How 8 former 49ers fared in their Week 1 debuts with their new teams

None of the San Francisco 49ers from a year ago signed lucrative deals like in years past. In fact, most are role players, with only a couple of starters. Still, we’ll track how former 49ers performed throughout the year. There’s no better week to do it than Week 1, when overreactions are rampant.

Jennings played 27 passing snaps in his Vikings debut. He was only targeted once across 19 routes. The target came 30 yards downfield. In terms of usage, Jennings ran 68.4% of his routes from the slot.

Jennings’ presence was felt in the running game:

Bourne was heavily involved in the Cardinals’ passing attack. Bourne had a higher target share than Mike Evans. He caught all eight targets for 75 yards and had three impact plays, but his average depth of target was five yards. He totaled 40 air yards.

He did hold onto his one contested catch and consistently moved the chains for Arizona. Bourne felt like Jacoby Brissett’s security blanket, being in the right place at the right time for his quarterback. Good for Bourne.

Burford starts at left guard for the Raiders. Burford allowed four pressures in 31 pass-blocking snaps. But that makes it sound like he had a bad game, and he didn’t. I watched most of that game, and the Raiders were running wild against the Dolphins. They had 10 rushes for 65 yards behind Burford. He had one clip where he pancaked his defender after moving him a gap over. Remember, it’s essentially Burford’s second season playing the position. I’ll be rooting for him.

Robinson played 18 snaps in his Falcons debut. He’s also Atlanta’s kickoff returner. Robinson returned a kick for 40 yards to begin the third quarter.

He had multiple carries in the first quarter. Despite gaining seven and 14 yards on individual carries, Robinson finished the day with 9 total carries for 31 yards.

He had a success rate of 33.3% (you want to be in the 40s), with a -1.39 rushing EPA. In fairness to Robinson, his longest run came when he was hit in the backfield. Robinson bounced off the tackle and picked up 14 yards. Three of his runs gained no yards or were losses.

The 49ers started Elliott and Kalia Davis in 2025. Davis is currently on the Browns’ injured reserve. Elliott played 20 snaps for Robert Saleh’s Titans.

He recorded two tackles and a run stop. Interestingly enough, Elliott dropped into coverage and was responsible for a reception. Unsurprisingly, Elliott did not generate a pass rush on nine snaps.

Beal, now going by Rob, played 29 snaps total. Fourteen of those came on defense, while the rest came across different special teams units. Beal is in the rotation, as he played as early as the first quarter for the Dolphins. His lone tackle came seven yards downfield, where he tackled Ashton Jeanty. Beal did not record any pressure stats.

Moore played 16 snaps with the Packers. They gave him a reverse in the first quarter, but a penalty negated it. Moore is Green Bay’s returner. He had one target. On 4th & 2, Jordan Love missed Moore with 1:31 remaining. The game was likely over, but Moore looked like he had a step on the defender and could’ve scored.

Winters played 39 snaps for Dallas in his debut. Like most Dallas defenders, Winters looked lost. He recorded four tackles and a stop, but also allowed all four of his targets to be completed for 40 yards, good for a quarterback rating of 108.3. Winters was the Cowboys’ fourth-lowest-graded defender, per PFF.