SF 49ers: Power ranking each position after offseason roster cuts

With the SF 49ers’ Week 1 53-man roster now complete, Niner Noise has fun with power rankings and lists each position in order.

It’s a quick turnaround from the SF 49ers finalizing their opening 53-man roster on Saturday, Sept. 5 to their Week 1 regular-season bout against the visiting Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Sept. 13.

As head coach Kyle Shanahan has pointed out in the wake of his team’s final offseason cut-downs from 80 players, the Niners’ initial 53-man roster won’t look anything like what they’ll field by the time Week 17 rolls around. Injuries and the inevitability of changes between now and then only means the group San Francisco announced last Saturday will undergo plenty of changes in the coming weeks and months.

For now, however, the 53-man roster is in place. Additionally, it’s refreshing to know the SF 49ers boast a Super Bowl-caliber roster that retained 18 of 22 offensive and defensive starters from last season. Because of this, most of Saturday’s roster cuts weren’t too surprising. There were only a handful of spots up for grabs, and the vast majority of those were primarily for reserve and backup roles.

Looking at Shanahan’s decisions and the entire roster, which positions stand out the most? How would one go about ranking them in order?

Well, we’re glad you asked.

With initial roster cuts complete and Week 1 just days away, Niner Noise goes through each position, NFL power rankings style, breaking down why each positional unit is where it’s at in comparison to the other positions on the team.

Depth, starters, projected impact and a number of other factors go into this objective ranking, which lists out each unit in contrast with the others.

Starting off with special teams, unfortunately, as their impact, while important, is outshined by everyone else.