With training camp essentially done and dusted for the 49ers, the preaseason will kickoff in earnest when San Francisco travels to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders for both teams' preseason opener.
Things will actually start with a series of joint practices this weekend at the Raiders' training facility in Henderson, Nevada, which 49ers' head coach Kyle Shanahan views as the more important part of the trip since he doesn't plan on playing any of his starters during the game at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
But seeing as most of the camp battles for spots on the final 53-man roster that will be announced at the end of August are for those backup/depth spots, the practices and the game will mean a lot to those players on the fringe of making the team or who want to showcase their abilities in order to earn a higher spot on the depth chart.
So while we don't know exactly who will get playing time on Sunday, there are some players who need to take advantage of what opportunities they do get as they fight for those roster spots and roles heading into the regular season opener on Sept. 10 against the Steelers.
With that in mind, let's look at five players who need to really show out in the preseason opener against the Raiders.
QB Trey Lance/Sam Darnold
We'll start off with an obvious one and that's the continual battle for the backup spot behind starting quarterback Brock Purdy, who you wouldn't expect to play at all given both his cemented status as the 49ers' starter (Shanahan hasn't, to my memory, ever played his assumed starter in the preseason) and the fact that he's coming off an injury.
But the 49ers will need quarterbacks to play on Sunday, and while the joint practices will likely give Shanahan and quarterback coach Brian Griese more insight into how the competition between Trey Lance and Sam Darnold is going, I'd expect each of them to get some playing time in the game on Sunday.
How much time remains to be seen, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if each got a quarter in the first half, followed by Brandon Allen taking over to finish the second half.
That said, it will be imperative for each to show what he can do, given that neither will have the benefit of throwing to first-team receivers or standing behind the first-choice offensive line.
Sure, that will limit what can really be gleamed about either Lance or Darnold, but Shanahan will more concerned with their processing of the offense than the outcome of certain plays.
What each does against the Raiders won't be the only litmus test of the weekend, but if one quarterback shows a great deal more than the other, it may suggest that one could be rising to the top of this particular battle.
RB Tyrion Davis-Price
A lot has been made of the work that second-year running back Tyrion Davis-Price did over the offseason and the progress that he's shown so far in training camp.
Davis-Price didn't feature much during his rookie season out of LSU and many wondered if he wouldn't go the way of Trey Sermon, another third round draft pick who didn't play much as a rookie before being a camp casualty during his second training camp. But Davis-Price has proved himself so far and he should have ample opportunity to continue to do so this weekend.
With starter Christian McCaffrey certainly sitting out Sunday's game and de facto RB2 Elijah Mitchell on the shelf with an adductor injury, that means there will be lots of carries on Sunday for Davis-Price, fellow second-year man Jordan Mason, and rookie Khalan Laborn to show what they can do.
But with the roster spots being at such a premium, it seems unlikely that guys like Laborn will be able to crack the group without massively overperforming for the rest of the preseason along with depending on guys like Davis-Price to fall off a cliff.
For Davis-Price, this is more about securing his role for the upcoming season. Unless he absolutely falls apart during the preseason, he's going to make the team. So that means this is about showing he can be counted upon to spell McCaffrey or step up if Mitchell remains sidelined.
WR Danny Gray
Second year wideout Danny Gray is another player who will benefit from added reps in the preseason. After securing just one catch as a rookie, Gray is out to prove that his draft position was no fluke and that he can make a difference for this 49ers team in 2023.
Gray will have to show that he can add more than just straight line speed, although that ability does set him apart from the rest of the receivers on the roster.
There is a pretty big logjam outside of the three wide receivers who are to be locks to make this team (Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings), with veterans like Ray-Ray McLoud, Willie Snead, and Chris Conley fighting against younger guys like rookie Ronnie Bell and second-year players Dazz Newsome and Tay Martin for what could be one or two roster spots.
Gray will need to separate himself, then, in order to stand out and make this team, let alone carve out a role for himself. And yes, Kyle Shanahan noted that Gray has shown improvements from last year, but consistency will be the key for the wideout to show his mettle.
CB Ambry Thomas
Ambry Thomas is another young player who has a major hill to climb in order make the roster and find a role for himself in 2023.
Thomas' ride has been pretty up and down during his two seasons in the NFL. He finished the 2021 season as a starter, intercepting Rams' quarterback Matt Stafford to close out the regular season and clinch the 49ers' NFC West title that year.
But he lost that role early in training camp last season when the 49ers signed Charvarious Ward as a free agent and Emmanuel Moseley slid in opposite the new signing.
When Moseley was injured in Carolina, Thomas was not the next man up, as fellow second-year man Deommodore Lenoir took over for Moseley and never relinquished the job, turning into a player that opposing teams did not want to test as the season went along.
The drafting of Darrell Luter in the 5th round of the 2023 NFL Draft along with the free agent addition of Isaiah Oliver has made Thomas' position all the more precarious, not to mention the ascension of UDFA rookie D'Shawn Jamison during the early part of training camp.
So while a guy like Jamison or Qwauntrezz Knight might have more to gain from showing out during this weekend in Las Vegas, Ambry Thomas could be playing for his football life here, something he seems to understand based on his performance so far this offseason.
If he can do that, he can begin to build the trust of the coaching staff and earn a role in this crowded cornerback room. If not, he may be looking for new home when roster cuts happen on August 29.
EDGE Clelin Ferrell/Taco Charlton/Drake Jackson
Another spot that's wide open is the edge-rusher position opposite the as-of-yet-unextended Nick Bosa.
The battle comes down to pretty much anyone on the roster at that position, but it seems likely that if a guy like rookie Robert Beal makes the roster it will be as a situational pass rusher and not a starter and that someone like Kerry Hyder would serve best a rotational piece at this point in his career.
That means the true contest is between rookie Drake Jackson and free-agent signings Clelin Ferrell and Taco Charlton, the latter of whom has only been with the team a little over a week.
Ferrell and Charlton both have something in their pedigree that Jackson does not: they were each first-round draft picks when they came into the league, Ferrell in 2019 by the Raiders (4th overall) and Charlton in 2017 by the Cowboys (28th overall). Jackson was a late second-round pick by the 49ers in 2022.
Of course, draft position is one thing during the early years of a player's career and it often buys guys more time than they deserve, especially former first-rounders, but it doesn't matter much when a player has entered the mid-to-later part of his career (Ferrell is now in year five, Charlton year seven, although they have played roughly the same amount of games).
That simply means that the player who wins the role will get the job and this weekend against the Raiders will be each defender's first chance to make noise against another team's offensive lineman.
This will be one of the most vital roles yet to be filled for the 49ers, as there's an argument to be made that the best defense they've featured since Shanahan came to town in 2017 was when Bosa was lined up opposite Dee Ford.
So it will be paramount for one of these guys to step up and prove himself as the unquestioned starter, starting with a strong performance this weekend in Las Vegas.