4 players Kyle Shanahan, 49ers must rest vs. Rams in regular-season finale
Unless there are some contractual incentive-based stats to chase, these four Niners players should ride the bench on a break in a relatively meaningless Week 18 game against the Rams.
By Peter Panacy
49ers should rest Nick Bosa
Defensive end Nick Bosa did showcase a little bit of rust early in the season in the wake of holding out for a new contract and missing both training camp and preseason in the process. Yet that was a result of him missing weeks.
Not a weekend.
Bosa, who has 10.5 sacks and 33 quarterback hits, would love to pad his stats a little more after something of a slow start to the year, statistically.
But those numbers matter so much more during the postseason than they would in an NFC West showdown that does little outside of the bragging rights.
The smart play would be for the 49ers to rest their No. 1 pass-rusher, which would give other depth rushers like Clelin Ferrell and Randy Gregory more field time.