49ers 2023 NFL Draft additions put these 5 players on notice

The 49ers added nine players in the 2023 NFL Draft, and they won’t all make the 53-man roster. But every one of them will threaten a returning veteran for a spot.

Back in 2017 when head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch first took over the San Francisco 49ers, their job was to turn around what had been a two-win team the previous year.

As part of the process, they turned over roughly 70 percent of the roster they inherited.

Entering the 2023 offseason, the context is entirely different. The Niners are a Super Bowl contender. And while there are holes on the roster that needed to be filled, they were few and less substantial in nature.

So, when it comes to looking at the team’s class of picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, one can understand how few of the names are intended to be of the immediate-impact variety.

Yet San Francisco has to think about turning over portions of its roster every year. And this latest group will obviously threaten others who could potentially be phased out sooner than later.

Putting things bluntly, these five 49ers players have to be threatened by the team’s latest additions via the NFL Draft.

No. 5: Zane Gonzalez has to be threatened by 49ers drafting Jake Moody

Yes, the Niners grabbed a kicker in Round 3 of the draft, Michigan’s Jake Moody.

Only weeks prior, San Francisco engineered a low-end trade with the Carolina Panthers that sent veteran kicker Zane Gonzalez out to the West Coast, effectively ending fellow veteran kicker Robbie Gould’s tenure with the 49ers.

It’s looking as if Gonzalez’s tenure with the Niners will be significantly shorter.

Granted, Moody could completely flame out during offseason programs and training camp, meaning Gonzalez would keep the job for which he was traded.

In reality, though, San Francisco isn’t going to use a third-round pick on a kicker and not keep him on the roster, meaning Gonzalez is likely going to be shown the door.