SANTA CLARA \u2014 Cuts are days away. The season opener is in two weeks. The Niners don\u2019t seem particularly ready for either, but at least the preseason is over.<\/p>\n
Here are the studs and duds from Saturday\u2019s exhibition finale, a 30-23 Niners win, which was, more importantly, the last chance for players to show they deserve to play for this team in September<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcaa STUDS<\/p>\n
Jordan Elliott, DT
\u00bb It\u2019s hardly ideal that Elliott was playing on Saturday, but if you\u2019re a veteran being asked to play serious snaps in a third preseason game, you might as well make flash plays.<\/p>\n
Elliott was a game-wrecker in the middle against the Chargers\u2019 second and third-string offensive lines. If he was on the roster bubble, he should have played his way off it Saturday.<\/p>\n
Thomas Morstead, P
\u00bb His 51-yard punt, his fourth amid eight total punts in the first quarter, was such a beauty that returner Luke Grimm (nominative determinism with his chances to make the roster) couldn\u2019t handle it. The Niners certainly upgraded at punter this offseason.<\/p>\n
Tanner Mordecai, QB<\/p>\n
\u00bb At least one No. 4 had a good game.<\/p>\n
The ball started moving when he came in for the injured Connor Bradley. Neither of the quarterbacks we saw Saturday will make the regular-season roster, but Mordecai would be a good practice-squad option for the Niners.<\/p>\n
Nick Martin, LB<\/p>\n
\u00bb He played snaps from scrimmage in the second half (it seems as if first-string special-teams players weren\u2019t asked to go double duty in the first half) and immediately forced a fumble. He also had a great run stop in the backfield. In short, he popped. There are still countless questions bout the rookie linebacker, but there\u2019s no denying that he brings some boom with the bust and has improved throughout training camp. It\u2019s an encouraging trajectory.<\/p>\n
Jeff Wilson Jr., RB <\/p>\n
\u00bb The trade for Brian Robinson had little to do with Wilson, but the Niners have to keep the veteran, right? He looked really good on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcc9 DUDS<\/p>\n
Jake Moody, K<\/p>\n
\u00bb What are we doing here? He missed another kick Saturday, pulling an extra point left of the uprights. In the third quarter, he put a kickoff so far out of bounds that it nearly took out a cheerleader.<\/p>\n
Moody didn\u2019t \u201cwin\u201d the kicking competition, and he isn\u2019t worthy of a roster spot. If he hadn\u2019t been picked No. 99 in 2023, he\u2019d already be out the door.<\/p>\n
The Niners are issuing a textbook case of the sunk-cost fallacy and are doubling down on it with every game Moody plays.<\/p>\n
Saturday must be his last game in a 49ers uniform.<\/p>\n
Connor Bradley, QB<\/p>\n
\u00bb That was a tough watch Saturday. It was even tougher for him to play through, as he was battered and beaten behind a porous offensive line.<\/p>\n
Matt Hennessy, C<\/p>\n
\u00bb The 49ers\u2019 depth center might have put out the worst performances of any player with a chance to make the roster in camp. (At least Moodt made a few.) Saturday was another woeful performance where he failed to block, snap the ball cleanly, or adjust protections (which, to be fair, I doubt the Niners allow him to do). There\u2019s simply no reason for him to make the 53-man roster. If he does, it\u2019s a big red flag heading into the season.<\/p>\n
Isaac Guerendo, RB<\/p>\n
\u00bb The Niners issued a vote of no-confidence in the second-year Louisville product on Friday, when the team traded for running back Brian Robinson.<\/p>\n
Guerendo made the Niners look oh-so-smart with his performance Saturday. Guerendo might be a weapon in outside zone runs, but in an offense that\u2019s going to run more gap-scheme runs and inside zone, it\u2019s clear that No. 31 lacks the vision and tight-window running ability necessary to show off his prodigious running talent.<\/p>\n
To his credit, Guerendo did have a nice special teams play to cap the first quarter, leading the coverage unit down the field, but then he injured his shoulder on the play. He returned and continued to do little.<\/p>\n
Skyy Moore, WR<\/p>\n
\u00bb An ugly drop, questionable punt returns. He had one nice kick return, but Moore hardly impressed in his 49ers debut. Junior Bergen couldn\u2019t do that?<\/p>\n
Junior Bergen, WR<\/p>\n
\u00bb Oh, I guess he couldn\u2019t. Bergen muffed a fourth-quarter punt in the most emphatic of ways. At least he\u2019ll be easy to get onto the practice squad, now. That\u2019s if the Niners even want to bother keeping him around.<\/p>\n
Evan Anderson, DT<\/p>\n
\u00bb He\u2019s a serviceable player, but you can\u2019t pick up two flags in a preseason game when you\u2019re on the roster bubble. Do the Niners have enough bodies to knock him off the 53?<\/p>\n
Drake Nugent, C<\/p>\n
\u00bb The Niners tried him at center again after a surprisingly impressive stint at guard, and he almost allowed Bradley to be killed on a blitz from linebacker Marlowe Wax. For a team that\u2019s looking for answers on the interior of the offensive line, he missed his opportunity this preseason to prove that he is one.<\/p>\n
WR coach Leonard Hankerson and the 49ers\u2019 offensive coaching staff<\/p>\n
\u00bb How many illegal formation penalties did the Niners have Saturday? I lost count after four. I understand the field was littered with soon-to-be cut players and new guys, but San Francisco\u2019s sloppy play did little to discourage the idea that this team isn\u2019t ready for Week 1.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: August 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2014 Cuts are days away. The season opener is in two weeks. The Niners don\u2019t seem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[3805,2356,10831,71079,2558,349,560,71080,10840,10843,99,362],"class_list":["post-107956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-inside-sports","tag-inside-the-san-francisco-49ers","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}