49ers 2021 ‘Who is?’ series: Shon Coleman now to make roster?

Reserve tackle Shon Coleman has yet to take a regular-season snap with the 49ers, but an injury to a fellow lineman improves his 2021 roster chances.

It’s almost crazy to think veteran offensive tackle Shon Coleman has been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2018 but has yet to take a regular-season snap with the team since.

Coleman, a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns out of Clemson back in 2016, eventually started 16 games his second year in the NFL before being moved to the Niners in 2018 for a seventh-round draft pick. But after being acquired by San Francisco that year, Coleman essentially wasn’t needed in the wake of the 49ers enjoying a clean slate of health along their offensive line that year.

Then, in 2019, Coleman suffered a serious ankle and leg injury during the preseason, which forced him to miss all of that campaign. And in 2020, Coleman elected to opt out amid the pandemic, putting off the final year of his current contract into this season.

Coleman would have been on the weaker side of the bubble this offseason. But the Niners’ recent loss of fellow swing-tackle candidate Justin Skule to an ACL tear during OTA workouts just boosted Coleman’s value to the team in a big way.

With some impressive efforts during training camp and the preseason, Coleman could once again fill in as a quality backup in 2021.

Why Shon Coleman improves with 49ers in 2021

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound Coleman surely has to be fresh after recovering from his serious injury almost two years ago.

And while he hasn’t played a regular-season game for San Francisco, he’s still been fully immersed in the system and scheme the last three years. That might give him the advantage over younger swing-tackle candidates like Colton McKivitz and the 49ers’ most recent rookie addition, Jaylon Moore.

Even though it’s been a while, Coleman posted a halfway-decent Pro Football Focus overall grade his last full year as a starter, 2017, with a 61.4 mark. While far from elite, this at least suggests Coleman can be serviceable.

With a better crop of linemen surrounding him now, compared to what he experienced back with the Browns, one could assume Coleman plays well enough if he sees the field.

Why Shon Coleman regresses with 49ers in 2021

Rest versus rust is a real concern here, and the fact Coleman hasn’t seen a regular-season game since 2017 is an awfully big concern.

And he’s hardly seen any field time period over the last two years.

It’s unclear just how much this could affect Coleman’s presence this offseason. But the tangible number is his 23 games played and only 16 of them being starts. At 29 years old, it’s not like Coleman is still on the upward trajectory of his career. If anything, he’s likely entering the final phases of it, and the lack of practical field time works against him in this case.

Chances of making 49ers’ 53-man roster

While Skule was anything but a lock to make the 53-man roster this season, he did decrease Coleman’s shot at earning a spot on the regular-season roster.

Moore and McKivitz could both also push Coleman off the roster, and fellow lineman Daniel Brunskill is almost assured a spot anyway because of his versatility.

It’s likely Coleman will have to beat out at least one of the two between Moore and McKivitz, and Coleman probably needed to beat out Skule, too, to hang around. Skule’s injury opens up a better chance now, but Coleman isn’t anything close to being a lock to survive roster cuts.

He did, however, work his way up towards the stronger side of the bubble.

Coleman is due $1.13 million if he hangs around for the full season but will be a free agent in 2022. If the Niners decide to move on before Week 1, they’d save $990,000 in cap space against just over $130,000 in dead money.

That could be a reason why Coleman is pushed off the roster, particularly if San Francisco wants to go with cheaper options.

Still, the nature of injuries the 49ers suffered last year could prompt the team to keep a veteran ready to go over a less-polished backup like McKivitz or Moore.