San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan looks at notes during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A Fascinating San Francisco 49ers Initial 53-Man Roster Projection will be delayed due to recent changes
If you look at the San Francisco 49ers initial 53-man roster over the past seven years that Kyle Shanahan has been the head coach, there are some rather consistent themes. One of those themes is balance between the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. Last year was Shanahan’s most unbalanced roster make-up, with 27 players on offense and 23 players on defense. This is the second year in a row there have been more offensive players making the initial 53-man roster with 26 offensive and 24 defensive players in 2022.
The only other two years the offensive side of the ball made up more than half the roster were 2019 and 2020, with 2018 being a complete balance of 25 and 25. That leaves only twice Shanahan has had fewer offensive players than defensive, with his initial year of 2017 and 2021 being the outliers. This tells us that there is a good chance that this year’s initial 53-man roster will be more offensive heavy than defensive, with the most common roster under Shanahan being 26 offensive players and 24 defensive players, so a swing back towards that is likely.
There have been some other tendencies; Shanahan kept a total of ten wide receivers and running backs (excluding the fullback position) each year he has been the coach of the 49ers, except his first year when he kept nine. Four of the seven years he’s kept three quarterbacks. He’s been tight end-heavy compared to the rest of the league, opting to keep four tight ends three times, with never keeping less than three.
On the defensive side of the ball, he has kept nine defensive backs four of the seven years, while carrying ten the other three years. They’ve never kept more than six linebackers, besides his first year when they kept eight. The defensive line is a constant fluctuation ranging anywhere between eight to eleven. Nine has been the most consistent number with three seasons, but it has been eight twice, including last year.
With these tendencies, this season’s draft picks and free-agent focuses, as well as some educated guesses at some possible adjustments to the team’s philosophies, here is a ridiculously early prediction at the 49ers’ initial 53-man roster.
This is the easiest position group to predict, as Purdy is locked in as the 49ers starter after leading them to the Super Bowl while having one of the team’s best season long performances of all time. Dobbs was brought in to be a more consistent backup in case the worst happens and Purdy goes down with an injury.
This is a stronger backup plan than a year ago when they overpaid Sam Darnold to hold the clipboard. This will be Allen’s second season with the team, and some thought he would be a cheap number two before Dobbs was brought in. He will provide consistency in case the absolute worst happens.
