2020-21 Roster: How Different is it?

Difference #1: 3rd downs with McKinnon and Taylor on the field. Those guys can turn the O in a 3rd down machine.

Difference #2: 2-TE sets with Kittle & Reed that will give nightmares to opposite defenses.

On the other areas I don´t see any difference for the better or the worse.

Originally posted by btthepunk:

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:
Completely disagree.

2020 COULD win most of these matchups. But I dont see a single sure thing matchup win for 2020. Not a one. In fact, theres only one matchup I feel comfortable picking a definitive winner in right this second, and thats the bolded....which is a MASSIVE loss for the 2020 side.

Williams over Staley is a definitive massive win. So is Reed over Celek and 2020 Ford vs 2019 Ford.

Williams hasnt played in a long time. In theory, he should be a win. But we have no idea.

Reed is a substantially better player than Celek, but no one has any idea if he is going to be healthy.

And as far as Dee Ford this year versus last year, refer to my sentence about Reed.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

We really had no surprises this year in terms of cuts, and while we carry over many of the same players, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "pretty much the same team" as last year, like some have said. You've got to consider we are a pretty stacked team still, and with that said, I think we added quite a bit. In terms of who we didn't have in the 2019-20, this is what we've added going into this year (by position):

RB Jerick McKinnon - A Shanahan chess piece, finally healthy, that gives us incredible formational flexibility in play-calling.

WR Brandon Aiyuk - immediately one of the fastest on the team with the largest catch radius and already a guy Jimmy trusts.
WR Trent Taylor - one of the better slot guys in the NFL and one of the best on 3rd downs from the limited sample we saw in 2018.

TE Jordan Reed - one of the best TEs in the NFL period, when healthy.
TE Charlie Woerner - someone who can help handle blocking duties and boost our heavy packages in the run game

OT Trent Williams - Future hall of fame OT who offers a massive increase in power yet zero drop-off in athleticism from Staley.
G/C Colton McKivitz - Originally thought to be an OT, got moved around and shined, beating out veterans for a top backup IOL spot.
OG Tom Compton - Not a great player, but hopefully he doesn't have to play.

DE Kerry Hyder - led his team in sacks the last time he was with Kris Kocurek.
DL Kentavius Street - finally healthy, was reported to frequently overpower the OL in camp.
DT Kinlaw - Very raw, but should certainly progress over the course of the season. He's not Buckner, but he can get there.

LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles - Reportedly excelled in coverage in camp. Provides depth at WILL and MLB.

CB Jason Verrett - One of the best CBs in the league when healthy. Was never fully healthy last year and never really played. Health still a question, but his latest ding is supposedly very minor. With us only keeping 5 CB, that seems legitimate.

Summary: So overall, 10-12 of the 53 are different from last year (I say 10-12 because I count Verrett and Street as #11 and #12 due to barely playing before going on IR). That's a 20-23% roster turnover. Initially, I was pretty upset we didn't add a center -- but after McKivitz got moved around so much to the point where they now think he's got real promise there.. we definitely have something to monitor going forward. If you look at what we got, on paper at least, it seems like the majority are all positive additions/improvements. Blair, Jullian Taylor, and Richburg are all expected back at some point this season. That should help us even more. All in all, it's a good roster -- we really seemed to thoroughly address our needs as best as we could.

To add, here were last year's players who wound up on the I.R. list at one point:
WILL Kwon Alexander - Active
TE Garrett Celek - Active
2i Kentavius Street - Active / I.R. again
T Shon Coleman
RB Jerick McKinnon
SWR Trent Taylor
ZWR Jalen Hurd
LCB Tim Harris
RCB Jason Verrett
RDE Ronald Blair
ER Damontre' Moore
C Weston Richburg
WR Marquise Goodwin
LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
1T D.J. Jones
TE Garrett Celek
2i Jullian Taylor

The theme this year was, "We're keeping our guys."

If you were brought in from the outside, you weren't going to make this team in a shortened off season unless you were a coaches favorite (Trent Williams, Jordan Reed and Kerry Hyder). Overall, a guy like Joe Woods is probably a better player than Mark Nzeocha, Azeez Al-Shaair & Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles but these three have been in our system for two off seasons now.

I can't wait to see our Practice Squad. Also keep in mind, some of the back end of the 53 may not last long.

