San Francisco 49ers: 5 players who’ll lose a roster spot after 2020 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Running Back Jeff Wilson
Trading Matt Breida cleared up a good deal of San Francisco’s running back room. But it’s still a crowded group, especially after the team signed undrafted rookies Salvon Ahmed and JaMycal Hasty.
Ahmed received a three-year deal, while Hasty could be one of the 49ers’ latest hidden-gem finds in the ranks of the undrafted.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan has a long history of finding such runners and developing them, meaning either Ahmed or Hasty could find a path to the 53-man roster this season. In addition to those two, the Niners also boast Jerick McKinnon, Tevin Coleman, Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson on the offseason roster.
Wilson is the player to wonder about here.
While more physical of a back than some of his counterparts, Shanahan has typically deployed him solely in reserve and selective situations, and Wilson was one of those players regularly bouncing back and forth between the active game-day roster and inactive list.
This suggests Wilson’s role could be in jeopardy if either Ahmed or Hasty wind up ascending, potentially making the third-year pro a candidate for being waived if he can’t carve out a spot after the preseason.