49ers depth chart: Predicting Week 1 defense for 2020 season

Let’s have some fun with the 49ers depth chart on defense, shall we?

The San Francisco 49ers depth chart on defense probably won’t look too different than it did to kick off the 2019 season, although there are some notable changes.

The biggest, of course, was the Niners trading away Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, which was subsequently used to grab South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw at No. 14 overall.

Kinlaw joins a still-deep San Francisco defensive line, yet even that unit has some question marks behind an elite cast of the first-round talent carrying over from 2019.

In fact, that’s the majority of concerns for many of the positions on the defensive side of the ball.

These aren’t unique changes. The 49ers depth chart behind the assumed starters will shift each and every year, especially with veteran players aging out or signing on elsewhere. New faces and talents are brought aboard, too.

And there’s always training camp and the preseason to whittle down the 90-man roster to 53 players by Week 1.

Speaking of whittling down the roster, it’s never too soon to make predictions on how the 49ers depth chart will pan out. Looking at this side of the ball, there are good assumptions to be made, particularly among the starters, yet there are plenty of interesting battles pending for depth positions and reserve roles.

Let’s tackle those here, as Niner Noise offers up a pre-training camp defensive 49ers depth chart for Week 1 of the upcoming 2020 NFL season.