Originally posted by 49ersFanCJinPA:
I'm pretty confident Aiyuk will out perform Sanders, obviously he came in later so a full season of Aiyuk vs a half season of Sanders isn't a fair comparison. I guess if you count the fact that Sanders was a great leader and he helped up KB and Deebos game its even. I do think Aiyuk is gonna get targeted a whole hell of alot though

I think that's a big stretch. Sanders was a 10-year veteran and has been a proven commodity for a long time in this league. Our offense completely transformed when we got here.

Historically, rookie receivers don't fare that well. This will probably be exacerbated this year by the fact that rookies didn't get a traditional offseason this year because of COVID.

Originally posted by 49ers81:
Why? They are no longer with the team what difference would it make to offer any kind of assessment about them

Because this topic is about how the roster is different this year. It would be like a pros/cons list if we also digested the players we lost.

I'm just saying the original post seems a little biased. Jordan Reed and Jason Verrett being "two of the best at their positions when healthy" seems a little optimistic. Jason Verrett hasn't played a meaningful season of football since 2015. Both of these guys are closer to "one more injury and they're out of football completely" than "if they can just stay healthy, they'll return to being among the best in the league".

Originally posted by 49ers81:

Originally posted by theduke85:
I like the post, but to be fair you should outline all of the players we lost too.

Why? They are no longer with the team what difference would it make to offer any kind of assessment about them

If you are comparing players from this year against players from last year, wouldn't it make perfect sense to factor in players added this year and players lost from last year. How can it be a meaningful comparison if you only look at 2020 additions but ignore 2019 departures?

Depth just looks so much better this year than last year. The offense looks to much improved over a group that was already good last season. Even though we lost an experienced vet like Sanders, Adding Aiyuk, a healthy Trent Taylor and an improved Pettis makes the WR group much better. Still hard to believe we landed Trent Williams. Team was fine last season when Brunskil and Skule had to fill in at tackle so I think the team will be fine at center until Garland and Richburg are ready. McKinnon's ability as a pass catcher will be huge.

There's not another DL in this league that is as talented a group from top to bottom as ours. Even the guys on IR who will come back, Blair and Jullian Taylor are impactful players. I think this team can live with the slow development of Kinlaw, even though he was a high draft pick because of the talent on this DL. Warner should be pack by week 2 at the latest so this LB group is loaded. Many will worry about the depth a CB. I think the team will bring in someone who was cut yesterday to fill that 53rd spot. Moore can play CB in a pinch if we lose one of CBs to injury. Hopefully the team can convince Cyprie55n to stay on the PS because having that kind of experience could be so valuable later in the season.

Super bowl or bust. Let's F'n go!!!

Do you folx think that we will be claiming any released players?
Which of our released players will get claimed by other teams?

Originally posted by SteveWallacesHelmet:
Williams hasnt played in a long time. In theory, he should be a win. But we have no idea.

Reed is a substantially better player than Celek, but no one has any idea if he is going to be healthy.

And as far as Dee Ford this year versus last year, refer to my sentence about Reed.

Williams missed the last 3 games of 2018 and all of 2019 so basically he missed a season. Lot's of players miss a season and come back and play fine. Williams isn't rehabbing an injury that would slow him down. It was a tumor that has been taken care of so there should be no issues.

Reed and Ford will be question marks from week to week.

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:

2020 wins most of these matchups with 2019
McKinnon vs. Breida
Aiyak vs Emanuel Sanders
Trent Taylor vs. M. Goodwin
T. Williams vs. Staley
McKivitz/Compton vs. Person
Hyder vs. Sheldon Day
Kinlaw/Street vs. Buckner
Dee Ford vs. Dee Ford
Jordan Reed vs. Garrett Celek
Verrett vs. Exum
Marcell Harris vs. DJ Reed
Woerner vs Levine Toilolo

I would think Verrett would be matched up with reed, because he is our back up nickel now and Exum is a Safety and was signed when Tartt went down, and was cut when we activated Harris.

I also think Hyder is more of a replacement for Zettle, and Street, Givens, Thomas, Kinlaw will be trying to replace Buck/Day.

Don't forget the following match ups as well from February .

