{"id":431560,"date":"2026-08-13T07:53:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/431560\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T07:53:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:53:03","slug":"five-49ers-to-watch-in-2026-nfl-preseason-opener-vs-titans-nbc-sports-bay-area-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/431560\/","title":{"rendered":"Five 49ers to watch in 2026 NFL preseason opener vs. Titans \u2013 NBC Sports Bay Area & California"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2014 Brock Purdy, Trent Williams, Deebo Samuel, Fred Warner and the 49ers\u2019 other healthy front-line players saw plenty of work Tuesday in a joint practice with the Tennessee Titans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And that is good enough for coach Kyle Shanahan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere won’t be many starters playing,\u201d Shanahan said of the 49ers\u2019 2026 NFL preseason opener Thursday night against the Titans at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/p>\n

Those top players will be spectators, as the spotlight shifts to the team\u2019s unproven players and the veterans who are fighting for spots on the regular-season roster.<\/p>\n

Here are five notable players to watch as each puts on a 49ers uniform for the first time:<\/p>\n

QB Kurtis Rourke<\/p>\n

A seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, quarterback Kurtis Rourke<\/a> did not suit up for the 49ers last year as he recovered from surgery to repair a torn ACL. Rourke toughed out his final season at Indiana with the knee condition.<\/p>\n

He has been learning the 49ers\u2019 system for more than a year. He is regularly seen after practice, going to a quiet corner of Levi\u2019s Stadium to continue to study and watch film after practice.<\/p>\n

On the field, his attributes are obvious. He is big and throws the ball very well. Rourke appears to be in good position to slot in as the 49ers\u2019 No. 3 quarterback behind Purdy and Mac Jones. His performance in the preseason could determine whether he wins a spot on the 53-man roster or if he\u2019ll be destined for the practice squad.<\/p>\n

LB Jaden Dugger<\/p>\n

Jaden Dugger, a\u00a0fifth-round pick from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is an ideal fit<\/a> for the new scheme and terminology that defensive coordinator Raheem Morris brought to the 49ers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dugger\u2019s college background consisted of one season at safety, one at edge and one at middle linebacker. In Morris\u2019 system, the so-called \u201cfever backer\u201d is a position that, in theory, can tap into all of those skills that Dugger exhibited in college.<\/p>\n

Dugger can do a little of everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a true 6-5, long arms and can run like a deer,\u201d 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner said. \u201cHe\u2019s not afraid of contact. He can play several different positions on the field. His retention of information, he plays with instincts. Those are things that can get you really excited about a player. But he is still a rookie. He makes rookie mistakes and he still makes rookie mistakes like anybody in that position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dugger will make mistakes, but the true test will be how quickly he can self-identify his errors and fix them.<\/p>\n

WR Will Pauling<\/p>\n

The 49ers eliminated one player from the competition for the team\u2019s punt return job. And wide receiver Will Pauling is still around.<\/p>\n

The 49ers on Wednesday waived Junior Bergen, a seventh-round pick last year. Bergen spent all of last season on the practice squad.<\/p>\n

Pauling has been impressive after signing with the 49ers as an undrafted rookie from Notre Dame. He did not handle punt-return chores in college, but he has looked surprisingly natural in that discipline. He receives high marks from 49ers wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson in an important area.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s tough, man,\u201d Hankerson said. \u201cI love Will. That kid comes in, he works, he stayed here the whole offseason. He\u2019s the hammer in the running game.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, he\u2019s been the most physical receiver, I’ll tell you that much.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Pauling can comfortably field punts in the preseason, he will put himself into strong contention for a roster spot.<\/p>\n

CB Ephesians Prysock<\/p>\n

The 49ers group of cornerbacks look vastly improved from a year ago, as they seem to have adapted well to Morris\u2019 coverage techniques.<\/p>\n

The 49ers selected cornerback Ephesians Prysock<\/a> in the fourth round of the draft, but he certainly is not assured a spot on the 53-man roster. The 49ers have good depth at cornerback in training camp with Prysock joining Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green, Upton Stout, Jack Jones, Darrell Luter, Nate Hobbs and Jakob Robinson.<\/p>\n

Prysock (6-foot-3, 196 pounds) has to prove that he has the fluidity to hang with NFL receivers, and he could face some promising young players with the Titans, including Carnell Tate, Wan\u2019Dale Robinson and Elic Ayomanor.<\/p>\n

LB Larry Worth III<\/p>\n

Larry Worth III received an invitation to the 49ers\u2019 rookie minicamp, and he made the most of that opportunity when he impressed enough to become the only tryout player the team signed to a contract.<\/p>\n

Worth (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) was a safety who walked on at Jacksonville State, where he played for two seasons before transferring to Arkansas. The 49ers see him as a versatile player \u2014 similar to Dugger \u2014 who can play on the line of scrimmage as well as off the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to take time to go from safety to linebacker,\u201d 49ers linebacker coach K.J. Wright said. \u201cIt is doable, but it\u2019s going to take some time. He\u2019s used to being on the back end, and now he\u2019s taking on a 300-pound lineman each and every play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Worth\u2019s development hits an inflection point as he goes up against the Titans in his first preseason game.<\/p>\n

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2014 Brock Purdy, Trent Williams, Deebo Samuel, Fred Warner and the 49ers\u2019 other healthy front-line players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[122461,122482,59159,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-431560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-ephesians-prysock","tag-jaden-dugger","tag-kurtis-rourke","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}