49ers biggest winners, losers halfway through 2019 NFL preseason

With half of the San Francisco 49ers’ 2019 NFL preseason in the books, Niner Noise takes a deeper look at who the biggest winners and losers are ahead of Week 1.

The San Francisco 49ers are now 2-0 in the 2019 NFL preseason after winning 24-15 over the Denver Broncos on Monday night.

Granted, preseason wins and losses mean almost nothing, except for some small bragging rights and players on the fringes of the roster who made it happen. But the latter part of that statement does ring one thing true about this exhibition phase.

Preseasons are about individual competition, which ultimately means winners and losers.

There have been a few on each side of the coin for the Niners halfway through the preseason so far. San Francisco’s defense has looked solid enough, both during practices and in exhibition bouts. Considering how problematic this unit was a year ago, it’s refreshing to see the defense perform at a high level despite not being at full strength.

At the same time, there are players who appeared to be on the stronger side of the roster bubble entering training camp, only to find themselves pushed more towards the fringes due to any number of different circumstances.

The final decisions, of course, won’t have to be made until roster cuts later this month, which take place on Aug. 31. Still, it is possible to gauge some of the bigger winners and losers from this exhibition phase, along with who has seen their stock values rise or fall with only limited time remaining between now and the 53-man roster being announced.

Here are some of San Francisco’s biggest winners and losers from the preseason so far.