We will not hear from the San Francisco 49ers until their next block of practices. On Wednesday, the team released its first official depth chart of the season. Keep in mind that the communications staff put this together.
The reaction to Connor Colby trotting out with the rest of the starters and lining up at left guard after being demoted to third string would be comical. If Colby is the best player for the job, then so be it. That doesn’t change the hilarious fact that he would have gone from first
string to third and back to the first team in a month’s span.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Deebo Samuel or Demarcus Robinson either outsnap De’Zhaun Stribling or all three play the same amount. We know the trio’s usage will differ.
One area where Deebo’s addition is being slept on is his blocking prowess. He was exceptional in that category. Robinson was not. So maybe Robinson only sees the field on obvious passing downs, where Stribling and Deebo can be used more on a down-to-down basis.
On the defensive side, Alfred Collins is going to have to take a page out of Nick Bosa’s playbook and rip the band-aid off. Collins told reporters he’s “not where I wanna be yet,” but acknowledged he’s made strides since then. Collins’ shoulder injury kept him out for the first block of training camp practices back in July.
During the preseason, Collins played like a player who is still nursing an injury. He wasn’t forceful. He didn’t initiate things. He was too reactionary, and he often leaned on the player blocking him instead of trying to dictate the action or disengage. That’s something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Because Gracen Halton was supposed to be the pass rush specialist. If he’s not going to play right away after missing all of this time, then it puts more pressure on the rest of the defensive line — or Keion White when he kicks inside — to produce.
The defensive line rotation is anyone’s guess if Sam Okuayinonu is out or if Romello Height can’t play.
Malik Mustapha returning to practice is a great sign. He’s the player with the highest ceiling, perhaps in the entire secondary. After missing so much time, we’ll see whether Mustapha has a chance to start, or if he gets worked in the rotation in some capacity. Remember, even when he was healthy, he was rotating with Marques Sigle.
