SF 49ers: 3 players who should see less field time after Bills loss

The SF 49ers’ loss to the Bills in Week 13 revealed key deficiencies in the depth chart, meaning these three should see less field time.

All the injuries the SF 49ers have dealt with this season have put head coach Kyle Shanahan into quite the predicament, and one could make the argument it’s a near miracle Shanahan has his team at 5-7 despite having more players and game days lost to injuries than any other squad in the league after 13 weeks.

That said, Shanahan’s job as an evaluator shouldn’t change just because he’s been forced to rely heavily on backups and second-tier players in 2020.

The Niners’ 34-24 Week 13 loss to the Buffalo Bills told us a lot of things about Shanahan’s team this season. For starters, when things are going well, San Francisco can be competitive enough and possibly win games here and there. Yet the margin for error is so slim and the SF 49ers can’t overcome multiple setbacks easily, meaning any shortcoming or mismatch is likely to be detrimental in their chances for victory.

Such was the case when Shanahan had to rely on second- and third-tier players heavily in the second half.

If there’s a positive, at least Shanahan is getting a close look at some players and will have more evidence in determining whether or not they can be part of San Francisco’s offseason reconstruction in 2021.

The Shanahan “jury” might still be out on a number of contributors likely on the 2021 roster bubble. But after what went down at State Farm Stadium on Monday night, there’s a pretty good chance the SF 49ers can admit they’ve “seen all they need to” from these three players who don’t need to see too many more snaps for the rest of the year.