49ers roster chances for these 4 players aren’t looking good

No. 3: 49ers Linebacker Justin Hilliard

It’s always easy to root for the underdog, and being an undrafted free agent almost always epitomizes an underdog anyway.

Particularly in the case of former Ohio State linebacker Justin Hilliard, whose collegiate injuries prevented him from going pro earlier and probably eliminated him from being drafted in the first place.

Hilliard was a positive standout for the Niners in preseason Week 1 against the Chiefs, leading San Francisco’s defense with eight tackles, one of which was for a loss, and a quarterback hit.

But that might not be enough to make the 53-man roster.

Hilliard was already facing an uphill battle to land one of likely two depth spots behind the starters, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw. True, fellow linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair’s knee injury opened the door a little bit for Hilliard to survive roster cuts. But that was before the 49ers signed veteran linebacker Mychal Kendricks to a one-year deal earlier this week.

Kendricks is a much safer insurance policy to guard against an injury to either Warner or Greenlaw, and Al-Shaair’s injury isn’t expected to be serious.

Now, even with one solid preseason outing under his belt, Hilliard faces a very real possibility of being dismissed off the regular-season roster, although landing on the practice squad his rookie season is certainly in play.