
Now that the San Francisco 49ers are more than a week into training camp, there are plenty of movers and shakers up and down the depth chart. What players are seeing their standing slipping away?
James cannot stay healthy. While some of this is no fault of his own, the 49ers need availability. He could not provide it last year and could not see the field. Now, he is dealing with a rib injury that might sideline him for a few weeks. He will be behind Kaelon Black and now free agent signing Khalil Herbert is ready to push him.
Bergen needs to win a return job to make the roster. However, things just got a lot tougher when the team elected to sign Deebo Samuel, who will likely handle kick return duties. He can compete in the punt return line, but that group is deeper and more talented than what they had at kick return. Jordan Watkins and Jacob Cowing are both ahead of him here. So even with the injuries, he has not made up ground on the depth chart.
It is hard to blame a rookie for getting injured, but he is missing significant time to develop in the NFL. He was already undersized, so the concerns will continue when he comes back. Without Halton in the mix, the team has been able to see what they have in some depth names.
Sebastian Valdez, Bryson Eason and James Thompson have all taken advantage at times. Kevin Givens is a depth piece as well. This could lead to Halton hardly playing early in his career.
It is great that Dugger is flashing the versatility to play the edge. In the long-term, this could make him a winner from training camp. However, they drafted him to play linebacker. Right now, he is not getting much work in that room. They are too deep, and he is too raw. They are getting him on edge to get him some sort of work. That is not what you want to hear from a rookie.
Hobbs and Jones were signed to push the starters on the roster, mainly Renardo Green. While this is not a fault of their own, Green has been excellent this summer. So, the duo has struggled to push for a starting spot.
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