49ers vs. Broncos: 4 Niners who must perform well in preseason game (or risk being cut)
By Peter Panacy
Niner Noise looks at four players on the roster who must play well when the 49ers host the Broncos on Saturday.
It's probably easy to find some duds from the San Francisco 49ers' 34-7 preseason defeat at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday.
Even if it was a meaningless exhibition game, the lopsided score suggests not a whole lot went right for head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad.
And it suggests plenty of underachievement, too.
The outcome of the game will help influence Shanahan's final decisions when it comes to whittling down the 90-man offseason roster to 53 players who'll comprise the regular-season group when Week 1 rolls around. For those players on the bubble, a bad performance against Vegas last Sunday absolutely must be followed up with an impressive one this Saturday when the Denver Broncos come to town.
Especially these four.
No. 4: 49ers defensive lineman Kerry Hyder
2020 sure seems like a long time ago when defensive lineman Kerry Hyder led what was an injury-plagued Niners team with a career-high 8.5 sacks.
Since then, including a brief stint with the Seattle Seahawks, Hyder has gone back to looking more like a depth piece and rotational name who barely scratches the stat sheet on a week-to-week basis.
Hyder had two tackles against the Raiders, including one for a loss. But, with San Francisco adding faster, more athletic defensive linemen during the offseason like Clelin Ferrell, Austin Bryant and Spencer Waege, Hyder will have to find a way to keep up.
The 49ers like Hyder's versatility, but there'll have to be more reasons to keep him around on the 53-man roster.