What we learned from 49ers' initial cuts before season opener
The 49ers on Saturday made the necessary moves to whittle their roster to the regular-season limit.
The club finished the day with 52 players on their 53-man roster -- an apparent calculation to go ahead and create a spot for linebacker Fred Warner, who remained on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Here some of the top takeaways from analyzing the 49ers’ initial regular-season roster.
Nothing that general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan agreed upon was shocking. Far from it, in fact.
The biggest decision probably was to select first-year inside linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles over veteran safety Johnathan Cyprien. The 49ers went with a sixth linebacker -- assuming Warner soon gets cleared -- over a fifth safety.
Flannigan-Fowles gives the 49ers versatility at a lower price tag. He has more special-teams value than Cyprien, who started 71 games over his first seven NFL seasons.
The 49ers’ initial 53-man roster suggests the club expects center Ben Garland to be cleared from the ankle injury he sustained early in camp. Garland stepped in last season and played well in the final three regular-season games and the postseason.
After Garland’s injury, the 49ers moved Daniel Brunskill to center. But they soon discovered he is much better at right guard, where he appears to be ticketed for the starting job.
If the 49ers were not confident Garland was ready to go, they would have kept recently signed Hroniss Grasu on the roster to open the season as the starting center.
The 49ers hope to have Weston Richburg back at the mid-point of the season as he continues to rehab from a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.
After wide receiver Deebo Samuel underwent June surgery to repair a Jones fracture on his left foot, Lynch figured the 49ers would not have him available for at least the first six games of the regular season.
Whether Samuel suits up Sept. 13 against the Arizona Cardinals in the opener will be determined by how he looks and feels in practices this week, but the 49ers are confident he will be available long in advance of their original timeframe.
Samuel was activated off the non-football injury list, which makes him eligible to play Week 1. The 49ers also hope rookie Brandon Aiyuk will be available after missing a couple weeks in camp with a hamstring injury.
The 49ers have two outstanding edge rushers in nickel situations. And they are going to have to rely a lot on Nick Bosa and Dee Ford for a while.
Ronald Blair remained on the physically-unable-to-perform list. The 49ers are not going to rush him back after he sustained a torn ACL last November against the Seattle Seahawks. He is eligible to return in Week 7.
Dion Jordan did not pan out this summer and was cut. That leaves the 49ers with only one true nickel edge rusher, Kerry Hyder, behind Bosa and Ford.
Each of the other six defensive linemen on the roster is better-suited to rushing the passer from defensive tackle. Bosa and Ford both missed significant practice time in camp with leg muscle strains. The 49ers, however, believe they are ready to go.
The 49ers return the nucleus of the team that went 13-3, won the NFC West and cruised through the playoffs before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
All but four full-time starters are back this season. But the 49ers also begin the season with 14 players who were not on their 53-man roster for Super Bowl LIV.
That list includes six players who finished last season on injured reserve: Jerick McKinnon, Trent Taylor, D.J. Jones, Kentavius Street, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Jason Verrett.
There are eight newcomers to the organization who won roster spots: Brandon Aiyuk, Jordan Reed, Charlie Woerner, Trent Williams, Tom Compton, Colton McKivitz, Javon Kinlaw and Kerry Hyder.
