and scheme receivers open. The 49ers did that in the second half against the Cowboys and sure enough, it worked. Shanahan can’t use McCaffrey as his “spinach” like he’s “Popeye” when he returns. If that is the case, he is an overrated coach. Figure it out coming out of the Bye and get the offense back into its elite form.
Grant: I can’t argue with Jose’s points about Shanahan. Still, I would argue that Brandon Aiyuk was an even bigger disappointment before going down with a torn ACL and MCL. Aiyuk sat out the whole offseason because he wanted $30 million per season instead of $28 million per season. If he had accepted $28 million per, he could have gone to training camp and been ready for the season. But he held out for every penny he could, then was extremely rusty for the first seven games of the season. More the once he dropped a pass when he was wide open. And he’s under contract for another four seasons. Yikes.
Defensive Disappointment
Jose: There were a lot of expectations on safety Ji’Ayir Brown entering his second year. He showed a lot of promise filling in for Talanoa Hufanga last year, so he was poised to take the next step. Well, that next step is yet to be seen. Brown has been a fairly disappointing player this year. He’s been targeted 24 times allowing 14 catches for 236 yards. His passer rating allowed is an astonishing 102.1. Brown is a liability in coverage. He’s being outplayed by a rookie. Luckily, he reeled in a sweet interception against the Cowboys. Hopefully, that kickstarts him to step it up in the second half of the season.
Grant: The 49ers are paying Nick Bosa $34 million per season to dominate and close out games, and right now he’s doing neither. He’s still racking up lots of pressures, but he has just 4.5 sacks through eight games and he leads the 49ers in missed tackles with 10. Suddenly he lacks the urgency and attention to detail that made him so great when he was younger. He picks on the weaker of the opponent’s two offensive tackles all game and still doesn’t make a huge impact. The 49ers need the old Bosa back.
