The San Francisco 49ers released their first unofficial regular season depth chart on Tuesday. Of course, the "official" starters for the game won't be revealed until Sunday, when the 49ers host the Carolina Panthers at Levi's Stadium.
On Wednesday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to the media and was questioned in an effort to determine who the actual starters against the Panthers might be. He didn't divulge much information other than what was already known and had a slight slip-up that may have made the 49ers Vice President of Communications, Bob Lange, cringe a bit.
"I'm not going to get into exactly who's starting," Shanahan said, "I've said it with the safeties. I've said it with the tight ends. I'm pretty much going to say it with every position. Brian Hoyer at quarterback – starting. I promise you guys that. [Joe] Staley's starting. Everyone else? We'll find out on Sunday. So, I don't mean to be a d---..."
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Then the head coach looked over at the 49ers communications representatives and covered his microphone after realizing that everything is being recorded while the members of the media laughed at the verbal slip-up.
"Sorry," Shanahan said while smiling. "I just ... it's the season now. If there was any ... that was bad. Just shows my immaturity."
Shanahan is entering his first season as an NFL head coach and will finally get to display his full offense on Sunday as the 49ers unveil their revamped roster. The team is at the onset of a rebuild that saw a purge of most of the roster from a year ago. While we will officially get to see what the starting offense and defense looks like on Sunday, Shanahan did indicate that player rotations will be based on situations that the Panthers present.
