said they\u2019ll limit his touches<\/a> \u2014 a league- and career-high 413 last year. Considering how heavily the team has relied on him in the past, that promise falls into the \u201cwe\u2019ll believe it when we see it\u201d category.<\/p>\nJordan James: James\u2019 six carries last year came after halftime of San Francisco\u2019s 41-6 playoff loss to the Seahawks. Which is to say, he doesn\u2019t have much of a runway heading into his second NFL season. Still, the 49ers\u2019 notoriously hard-to-please offensive coaches liked how he practiced in the second half of his rookie season, an encouraging sign. James will have to hold off rookie Kaelon Black, who is two and a half years older, for the No. 2 role.<\/p>\n
Kaelon Black: As far as recent 49ers runners, perhaps Black compares best to Jordan Mason \u2014 except Black is more talented in the passing game. The 49ers considered him the second-best tailback in the draft after No. 3 pick Jeremiyah Love, which is interesting since the Seahawks took Jadarian Price at No. 32 (with Black going to the 49ers at No. 90).<\/p>\n
Patrick Taylor Jr.: After logging 172 offensive snaps for the 49ers in 2024, Taylor spent last season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. He probably won\u2019t get any regular-season touches unless the 49ers suffer a string of injuries \u2014 a scenario that occurred in 2024 when he started a Week 16 loss to the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
Isaac Guerendo:\u00a0The injury bug that\u2019s been biting Guerendo since college struck again in April when he tore a pectoral muscle while lifting weights. That won\u2019t scuttle his season, but it will cause him to miss most of training camp.<\/p>\n
Sincere McCormick: McCormick spent half the 2025 season on the 49ers\u2019 practice squad. During the offseason, they signed him, cut him, then re-signed him, signaling he might be the first to go if the team wants to kick the tires on other tailbacks this summer.<\/p>\n
Kyle Juszczyk (fullback): A last hurrah for Juszczyk? He\u2019s 35, not signed beyond this season and the team has parted ways with him (albeit briefly) before. Still, Juszczyk has done a masterful job at avoiding injuries over his career (he\u2019s missed seven of a possible 229 games, including playoffs, over 13 seasons) and fills a unique fullback\/H-back\/tight end role for the team.<\/p>\n
Wide receiver<\/p>\n
Mike Evans: The 12-year veteran seems determined to reinvent himself on a new coast following the first down season in his career (eight starts, 368 receiving yards) last year. Whether he can do so will go a long way in determining whether the 49ers can keep pace in a hyper-competitive NFC West.<\/p>\n
Ricky Pearsall: Perhaps no 49er has more to prove in 2026 than the 2024 first-round pick, who\u2019s teased with dazzling performances (281 yards in Weeks 1-3 last year) but so far hasn\u2019t been able to show off that talent for any significant stretches. The 49ers will have to decide on a fifth-year option for Pearsall after the season.<\/p>\n
De\u2019Zhaun Stribling: The first big challenge for all rookies, including this year\u2019s top pick: Hit the ground running in training camp after absorbing a mountain of coaching in the spring. That shouldn\u2019t be an issue for Stribling, who\u2019s sharp, determined and accustomed to offseason change after jumping from Washington State to Oklahoma State to Ole Miss in college. If Stribling wins over coaches early \u2014 traditionally a tall task for 49ers rookie receivers \u2014 he\u2019ll be in the running for the No. 3 role at the start of the season.<\/p>\n
Christian Kirk: Stribling\u2019s competition for the No. 3 role is Kirk, who, like Evans, is coming off the quietest regular season of his career, one in which he finished with just 239 yards and a touchdown for the Houston Texans. Kirk, however, had an eight-catch, 144-yard, one-touchdown outing in the playoffs, suggesting he\u2019s still explosive when healthy.<\/p>\n
Jacob Cowing: Cowing might be the fastest player on the roster and is the first option to return punts in 2026. His summertime challenge is obvious: Avoid the injuries that entirely derailed his 2025 season.<\/p>\n
Jordan Watkins: Watkins was ascendant as a rookie last year until a high-ankle sprain in the preseason opener knocked him to the bottom of the pecking order. He appeared in four games during the regular season but never made much of a splash. He\u2019s competing with Cowing to be the team\u2019s fifth receiver\/punt returner to begin the season.<\/p>\n
