The San Francisco 49ers play the 2nd of 3 preseason games tonight as they travel to face the Los Angeles Chargers â here’s everything you need to know to watch.
- Who: San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Chargers
- Where: SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California)
- Time: 10 p.m. EST
- TV: NFL Network
- Odds: SF -1.5, O/U 38.5
San Francisco lost its preseason opener to the Tennessee Titans, 19-13, on August 13.
The 49ers close out the preseason on Thursday, August 27, on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders, then hit the road to face the Los Angeles Rams in their regular-season opener on Thursday, September 10, in Melbourne, Australia.
What to Watch for With San Francisco 49ers
While the 49ers won’t have their stars out on the field, 1 player to watch in particular will be rookie 2nd-round pick and wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling.
Stribling, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2nd round, led the 49ers with 7 receptions for 63 yards in a 19-13 preseason loss to the Tennessee Titans. He did so on just 8 targets, and had all 7 receptions in the 1st half.
CBS Sports NFL reporters John Breech and Zachary Pereles singled Stribling out as 1 of the NFLâs âBiggest Winnersâ following the 1st round of preseason games.
From CBS Sports: âKyle Shanahan made the decision to bench most of his starters against the Titans on Thursday, which makes sense, because training camp has been a battle of attrition for the 49ers. Everyone is injured. However, Stribling is healthy and he might have been the best offensive player on the field for the 49ers. He caught seven passes for 63 yards against the Titans and he did all of that in just one half of play. If you have a fantasy draft coming up, you might want to think about taking Stribling. With Ricky Pearsall out for the season, Stribling could definitely make a name for himself in San Francisco as a rookie.â
49ers Called Out for âHead Scratcherâ Draft Pick
The 49ers surprised everyone in the football-loving world by taking Stribling with the opening pick of the 2nd round.
After a full offseason of moves, the Stribling pick is still whatâs befuddling NFL experts, including ESPNâs Seth Walder, who singled out drafting Sibling as the move he disliked the most for the 49ers in handing out his annual offseason grades.
âJauan Jennings left in free agency (for cheap) for the Vikings, but the 49ers also added Christian Kirk and used its first draft selection on Stribling at pick No. 33,â Walder wrote on June 30. âThe Stribling selection was a bit of a head-scratcher. Heâd been a late riser, but this was a reach â and reaching in the draft is bad process.â
Stribling wonât exactly be cheap, either. As the 1st pick of the 2nd round, heâs getting relatively big money compared to 2nd-round picks of years past on a 4-year, $13.3 million contract.
Now, however, with Pearsall out for the year and veteran free-agent signee Mike Evans already dealing with injury issues, it seems like a genius move.
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