The actual 53-man roster was set today, which once again proved something I’ve known for a long time: I’m much better at writing about what happened than what’s going to happen. Speaking of that, I think Brandon Lloyd just burned me for a 60-yard touchdown.
WELL THE JOKE’S ON YOU, B-LLOYD. I WAS PLAYING ZONE AND YOU WEREN’T MY RESPONSIBILITY.
Offense
QB (3): Colin Kaepernick, Blaine Gabbert <–> Josh Johnson
Who’s the backup? Have to think it’s Johnson unless Gabbert … I’ll just stop there — Johnson is the backup.
RB (3): Frank Gore, Carlos Hyde, LaMichael James
Will they actually use James as a third down back? Even if they don’t, it’s pretty crazy that he’s on this team considering everyone (including yours truly) thought he’d get traded this summer.
FB (1): Bruce Miller
Best ginger fullback ever.
WR (6): Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin, Stevie Johnson, Quinton Patton, Bruce Ellington, Brandon Lloyd
“There were definitely times where we just were not getting guys open for (Kaepernick),” said Jim Harbaugh at the owners meetings. Above anything else the 49ers did this offseason, they worked to avoid the Marlon-Moore-Kyle-Williams-Jon-Baldwin disaster of 2013.
TE (3): Vernon Davis, Vance McDonald, Derek Carrier
Quietly, and this will sound crazy, but the 49ers may have put together the best set of tight ends in the league. That’s how much better McDonald looks heading into his second year, and Carrier is a great athlete who apparently didn’t injure his hamstring too badly. The San Diego Chargers have a pretty good argument against this claim, however.
OT (3): Joe Staley, Anthony Davis, Jonathan Martin
Will Davis play in Week 1? “We’ll see,” Harbaugh said today. That could be worth following, since we haven’t seen Bam play since January. Also, J. Martin has a job and Richie Incognito does not. Incognito’s contract would’ve been guaranteed if he was on a team in Week 1, so that could change.
OG (2): Mike Iupati, Joe Looney
Here’s where the 49ers tighten the screws on Alex Boone. If Looney performs well in Week 1, the leverage officially switches over to the 49ers’ side.
C (3): Daniel Kilgore, Marcus Martin, Dillon Farrell
Farrell is a little less than $900K cheaper than Adam Snyder. As for the Martin named Marcus, we’ll see if that knee injury heals as quickly as the 49ers are saying (six weeks).
Defense
DT (6): Justin Smith, Ray McDonald, Tony Jerod-Eddie, Demarcus Dobbs, Tank Carradine, Quinton Dial
The days of Smith and McDonald playing nearly every down are over.
NT (2): Ian Williams, Glenn Dorsey
With Williams just getting back after multiple ankle surgeries, they may feel the need to carry Jerod-Eddie and Dial to make sure they’re covered at nose tackle. Dorsey will be placed on the IR – Designated to Return list on Tuesday, and the 49ers could bring back someone who was cut today.
OLB (4): Ahmad Brooks, Corey Lemonier, Dan Skuta, Aaron Lynch
I thought for a second that Chase Thomas might sneak in here (simply because he wasn’t one of the first dozen or so cuts that were made public), but this is pretty much how we all thought this would go.
ILB (4): Patrick Willis, Michael Wilhoite, Chris Borland, Nick Moody
For a position that seemed to carry so much uncertainty, it was weird how these four middle linebackers were set in stone heading into final cuts day.
CB (5): Tramaine Brock, Chris Culliver, Chris Cook, Perrish Cox, Dontae Johnson
How tight is Culliver’s leash? Cook looked better throughout the offseason.
S (5): Eric Reid, Antoine Bethea, Jimmie Ward, L.J. McCray, Craig Dahl
The most surprising move today was McCray making the squad and Darryl Morris getting cut. But if the 49ers want Ward to play nickel corner, they were looking awfully thin at safety — particularly after Bethea’s concussion.
Specialists
K (1): Phil Dawson
The last time the 49ers’ placekicker was under 36 years old to start a season was 2008 (Joe Nedney was 35).
P (1): Andy Lee
The 49er you least want to face in a dark alley.
LS (1): Kyle Nelson
Smart guy, knows six languages (this probably isn’t true).
***
Cut today:
- T Carter Bykowski
- TE Asante Cleveland
- WR Lance Lewis
- LS Kevin McDermott
- CB Darryl Morris
- G Al Netter
- DL Lawrence Okoye
- WR Kassim Osgood
- T Michael Philipp
- NT Mike Purcell
- G Ryan Seymour
- LB Shayne Skov
- RB Alfonso Smith
- G Adam Snyder
- S C.J. Spillman
- LB Chase Thomas
- S Bubba Ventrone
- WR L’Damian Washington
- RB Glenn Winston
Kenneth Acker and Will Tukuafu were placed on injured reserve.
“Will is still going through a concussion protocol from the third preseason game,” Harbaugh said. “Kenneth Acker’s been dealing with a foot problem. He was MRI’ed yesterday and the recommendation was that he stay off of it for an extended period of time.”
Tukuafu must’ve suffered a pretty serious concussion, because the 49ers were free to release him and welcome him back as they saw fit last year. As for Acker, if that’s how he plays with an injured foot, he’s an incredible player. The 49ers weren’t letting this kid get away.
