The 49ers defense has struggled to stop anybody of late, making the challenge of trying to slow down Seahaawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in their crucial Week 18 matchup decidedly more ominous.
Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receiving yards (1,709), emerging as one of the NFL’s most dynamic playmakers and the obvious focal point of the Seattle attack.
He started his hugely impressive season with a 124-yard performance against the 49ers in Week 1, one in which he gashed them for 13.8 yards per reception.
The 49ers will be desperate to avoid a repeat of those struggles against Smith-Njigba, though on the evidence of this season, there is only one player in the San Francisco secondary equipped to keep him in check.
And, unsurprisingly, Deommodore Lenoir is lobbying to follow Smith-Njigba throughout the game and shoulder the responsibility of slowing him down.
“Hopefully I get to shadow JSN,” Lenoir told reporters. “I’m ready for this. I hope he ready. Man to man coverage me and him. That’s what I want.”
It’s unclear whether Lenoir will get that opportunity, with Kyle Shanahan non-committal when asked about the idea in Tuesday’s press conference.
“I know DMo well enough to know that’s what he wants every week,” Shanahan said.
“So, him lobbying for it really hard just makes me like him more. But, it would have to do with what was the best for our team schematically and what we were going to do.”
He added of the challenge of defending Smith-Njigba:
“Huge. Everyone knows how good he has been this year in the whole league. I think he’s their leading receiver in every game but one. He’s obviously extremely talented as most first-round guys are, but it’s hard to know unless they’re rated on Madden and their awareness rating. But, I would guess his real-life awareness rating is off the chart. He’s got very good feel in zones, how to move around. He almost plays in slow motion, but he’s one of the fastest guys out there, so a lot of respect for him.”
The issue for the 49ers in terms of Lenoir following the Seahawks’ top pass-catcher is that Smith-Njigba plays inside and out. He has played the vast majority of his snaps on the outside this season, but the former Ohio State star still plays regularly in the slot. Lenoir is an excellent slot defender, but him tracking Smith-Njigba would mean taking rookie starting slot corner Upton Stout off the field.
Stout is not an outside corner, so cannot switch with Lenoir. While taking him off the field is not a problem in isolation, Lenoir moving inside would leave a giant void on the outside, even with Renardo Green likely returning from a neck issue.
The decision is essentially a question of who the 49ers trust more.
They obviously have faith in Lenoir to defend any of the Seahawks’ pass-catchers, but are they willing to entrust Darrell Luter Jr. with defending the outside when he kicks inside, or will they instead continue to ride the rollercoaster with the improving Stout and pray that he can contain Smith-Njigba when he plays from the slot? The answer they come to will play a key role in determining the destination of the one seed.
