SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Chase Lucas barely had time to celebrate Sunday night’s win when he heard that San Francisco 49ers teammate and pass rusher Bryce Huff had tweaked his hamstring on one of the final plays of the game.
“It’s unbelievable,” Lucas said. “Every week … we lose someone. But that’s OK. We will find a way. … We always do.”
The fourth-year cornerback has been one of many backups who have stepped up after injuries. In fact, he has been directly involved in two of the team’s biggest plays of the season. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh called Lucas “the ultimate energy giver.”
Lucas chuckled when I mentioned the preseason narrative that the 49ers had a lot of stars but no depth. (That was obviously incorrect. See the 5-2 record heading into Sunday’s game in Houston.)
“How can you call someone trash if you’ve never seen them play?” Lucas asked.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Lucas can play. He was a standout in the preseason to make the 53-man roster after being on the practice squad last year. He’s played defense in only three games this season, all wins. Sunday night against the Falcons, he had a pass breakup on fourth down and a quarterback hit in 35 snaps, after entering with just 30 career defensive snaps.
The coaching staff thinks so highly of him that Saleh called Lucas “invaluable” after practice on Thursday.
“He sees all the nuance in football, every little detail,” Saleh said. “He studies his butt off, and he’s giving juice to everybody. He’s talking smack with everybody.
“He plays corner, he plays nickel, he’s played safety. It’d be a disservice to try to explain how valuable he is. He is awesome.”
When he is not jumping pass routes, Lucas is throwing his body around, with no bigger occasion than the fourth-and-1 stop that won the Week 5 game against the Rams in Los Angeles. Lucas split the seam between two blockers and left Rams running back Kyren Williams to run into a wall of 49ers. Game over.
GAME.
📺: @NFLonPrime
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/IPxirQI2Y3— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 3, 2025
Then, in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, he read the way Falcons receiver Drake London lined up on fourth-and-1 and jumped in front of him. Lucas just missed the 49ers’ first interception of the year, but he did preserve their 13-10 lead.
There is a reason Lucas seems like he is a step ahead of his opposition, dating back to the preseason.
“Chase works his butt off,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “You guys see his energy with how much he talks. But that’s how he is all the time. I mean, he’s so involved with everything. He just, he can’t stay still — in a good way. He’s always talking about each play. He is so attentive, he’s running around and he’s always banking reps, even when he is not in.”
Lucas has instant recall and recognition after watching his opponent on tape all week.
“The motions and stuff,” Shanahan said. “There’s zero hesitation. He shoots his guns, plays fast, and I think that’s what gives him an advantage.”
Lucas has been primarily a special teams player since the Lions drafted him in the seventh round in 2022. But he’s been a student of the game since he played for two NFL head coaches in college, at Arizona State.
“Herm Edwards and Marvin Lewis showed us how to break down film and how to get points on our opponents,” Lucas said.
And then he was blown away when he saw the film cut-ups that Saleh and defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks gave him and his teammates every week.
“The cut-ups are just amazing, bro,” Lucas said. “So I don’t really gotta do much or look for much because it’s all right there.”
Lucas has come a long way from the practice squad and playing receiver on the scout team.
Shanahan calls him “our Energizer Bunny,” but Lucas is not one to beat his own drum. He always knew he could help an NFL team win, and here he is.
“I thank Kyle for the opportunity. I thank Coach Saleh and Daniel Bullocks for the opportunity,” he said. “I told them, ‘I’m going to leave it all out there, no matter what.’ I don’t care about being the guy. I just care about being the guy to make the play to win the game.”
And Lucas has already done that twice.
“There’s a young man who loves the game of football and everything that goes with it,” Saleh said. “And he is seizing the opportunity.”
