2015-16 Position Previews

Ninersfan8052

Ninersfan8052

Starter
Offense:
QB- Colin Kaepernick will be the obvious starter here but you have two guys fighting for the back up spot with undrafted free agent Dylan Thompson out of South Carolina and 1st round bust Blaine Gabbert.

RB/FB- This will be an interesting position battle, the 49ers have 7-8 guys who could play on almost every other team but they must decide who to keep. First there are the locks which include 2nd year RB Carlos Hyde and veteran Reggie Bush who was signed as a free agent this off-season. Then you have two guys competing for the lone FB position; Bruce Miller who has been a staple in the offense the past few season and 2nd year guy Trey Millard who sat out the 2014 season with an injury. That leaves two spots left for rookies Mike Davis and Jarryd Hayne and injury prone Kendall Hunter to fight for. Hayne is an interesting story, a rugby player trying to turn football player in his first year, he has a lot of return ability so that gives him an edge in the competition.

WR- The 49ers are slim at this position so there won't be tons of competition but a few undrafted free agents trying to compete for the final WR spot on the roster including Alabama alum DeAndrew White, DeAndre Smelter (GT), and Dres Anderson (Utah). This group is led by veterans Anquan Boldin and his old teammate Torrey Smith who was signed in free agency. The WR group is completed with Quinton Patton and Bruce Ellington. There is a slight chance one of those two could be cut in favor of one of the UDFA.

TE- This deep position group is led by the longest tenured 49er, Vernon Davis and surrounded by a few young players in Vance McDonald, rookie Blake Bell, Garrett Celek, and Busta Anderson. The only locks here should be Davis and 4th round pick Bell.

OL- The 49ers must replace two of the five starting OL from last year but have three solid starters in Joe Staley, Alex Boone, and Daniel Kilgore. The other two spots are up in the air and there will be an intense competition between third year guard Marcus Martin, rookie Trent Brown, Joe Looney, free agent pick up Erik Pears, traded for Jordan Devy, and second year guard Brandon Thomas. The best five olinemen will be in the starting line up come game one.
 
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Ninersfan8052

Ninersfan8052

Starter
Defense:

DL: This is arguably the deepest position the 49ers have and there will be an intense competition to find out who is on the final 53 man roster and who will be in the starting line up. The Niners plan on having a lot of substitutions throughout the game on the d-line to keep the players as fresh as possible. This is also a very young position that is led by two veterans in Glenn Dorsey and Ian Williams with free agent veteran Darnell Dockett trying to fight for a spot. There are five others fighting for spots on both the starting line and team including; first round pick Arik Armstead, third year man Quinton Dial, Tank Carradine, long shot Mike Purcell, and long time back up Tony Jerod-Eddie.

LB: 49ers run a 3-4 defense so linebackers are very important and with the loss of two all-pro players in Aldon Smith and Patrick Willis along with rookie Chris Borland, there is a lot to overcome for this group. One bright spot is they will get back all-pro Navarro Bowman after missing last year with a torn MCL and ACL. The other starting MLB spot will more than likely go to the man who replaced Bowman last year, Michael Wilhoite. The other two MLB spots will be decided between former safety from FSU Nick Moody, 2nd year UDFA Shayne Skov and veteran and great special teams player Nick Bellore. The starting OLB positions all but locked up with vet Ahmad Brooks and second year stand out Aaron Lynch. There won't be much competition for the back up spot with the loss of Smith, Corey Lemonier and rookie Eli Harold will both fight for playing time as back ups.

CB: The most unknown position on the team are the corner backs. This position is full of young players and unproven vets. Tramaine Brock is likely to start after having an injury filled 2014 campaign but when he was in he made an impact. The other starting spot is a toss up between four guys; free agent vet Shareece Wright who was considered one of the worst CB's last year, 2nd year players Dontae Johnson and Keith Reaser, and third year player Kenneth Acker. None of these guys have proven anything in their careers so the CBs could be a really shaky position. 2nd year DB Jimmie Ward could also play CB in nickle situations and will also serve as a back up safety.

S: The starting spots are set with stand out FS Eric Reid and vet SS Antoine Bethea. The back up SS spot will be a competition between LJ McCray (special teams standout as well), and vet Craig Dahl. The back up FS will be hard hitting rookie Jaquiski Tartt with Jimmie Ward also as a back up.
 
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