San Francisco 49ers: Best and Worst Players at Each Position Entering 2017

Oct 2, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) warms up with quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) warms up with quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
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The San Francisco 49ers are going to need a lot of roster help this offseason. But let’s find a starting point and identify the best and worst players on the Niners roster heading into 2017.

Torrey Smith 49ers
Nov 29, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Torrey Smith (82) during a player injury against the Arizona Cardinals during the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

A complete roster rebuild is on the table for the San Francisco 49ers this offseason.

While bereft of talent, the Niners situation isn’t entirely hopeless. The team will have plenty of cap space to hit free agency. The 49ers also own the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

And, surprisingly enough, San Francisco actually has a number of building blocks.

With all that in mind, who are the best and worst players at every position for the red and gold this offseason?

This is important because it gives us a jump-off point on determining how such a rebuild would go. In general, teams want to build around their best players. But the addition-by-subtraction argument often applies to those who are the worst on any given roster.

We’ll tackle the aforementioned question and identify one player who fits into each category for every position from last season. And we’ll take into consideration each player’s level of expectation too.

So while the 53rd player on a 53-man roster might not be very good, he won’t count here simply because the expectation level is so low.

It’s a little tough with special teams, but we’ll start there anyway.

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