49ers: Player locks for San Francisco's starting positions in 2018

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SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 24: Ahkello Witherspoon #23 of the San Francisco 49ers breaks up the pass to Dede Westbrook #12 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during their NFL football game at Levi’s Stadium on December 24, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Niner Noise predicts which players on the San Francisco 49ers roster are locks to start in 2018, going through each position and breaking down the starters.

The San Francisco 49ers appeared to turn a page over the latter half of 2017, finishing up the season on a five-game winning streak and ending with a 6-10 record entering an offseason of promise.

While the Niners appear to be trending in the right direction, a number of changes will likely be made between now and Week 1 of 2018. General manager John Lynch still owns a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft this April, the first of nine selections, as well as roughly $115 million in available cap space.

Needless to say, he’ll be busy adding even more talent to the roster.

Pending additions will likely push a number of 2017 starters out of their jobs next season. Yet others are going to wind up staying in starting roles.

A lot will change between now and roster-projection time. But based off what we know heading into the offseason, it’s possible to predict some locks for starting jobs in 2018.

In this slideshow, we’ll do a position-by-position breakdown predicting the shoo-in starters for each unit next season.

Starting off with special teams.

San Francisco 49ers: Player locks for starting positions in 2018

By Peter Panacy | Jan 5, 2018

Niner Noise predicts which players on the San Francisco 49ers roster are locks to start in 2018, going through each position and breaking down the starters.