Niner Noise
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5 players who were pushed onto the 49ers’ roster bubble during 2019 OTAs

By Peter Panacy

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 30: Richie James #13, Kendrick Bourne #84 and Trent Taylor #81 of the San Francisco 49ers look on during the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 30: Richie James #13, Kendrick Bourne #84 and Trent Taylor #81 of the San Francisco 49ers look on during the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 09: Richie James #13 of the San Francisco 49ers returns the opening kickoff against the Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium on December 9, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 09: Richie James #13 of the San Francisco 49ers returns the opening kickoff against the Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium on December 9, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

With the San Francisco 49ers wrapping up their 2019 installment of OTAs this week, Niner Noise looks at five players who have now been pushed onto the roster bubble.

The first three weeks of San Francisco 49ers organized team activities (OTAs) are complete, and the team will begin preparations for mandatory minicamp, then training camp in late July.

OTAs are interesting things, as these first practices aren’t mandatory, and it’s not uncommon to see a number of veterans and slightly injured players held out of these padless practices. Additionally, the media is only allowed to attend one practice per week, so it’s even tougher to truly gauge which players are rising or falling on the 90-man offseason roster and depth chart.

Plenty of those players have close to zero chance making the Niners’ 53-man roster in 2019. Roughly a third are mere camp invites, and between 20 to 30 more are on the bubble.

This slideshow focuses on the latter group.

In particular, let’s take a look at five players who were pushed onto the roster bubble during OTAs. It could be due to other players making headway, potential absences from practice or any combination of other factors.

Either way, these five will need strong training camps to recapture their best chances to stick around in September.

No. 4: Wide Receiver Richie James

Second-year wide receiver Richie James entered OTAs already on the roster bubble, yet OTA circumstances didn’t exactly do him any favors.

His special teams abilities last year arguably could have kept him off the bubble, particularly in kickoff returns, yet James figures to be one of a number of players competing for a starting slot role this season. Even with the struggles San Francisco endured at this position last year, James was scantly used on the offensive side of the ball and was targeted a mere 12 times over 13 games.

By multiple OTA accounts, newly signed veteran wide receiver Jordan Matthews, who offers a bigger option in the slot, put on something of a show during practices and honed some chemistry with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Matthews’ OTA efforts might be enough to keep him off the bubble, for now, which means another receiver on the 49ers’ crowded depth chart has to fall down on it.

James is squarely in that category now.