Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
As the San Francisco 49ers line up to rebound from a injury-riddled 2020 campaign, these three players won’t make it to Week 1 this year.
After making it to the Super Bowl, the San Francisco 49ers had an injury-riddled 2020 season on the way to a 6-10 record. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo missed time again, as the 49ers lost the most man games to injury of all 32 NFL teams. It was an issue of quantity of injuries, as well as the quality of players who were lost (Nick Bosa, Raheem Mostert, Richard Sherman).
The NFC West might be the toughest division in the NFL this year. But the 49ers are right there in the mix, provided they are mostly healthy and in particular Garoppolo can be healthy and play well. If he can’t or doesn’t, rookie Trey Lance is waiting in the wings as Kyle Shanahan’s hand-picked quarterback of the future.
As the 49ers hone in who they’ll head into the 2021 season with, these three players won’t make it to Week 1.
3 San Francisco 49ers players who won’t be on the roster come Week 1
3. DE Jordan Willis
Willis played in seven games for the 49ers last season, with 2.5 sacks and 13 total tackles. They re-signed him for depth along the defensive line, but now he’s been suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.
Willis was already in line for a reduced role this year, as the 49ers’ defensive line returns to full strength. Now, since they have a Week 6 bye, he won’t be available until Week 8. So even though he can participate in everything up to that point, Willis is now lined up to be an easy cut before Week 1.