Aug. 17, 2026, 4:02 a.m. PT
The San Francisco 49ers have one preseason game in the books and another set for Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
We’ve gotten a chance to digest and go back through the 49ers’ preseason opener vs. the Tennessee Titans and came up with an updated 53-man roster projection. Our first shot at a roster prediction came in early May after the draft.
Some of the positions have stayed the same despite a handful of injuries. Other positions have undergone a handful of changes. We marked down those changes and explained the reasoning behind each of them. Rookies will be notated in bold and new additions to our projected roster will have an asterisk next to their name. Here’s the position-by-position prediction of what the 49ers’ 53-man roster will look like after final cuts are submitted on Aug.
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Quarterback (3) Brock Purdy Mac Jones Kurtis Rourke* Changes: Rourke was good enough in his preseason debut that we have to consider that he wouldn’t make it through waivers if the 49ers tried to waive him and bring him back to their practice squad. The second-year seventh-round pick looked healthy, athletic and showed off the kind of traits another team would be happy to use a waiver claim on. Losing Rourke after investing a redshirt year on him in 2025 would be tough, but the only way he may be in San Francisco this season is if they keep him on the 53-man roster. Running back (4) Christian McCaffrey Jordan James Kaelon Black Patrick Taylor Jr.* PUP: RB Isaac Guerendo
Changes: We went from three RBs to four and kept Taylor for his special teams contributions. Isaac Guerendo is another player the 49ers could keep as a fourth RB, but it may behoove them to keep him on the PUP list and then see how the season shakes out before activating him. James and Black have both missed significant time in camp with injuries, but neither player is in danger of missing the roster unless they’re going to start the season on IR.
Fullback (1) Kyle Juszczyk Changes: No changes. Juszczyk is dealing with a broken finger.
It won’t matter. Tight end Josiah Deguara is a name to watch as a potential practice squad addition to work as internal depth behind Juszczyk. Wide receiver (5) Mike Evans Deebo Samuel* De’Zhaun Stribling Demarcus Robinson Jordan Watkins Changes: Ricky Pearsall’s season-ending knee injury was a brutal blow to the 49ers’ receiving corps. He is replaced by Samuel who signed shortly after news of Pearsall’s surgery came down. We also dropped the number of WRs the 49ers are carrying from six down to five with Christian Kirk getting left out of the mix.
He’s been dealing with a calf injury for most of training camp and with numbers tight at other spots he was the odd man out. Perhaps the 49ers believe he’s a shoo-in to make the roster, but with veterans like Robinson, Samuel and Evans already on the roster and Stribling shining in his first camp, the need for another veteran like Kirk drops dramatically. Tight end (4) George Kittle Jake Tonges Luke Farrell Brayden Willis* Changes: We had undrafted rookie Khalil Dinkins on the first projection.
He has since been waived so Willis took his spot. Four TEs still makes sense, as does Kittle making the roster because it doesn’t seem likely he’ll start the season on the PUP list. Even if Kittle doesn’t play in Week 1 it seems like he’s tracking for a return in the week or two after that. Offensive line (9) Trent Williams Colton McKivitz Jake Brendel Dominick Puni Robert Jones Brett Toth Vederian Lowe Carver Willis Enrique Cruz Jr. Changes: Connor Colby is left off this time and we trimmed the O-line group from 10 to nine. It would make sense if the 49ers only kept seven or eight because they don’t believe there are enough long-term NFL-caliber O-linemen in this group to keep as many as nine.
There could be a trade coming as well if the team doesn’t believe it has a starting-caliber left guard. It wouldn’t be a huge shock if Colby didn’t make the initial 53-man roster and came back via the practice squad where he could continue developing internally after battling for the starting left guard spot. McKivitz took that path in his second year and has turned himself into a solid starter at right tackle, so that’s not a career-defining move if it happens for a young player like Colby. The other interesting name to watch will be Cruz. The fifth-round pick has received mixed reviews in his first camp.
The 49ers like his traits, but is he a player who is let go in hopes of getting him through waivers and back to the practice squad? Depending on numbers at other positions that’s a gamble San Francisco could consider.
Defensive line (9) DE Nick Bosa DT Osa Odighizuwa DT Alfred Collins DT CJ West DT Gracen Halton DE Sam Okuayinonu* DE Keion White DE Romello Height DT James Thompson Jr.* Pup list: DE Mykel Williams
Changes: Undrafted rookie Mikail Kamara was on our first projection. He tore his ACL and is out for the season. Mykel Williams was also on our first crack at a 53-man projection, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he stayed on the PUP list to start the year and missed at least the first four weeks. That’s where we have him for now with Sam Okuayinonu making his way back onto the roster.
Undrafted rookie James Thompson Jr. has also been a pleasant surprise in camp and gets the nod here. Linebacker (6) Fred Warner Dre Greenlaw Nick Martin Luke Gifford Tatum Bethune Jaden Dugger Changes: In our initial 53-man we said this group felt right. Nothing has changed in camp to alter our course. Dugger has been one of the stories of camp and he may be playing his way into a significant role. Cornerback (5) Deommodore Lenoir Renardo Green Upton Stout Jack Jones* Ephesians Prysock Changes: Nate Hobbs is out after making our initial 53-man projection. The veteran cornerback has been too banged up to make a real impact in camp.
Meanwhile a handful of other players have stood out, including Jones whose knack for getting his hands on the football earned him the nod. Safety (4) Ji’Ayir Brown Malik Mustapha Marques Sigle Siran Neal Changes: No changes here even as Mustapha deals with a hamstring injury that has cost him most of training camp.
Specialists (3) LS Jon Weeks K Eddy Pineiro P Corliss Waitman Changes: No changes. Waitman is the only punter left after Jack Bouwmeester was waived before the preseason opener.
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