49ers Camp — Aug 23: Stribling Hits 11 Catches in Two Games

De'Zhaun Stribling is up to 11 catches for 109 yards through two preseason games, and the second batch came with the starters. In Thursday's 41-17 win over the Chargers at SoFi Stadium, the rookie receiver caught three passes on Brock Purdy's opening drive and finished with four for 46, per Kirk Larrabee at 49ers Webzone, a week after going seven for 63 on eight targets against the Titans. Two days before the game he caught two contested red-zone touchdowns in the joint practice at the Chargers' facility, per David Bonilla at 49ers Webzone. The ledger keeps its honest column: he dropped a would-be score Thursday, one Kyle Shanahan called difficult but catchable — "That's his strength is his hands," per Larrabee — and he came out of Saturday's practice with a day-to-day shoulder injury, per Bonilla. But two games and two joint practices into his career, the second-round pick has produced against everyone he's faced, and opposing coach Robert Saleh's unprompted line from last week — "that Stribling kid is going to be pretty good" — is aging well.

The other rookie making noise is Kaelon Black. Back from the adductor injury that cost him about two weeks, the third-round pick had strong runs and an 8-yard touchdown catch from Adrian Martinez in Tuesday's joint practice, per Bonilla, then made his NFL debut Thursday and ran eight times for 33 yards in the first quarter alone. Shanahan, per Larrabee: "I was real happy with him... He ran real physical." Saturday he split carries with Jordan James, back from a rib fracture, and both scored in red-zone drills, per Bonilla. The conversation around Black has already promoted him — Casey Lima at 49ers Webzone framed Thursday as his chance to seize the number-two back job with Christian McCaffrey sidelined. The backdrop, per Lima, is a plan to trim McCaffrey's workload, which reached 413 touches last season. The reporting supports an audition going well, not a job won: Sincere McCormick answered in the same game with a 37-yard run and a 7-yard touchdown, per Brooke Evans at the team's website, and nobody covering this team has reported a decision. That one gets settled next Sunday, when the roster goes to 53.

The quarterback ledger was busy and mixed. Purdy's preseason debut was four of six for 29 yards on one drive before Mac Jones took over and went 6-of-13 for 89, per Brooke Evans; everything after that opening possession was backups against backups, filed as such — Jacob Cowing's 83-yard punt return touchdown, Martinez running the second half with a 17-yard scoring throw to Jordan Watkins, a 9-yard rushing score, and two interceptions, per Larrabee. Tuesday's joint practice was the week's bad day and Purdy said so: "Honestly, I don't think it was our best day... fundamentals were just a little off," per Bonilla, on an afternoon when Justin Herbert hit deep completions on Deommodore Lenoir and rookie corner Ephesians Prysock. Saturday back home was the fuller picture by Bonilla's charting — 9-of-15 with a 65-yard touchdown to Jake Tonges and a red-zone score to Mike Evans, closed by three straight forced incompletions.

The best defensive sign of camp keeps being Osa Odighizuwa. The trade acquisition generated steady interior pressure against the Chargers' line Tuesday, per Bonilla, a week after his pressure produced a pick-six and two would-be sacks against the Titans — and Purdy paid it the shortest compliment of the week, per David Lombardi at the SF Standard: "Osa is a baller." Fred Warner punched out a fumble in the same session, Jack Jones broke up a third-down throw in the end zone Thursday to force a field goal, per Brooke Evans, and Eli Apple picked off Mac Jones on Saturday. For a defense whose whole 2026 question is where the rush comes from, an interior winner showing up in consecutive joint practices is the one argument being made on the field rather than in a training room.

Which brings the ledger, briefly, because the facts haven't moved: Nick Bosa still has not practiced — nothing since August 3, with the knee tendinitis — and McCaffrey has not since August 8, though Shanahan says Bosa has "a lot less irritation, soreness, and tendinitis than he had last week" and that McCaffrey "would play today" if it were a game week, per Bonilla. The changes around them: Adam Schefter of ESPN reported George Kittle's Wednesday checkup on his repaired Achilles came back ahead of schedule, giving him a legitimate chance at the September 10 opener against the Rams in Melbourne — "I have a chance. We're running around a lot, hitting top speeds," per Angelina Martin at NBC Bay Area — while Shanahan called Mykel Williams, the other rehabbing edge, "a long shot" for Week 1, per Bonilla. Kurtis Rourke is still out with his rib injury, and the left guard race thinned instead of resolving — Carver Willis in the concussion protocol, Robert Jones out, Austin Pleasants hurting a knee Thursday — leaving Connor Colby the last healthy body, per Larrabee, with Shanahan saying the decision "never stops. It's always going."

Back in July we previewed San Francisco as a 12-win team our data wouldn't vouch for — 5-and-1 in one-score games on a last-in-the-league pass rush — with the season hanging on Brock Purdy's nine-game sample and on what's behind the front line if Bosa's knee doesn't deliver. We've been checking that preview against camp every week, and this week read the same way the whole month has: the offense keeps stacking evidence, now with rookie help, while the pass rush's best August argument is Odighizuwa, because its two edge rushers still haven't practiced. What to watch next: whether Bosa or McCaffrey takes a practice rep before Thursday's finale in Las Vegas, and what the August 30 cutdown says at left guard and running back. We'll check after cut day.

_Data via nflverse._