49ers’ 2019 53-man roster predictions before training camp
By Peter Panacy
Special Teams (3)
Kicker: Robbie Gould
Punter: Mitch Wishnowsky
Long-Snapper: Colin Holba
San Francisco 49ers
Normally, there’s not a lot of drama associated with special teamers. They’re important, yes, and specialists can certainly make a difference between a sub-.500 team and one that’s playoff bound.
But it’s not particularly good for the 49ers their veteran kicker, Robbie Gould, continues to be a holdout after being slapped with the franchise tag earlier this offseason.
“It’s a complicated situation,” Gould said, via NBC Chicago. “The way I’ve kind of approached it is, I want to spend time with my family.”
Gould has remained absent from Niners workouts so far, and it’s anyone’s guess whether or not he’ll show up in time for training camp.
In this prediction, though, he will. San Francisco does have a contingency plan in place, grabbing fellow kicker Jonathan Brown. But Gould is set to earn nearly $5 million on the franchise tag, which is good enough a motivation to stick it out with the 49ers for one more season.
The 49ers grabbed punter Mitch Wishnowsky in Round 4 of the 2019 NFL Draft, and he has zero competition for the starting gig this season.
And with long-snapper Kyle Nelson still out for six more games while serving a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, Colin Holba will get the job in Week 1.