2026 Final-53 & Depth Chart

Expect a couple of the 53 to be filled by surprise cuts at S and DE. If a player who can rush the passer hits the open market expect Lynch to be all over him.

Not disagreeing with the latest lists here.

TEs
i think Ferrell still stinks despite the praise he was getting throughout camp.
I think we still like B Willis because of his ST effort and last night he was used as a FS. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the final squad because of Juices finger and yesterday Shanny in his presser said Kittle had a "step back" ??

WR
i think it's Cowing or Watkins. I'm guessing Watkins gets cut, and probably Kirk too.

DT
pretty Down on Collins so if we can get a 4th or 5th for him I think he's being traded. Teams like mass, but we've had big dudes that stunk before.

LG
What a mess. More reps for C Willis and Hope he learns on the job.

We usually keep 52 and sign someone who was cut don't we ?

if there's a guard that is marginal we're pouncing.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Latest prediction after game one for day one roster:

OFFENSE: 25
QB – Purdy, Jones, Rourke
RB – CMC, Black, James, Juice
WR – Evans, Stribling, Samuel, Robinson, Watkins, Cowing
TE – Kittle, Farrell, Tonges
OT – Williams, McKivitz, Pleasants
IOL – Puni, Brendel, Jones, Colby, Willis, Toth

DEFENSE: 25
DE – Bosa, Height, Okuayinonu, White, Okoronkwo
DT – West, Osa, Collins, Halton, Thompson
LB – Warner, Greenlaw, Bethune, Dugger, Wallow, Jones
CB – Lenoir, Green, Jones, Stout, Hobbs, Prysock, Neal
S – Sigle, Brown, Mustapha

ST: 3
K – Eddy
P – Corliss
LS – Weeks

PUP – DE WILLIAMS, RB GUERENDO
IR – LOWE, GIFFORD, Kirk, Martin

I think they designate Lowe and Kirk for return. Martin and Gifford also go to IR after final cuts. And they look for another safety. Could also see a linebacker traded and or one of the veteran IOL cut like Jones.

Originally posted by mitpdub:
Not disagreeing with the latest lists here.

TEs
i think Ferrell still stinks despite the praise he was getting throughout camp.
I think we still like B Willis because of his ST effort and last night he was used as a FS. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes the final squad because of Juices finger and yesterday Shanny in his presser said Kittle had a "step back" ??

WR
i think it's Cowing or Watkins. I'm guessing Watkins gets cut, and probably Kirk too.

DT
pretty Down on Collins so if we can get a 4th or 5th for him I think he's being traded. Teams like mass, but we've had big dudes that stunk before.

LG
What a mess. More reps for C Willis and Hope he learns on the job.

We usually keep 52 and sign someone who was cut don't we ?

if there's a guard that is marginal we're pouncing.

Originally posted by GEEK:
There's going to a be a bunch of roster tetris. They can declare up to 8 folks for IR designated for return (2 before final 53, but counts towards the 8) and bring back folks that were cut / waived.

Here's where I think we'll land leading up to Week 1 and leaves 5 IR-DR to use during the regular season.

QB: Purdy/Jones/Rouke
RB: CMC/Black/James (PUP: Guerendo)
FB: Juice
TE: Kittle/Tonges/Ferrell

WR: Evans/Watkins
WR: Samuel Sr/Robinson
WR: Stribling/Cowing (IR-DR: Kirk)

LT: Williams/Cruz Jr (IR-DR: Lowe)
LG: Willis
C: Brendel/Nugent
RG: Puni/Colby
RT: McKivitz/Pleasants

DE: Bosa/White
DT: Oso/Halton
DT: West/Collins/Thompson
DE: Okuayinonu/Height (PUP: Williams)

WLB: Greenlaw/Wallow (IR-DR: Martin)
MLB: Warner/Bethune
SLB: Dugger

CB: Lenior/Luter Jr/Prysock
NB: Stout/Hobbs
FS: Brown/Neal
SS: Mustapha/Sigle
CB: Jones/Green

ST: Weeks, Waitman, Pineiro

PS: 16 + 1 intl*

QB: Martinez
RB: Herbert, McCormick
TE: Rucci
WR: Hodge, Pauling
OL: Alarcon*, Kramer, Parker

DL: Valdez, Eason, Okoronkwo
LB: Graham, Jones
CB: Apple, Robinson
S: Davis

Some other considerations:
- Some of the folks on the 53 are injured. That gives us obvious options to reduce to the 46 man active roster on game days.

- We'll leverage PS elevation to ensure depth and ST contribution. For example, Parker can be our swing tackle with Cruz Jr (raw) and Pleasants (injured) inactive on game day. Similarly, we can elevate Robinson for slot depth, marking Prysock and Hobbs inactive on game day as they recover.

- We'll continue to play roster legos and tetris. For example, as Lowe gets healthy and returns to action after 4 weeks, we will likely have an injury by then. If not, we could activate Lowe and then cut Cruz Jr, increasing our odds to get him to the PS as teams stabilize their rosters.

I don't see them cutting Jones and Toth same with Gifford, he'd be on IR, also you only used 3 IR/DFR spots as PUP don't count, also you can only do 3 elevations during the regular season so they'd better hope Pleasants is healthy and you have 7 vested veterans when you can only have 6

Originally posted by Crown:

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by FL9r:
What do we think our record will be after the first 5 games?

0-17

That's a little optimistic don't you think?

4-3 going in to the bye and 4-4 after. That would be a good start for us. I will take that and no major injuries to start the season.

Do any cuts happen today or are they all tomorrow?

Originally posted by Crown:
Do any cuts happen today or are they all tomorrow?

Tomorrow is the deadline. Historically, Shanny and Lynch will cut some guys earlier as a courtesy to increase the odds of another team claiming them.

There will be players on this initial 53 that I guarantee you people on here will be going WTF

Originally posted by NineFourNiner:

Originally posted by Crown:
Do any cuts happen today or are they all tomorrow?

Tomorrow is the deadline. Historically, Shanny and Lynch will cut some guys earlier as a courtesy to increase the odds of another team claiming them.

got it. figured there was some gamesmanship by waiting right up to the deadline.

Originally posted by ninerjok:
There will be players on this initial 53 that I guarantee you people on here will be going WTF

Guaranteed. AB can confirm but seems like Hobbs, Lowe, Toth and Kirk all make it because $2M+ guaranteed on their contracts

Originally posted by braap49er:

The #49ers are releasing Adrian Martinez, going with Curtis Rourke as QB3.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 29, 2026

figured. wonder if he comes back to PS

Of course they kept Kurtis Rourke, you're kidding me. They drafted him even if he had a torn ACL and needed the surgery. And he had an excellent first half against the Titans with basically only Stribling to help him against the first team defense of the Titans. He's way better than Adrian Martinez.

Originally posted by Crown:

Originally posted by braap49er:

The #49ers are releasing Adrian Martinez, going with Curtis Rourke as QB3.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 29, 2026

figured. wonder if he comes back to PS

3 qbs on the 53 is a waste eveb if they think Rourke could be the QB(backup) of the future- whatever that is