Demarcus Robinson: Robinson seemed poised for a solid 2025 season. While nearly every other 49ers receiver missed summer practices, Robinson was on hand and productive. However, he served a three-game suspension to start the season and was mostly quiet after returning. He had a 111-yard performance in the playoffs. Beyond that, his best game was a two-catch, 44-yard effort in a loss to Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n
Malik Turner:\u00a0Turner, 30, could reprise the role he had last year: practice squad veteran who gets elevated when the 49ers are light on receivers or when they need a boost on special teams.<\/p>\n
Junior Bergen: Bergen has a shot at a roster spot considering the team needs a punt returner, and that\u2019s his specialty. However, he\u2019d have to dazzle in that role this summer considering he\u2019s limited as a receiver.<\/p>\n
Will Pauling: A dark horse? How about Pauling, who went undrafted in April but led Wisconsin in 2023 with 74 catches, 837 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Pauling looked quick in the spring but, like all of the rookies, was very much in learning mode.<\/p>\n
Wesley Grimes: The 49ers liked the undrafted rookie enough to use a 30 visit on him in the run-up to the draft. Grimes has good size (6-2) and good speed, having run a 4.35-second 40 at NC State\u2019s pro day.<\/p>\n
Colton Dowell:\u00a0A tough, big-play receiver at Tennessee-Martin, Dowell\u2019s NFL career was sidetracked early when he suffered an ACL tear in Week 17 of the 2023 season, causing him to miss the following season. At 6-3, 212 pounds, he\u2019s got a good combination of speed and heft but remains a work in progress.<\/p>\n
Brandon Aiyuk: He remains on the reserve\/left squad list, which means he doesn\u2019t count against the 90-man offseason roster. It appears he\u2019ll stay there until he petitions the league to return to the active roster, something Aiyuk \u2014 who is currently without an agent \u2014 has not done yet.<\/p>\n
Tight end<\/p>\n
George Kittle: Kittle is ahead of schedule from his January Achilles tear in Philadelphia. Will he be ready in time for Week 1? That\u2019s complicated by the fact that the 49ers will travel to Australia roughly a week before the Sept. 10 opener, which in turn is three days earlier than most of the league kicks off its season.<\/p>\n
San Francisco 49ers group of skill players is ‘absolutely terrifying’<\/p>\n
Robert Mays<\/p>\n
Luke Farrell: The 49ers are looking for more production from blocking specialist Farrell, who signed a three-year, $20 million deal last year but had only 11 catches and played just 36 percent of their offensive snaps. By comparison, he played 38 percent of the snaps a year earlier in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
Jake Tonges: He filled in well when Kittle missed five and a half games at the start of the 2025 season and was rewarded with a two-year, $8 million deal. He\u2019d be called upon again if Kittle doesn\u2019t make the trip to Australia.<\/p>\n
Brayden Willis: Willis heads into camp as the No. 4 tight end, an interesting spot considering the team likes to have three on the active roster and Kittle\u2019s Week 1 availability is cloudy.<\/p>\n
Hayden Rucci: The 49ers want tight ends who can block, and Rucci, the son of longtime Patriots guard Todd Rucci, fits the bill. The problem is that he\u2019s not fleet of foot and isn\u2019t much of a pass catcher. He had 17 receptions and one touchdown in four years at Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
Khalil Dinkins: Kittle\u2019s injury and Dinkins\u2019 blocking ability give the undrafted rookie a slim shot of being on the field when the season begins. One obstacle: Dinkins dealt with an undisclosed injury in the spring and will begin the summer session on the active\/non-football injury list.<\/p>\n
Tackles<\/p>\n
Trent Williams: In some ways, the 2025 season was Williams\u2019 best in the past decade. He started 18 games, including both playoff contests, and missed only the Week 18 game against Seattle. Williams, who turned 38 on Sunday, appears poised to play at least two more seasons.<\/p>\n
Colton McKivitz: The right tackle has emerged as one of the team\u2019s most reliable players after starting every game in each of the past three seasons. Last year, the 49ers signed him to a modest, three-year deal that runs through 2028.<\/p>\n
