All eyes on 49ers' Kalia Davis, who'll have a big role Sunday — and also next year
Sunday's game is an opportunity for upcoming free agents Javon Kinlaw and Kevin Givens and for Davis, who could have a bigger role in 2024.
theathletic.com
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers were deep into the euphoria stage of Sunday’s blowout in Philadelphia — the time when rookies, understudies and seldom-seen guys are tapped for mop-up duty — when Jalen Hurts attempted to take off from the pocket.
He didn’t get far. A defensive tackle with dreadlocks and an unfamiliar number, 93, pounced on him after a few steps.
It was Kalia Davis with his first NFL sack. Davis quickly popped to his feet, ran a few steps toward the 49ers sideline, leaned back and rubbed his belly in exaggerated circles, which of course is Arik Armstead’s long-established sack celebration.
The sideline erupted. Armstead, out of the game at that point, rubbed his belly back at his position mate. So did Brock Purdy and half a dozen other 49ers. George Kittle, Jauan Jennings and Aaron Banks shouted their approval.
“Everybody on the sideline was so excited,” defensive coordinator Steve Wilks recalled this week. “You saw Deebo (Samuel), you saw Trent (Williams), you saw Juice (Kyle Juszczyk) — everybody — was so excited for him. And that’s just how this team is, you know? Very unselfish players.”
The reaction was due in part to the homage Davis paid to Armstead, who’s the longest-tenured 49er and has the role of protective older brother on the defensive line. Inside team headquarters, Armstead, 30, is known as “Blueprint” because he does everything right and is a model for the other linemen. He left the Eagles game with a foot injury and won’t play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks due to that issue and a knee injury sustained in Philadelphia.
Mostly, the sideline elation was an acknowledgment of Davis’ long wait. Before Sunday, he’d been a healthy scratch for every game this season. Only one other player, linebacker Jalen Graham, has been in a similar situation. Graham, however, is just a rookie. Davis spent the 2022 season on the 49ers’ non-football injury list as he recovered from an ACL tear suffered in college the season prior, meaning his wait has been significantly longer. His previous regular-season action had come Oct. 9, 2021, the day he hurt his knee while playing for Central Florida.
“It was just seeing him in the pads,” Jennings said about his reaction to the sack. “Every time I see someone new in the pads on the field, it makes me think about the first time I was out there, man. I even think about his mom, his parents, his friends. That’s what it’s all about. It’s all about the memories. It’s something he’ll never forget. He went out there and got a sack, man. I’d be fired up.”
“I mean, it was his first game,” Samuel said. “It was big. And you could see how happy he was. He was so in the moment, he didn’t even know what celebration to do. So he pulled out the Arik celebration.”
Told what Samuel said, Davis laughed and said that was true.
“The reality is that I didn’t have a sack dance ready,” he said. “But my mind was working quick. So I said, ‘OK, Arik’s hurting a little bit. Let me show him some love.’”
The gesture also was appropriate considering that Davis will be one of three players — Javon Kinlaw and Kevin Givens are the others — filling in for Armstead against the Seahawks.
The biggest role will fall to Kinlaw, who also notched his first sack of 2023 in Philadelphia. In fact, he got two — one in the first quarter and another in the second. He ended the day with five quarterback pressures in what was by far his most prominent performance of the season. He’ll start in place of Armstead against Seattle, an opportunity to show that he’s fully recovered from the knee issues that hampered him over the last two seasons and can help keep the 49ers defense rolling even without one of its key members.
“He’s really been consistent these last couple of weeks,” Wilks said of Kinlaw. “I love the way he’s playing with a lower pad level. Really, as we talk about all the time, (we’re) trying to create a new line of scrimmage, playing on their side of the ball. Everything we do is about penetration, and you can see that with him.”
Davis, meanwhile, ought to give fans a glimpse of the future.
Despite all the attention the team paid to its defensive line this year, the 49ers promise to be a bit threadbare at the position when the new league year begins in March. Kinlaw and Givens will be unrestricted free agents. So will Chase Young and Clelin Ferrell, while Randy Gregory is owed no money beyond this season.
