{"id":21733,"date":"2023-05-29T12:33:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T16:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/?p=21733"},"modified":"2023-05-29T12:33:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T16:33:19","slug":"my-top-10-locks-who-have-work-to-do-to-secure-their-roster-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/29\/my-top-10-locks-who-have-work-to-do-to-secure-their-roster-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"My top 10 locks who have work to do to secure their roster spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I went over my locks for this team, so today I want to go over the locks that have to prove themselves the most to keep their position on the 53-man roster, or secure their spot,as we know not all players who I deem locks are guaranteed a roster spot.<\/p>\n

In case you missed it, here\u2019s<\/a> my article from earlier this month on my locks, 50\/50s, and longshots.<\/p>\n

Now, the players with the most to prove to keep their job or secure their spot on the 53-man roster, in no particular order.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. WR\/KR\/PR Ray-Ray McCloud III \u2013 McCloud is a lock as of now, mainly due to his return abilities, but with the new rule that a fair catch on kickoffs are taken out to the 25-yard line, it might de-value what gives McCloud his upper hand, plus the 49ers have talented receivers like 7th<\/sup>-rounder Ronnie Bell, Chris Conley, & Willie Snead IV all looking to make this team.<\/li>\n
  2. WR Danny Gray \u2013 The 49ers made Gray a 3rd<\/sup>-round pick in 2022, but with the rules on special teams changing, yearly, Gray must show a lot at WR to secure his spot, especially with Bell, Conley, & Snead all competing.<\/li>\n
  3. TE Brayden Willis \u2013 It\u2019s very rare to have a 7th<\/sup>-round pick as a lock, but I just view Willis as one, but he will have to earn it, with Ross Dwelley, who got $700,000 guaranteed, and former 6th<\/sup>-rounder Charlie Woerner vying for a roster spot.<\/li>\n
  4. LG Nick Zakelj \u2013 I have Zakelj as a lock, as he has all the versatility that the 49ers love, but he needs to show it in camp, as he\u2019ll compete with the likes of Joey Fisher, Ilm Manning, Jaylon Moore, & Matt Pryor for a roster spot.<\/li>\n
  5. DE Clelin Ferrell \u2013 While I do have Ferrell as a lock, he only has $580,000 of his base salary guaranteed, and he\u2019s not been impressive in first 4 years, so he needs a strong camp to keep guys like Robert Beal Jr., Kerry Hyder Jr., & Austin Bryant from taking his spot.<\/li>\n
  6. DE Robert Beal Jr. \u2013 While I don\u2019t view Beal not making the team, he still needs to show it come preseason & training camp, as he\u2019ll have to battle the likes of Kerry Hyder Jr., and Austin Bryant for a roster spot.<\/li>\n
  7. DT Javon Kinlaw \u2013 Kinlaw is only a lock because he can\u2019t be cut without the 49ers not gaining any cap room, so he needs a strong candidate for the 49ers to either do the unthinkable & cut him, or trade him to keep someone like T.Y. McGill Jr., who got $400,000 guaranteed in his deal.<\/li>\n
  8. MLB Oren Burks \u2013 I do have Burks as a lock, but it can\u2019t be ignored that he\u2019s on the last year of a 2-year deal, and the 49ers signed Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles to a 1-year deal, with $1.25 million guaranteed, plus they have 2022 UDFA favorite Marcelino McCrary-Ball, and 2023 draft picks Dee Winters, & Jalen Graham fighting for roster spots, so if someone outplays Burks, especially on special teams, then he might be a surprise cut.<\/li>\n
  9. FS Myles Hartsfield \u2013 The 49ers signed Hartsfield to a 1-year deal, worth just $1.01 million, and he is a soft lock in my eyes, his versatility is something the 49ers covet so much, plus he\u2019s a Steve Wilks guy, but he needs to show it on both defense, and special teams to not just take a 53-man roster spot, but also justify having 5 safeties active each week.<\/li>\n
  10. SS George Odum \u2013 Odum is a lock as of now, he had $665,000 of his base salary become guaranteed on April 1st<\/sup>, 2023, so he might not be as much of a lock as I think he is, as he will have competition for a roster spot, with the likes of UDFA DBs D\u2019Shawn Jamison, & Avery Young, plus former UDFAs Qwuantrezz Knight, & Tayler Hawkins all vying for a roster spot.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There you have it, my top 10 locks who have the most to prove to keep or secure their 53-man roster spot.<\/p>\n

    Thank you for reading, and follow me on Twitter @49erscap<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Recently I went over my locks for this team, so today I want to go…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-exclusive","category-roster"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":104,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/49erscap.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}