San Francisco 49ers: Predicting 16-man practice squad in 2020

With training camp underway, the 49ers will have plenty of decisions to make in the coming weeks including the practice squad.

The San Francisco 49ers are now well into training camp for the 2020 season, having had all their players come to Levi’s Stadium, receive their initial COVID-19 testing, and begin to work on strength and conditioning.

Without preseason games, the decisions about the final roster and the practice squad will have to be made solely on the practices that happen during training camp, something that may have an impact on undrafted rookies, journeymen veterans, and players on the roster bubble.

There is, however, a bright side to this, since it means that these players, especially the rookies about whom little is known, will only really be seen by San Francisco. This means that if they get cut, there’s a higher likelihood the players might get through waivers and be eligible for the 49ers practice squad.

With all the unknowns about the 2020 season, the NFL has made some alterations to the already-changed practice squad rules. So instead of the planned 12-player squad that was initially agreed to for this year, the rule is teams can carry 16 players, six of which do not have to follow the normal requirements for practice squad eligibility.

The update will also impact a team in case of a COVID-19 outbreak, which will remove limits on how many players can be moved from the practice squad to the active roster per week.

Based on all this, let’s take a look at the 16 players who will just miss the cut for the 49ers’ final 53-man roster and be moved to the initial 2020 practice squad.