San Francisco

49ers

Okuayinonu totaled 30 tackles, 28 quarterback pressures and three sacks for the 49ers last season. He will be eligible to return in Week 5. Losing him softens San Francisco’s pass rush in the short term.

Kareem spent the last two seasons as a Falcons backup, totaling eight tackles and nine quarterback pressures. He will now fly to Australia ahead of the 49ers’ Week 1 game against the Rams.

While Barrows’ statement is agreeable, it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The 32-year-old tight end is returning from an Achilles tendon rupture and was a close call to even make the trip to Australia, so a snap count of sorts makes sense. For fantasy managers who can afford to take a wait-and-see approach, it might be worthwhile. He has reportedly had a great recovery and his resumé is as good as it gets at the tight end position. He will likely be ranked as a low-end TE1 by default in Week 1 against the Rams.

In his projected depth chart, Barrows lists Stribling as both the starting slot receiver and the No. 2 X-receiver. He does not place Stribling on the Z-receiver depth chart, which could mean the rookie wide receiver has not yet earned a role in two-wide receiver sets. Veteran WR Deebo Samuel is the starting Z-receiver, though Barrows already reported that Samuel will take only “a portion” of the overall Z-receiver snaps. It would be surprising to see Nos. 2-3 Z-receivers, Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing, play ahead of Stribling when Samuel needs a breather, but the season is long and Stribling can always change Barrows’ mind. Early in the year, Stribling is likely best treated as a WR4/FLEX candidate. Were Evans to miss time, Stribling would seemingly slide into a full-time starting role.

Bosa suffered a torn ACL in Week 3 last year and is still working his way back. He was back on the practice field today and is on track to play in Australia versus the Rams next week. Bosa got off to a hot start last year, logging a sack in each of his first two games before exiting Week 3 a few snaps in. If he can return to form quickly, the 49ers defense should take a step forward this year.

Evans missed the bulk of training camp with quad, groin, and abductor injuries. The team took a cautious approach to his practice regimen during the offseason, and it seems to have paid off with him back on the field today. Evans’ status on the 49ers’ practice report next week will be one of the bigger storylines for the 49ers, but all signs point to him being healthy for Week 1. Fantasy managers can keep drafting him as a low-end WR2 for the final week of the summer.

This, according to Rapoport, comes after “two positive days” of practice for the veteran tight end, coming off a late-season Achilles injury. Kittle is “trending in the right direction” to play against the Rams in the first game of the NFL season, and the first-ever game in Australia. It’s possible the 49ers will have a pitch count for Kittle coming into the season. If he suits up against the Rams, Kittle will be a risky low-end TE1 option in 12-team leagues. He had nine catches for 84 yards and a touchdown in his only game against LA in 2025.

Evans’ Week 1 status is starting to look iffy after missing most of the past few weeks with various injuries. Entering his age-33 season, Evans will need to log at least a couple practices next week if he’s going to suit up against the Rams in the season opener. Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said Evans is “ahead of schedule doing good. But we know with Mike and where he is at in his career, we’ll definitely have to treat him differently.” An Evans absence would be a marked boost for De’Zhaun Stribling and perhaps Deebo Samuel. Evans will be a name to watch in the coming days.

Williams is still recovering from an ACL tear from last November. The 49ers will start him out on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, meaning the second-year pass rusher will miss at least the first four games of the season. Without the 2025 first-round pick in the pass-rush rotation to start the year, the 49ers will rely on Keion White to try and fill the void.

Herbert was a camp body for the 49ers when several of their running backs were banged up, but the room is fairly healthy now. He could wind up on San Francisco’s practice squad. Also waived/released were OL Isaac Alarcon, DL Evan Anderson, TE Khalil Dinkins, DL Bryson Eason, DL Viliami Fehoko Jr., LB Jalen Graham, WR Wesley Grimes, DL Jah Joyner, CB Darrell Luter Jr., QB Adrian Martinez, RB Sincere McCormick, S Patrick McMorris, OL Drake Nugent, WR Will Pauling, CB Jakob Robinson, CB Eli Apple, DL Quinton Bell, S Ashtyn Davis, WR KhaDarel Hodge, WR Trenton Irwin, LB Deion Jones, OL Robert Jones, OL Doug Kramer Jr., DL Ogbo Okoronkwo, OL Brandon Parker, WR Malik Turner, P Corliss Waitman, and LS Jon Weeks.