2020-21 Roster: How Different is it?

Originally posted by NinerGM:
Much of this list has been addressed in terms of finding players who become replacements or depth if there are starters. It's a real testament to the work Lynch, Peters and Mayhew have done. Young team getting better. 50% of long term core players identified and just watching them mature within the same system. This will be the offense's 2nd full season with Jimmy at the helm. This will be Shanny's and Saleh's 4th full season as a HC/OC and DC respectively. Cap management has been outstanding as usual, now it's just about experience - this team has gotten better over time and should continue to do so.

So, nope, no surprises.

AB81 had a stat on another thread saying the 49ers have one of the highest (I would say top 10) in terms of the number of undrafted free agents on the team. I think ShanaLynch did a very good job identifying some good quality undrafted players to get on the team. If they can continue that trend - the fact that they have to draft almost dead last from here on in, may not affect them as much as other teams.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by NinerGM:
Much of this list has been addressed in terms of finding players who become replacements or depth if there are starters. It's a real testament to the work Lynch, Peters and Mayhew have done. Young team getting better. 50% of long term core players identified and just watching them mature within the same system. This will be the offense's 2nd full season with Jimmy at the helm. This will be Shanny's and Saleh's 4th full season as a HC/OC and DC respectively. Cap management has been outstanding as usual, now it's just about experience - this team has gotten better over time and should continue to do so.

So, nope, no surprises.

AB81 had a stat on another thread saying the 49ers have one of the highest (I would say top 10) in terms of the number of undrafted free agents on the team. I think ShanaLynch did a very good job identifying some good quality undrafted players to get on the team. If they can continue that trend - the fact that they have to draft almost dead last from here on in, may not affect them as much as other teams.

Yeah, OverTheCap.com has a great article on all 32 teams 53 man rosters. We have 18 UDFAs right now, 37 homegrown players, which is among the most, and only 4.7% new vet snaps, so not much turnover at all. Which was expected IMO, we didn't have much cap room, so we weren't signing many FAs, no big names, and we ended up with just 5 picks, with Jennings of course be waived, but signed to the PS.

Originally posted by mayo49:

I'm worried about the Center position - what happens if Garland goes down? We're f**ked.

Dont wurrry, newberry is making a comeback.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

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.

Not really.. Moseley is a decent player. Not great , not bad but okay. We shall see as last year he sure had some flashes but also some serious WTH moments. Our depth should be: Sherm -> Williams , but I understand that Williams plays the nickel so well and is a stud there.

We don't have a legitimate #2 CB on this team and they failed to address this position in the offseason.

Sherm is not at all where he once was so he will get burned a few times.

Verrett can look all kinda of good in camp but I sure as hell want to see that in the game. Something he's yet to show. Doesn't matter what you do in practice if you can't carry that to the field. That is what this team has had a lot of over the years.

Originally posted by Team49ers:

Originally posted by mayo49:

I'm worried about the Center position - what happens if Garland goes down? We're f**ked.

Dont wurrry, newberry is making a comeback.

We all thought that last year too when we lost our starting LT, RT and C. Shanny will always think of a master plan.

Originally posted by NinerGM:

Originally posted by NCommand:

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.

Much of this list has been addressed in terms of finding players who become replacements or depth if there are starters. It's a real testament to the work Lynch, Peters and Mayhew have done. Young team getting better. 50% of long term core players identified and just watching them mature within the same system. This will be the offense's 2nd full season with Jimmy at the helm. This will be Shanny's and Saleh's 4th full season as a HC/OC and DC respectively. Cap management has been outstanding as usual, now it's just about experience - this team has gotten better over time and should continue to do so.

So, nope, no surprises.

I couldn't agree more! It's been a very job well done. I know we focus a lot on the weaknesses that hold us back and all HC/GM's have their blind spots, but overall, we're a top 5 team in talent and clearly within striking distance for #6 again.

Originally posted by AB81Rules:

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.

Day was terrible. I'll wait to see if Hyder is better than Moore (doubt it) but if he is and Blair regains form by 4Q, we're in great shape esp. if Ford and Bosa last 16+ games.

Originally posted by theduke85:

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.

A bigger change when Sanders got here was the demotion of Pettis and Goodwin and the promotion of Deebo and Bourne. Sanders had 36 datches (3.6 per game (10) and only 500 yards. If Aiyuk doesn't exceed that, it will be a disappointment.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by AB81Rules:
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.

Day was terrible. I'll wait to see if Hyder is better than Moore (doubt it) but if he is and Blair regains form by 4Q, we're in great shape esp. if Ford and Bosa last 16+ games.

Ehh, Hyder and Moore seem even IMO, Moore was a 3rd rd bust, while Hyder was a UDFA. Moore and Hyder both have 10 career sacks, where Hyder's only been in the league since 2015, while Moore has since 2013. Honestly they're even. I don't see the big deal in Damontre Moore, he was ok, but he didn't do a ton before getting hurt.

As for Day, I never understood the doom and gloom when he left via FA, he was horrible IMO.

Originally posted by AB81Rules:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by AB81Rules:

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.

Day was terrible. I'll wait to see if Hyder is better than Moore (doubt it) but if he is and Blair regains form by 4Q, we're in great shape esp. if Ford and Bosa last 16+ games.

Ehh, Hyder and Moore seem even IMO, Moore was a 3rd rd bust, while Hyder was a UDFA. Moore and Hyder both have 10 career sacks, where Hyder's only been in the league since 2015, while Moore has since 2013. Honestly they're even. I don't see the big deal in Damontre Moore, he was ok, but he didn't do a ton before getting hurt.

As for Day, I never understood the doom and gloom when he left via FA, he was horrible IMO.

I just mean, I need to see Hyder here in our system first. He's going to get a lot of snaps with Blair out so we'll know soon.

It's likely Hyder is at worst, even, like you say. Moore only had 60 snaps here (basically 2-3 games worth).

I've been conditioned to be much more conservative on the player projections on no, or limited sample size in our systems and then adjust as we go.

10 minutes away from a SB but losing it. Just like last year.

Originally posted by Jiks:

10 minutes away from a SB but losing it. Just like last year.

Why do you think that?

Originally posted by NCommand:

I couldn't agree more! It's been a very job well done. I know we focus a lot on the weaknesses that hold us back and all HC/GM's have their blind spots, but overall, we're a top 5 team in talent and clearly within striking distance for #6 again.

Agree, and I think only AZ did better in the draft than 49ers did in the NFC West. If the 49ers can handle AZ, that's a good sign, in my opinion, to be able to handle the rest of the NFC West. I'm looking forward to the NFC west being as weak as the AFC east if the Lambs and Seadderall continue to decline and AZ continues to cut their high round draft picks.