No. 3: 49ers cornerback Jason Verrett
Another injury-plagued player affected by the absence of a preseason is veteran cornerback Jason Verrett, who has played in a mere six regular-season games since the start of 2016.
Verrett’s lone appearance last season resulted in two defensive snaps, which included both a pass-interference call and touchdown allowed against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3. It was pretty clear Verrett wasn’t 100 percent after suffering a torn Achilles in 2018, and San Francisco subsequently placed him on season-ending injured reserve shortly thereafter.
Hopefully healthy, Verrett needed the preseason to get his proverbial “football legs” back underneath him. As is the case with Tim Harris, those crucial in-game situations were essential to Verrett finding any sort of bounce-back results in 2020.
The 49ers still have cornerback depth questions this season. Yet Verrett needed to prove he was fully recovered in real-time scenarios against varying competition.
Not having exhibition opportunities could easily bump him off the roster between now and Week 1.