49ers Preseason: Evaluating Bubble-Watch Players for Each Position

The San Francisco 49ers have one preseason game in the books and will look to make the first steps to formulate their roster in 2016. Niner Noise takes a look at each position and determines who is a lock, who’s in good shape and who is on the bubble.

The San Francisco 49ers have no shortage of questions as the team looks to further evaluate its roster after the Niners’ 24-13 preseason loss to the Houston Texans last Sunday.

Preaseason games aren’t so much about wins and losses. Play-calling is traditionally more vanilla, first-team units rarely see more than a handful of drives and this type of competition is more about giving depth players a chance to showcase why they belong on a roster.

San Francisco’s 90-man offseason roster has more than a handful of question marks.

While there is good depth at a handful of positions, others leave plenty to be desired.

So, with three preseason games remaining, Niner Noise takes a look at each player on the 49ers roster and determines where he falls in this crucial criteria. Let’s base this on four tiers — a lock, in good shape, strong bubble and weak bubble.

Determining who is a lock will be easy. The problem is the 49ers have far fewer of these players than they did just a few years ago.

But hey, that’s what the preseason is for, right?

Keep in mind the Niners will have to trim the 90-man roster to 75 players after the third preseason week. The final 53-man roster will be announced following the conclusion of the preseason.

Who stays and who goes? And who gets the proverbial “I dunno” mark?

Next: Special Teams