1 armed Kwon vs. 2 armed Kwon
Sore ribs Tartt Vs Not sore ribs Tartt
DJ Jones Vs Earl Mitchell
Pre surgery Ritchberg vs post surgery Ritchburg
1 shoulder Coleman vs 2 shoulder Coleman
Banged up Mcglinchey, Kittle, Juice Vs healthy

Not to mention
1st year players Bosa, Deebo, Skule, Brunskill, Greenlaw, Al Shair vs 2nd year

Hopefully the team can stay healthy this year, in more ways than one!

Really wished they would've upgraded our secondary. Still see this area/group as a red flag for this team.

Originally posted by wailers15:

Really wished they would've upgraded our secondary. Still see this area/group as a red flag for this team.

Feel like that's underselling how good Moseley is. Witherspoon as a backup is quality depth, but he may not even be the first one off the bench. Verrett supposedly regained his form, so I imagine he'd get the first crack if he's back in Pro Bowl form.

Originally posted by mutant-man49:
Depth just looks so much better this year than last year. The offense looks to much improved over a group that was already good last season. Even though we lost an experienced vet like Sanders, Adding Aiyuk, a healthy Trent Taylor and an improved Pettis makes the WR group much better. Still hard to believe we landed Trent Williams. Team was fine last season when Brunskil and Skule had to fill in at tackle so I think the team will be fine at center until Garland and Richburg are ready. McKinnon's ability as a pass catcher will be huge.

There's not another DL in this league that is as talented a group from top to bottom as ours. Even the guys on IR who will come back, Blair and Jullian Taylor are impactful players. I think this team can live with the slow development of Kinlaw, even though he was a high draft pick because of the talent on this DL. Warner should be pack by week 2 at the latest so this LB group is loaded. Many will worry about the depth a CB. I think the team will bring in someone who was cut yesterday to fill that 53rd spot. Moore can play CB in a pinch if we lose one of CBs to injury. Hopefully the team can convince Cyprie55n to stay on the PS because having that kind of experience could be so valuable later in the season.

Super bowl or bust. Let's F'n go!!!

Great points about losing Emanuel but the return of T.Taylor, an improved Pettis, and return of McKinnon should make the offense better. If I was a looking to attack the 49er defense, I would pick on the corner opposit of Sherman till that player proved himself. I think that area of the defense is still a big problem defensively. Not really happy that wasn't addressed in the offseason via the draft. I hope there was a method to that madness.

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:

2020 wins most of these matchups with 2019
McKinnon vs. Breida
Aiyak vs Emanuel Sanders
Trent Taylor vs. M. Goodwin
T. Williams vs. Staley
McKivitz/Compton vs. Person
Hyder vs. Sheldon Day
Kinlaw/Street vs. Buckner
Dee Ford vs. Dee Ford
Jordan Reed vs. Garrett Celek
Verrett vs. Exum
Marcell Harris vs. DJ Reed
Woerner vs Levine Toilolo

Great analysis except for Kinlaw and sanders

Originally posted by flynhayn15:

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:
2020 wins most of these matchups with 2019
McKinnon vs. Breida
Aiyak vs Emanuel Sanders
Trent Taylor vs. M. Goodwin
T. Williams vs. Staley
McKivitz/Compton vs. Person
Hyder vs. Sheldon Day
Kinlaw/Street vs. Buckner
Dee Ford vs. Dee Ford
Jordan Reed vs. Garrett Celek
Verrett vs. Exum
Marcell Harris vs. DJ Reed
Woerner vs Levine Toilolo

I would think Verrett would be matched up with reed, because he is our back up nickel now and Exum is a Safety and was signed when Tartt went down, and was cut when we activated Harris.

I also think Hyder is more of a replacement for Zettle, and Street, Givens, Thomas, Kinlaw will be trying to replace Buck/Day.

Don't forget the following match ups as well from February .

1 armed Kwon vs. 2 armed Kwon
Sore ribs Tartt Vs Not sore ribs Tartt
DJ Jones Vs Earl Mitchell
Pre surgery Ritchberg vs post surgery Ritchburg
1 shoulder Coleman vs 2 shoulder Coleman
Banged up Mcglinchey, Kittle, Juice Vs healthy

Not to mention
1st year players Bosa, Deebo, Skule, Brunskill, Greenlaw, Al Shair vs 2nd year

Hopefully the team can stay healthy this year, in more ways than one!

Zettel was so meh IMO, never was impressed with him, Hyder is better IMO.

Same with Sheldon Day, he looked over matched out there trying to fill in for DJ Jones.