SANTA CLARA, Calif. \u2014 Training camp is two-thirds complete.<\/p>\n
The San Francisco 49ers\u2019 final practice is Aug. 25, and one day after that, the team must winnow its roster to 53 players.<\/p>\n
Who has momentum as we enter the summer home stretch? For one, the team\u2019s rookies. Safety Marques Sigle, for instance, has started to come on after he missed the spring sessions. And second-round pick Alfred Collins, while still in catch-up mode after he, too, sat out the spring, has looked better in recent practices.<\/p>\n
Who else has the arrow pointing up? The following are six positions where one player\u2019s stock is clearly rising, perhaps at the expense of someone else at his position.<\/p>\n
Running backUp: Corey KinerDown: Jordan James<\/p>\n
Though James, the fifth-round rookie, has missed practices with knee and finger injuries, Kiner, the undrafted rookie, has been one of the few 49ers on hand for all spring and summer practices. He also got an unprompted compliment from Kyle Shanahan on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was encouraged with some of the young guys,\u201d Shanahan said when asked what stood out when he reviewed Saturday\u2019s game. \u201cI liked how Corey ran. I thought he ran hard. We\u2019ll keep pushing him to get better as a runner, but I just loved the mentality he ran with. Those are the things that stuck out the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shanahan\u2019s teams have a history of lower-round or undrafted players outperforming more highly touted players at their position, especially running back. That might make for an interesting decision later this month. Does San Francisco keep both rookies on the 53-man roster? If not, who\u2019s most likely to get snagged off waivers if the team tries to get one onto the practice squad? The 49ers tried that with undrafted Cody Schrader last year, and their top rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, grabbed him.<\/p>\n
One possible solution: Put James on an injury list to begin the season and bring him back to the active roster after four games.<\/p>\n
Defensive tackleUp: Sebastian ValdezDown: Evan Anderson<\/p>\n
Valdez is another undrafted rookie who might be difficult to sneak onto waivers given his consistent play and recent praise from Shanahan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say he flashed the most today,\u201d he said immediately after Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
If Valdez ultimately lands a roster spot, does that mean someone else must go? The 49ers also have rookies C.J. West and Collins at defensive tackle, along with veterans Jordan Elliott and Anderson. Defensive ends Mykel Williams and Yetur Gross-Matos, meanwhile, are expected to take a lot of snaps at defensive tackle during the season.<\/p>\n
Anderson (knee) missed Saturday\u2019s game, but he\u2019s now back at practice and ought to get a lot of snaps in Thursday\u2019s scrimmage with the Las Vegas Raiders and Saturday\u2019s game in Nevada. That is, he has plenty of opportunities to turn his arrow from neutral to northward.<\/p>\n
Interior offensive lineUp: Matt HennessyDown: Nick Zakelj<\/p>\n
This is an interesting competition. The 49ers are looking for someone who can be an emergency replacement at center or guard if there\u2019s an injury during a game. Hennessy is a better center than guard. Zakelj is a better guard than center.<\/p>\n
Hennessy\u2019s stock is higher at this point because he played better in Saturday\u2019s game, and because Shanahan needs to make sure he\u2019s got insurance at center. After all, he went through six of them during a disappointing 2020 season, and starter Jake Brendel will turn 33 next month. Meanwhile, seventh-round rookie Connor Colby has looked good recently and might end up providing depth at guard this season.<\/p>\n
SafetyUp: Marques SigleDown: Ji\u2019Ayir Brown, Richie Grant<\/p>\n
This position has been yo-yoing since the spring, when Sigle and Brown were injured and Grant got all of the first-team snaps. Lately, however, Sigle, a fifth-rounder out of Kansas State, has been healthy, and Brown (ankle) and Grant (knee) have been in and out of the lineup.<\/p>\n
The 49ers have been playing Sigle at strong and free safety, and he stood out with seven first-half tackles against the Denver Broncos<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought he did a really nice job, especially out of the middle of the field and erasing tackles when it was just him in the back in the hole,\u201d defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Tuesday. \u201cHe\u2019s showing that he\u2019s got all the things that are required out of a safety from a movement standpoint, speed, instinct and violence part. So he\u2019s earned it. And as he gets those extended reps, he\u2019s got to find a way to cement it.\u201d<\/p>\n In a year in which the 49ers are intent on injecting youth into their roster, Sigle seems like a good bet for a roster spot<\/a>, if not a starting role. The question is whether there\u2019s room at safety for three veterans \u2014 Brown, Grant and Jason Pinnock. Siran Neal, meanwhile, could be a dark horse at the position, given his special teams ability.<\/p>\n Nickel cornerbackUp: Chase LucasDown: Tre Brown<\/p>\n When OTAs began, Tre Brown was the 49ers\u2019 top nickelback, and Lucas was working with the third-stringers. Now that\u2019s reversed. Of course, the pecking order is skewed by the fact rookie Upton Stout, who seems most likely to start at nickel, is dealing with a minor calf issue. But Lucas has momentum, especially after a head-turning performance against Denver<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, Brown has an advantage in terms of experience and versatility, and Saleh made it clear Tuesday that to make the roster, Lucas must be more than a backup corner. That is, he must keep his momentum going.<\/p>\n \u201cNow the challenge for him is to stack up days on defense, get better on special teams, find a way to be a viable corner, expand his game and find ways to earn his right on this roster,\u201d Saleh said.<\/p>\n Tight endUp: Brayden WillisDown: Ross Dwelley, Jake Tonges<\/p>\n This competition is still too close to call, and it might ultimately boil down to special teams ability. Still, it\u2019s notable Willis started Saturday\u2019s game \u2014 he filled in for George Kittle \u2014 and played 35 snaps. He had a good block on Patrick Taylor Jr.\u2019s first-quarter touchdown run, and he\u2019s also been targeted a lot in the passing game in practices, especially by second-string quarterback Mac Jones.<\/p>\n (Photo of Corey Kiner: David Gonzales \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA, Calif. \u2014 Training camp is two-thirds complete. The San Francisco 49ers\u2019 final practice is Aug. 25,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,560,99],"class_list":["post-81681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81681","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=81681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}