SF 49ers: Predicting Week 1 depth chart after final roster cuts

With the SF 49ers’ final 53 man roster complete, Niner Noise predicts what the Week 1 depth chart at each position might look like.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan and the SF 49ers‘ first 53-man roster of the 2020 is now official after the team went through the always-tough wave of offseason cuts to get the squad down from 80 players stemming from training camp.

There weren’t too many big surprises, as Shanahan was already retaining 18 of 22 offensive and defensive starters from last year’s Super Bowl team. Most of the open positions up for grabs were for depth and reserve purposes only, meaning the formation of the roster was relatively easy to predict in comparison to those Niners teams Shanahan oversaw between 2017 and 2019.

Forming the 53-man roster is one thing. However trying to figure out the depth chart is entirely different.

Shanahan has a tendency to go with the hot hand. And there are some positions where the starters and reserves are by no means clear.

So, while we can expect some shuffling over the course of the regular season, what are the expectations for San Francisco’s roster when the team kicks off its 2020 campaign on Sept. 13 when the Arizona Cardinals come to town?

Let’s take a look with Niner Noise’s first regular-season depth-chart prediction for Week 1.

SF 49ers Special Teams

Kicker: Robbie Gould

Punter: Mitch Wishnowsky

Long-Snapper: Kyle Nelson

No surprises here. The SF 49ers didn’t bring aboard any specialists during the offseason, retaining the same special teams battery they enjoyed for the latter half of 2019.

A rotating door at long-snapper early in 2019 influenced the early struggles veteran kicker Robbie Gould went through for the first half of the season. But with long-snapper Kyle Nelson returning after missing six games last year from being slapped with a 10-game suspension for a PED violation, the battery gained some consistency.

That consistency will be what the Niners look for over the entirety of 2020.