49ers mailbag: Will Ronnie Bell make the opening day roster? Who’s QB2? When will Nick Bosa sign his deal?

The San Francisco 49ers are back in action Friday night, in their final preseason game. Kyle Shanahan said the starters will play, but did not say how much. It will likely depend on what he sees while they are in.

We opened the 49ers Webzone mailbag this week and found several of your questions just dying to be answered. And since we aim to please, we've answered all the good ones. (The bad ones are locked away and heavily guarded, deep within the secret tunnels of the 49ers Webzone compound. Or so I've heard.)

But enough of that. Let's get to your questions.

Any new updates on the Bosa contract situation? The season opener is getting closer and closer. - Josh C.

When should we expect Nick Bosa to sign his deal? - Chris

As of this writing, there are no new updates on the contract situation with star edge rusher, Nick Bosa. As the season gets closer, the level of concern will rise. I've mentioned multiple times that I am not concerned, but this will start to change within the next week. Bosa needs to get into camp and start practicing so he can get into game shape, mainly to better protect himself against soft tissue injuries that often occur in players who have held out.

I'm going to predict that Bosa will sign early next week, once we are past the final preseason game. But that's just a guess.

I know it's not this simple, but can't an escalator be added to a Bosa deal that says his contract will increase to $100k above any deal signed by a DL within the next year? That way he will be the highest paid and he can be ready for week 1? - Scott B.

Bosa is going to be the highest-paid defensive player in history as soon as he signs the new deal. But how long will that last? It will last until the next great edge rusher signs a new deal that surpasses it. We see that all the time, especially with quarterbacks.

I'm sure Bosa would love something like an escalator, as Scott suggests, to always ensure that he remains the highest-paid defensive player. But I don't think the 49ers would like that. And the main reason is that they would become prisoners to any new deals that come along. And for a team that may very well be cap-strapped in a couple of years, that could be a terrible deal for the 49ers.

I appreciate you thinking outside the box, Scott. But it's not going to happen.

Will Ronnie Bell make the opening-day roster? - Tim P.

Yes, Ronnie Bell will make the team. Even without injuries, I think he'd still make it. With what he's put on film so far, there's no way the 49ers could release him and expect him to make it onto the practice squad. Sure, Bell needs to stop letting passes go off his hands and into the hands of the other team. But he's a rookie, and he's going to make mistakes.

Other than a few blunders, Bell has been really good in the preseason. He has to make the opening-day roster. And he will.

Will we ever get to see Lance play with all of the starting weapons (for the first time ever)? - Chris W.

Trey Lance has played with the starters, but he hasn't played with all of the starting weapons at the same time. For instance, he hasn't played with Christian McCaffrey yet. And I don't think he'll get that shot on Friday either. McCaffrey won't play long, if he plays at all.

That means the only chance Lance has of getting time with all the starters is if Brock Purdy can't play in a regular-season game. And that's assuming all the starters are healthy, and that Lance is QB2. This brings us to the next question...

Who's QB2 as of this moment? - Joe G.

In my opinion, Lance should be QB2, but most of the 49ers reporters seem to believe it's Sam Darnold. Additionally, the national media trashes Lance every chance they get. And they keep insisting Darnold is already the choice.

Is this just speculation? Or do they have an agenda? Of course, you have to take everything said on ESPN with a grain of salt. After all, they are the ones who put this out there last Saturday night.

Who do y'all think is the BEST 49ers player on the team right now? - Derrick

I think it's easily Bosa. You can make a case for Trent Williams, but Bosa is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, maybe the best edge rusher in the league, one of the top two or three defensive players in the league, and he does this while consistently being held and double-teamed.

Williams is a future Hall of Famer, so he deserves some love, as well. After Bosa and Williams, it has to be McCaffrey.

All three of those players are game-changers. And all three need to be healthy for the 49ers to win the Super Bowl.

In Kyle's offense, the TE2-3 are used almost exclusively as blockers. Even if they are a threat in the passing game too they'd still be probably 7th or lower on the target list behind all the other weapons. With that in mind, who have you got as making the roster as TEs? - Jr49ers

George Kittle is number one. I want to see Brayden Willis make it. I like what I've seen from and have heard about him. I'd be surprised if Willis doesn't make it.

Cameron Latu is a 3rd-round draft pick, so he'll make the team. I don't think Ross Dwelley can block, so I think this could be the end of the road for him.

If the 49ers keep four tight ends, like they usually do, I would project:

• Kittle
• Willis
• Latu
• Charlie Woerner

I can see Troy Fumagalli ending up on the practice squad, although I'd rather see him make the team over Woerner. I like what I've seen in Fumagalli so far, and just don't think Woerner brings anything to the table, other than blocking. He's like the opposite of Dwelley. Dwelley can catch, but not block. Woerner can block, but not catch. If they were one tight end, they'd be a great number two. But they're not.

So even though I'd rather see Fumagalli make it over Woerner, I think Woerner will make it because Shanahan likes having a tight end who is primarily a blocker.

How concerning is the performance of the special teams? It's been fairly poor so far. - Niner Jim

It's been a little concerning, but I'm not too worried about it. Many of the mistakes have been made by rookies. We can't expect Jake Moody to be as consistent as Robbie Gould, especially as a rookie. Perhaps Bell or D'Shawn Jamison will end up returning kickoffs and punts in week one, but the hope is that Ray-Ray McCloud will be back. Shanahan doesn't seem to think McCloud will miss too much time.

I don't like the idea of a rookie returning kicks (especially punts), because of what happened in the last game, when Jamison muffed a punt. Bell also put the ball on the ground once.

Mitch Wishnowski has not been good in the preseason, but he'll be fine. Moody will probably scare us and frustrate us a lot this season, but he'll settle in eventually. And the coverage will improve, as will the return game.

So many pre-snap/illegal formations in the last 2 games. Is this the fault of the TE, WR, or QB? I thought there were a few that were not called when the TE was covered by a WR. - SFGsoccer

I'd have to go back and look because I don't have any that come to mind. But pre-snap penalties are a normal thing in preseason games. You're dealing with players who are either coming back and shaking off rust, or young players/rookies trying to make the team. Either way, there are always plenty of mental mistakes early on.

I do recall seeing the quarterbacks directing traffic on some plays, like telling a receiver to line up somewhere other than where they were. So I doubt the fault with any of those penalties lies on the QBs.

Why doesn't Kyle give Lance 1-2 drives with starting weapons in the final preseason game? - Chris W.

Shanahan is more focused, as are most coaches, on getting the first-teamers ready and starting to gel with one another. So when Purdy has practiced, he's been the one getting all the starter reps. Once the season begins, it will continue to be that way throughout the week. Purdy will get all the first-team reps, and the backup QBs will mainly run the scout team. This is why it was so impressive that Purdy played as well as he did when he came into the Miami game last season after the injury to Jimmy Garoppolo. Purdy had been given zero reps with the first team that week.

Shanahan said on Tuesday that Darnold and Lance will take turns being the 49ers' number two QB, depending on what kind of look the defense needs and who they are playing. If he stays with that, I would think Darnold would be the scout team QB when they play quarterbacks who mainly throw from the pocket, and Lance will be that guy when they play a mobile QB. But it's probably more complicated than that.

All that to say, Shanahan will use the final preseason game to get the starters ready, not give Lance a chance to play with the first team.

That's all we have for this week. We'll be back next week with all new questions and answers.

• Marc Adams
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