49ers' 2023 preseason is over, these players are on the roster bubble (and these players are safe)
By Peter Panacy
49ers linebacker
Lock: Oren Burks, Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner
Strong bubble: Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Jalen Graham*, Dee Winters*
Weak bubble: Marcelino McCrary-Ball
Long shot: Curtis Robinson, Kyahva Tezino*
While the Niners' secondary is intriguing, the linebacker group is going to be awfully challenging.
Three spots are accounted for with Oren Burks' special teams prowess earning him a job, while no one will question Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw as two of the best linebackers in the NFL right now, not even NFL.com.
Things get challenging after that, however.
Second-year pro Marcelino McCrary-Ball didn't exactly overtake Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles or either of the two rookies, Dee Winters and Jalen Graham, during preseason action. And one could make the argument that Graham, a seventh-round selection, was more impressive than the sixth-round pick, Winters, from training camp through Week 3 of the preseason.
Perhaps San Francisco keeps one veteran and one rookie of that final bunch, and a hunch would be Flannigan-Fowles and Graham for now.