Rams-49ers: Five 49ers to watch

The NFC West long time rivalry continues as the Rams travel to take on Shanahan’s 49ers.

Rivalries. The NFL has many of them due to their division/conference structure and one rivalry that will continue to benefit is between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. With the Rams moving back to California, this matchup has only been reinvigorated. Here are some of the players to lookout for.

RB Matt Breida

With QB Jimmy Garoppolo out for the season, the 49ers have leaned a bit more on the running game. The biggest beneficiary of that is Matt Breida, a second year player out of Georgia Southern. Breida boasts a 6.8 yard per carry average and has 430 yards through six games (even while splitting carries with Alfred Morris). Breida has scored three touchdowns (two via ground and one through the air) and will continue to help in the passing game as well, evident by his 11 catches so far this season. The Rams defense may have their hands full with this speedy back.

WR Marquise Goodwin

Speaking of speed, there are few players as fast as former Olympian Marquise Goodwin. Goodwin had his best game of the season last week as he caught four passes for 126 yards and two long touchdowns. With CB Aqib Talib still out and Marcus Peters nursing some injuries, the Rams will have to defend the deep ball collectively and hopefully prevent big plays for Goodwin.

LB Reuben Foster

One of the first round picks for the 49ers in 2017, Foster has played well in his four games for 2018. Coming off his best game of the season with nine tackles against Green Bay, the young player looks to stop RB Todd Gurley.

TE George Kittle

The leading pass catcher for the 49ers is a tight end. The second leading pass catcher for the 49ers is a fullback. Kittle is building off a surprising rookie year in which he caught 43 passes for 515 yards. This season so far in six games Kittle has caught 27 passes for 429 (!!!!) yards. The Rams have struggled to cover the tight end this year so this will likely be a matchup the Rams have to focus on.

EDGE DeForest Buckner

After starting off the year with a monster game, Buckner has been relatively quiet. For the year, Buckner has 23 total tackles with 4.5 sacks. Buckner is versatile moving all across the defensive front lining up against the interior OL all the way out to outside the tight end. Look for the Rams OL to accept the challenge in limiting Buckner.

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