{"id":129317,"date":"2025-06-14T13:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T13:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/129317\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T13:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T13:11:09","slug":"49ers-53-man-roster-projection-before-training-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/129317\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers’ 53-man roster projection before training camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2013 That\u2019s a wrap on the 49ers\u2019<\/a> minicamp and offseason program, one that lacked drama for a welcome change and instead introduced a barrage of new teammates.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re six weeks shy of training camp and three months from opening the season in Seattle. A lot can change but here is a stab at how the initial 53-man roster might look:<\/p>\n

QUARTERBACK (3)<\/p>\n

Starter: Brock Purdy<\/a><\/p>\n

Backups: Mac Jones<\/a>, Tanner Mordecai<\/p>\n

Non-football injury list: Kurtis Rourke (knee)<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemma: If Jones tanks in camp, is Mordecai capable of leapfrogging him for the QB2 role and must that coincide with Rourke\u2019s ACL being ready as QB3?<\/p>\n

RUNNING BACK (4)<\/p>\n

Starters: Christian McCaffrey<\/a>, Kyle Juszczyk (FB)<\/p>\n

Backups: Isaac Guerendo, Jordan James<\/p>\n

Still in mix: Patrick Taylor Jr., Israel Abanikanda, Corey Kiner<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemmas: Will all make it to Week 1 healthy, especially McCaffrey? Could Kiner shine in the preseason and get claimed before the 49ers can stash him on the practice squad?<\/p>\n

WIDE RECEIVER (5)<\/p>\n

Starters: Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall<\/p>\n

Backups: Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins<\/a><\/p>\n

Physically unable to perform list: Brandon Aiyuk<\/a> (knee)<\/p>\n

Still in mix: Junior Bergen, Terique Owens, Isaiah Neyor, Russell Gage, Isaiah Hodgins, Malik Knowles<\/p>\n

Injured reserve: Trent Taylor (back)<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemmas: Robinson is expected to draw a three-game suspension for his November drunken-driving arrest while on the Rams, so the 49ers need to know when the NFL will issue that discipline and thus create the need for a fifth receiver on the opening roster. As much as they like Owens (son of Hall of Famer Terrell Owens), Neyor might be tougher to get through waivers and onto the practice squad. Also, a veteran addition may be needed if Aiyuk and Robinson are unavailable, so will it be Hodgins, Gage, Knowles or a player to be signed later?<\/p>\n

TIGHT END (3)<\/p>\n

Starter: George Kittle<\/p>\n

Backups: Luke Farrell, Ross Dwelley<\/p>\n

Still in mix: Jake Tonges, Brayden Willis, Mason Pline<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemmas: Are three enough while another one or two are stashed on the practice squad? Can Pline make a big enough jump in camp to warrant his 53-man debut?<\/p>\n

OFFENSIVE LINE (10)<\/p>\n

Starters: LT Trent Williams<\/a>, LG Ben Bartch, C Jake Brendel, RG Dominick Puni, RT Colton McKivitz<\/p>\n

Backups: Matt Hennessy, Nick Zakelj, Spencer Burford, Connor Colby, Andre Dillard<\/p>\n

Still in mix: Austen Pleasants, Zack Johnson, Drew Moss, Drake Nugent, Sebastian Gutierrez<\/p>\n

Suspended: Isaac Alarcon (four games, PED)<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemmas: The starting five seems set, unless Hennessy unseats Brendel and\/or Bartch loses out to Zakelj or Hennessy. Dillard\u2019s first practices will come at training camp, so will he prove an upgrade over Pleasants? Interior reserves could be ripe for a surprise.<\/p>\n

DEFENSIVE LINE (10)<\/p>\n

Starters: DE Nick Bosa<\/a>, DE Mykel Williams, DT Jordan Elliott, DT Alfred Collins<\/p>\n

Backups: DE Bryce Huff<\/a>, DT C.J. West, DE Yetur Gross-Matos, DT Evan Anderson, DE Sam Okuayinonu, DT Kevin Givens<\/p>\n

Still in mix: DE Robert Beal Jr., DT Kalia Davis, DE Jonathan Garvin, DT Tarron Jackson, DT Sebastian Valdez<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemma: Givens\u2019 experience trumps Davis\u2019 and Anderson\u2019s, but could the young defensive front go younger?<\/p>\n

LINEBACKER (6)<\/p>\n

Starters: Fred Warner, Dee Winters, Nick Martin<\/p>\n

Backups: Luke Gifford, Tatum Bethune, Nick Surratt<\/p>\n

In the mix: Jalen Graham, Stone Blanton<\/p>\n

PUP list: Curtis Robinson (knee)<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemma: Why not convert Graham (6-3, 220 pounds) back into a safety, where he played at Purdue?<\/p>\n

CORNERBACK (5)<\/p>\n

Starters: Deommodore Lenoir<\/a>, Renardo Green<\/p>\n

Backups: Upton Stout, Tre Brown, Chase Lucas<\/p>\n

In the mix: Dallis Flowers, Tre Avery, Darrell Luter Jr., Derrick Canteen, Siran Neal<\/p>\n

Injured reserve: Tre Tomlinson<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemma: Who will emerge as the No. 5 cornerback, because all legitimately could make a case to join Stout and Brown as backups?<\/p>\n

SAFETIES (4)<\/p>\n

Starters: Ji\u2019Ayir Brown, Jason Pinnock<\/p>\n

Backups: George Odum, Marques Sigle<\/p>\n

In the mix: Richie Grant, Jaylen Mahoney<\/p>\n

PUP: Malik Mustapha (knee)<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemma: Might they still add another veteran safety after practicing this offseason without Mustapha, Brown, Odum and Sigle?<\/p>\n

SPECIALISTS (3)<\/p>\n

Kicker: Greg Joseph<\/p>\n

Punter: Thomas Morstead<\/p>\n

Long snapper: Jon Weeks<\/p>\n

In the mix: K Jake Moody<\/p>\n

Biggest dilemma: Does Joseph have enough runway to unseat Moody, who\u2019s changed to a two-step approach on kicks after his sophomore struggles?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2013 That\u2019s a wrap on the 49ers\u2019 minicamp and offseason program, one that lacked drama for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,2947,1926,1443,7,1921,929,6,1161,252,2624,2623,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-129317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-49ers-hq","10":"tag-bay-area","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-inside-sports","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","18":"tag-sanfrancisco","19":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers","20":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114681891136342860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}