What I’m looking forward to in tonights preseason finale

With the 49ers final preseason game mere hours away, I want to go over what I’m most looking forward to for tonight’s game.

I want to see the following on offense.

• The battle for the 4^th running back spot, can Trey Sermon play well enough to insure he has a spot on the 49ers opening day 53-man roster, or will a JaMycal Hasty, or Jordan Mason outshine him, leading to a tough decision for the 49ers to make.
• The battle for the 3^rd tight end spot, who will it be? Ross Dwelley, or Tyler Kroft? On one hand, Kroft has been more consistent, but on the other hand, the 49ers gave Dwelley $250,000 in guaranteed money, so this is a battle I’m looking forward to seeing play out.
• The battle for the 8^th & 9^th offensive line spots, with the likes of Jason Poe, Jaylon Moore, Colton McKivitz, & Justin Skule all battling for roster spots.

I want to see the following on defense.

• Will the 49ers keep 10 defensive lineman or 11? With the likes of Jordan Willis, Hassan Ridgeway, & Kerry Hyder Jr. seeming to be battling for potentially just 2 spots, I need to see who seperates themselves from the others.
• At linebacker, will the 49ers keep 4 or 5? If 5, will it be Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, or Marcelino McCrary-Ball? Maybe Segun Olubi impresses more to force his way onto the 53-man roster.
• At cornerback will we see anything surprising, could Ambry Thomas’ spot be in jeopardy? If so, who takes it? Dontae Johnson? Tariq Castro-Fields? Qwuantrezz Knight? We’ll have to wait and see for sure, but I think Thomas’ spot, as well as Johnson’s spot is safe.
• At safety, will Tarvarius Moore play better to prove that he should be the week 1 starting free safety with Jimmie Ward potentially out? Or will a Tashaun Gipson Sr. prove he’s worth not just a roster spot, but maybe a week 1 start, or will it be George Odum, and could Moore lose his spot to a Gipson, or Tayler Hawkins.

These are the things I’ll be watching for tonight when the 49ers take on the Texans, which will be available on Prime Video at 8:15pm eastern/5:15pm pacific time.

With that said, thank you for reading, & you can follow me on Twitter @49erscap.

About Author

Jason Hurley

Die Hard 49ers fan from New York, been covering the 49ers salary cap since 2005, with several different websites, including NinersNation.com, & the now defunct NinerCapHell, I have a track record of being as accurate as possible, I try to be as thorough as possible, and you can find me on X/Twitter @49erscap, & on Blue Sky App @49erscap.bsky.social.

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