Vederian Lowe: He\u2019ll be Williams\u2019 backup at left tackle this season. Though Lowe hasn\u2019t distinguished himself in four NFL seasons, the 49ers feel they\u2019ve upgraded the spot from a year ago, when Andre Dillard and Austen Pleasants were considered the main backups.<\/p>\n
Austen Pleasants:\u00a0He filled in well for Williams during a Week 17 win over the Chicago Bears but struggled against the Seahawks\u2019 defense a week later. His best role is as a backup to McKivitz at right tackle.<\/p>\n
Enrique Cruz Jr.: The fifth-round rookie will be an interesting study in joint practices and the preseason because he\u2019s the heir apparent to Williams at left tackle. The 49ers, however, don\u2019t expect that handover to occur for a couple of years. A rash of injuries notwithstanding, Cruz might remain in learning mode in 2026.<\/p>\n
Brandon Parker:\u00a0Parker spent most of the 2025 season on the 49ers\u2019 practice squad and would have been an emergency tackle had they suffered a string of injuries at the position. He hasn\u2019t appeared in a game since the end of the 2023 season when he was with the Raiders.<\/p>\n
Isaac Alarcon:\u00a0Alarcon, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, entered the NFL in 2020 as part of the league\u2019s International Pathway Program. He remains a pathway program member and thus doesn\u2019t count toward the 90-man roster. He has yet to play a regular-season snap.<\/p>\n
Guard<\/p>\n
Dominick Puni: A slow-to-heal knee injury at the start of the 2025 season prevented Puni from making a big Year 2 leap. Still, the fact that he gritted his way through the issue and started all 19 games speaks to the right guard\u2019s value on the offensive line. He\u2019s been the team\u2019s best pick in the last three drafts.<\/p>\n
Connor Colby:\u00a0We\u2019ll pencil in Colby as the team\u2019s top left guard prospect, but we have to do it very lightly since several others are competing for that spot. Still, Colby logged 452 snaps at the position as a rookie last year and was in the top slot throughout spring drills.<\/p>\n
Robert Jones: The most likely candidate to nudge Colby from the starting spot? It\u2019s probably Jones, who started 17 games in a similar Dolphins offense in 2024 and has logged more than 2,000 offensive snaps in his career. Jones is coming off a neck injury that cost him the entire 2025 season.<\/p>\n
Carver Willis: The fourth-round rookie was a tackle only in college but will get a shot at left guard this season. Willis allowed just six sacks in five college seasons, is sharp and played in a similar-style offense last year at Washington. He also has a lot of characteristics coaches look for in an NFL center.<\/p>\n
Nick Zakelj: The only remaining members of the 49ers\u2019 2022 draft class: Purdy and his one-time housemate Zakelj, whom San Francisco picked nearly two rounds (No. 187 to No. 262) ahead of Purdy. Zakelj has some value because he also can play center, but he hasn\u2019t been able to break through in four previous seasons.<\/p>\n
Center<\/p>\n
Jake Brendel: Like McKivitz, Brendel has been an iron man for the 49ers, starting all but two games since he became the team\u2019s top center in 2022. Brendel, however, turns 34 the day the 49ers take on the Rams in Australia to open the season, and he\u2019s not signed beyond this season. The 49ers have no clear heir at center.<\/p>\n
Brett Toth:\u00a0He\u2019s among those in the mix at left guard after starting two games and playing 167 snaps at that spot for the Eagles last year. He also got two starts at center, which is where his true value to the 49ers lies. Toth, who turns 30 on Sept. 1, signed a one-year deal in March.<\/p>\n
Drake Nugent:\u00a0Nugent, an undrafted free agent in 2024, has held down a practice squad spot since his rookie season. To this point, however, the 49ers have been reluctant to give him a shot at a larger role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dash of the team\u2019s 2025 resolve + a more reasonable injury situation = a long ride through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,560,99],"class_list":["post-779249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779249","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=779249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}