The team has three defensive ends under contract for next season: Nick Bosa, Drake Jackson and Robert Beal Jr., who only recently was placed on the active roster and who hasn’t played a snap this season. The defensive tackles signed for 2024 are Armstead, Javon Hargrave and Davis, signaling that the 49ers expect Davis to have a meatier role next season.
The early signs are good.
“For him to seize (the opportunity) the way he did this past week was gratifying for not only him, but for everybody,” Wilks said. “Good pad level. He’s very strong. I love the way he comes off the ball, uses his hands well, and good lateral movement where he can shed and get down the line of scrimmage and chase things down. He’s going to be getting a lot of reps here coming up soon.”
The reaction was due in part to the homage Davis paid to Armstead, who’s the longest-tenured 49er and has the role of protective older brother on the defensive line. Inside team headquarters, Armstead, 30, is known as “Blueprint” because he does everything right and is a model for the other linemen. He left the Eagles game with a foot injury and won’t play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks due to that issue and a knee injury sustained in Philadelphia.
Mostly, the sideline elation was an acknowledgment of Davis’ long wait. Before Sunday, he’d been a healthy scratch for every game this season. Only one other player, linebacker Jalen Graham, has been in a similar situation. Graham, however, is just a rookie. Davis spent the 2022 season on the 49ers’ non-football injury list as he recovered from an ACL tear suffered in college the season prior, meaning his wait has been significantly longer. His previous regular-season action had come Oct. 9, 2021, the day he hurt his knee while playing for Central Florida.
“It was just seeing him in the pads,” Jennings said about his reaction to the sack. “Every time I see someone new in the pads on the field, it makes me think about the first time I was out there, man. I even think about his mom, his parents, his friends. That’s what it’s all about. It’s all about the memories. It’s something he’ll never forget. He went out there and got a sack, man. I’d be fired up.”
“I mean, it was his first game,” Samuel said. “It was big. And you could see how happy he was. He was so in the moment, he didn’t even know what celebration to do. So he pulled out the Arik celebration.”
Told what Samuel said, Davis laughed and said that was true.
“The reality is that I didn’t have a sack dance ready,” he said. “But my mind was working quick. So I said, ‘OK, Arik’s hurting a little bit. Let me show him some love.’”
The gesture also was appropriate considering that Davis will be one of three players — Javon Kinlaw and Kevin Givens are the others — filling in for Armstead against the Seahawks.
The biggest role will fall to Kinlaw, who also notched his first sack of 2023 in Philadelphia. In fact, he got two — one in the first quarter and another in the second. He ended the day with five quarterback pressures in what was by far his most prominent performance of the season. He’ll start in place of Armstead against Seattle, an opportunity to show that he’s fully recovered from the knee issues that hampered him over the last two seasons and can help keep the 49ers defense rolling even without one of its key members.
“He’s really been consistent these last couple of weeks,” Wilks said of Kinlaw. “I love the way he’s playing with a lower pad level. Really, as we talk about all the time, (we’re) trying to create a new line of scrimmage, playing on their side of the ball. Everything we do is about penetration, and you can see that with him.”
Davis, meanwhile, ought to give fans a glimpse of the future.
Despite all the attention the team paid to its defensive line this year, the 49ers promise to be a bit threadbare at the position when the new league year begins in March. Kinlaw and Givens will be unrestricted free agents. So will Chase Young and Clelin Ferrell, while Randy Gregory is owed no money beyond this season.
The team has three defensive ends under contract for next season: Nick Bosa, Drake Jackson and Robert Beal Jr., who only recently was placed on the active roster and who hasn’t played a snap this season. The defensive tackles signed for 2024 are Armstead, Javon Hargrave and Davis, signaling that the 49ers expect Davis to have a meatier role next season.
The early signs are good.
“For him to seize (the opportunity) the way he did this past week was gratifying for not only him, but for everybody,” Wilks said. “Good pad level. He’s very strong. I love the way he comes off the ball, uses his hands well, and good lateral movement where he can shed and get down the line of scrimmage and chase things down. He’s going to be getting a lot of reps here coming up soon.”
