This can't be good.
Javon Hargrave appeared on the 49ers' injury report Thursday with an unspecified knee injury he apparently suffered during Thursday's practice. As a result, he was a limited practice participant on Thursday and Friday, and the 49ers have listed him as questionable for Sunday's game on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It's probably safe to assume Hargrave will play in the game after flying all the way across the country -- it's a must-win game for the 49ers, because they can't afford to lose four games in a row. It essentially is a playoff game. So anyone who can physically play probably will.
But if Hargrave indeed plays, how good will he be? He wasn't dominating before he injured his knee.
Hargrave was supposed to make the 49ers Super Bowl favorites. They gave him a four-year, $84 million contract because they thought adding him to the No. 1 defense in the league would be lethal. Last season on the Eagles, Hargrave recorded a whopping 11 sacks. The 49ers probably figured he'd be even more productive playing next to Nick Bosa.
But they were wrong. Through eight games, Hargrave has just 3 sacks, which shouldn't be a surprise, because last season was an aberration for Hargrave. Every other season of his career, he recorded somewhere between 2 and 7.5 sacks. The 49ers paid for production that Hargrave couldn't sustain.
They did the same thing with Arik Armstead. Gave him a five-year, $85 million contract after what they thought was a breakout season in which he had 10 sacks. Turns out that was another aberration. Since then, he's had 11 sacks in 3.5 seasons. And he'll be 30 next week, while Hargrave will be 31 in February.
Their slow decline is inevitable.
More must-reads: