Head coach Kyle Shanahan opted to cancel mandatory minicamp for his San Francisco 49ers players after they put together perfect attendance in Week 2 of organized team activities, and that means no one will see the whole squad together until training camp kicks off much later this summer.
Of course, OTAs are padless and don't actually involve serious competition—Shanahan has said this multiple times, indicating training camp as when the real competition picks up.
On top of that, reports from the awfully few practices open to the media don't lead to a lot of conclusions, but there are nevertheless plenty of takeaways from what's available.
And that leads us to dish out yet another of our roster-bubble watch lists, which not only includes several new faces but also sees others bumped around in relation to said bubble when comparing to our previous bubble-watch list.
Here's the criteria for our bubble watch:
- Lock: Barring something crazy, you're making the roster
- Strong bubble: Things are looking good, just not guaranteed
- Weak bubble: A lot of things better go your way, and it's not likely they all will
- Long shot: Hope you enjoyed your 49ers offseason experience
Let's get to it.
*denotes rookie
49ers roster bubble watch: Post-OTAs edition
Quarterback
Lock: Brock Purdy, Mac Jones
Strong bubble: None
Weak bubble: Adrian Martinez, Kurtis Rourke
Long shot: None
The Niners appear more than content keeping Jones on the 53-man roster despite earlier speculation of potential trades, although a serious injury to another team's starting quarterback could change matters in a hurry.
Considering neither Martinez nor Rourke flashed much of anything serious, according to media reporters, having Jones as a backup to Purdy might be the smartest play.
Especially with Sports Illustrated's Grant Cohn calling out Rourke for throwing "one of the worst passes I've ever seen" at one particular practice.
Running back
Lock: Kyle Juszczyk, Kaelon Black*, Jordan James, Christian McCaffrey
Strong bubble: Patrick Taylor Jr.
Weak bubble: Isaac Guerendo,
Long shot: Jordan Mims
Black was arguably the best storyline from OTAs thus far, showcasing his explosiveness and doing as much as he can to debunk accusations of San Francisco wholly reaching on him in the draft last April. It appears he and James are poised to be CMC's primary backups this season.
Guerendo, meanwhile, was already in serious danger of missing out on a roster spot after falling out of favor with Shanahan last season, but a torn pectoral clouds the third-year pro's future even more.
Perhaps Guerendo hangs around into the regular season, albeit on an injury list.
Wide receiver
Lock: Mike Evans, Christian Kirk, Ricky Pearsall, De'Zhaun Stribling*
Strong bubble: Jacob Cowing, Demarcus Robinson, Jordan Watkins
Weak bubble: Junior Bergen, Malik Turner
Long shot: Brandon Aiyuk, Colton Dowell, Wesley Grimes*, Will Pauling*
Aiyuk's future with the 49ers is already set: He won't be on the 53-man roster, and it's only a matter of how the Niners part ways with him between now and Week 1.
With the top four spots already penciled in, the true battle at wide receiver will be for the fifth and sixth spots, likely boiling down to key special teams contributions and niche skill sets. Cowing might have an edge as a punt returner, while guaranteed money could give Robinson an edge over the balance of the competition.
Provided other receivers like Evans, Kirk and Pearsall stay healthy, of course.
Tight end
Lock: Luke Farrell, Jake Tonges
Strong bubble: George Kittle, Brayden Willis
Weak bubble: Khalil Dinkins*
Long shot: Hayden Rucci
It feels weird putting Kittle on the bubble, but that has more to do with his recovery from last January's Achilles tear than anything else. Signs are looking good he'll return early in the season, potentially as soon as Week 1, but there remains a slight chance he starts the year on an injury list, denying him the first four games of 2026.
Keep an eye on Dinkins, the undrafted free agent, who might be a poor man's version of Kittle in a year or two's time.
Offensive line
Lock: Trent Williams, Jake Brendel, Colton McKivitz, Dominick Puni, Brett Toth, Carver Willis*
Strong bubble: Connor Colby, Enrique Cruz Jr.*, Robert Jones, Vederian Lowe
Weak bubble: Drake Nugent, Brandon Parker, Austen Pleasants, Zach Thomas, Nick Zakelj
Long shot: Isaac Alarcon
Aside from the established starting four—Williams, Brendel, Puni and McKivitz—San Francisco has far more offensive line questions than answers at this point.
It appears Willis will be given every opportunity to seize the starting left guard job this season, which doesn't necessarily bode well for Colby and/or Jones' roster chances, but the 49ers have platooned veterans with younger players before, and that could easily happen here, too.
An underappreciated camp battle might be between Lowe and Cruz for a swing tackle role, the latter possibly ticketed to become an heir apparent for Williams in a few years' time.
Defensive line
Lock: Nick Bosa, Alfred Collins, Gracen Halton*, Romello Height*, Osa Odighizuwa, Sam Okuayinonu
Strong bubble: Sebastian Valdez, C.J. West, Keion White, Mykel Williams
Weak bubble: Evan Anderson, Bryson Eason*, Cameron Sample
Long shot: William Bradley-King, Andrew Farmer II, Mikail Kamara*, James Thompson Jr.*
Like Kittle, Williams' placement on the strong bubble has more to do with injury recovery than anything else, and it wouldn't be a shock to see the 49ers place their Round 1 draftee from 2025 on an injury list to open up the regular season as he rehabs from a torn ACL.
The Niners have plenty of options after onboarding Odighizuwa, Halton and Height earlier this offseason, and all three figure to play prominent roles alongside incumbents like Bosa, Okuayinonu and Collins.
San Francisco will want to see more from West in year two, and it'll be interesting to see if Valdez can crack the regular-season "glass ceiling" after impressing in the preseason a year ago.
Linebacker
Lock: Tatum Bethune, Jaden Dugger*, Luke Gifford, Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner
Strong bubble: Nick Martin
Weak bubble: Jalen Graham, Garret Wallow
Long shot: None
No other defensive position saw more changes than linebacker; Dee Winters was traded, while Greenlaw was welcomed back with open arms, joined by a promising rookie in Dugger.
Dugger's use will be interesting under coordinator Raheem Morris, someone who can walk down in a five-man front without sacrificing good pass-coverage skills, thereby leaving Warner and Greenlaw to do the playmaking work.
It might be too soon to give up on Martin, although Dugger's presence has to be seen as a threat.
Secondary
Lock: Renardo Green, Nate Hobbs, Upton Stout, Deommodore Lenoir, Siran Neal, Ji'Ayir Brown, Malik Mustapha
Strong bubble: Ephesians Prysock*, Ashtyn Davis, Marques Sigle
Weak bubble: Jack Jones, Darrell Luter Jr., Jakob Robinson, Derrick Canteen, Jalen Stroman*
Long shot: Eli Apple, Tre Tomlinson, Larry Worth III*, Patrick McMorris
Lenoir, Green and Stout should be the 49ers' starting trio of corners, while Brown and Mustapha appear to be the early favorites at safety. But the addition of Davis changes that, especially with the veteran impressing during his impromptu appearance at OTAs. Could Davis push Sigle off the roster while challenging Brown for a free safety spot? Certainly.
Cornerback depth, particularly on the boundary, remains an open-ended question, yet the Niners hope they found help by adding both Hobbs and Prysock this offseason.
For those wondering about Neal, he's excellent on special teams. That matters.
Specialists
Lock: Eddy Piñeiro, Jon Weeks
Strong bubble: Corliss Waitman
Weak bubble: Jack Bouwmeester*
Long shot: None
Special teams drama? Yes, it exists.
Bouwmeester technically isn't on the 90-man roster right now, as he's facing a work visa situation. But, the Australian-born specialist will be competing with Waitman for those third-phase duties.
San Francisco is familiar with Aussie punters anyway.
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