San Francisco 49ers: Predicting 5 surprises for the 53-man roster in 2020

With the 49ers striving to get back to the Super Bowl in 2020, here are five potential surprises for the 53-man roster once the regular season begins.

The current state of the San Francisco 49ers roster is one of the quality starters and solid depth. One only has to look back to 2017 to see this was not always the case.

When head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over the franchise that year, they did so knowing they had a lot of work to do in overhauling the roster.

Three years and a Super Bowl appearance later, it’s pretty safe to say the turnaround has been a successful one. San Francisco only has a handful of players still on the team from the 2016 Chip Kelly/Trent Baalke roster. The number was as high as 10 until just recently when Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley and tight end Garrett Celek retired. The 49ers also traded Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts this offseason, removing another player. It’s safe to say Shanahan and Lynch have done an outstanding job managing the roster, all while directing the team to the Super Bowl only three years in.

With the team fresh off a Super Bowl loss and returning 18 out of 22 starters from last year, the expectations are very high again. Shanahan and Lynch have been very adamant in stating they will do whatever it takes to improve the roster wherever and however possible. The loss to the Kansas City Chiefs might make them take a harder look at where they can improve and could make for some tough decisions on cut day.

Niner Noise takes an in-depth look at five players who could be staying or going once training camp wraps up and the regular season begins.