Can 49ers stop Cardinals' ground game amid defensive-line crisis? ‘It's definitely crazy'

Niners defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (92) is one of just three defensive linemen left standing from the nine who started the season on the active roster, and it's only Week 3. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images) Osa Odighizuwa is used to playing in every game. The San Francisco 49ers' ironman defensive tackle is not used to this: Not knowing who might be playing next to him in the 49ers' next game Sunday against the Cardinals.

dir="ltr">"I have never seen anything like this in my career, ever," Odighizuwa said. "It's definitely crazy."

dir="ltr">Odighizuwa, 28, a six-year veteran who was acquired in a trade in March and has played in 73 straight games, is one of the team's last defensive linemen left standing among the nine who were on the initial 53-man roster.

dir="ltr">There are three: Odighizuwa, Keion White and Gracen Halton.

dir="ltr">It's Week 3.

dir="ltr">"Things are just happening," Odighizuwa said. "A lot of football stuff. That is the game. But I've never seen it at this rate that's going on right now."

dir="ltr">Odighizuwa was speaking Thursday. Hours earlier, All-Pro pass rusher Nick Bosa had suffered a severe calf injury while warming up. Four days earlier, defensive tackles CJ West (knee) and James Thompson (ankle) joined defensive tackle Alfred Collins (knee), Sam Okuayinonu (foot) and Romello Height (hand) among the injured.

dir="ltr">"I was saying to one of my guys earlier, ‘It's like a horror movie,'" Odighizuwa said. "Every time I look up, somebody's gone. I'm like, ‘Bro, what is happening right now? It's just - it doesn't make any sense."

dir="ltr">It's tempting to say Odighizuwa is new here. This is life with the always injured 49ers. But the rash of injuries up front is wild - even for them - and it prompts a question: With battering-ram running back Tyler Allgeier and rookie Jeremiyah Love, the third overall pick, will the Cardinals try to run, and run, and run against the 49ers on Sunday at Levi's Stadium?

dir="ltr">"I definitely feel like they're going to try and run the ball as much as possible," Odighizuwa said.

dir="ltr">The 49ers will try to stop Arizona's ground game with help from three recently signed linemen - Naquan Jones, Khalid Kareem and Ogbo Okoronkwo - and two others who will be elevated from the practice squad before kickoff.

dir="ltr">That is, they'll be rolling with all these guys who are unrecognizable to even diehard fans due to all their injuries. Odighizuwa was asked: Was he told after he arrived that this is how the 49ers roll?

dir="ltr">"Again, I have never witnessed anything like this," he said. "It is definitely different. Even during (training) camp, I feel like … I don't even know what to say: They were just churning guys in and out."

dir="ltr">Brock vs. AZ:   The numbers would suggest quarterback Brock Purdy thoroughly enjoys playing the Cardinals.

dir="ltr">In four of his five career starts against Arizona, Purdy owns a passer rating of at least 130.0. In his other 42 career starts, Purdy has met or exceeded that number just nine times. Additionally, Purdy has thrown 12 touchdown passes against his divisional foe - the most of any team he has faced - and he owns a 4-1 record against them.

dir="ltr">When Purdy rattled off 18 straight completions Sunday against the Dolphins, it brought back memories of his dominant 2023 performance against the Cardinals: 20 of 21 (a franchise-record 95.2% completion rate) for 283 yards and a touchdown.

dir="ltr">The Cardinals are a different team now, however. Their first-year head coach, Mike LaFleur, worked under Kyle Shanahan from 2017 through 2020 as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. He knows the premise of what Shanahan wants to run, and where Purdy wants to throw the ball.

dir="ltr">Could that impact his performance?

dir="ltr">"See, there's some truth to that," tight end George Kittle said Thursday, "but at the same time: If you look at the Niners' offense this year compared to two years ago, it's completely different. If you look at it compared to when LaFleur was here, there's almost no plays that are similar besides, like, our basic lineup and run outside zone."

dir="ltr">Purdy should carve up a Cardinals secondary that ranks bottom-10 in expected points added per pass. But will he dominate as much as he has in the past? We shall see.

dir="ltr">Stout breakout: The 49ers' defense collected four sacks, four tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble and two pass breakups against the Dolphins. Defenders flew all over the place and wreaked havoc against QB Malik Willis.

dir="ltr">According to defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, nobody played a bigger role in that success than 5-foot-9 defensive back Upton Stout, whom Morris called San Francisco's defensive player of the game. Stout recorded half a sack, a pass breakup and one TFL.

dir="ltr">"He's a dawg. I mean, just watch the last game," Morris said. "He's absolutely outstanding. He was all over the place."

dir="ltr">Stout, a 2025 third-round pick out of Western Kentucky, has made the biggest Year 2 leap among 49ers draftees. A lot of that is because he is one of the class' lone healthy players. The 49ers' other Day 1 and Day 2 picks from that draft - Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins and Nick Martin - all reside on the injured reserve list or, in Williams' case, the physically unable to perform list. Stout and left guard Connor Colby, a seventh-rounder, are the two current starters from San Francisco's 2025 draft class.

dir="ltr">Stout's versatility has been a gift for Morris. He has used the 24-year-old primarily in the slot, but he has also worked on the outside and in the box at times. Despite his small stature, Stout causing chaos around the line of scrimmage has become a common sight early this season.

dir="ltr">After struggling for parts of his rookie season, Stout seems to have turned a corner.

dir="ltr">"The experience helps him play a lot faster," cornerback Renardo Green said, "because he can process and see things before the snap happens."

dir="ltr">Watkins' debut: Shanahan said healthy players who are inactive on game days often talk to their position coach or coordinator to ask what they need to do to get a uniform on game days. And sometimes they go directly to the head coach.

dir="ltr">After he was a healthy scratch in Week 1, second-year wide receiver Jordan Watkins spoke with Shanahan before last week's win over the Dolphins.

dir="ltr">"It was cool," Shanahan said.

dir="ltr">The conversation didn't result in Watkins getting on the field - he was inactive against Miami - but the 2025 fourth-round pick will make his season debut against Arizona because a next man up is needed.

dir="ltr">After his two-catch rookie season, Watkins will be elevated to the game-day roster because Demarcus Robinson suffered a high ankle sprain against the Dolphins. Despite his scant experience, it's possible Watkins could be asked to assume a prominent role.

dir="ltr">If Mike Evans (questionable, hip) can't play, the 49ers' available wideouts will be Watkins, Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing and KhaDarel Hodge, who is best known for his special-teams prowess.

dir="ltr">"At some moment in these games, we're going to need him," offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said of Watkins. "He's been working really hard. I'm really proud of how he's kind of approached these past few weeks of the season, just working on the scout team and getting ready to go."

dir="ltr">Watkins was slowed by ankle and calf injuries last year and played in only four games. Now an injury will give him the chance to play in his first game in 2026.

dir="ltr">"It's an opportunity I think he's ready for," Shanahan said.

SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Can 49ers stop Cardinals' ground game amid defensive-line crisis? ‘It's definitely crazy'.